‘Tis the Season to Be Chaotic, Is Reblogging the Answer?
I don’t know about anyone else, but this is a rough time to get any writing done. I did great throughout November for NaNoWriMo, but since then I think I’ve gotten in only 7,000 words. And most of those words were written the first weekend of December, right after NaNo ended. *sigh*
I’m also supposed to be getting my Golden Heart entry ready for the contest sponsored by RWA. But, uh, I haven’t even started that yet. Yikes.
Between Christmas get-togethers, activities, shopping, wrapping, decorating, and baking, my schedule is packed. Wait… Christmas cards weren’t on that list, were they? Ugh. Maybe I’ll do New Year’s cards.
Of course, that list doesn’t even include blogging. Uh-huh, right. When are we supposed to fit that in?
Yet, we do. Or at least we try. Even though blog traffic is going to be next-to-nothing for the next several weeks.
Marcy Kennedy had a great post yesterday about the etiquette of reblogging, which is the blogging of something previously posted on another blog. I found it interesting to come across the topic of reusing someone else’s work so soon after we had the conversation about reusing our own work.
However, when we’re pressed for time, we might do a post with a collection of links to other posts. Or we might even feature just one post with heavy quoting from the original article.
That technique can help us when we want to post something, but we need to be aware that there are rules associated with that method. I haven’t had anyone try to repost one of my whole blog articles (which, even if you include a link, is copyright infringement if you don’t have prior permission), but I have had people reblog a few paragraphs and then include a link to my post with a “Read the rest of the article here” note.
That type of reblogging I don’t mind at all. That’s essentially an expanded version of the link collection posts that many of my friends do (and I greatly appreciate for helping me catch up on what I missed!).
In fact, that’s how I initially met Janice Hardy. She shared the first three paragraphs of one of my posts on her blog. At first I freaked out for a second, but then I saw it was only three paragraphs and that she directed her readers to my blog to read the rest. Awesome!
Now Janice and I are great real-life friends and we beta read for each other. So both parties can benefit from this type of reblogging.
Inspired by Marcy’s post, I added a “policy” page to my website to cover the other circumstances. (Which I really didn’t have time to mess with, but I didn’t want to forget about it.) These are important policies to lay out for people to avoid misunderstandings.
On my Contact page, I now have a note:
(If you have questions about my guest post, quoting, or reblogging polices, please check here.)
On my Polices and Blah-blah-blah page (yes, that’s really what I named it *smile*), I now list my policies for guest posts, endorsements, and reblogging or quoting/linking:
Guest Posts
I do run guest posts on my blog. However, I do not accept guest post requests (with very few exceptions). Most “I’d like to guest post on your blog” requests are from spammers who don’t know me, don’t know my blog, and don’t know my readers. These requests are ignored and deleted.
If I know someone and if they offer a post with content I think would benefit my readers (no promo-only posts), I’m happy to consider a request. I’m very picky about who I let guest blog for the reasons I outlined in this post. I maintain the right to edit or refuse all submitted guest posts.
I expect all guest posts to consist of new content that has not already been shared elsewhere (unless cleared in advance). Also, I expect guest posters to wait a minimum of three months before reposting their portion of the guest blog content on their blog (or elsewhere) and to include a link back to my blog with the notification of where the material had previously appeared.
Endorsements
I don’t endorse any products (software, etc.) or services (publishers, editors, etc.) because we all need to do our own due diligence to find the publishing partners right for our goals.
Reblogging, Quotes, Linking
You may quote or reblog up to three paragraphs from one of my blog posts—only if you give credit and a link back to my full post. Anything more than three paragraphs requires written permission. I attempt to reply to all commenters, and I appreciate the opportunity to continue the conversation here, where I won’t miss questions or discussion on the topic.
Under no circumstances do I permit anyone to reblog (copy or repost) a full post (even with credit and a link). I will consider requests for offline use if a link and full credit is included, but my written permission is required prior to such use. Otherwise, I consider any use of a whole post as plagiarism and copyright infringement, and I do actively search out and use tools to find violations.
I haven’t made a study of how others approach these policies, however, so I don’t know if I’m missing aspects or need to make some items clearer. I figured I’d share my version to a) get feedback and b) give people ideas about what they could include with their policies. Check out Marcy’s post for her thoughts on the reblogging etiquette rules and the reasons behind them for more ideas about how to approach this issue.
Have you been able to squeeze in writing this month? How do you balance everything? Have you ever reblogged a post, and if so, what were your reasons and how did you approach it? Do you have a “policy” page? What policies do you cover? Do you have any feedback or suggestions for my page? Am I missing anything?
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Reblogging can suffice, in a pinch. Personally, I’ve not done it yet, but I’m considering it on those days when something prevents me from putting together a coherent post of my own.
Hi Carradee,
Yes, I haven’t ever reblogged, but it makes sense for some blogs. The Passive Voice blog is almost all reblogs many times. At the time Janice reblogged me, she was experimenting with more frequent posts on her blog.
I’m much more of a “take someone’s blog post and link to it and build on it with my take” kind of blogger (like this post). 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I ended up reblogging one of my own posts last Friday, not because I didn’t have time to write something new, but because I couldn’t think of anything else to write (so I guess that’s reposting?). I’d written a post last year around the holidays on Kiva, the micro-lending organization, and since I was feeling Grinchy I thought it’d be a good post (rather than subject my readers to my whining, which is what I really wanted to do.) I’ve actually managed to get quite a bit of writing done so far this month-met my RWA chapter goal for December already, plus finalized my GH entries (yes, plural, I’m an idiot). But then, I haven’t done ANYTHING holiday related this year. We don’t have a tree (my cat would just knock it over or drink the tree water or both). I have no idea where my BF put the Christmas lights. I’m not baking because then I’d gain 20 pounds eating all the cookies. I skipped my ginormous office holiday party because it usually sucks (500 people plus all the booze you can drink equals all the frat parties I attended in college, only with random old people). I did all my shopping online this year. November was a stressful month at work, and I made a conscious decision to streamline my December as much as possible. Which meant very little in the way of holiday cheer. Since it’s just me, the BF, and my parents, and my parents are… — Read More »
Hi Amanda,
LOL! at…well, your whole comment. 🙂
Yes, I’ve done a blog post rerun occasionally, and if I thought I had a post that should be rerun now, I’d definitely consider it. So I don’t blame you at all. Reusing our own work is a different animal. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I haven’t written much since November. I let my wrists heal and read a few great books since December 1st. This time of year is crazy with my day job. CRAZY. I leave most days stuttering. I’ve been a very bad blogger for the past few months. It’s on my New Year’s Resolution List right after eating right and getting more exercise – Get ass in gear and stick to a regular blog schedule. Here’s to you, 2013!
Hi Buffy,
Yes, I don’t blame you for taking it easy on your wrists after your last few days of NaNo catch-up. 🙂
Ooo, yes, I need to find time to fit in exercise in the new year too. *sigh* Good luck and thanks for the comment!
I liked hearing your take on this. If it wasn’t copyright violation, I’d pretty much copy your Policies and Blah-blah-blah page. I need to get one up because I have trouble with spammers requesting the opportunity to guest post. I used to reply to them all, until one day I was writing a response and realized I was actually writing a rant about the mass-mailed guest post requests I’d been receiving. From that point on, I just made the delete button my friend since I didn’t want to waste any more of my time or be rude. At least if I have a policy posted, I won’t feel guilty about deleting them without a reply.
Hi Marcy,
LOL! Well, I did state that people were free to take ideas from my policy. 🙂
Yes, I’ve always deleted those spammer guest post requests and never felt guilty. Does that make me a bad person. 😉 Thanks for the comment and thanks so much for the inspiration!
I am a total fan of the reblog when things get busy or when I see a post that I really like and want to share with others. Luckily WordPress’s reblog function doesn’t actually create a post on your blog, but instead links back to the original post. I don’t feel bad about it at all because readers are automatically directed back tot he author’s page. I usually add a comment telling people to check out the post on the author’s blog and why I reblogged it –usually–it’s because it’s something awesome. 🙂
Hi E.B.,
Yes, I use WordPress.org and not WordPress.com, so I’m not familiar with the function. I’m glad to know the function does the partial reblog and not the full article. That makes lots of sense. 🙂 Thanks for letting me know and thanks for the comment!
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