The Blogger's Survival Guide

Tips and Tricks for Parent Bloggers, Wordsmiths, and Enthusiasts

By: Lexie Lane, Becky McNeer

Narrated by: Doug Hannah

Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Eliminate hours of research involved in creating a successful, money-making blog. Blogging can be a lot of fun, but much better if you can generate some income from it. This guide will help your blog succeed. It delivers all the instructions you'll need to pursue and achieve your online goals. Topics include: understanding the different blogging platforms; creating compelling blog content; the different elements that drive traffic to your blog; understanding the different forms of social media and much more! Foreword by Angela Santomero Creator/Executive Producer/Head Writer Blue's Clues, Super Why!, and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.

©2013 Wayman Publishing (P)2013 Wayman Publishing

Not an ideal book for audiobook format

I received The Blogger’s Survival Guide: Tips and Tricks for Parent Bloggers, Wordsmiths and Enthusiasts by Lexie Lane and Becky McNeer free to review though Audiobook Jukebox. This is a how-to guide to assist newbie bloggers in setting up their blog, marketing it and monetising it. Thank you for the opportunity to review this title.

This is the first time I’ve listened to a non-fiction reference book in audiobook format and I don’t think it’s something I will do much of in the future. On many occasions the authors referred to online resources to supplement or backup their tips, and I didn’t find the format a great way to be able to pick up those links. In all fairness the narrator did enunciate very clearly and repeat the urls where necessary, but still for me it was an additional hurdle of the audiobook format. Additionally, with reference books I find I’m more likely to want to refer quickly to a previous or subsequent section in the book – not easy in audiobook format.

What I liked

Good structure. The book is laid out in a series of lessons which cover a specific topic related to blogging; setup, design, marketing, SEO, monetising. Each lesson was well thought out and had a clear goal.

Useful information. It’s clear that Lane and McNeer know their subject. I personally picked up several tips and generally the material is presented in an easy to understand format. Any blogger from a novice to expert would be able to follow the book and pick up some tips.

The narration. I felt Doug Hannah narrated the book excellently. He seemed interested in the material and took care to speak especially clearly when dictating website addresses.

What I didn’t like

I had one major issue with the book.

Too specific information. Let me explain. On many occasions the book tried to guide the blogger through the steps to achieve some purpose with a third party site, for example, Google Analytics. The information was of the style “click on the yellow button that is the third one down on the right hand side.” I appreciate that the authors wished to be helpful, but there is a serious risk that the information will be quickly out of date and no longer useful. That kind of detail could be useful in a web article, but not so in a hard copy or audiobook which by necessity has a longer shelf life.

All in all, despite the good narration, The Blogger’s Guide just didn’t work for me as an audiobook. With the concern I had about being out of date, I have to give it two and a half stars out of five.

Really informative

This book has a lot of great info for beginning bloggers and old pros a like. I would suggest pairing the audiobook with the ebook, it gives the best of both worlds. There were times when I really wanted a visual to get what the audio was saying. On the other hand the print is a bit dry at times and I preferred listening to reading.

The audiobook is narrated by Doug Hannah, who has a great tone. I really liked his pace, it made it easy to get the details without making the information drag. The fear I always have on non-fiction books is that it will seem like a dry lecture. Happily this felt like a conversation.

Disclosure - I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts, opinions and ratings are my own.