Thanet Creative exists to create opportunities for Thanet’s many writers. Some of us writers like to blog – here are five ways you can.
Blogging for sites related to your field of writing is a fantastic way to get new links. Those posts will increase exposure for a website you already have up and running. In other words, it can help build your author platform.
Blogging can also be a good way to just blow off some verbal steam on an issue that has you feeling all worked up.
If the thought of setting up and running you own blog is off-putting, you have options for when you want to blog from Thanet but don’t want a blog. (If you did, Author Buzz UK, has you covered).
Here are just a few places that you can submit your thoughts for publication. None of them are likely to get you paid (directly) but if you just want to get your stuff out there then this might be the list for you.
5 ways to blog from Thanet (today)
This is a follow up to our original post on our old website – “5 ways to blog from Thanet” updated to reflect the way things are now.
Thanet Star
Thanet Star is a blog that has been going a very long time and has built a solid reputation both with readers and with search engines. It covers all topics relating to Thanet. Mostly, it tends to have a news or political slant.
Thanet Star is a great choice if you want to write about local events, politics, or life in general here in Thanet. I often post on the Thanet Star Facebook page looking for guest writers.
Facebook, Google+, etc.
If your main objective in posting a blog is just to blow off steam social media might be the answer. For example, if you don’t care about links and the only people that you want to see the rant are friends and family, then Facebook, Google Plus, and similar social media sites are ideal.
On the down side, they can be quite limited in terms of formatting and the ability to add illustrative pictures.
Additionally, you are quite unlikely to reach a wider or different audience. It is possible to “go viral” with the right content but if you want to express a depth or breadth of opinion this might not be what you need.
The Isle of Thanet News
A relative newcomer, The Isle of Thanet News is a local news site that has won awards for local journalism. Like Thanet Star, The Isle of Thanet News tends towards news related content. However, they have a dedicated opinion section for which they take outside contributions.
The site is run by Kathy Bailes. Kathy’s background includes 13 years in Journalism. She is the winner of the Kent Press and Broadcast Awards Kent Digital Journalist 2017.
If you are interested in writing for The Isle of Thanet News you can email the editor at isleofthanetnews@gmail.com but I recommend ready a few items first to get a feel for the kind of items that are accepted.
Huffington Post
If you feel your idea has legs and could be of interest to a much wider audience than just Thanet, you can always pitch it to the Huffington Post.
The Huffington Post is a huge blog with localised editions for many countries including the UK. They don’t pay although they could probably afford to.
The lack of pay despite ability is something that Wil Wheaton has made mention of:
…it’s the principle of the thing. Huffington Post is valued at well over fifty million dollars, and the company can absolutely afford to pay contributors. The fact that it doesn’t, and can get away with it, is distressing to me.
So, pitch it to the Huffington Post, or don’t. That’s up to you.
Thanet Creative: Blog (yes, us)
The Thanet Creative blog, like its predecessor, is run on WordPress. Which means that we are already set up to allow multiple contributors.
We will be happy to take anything that relates to writing, poetry, or creativity in general. If we get a lot of submissions, we will favour those from people with a connection to Thanet or the charity.
We are also happy to take fiction or poetry of a sufficiently high standard as well as book reviews.
We can accept a one off contribution which you can send to us via email. Someone (probably me) can then see to the nuts and bolts of publishing it. Ideally, we ‘d like an image to go with the post – a nice photograph of you works well.
The process for being a regular contributor has gotten a lot simpler since our transition to the Author Buzz network. All you need is a free Author Buzz UK account.
While we are getting set up here, you will need to leave a message for us, either in the general forum or in the group. Someone will manually add you as a contributor and away you go. Once we are settled in here, we hope to add a contributor’s form so you can add yourself as a contributor.
Over to you
Do you agree with our list of places to get a blog post published? Do you feel we’ve missed one off – what would you add to the list of ways to blog from Thanet? Let us know in the comments below.
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