Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Friends Don’t Let Friends Blog Alone

Friends don't let friends blog alone!
by Katy Kauffman 
@KatyKauffman28

Do you see blogging as an adventure? Although it’s a privilege to reach readers on a regular basis through a blog, the experience can be frustrating and solitary at times. It can be hard to pick our next topic and to find new readers. It can become lonely writing blog posts week after week. But it doesn’t have to be, especially if we have friends who blog.

Cure any side effects of blogging—frustration and isolation—by starting a series on your blog, and invite friends to join you in writing it. Not only will you bless your readers with their insights, but you will draw their readers to your blog as well. We can reach more people when we work together. Allow your guest writers to post the beginning of their article on their website and then link to the rest of the post on yours. We don’t have to blog alone.

How to Create a Blog Series

Pick a topic that you know and love, and pray about it. Decide on the topic that God highlights as “the one.” (There may be other “ones” later, too.) Map out how long the series will last and when you need guest writers. Then e-mail your blogging friends about the idea and see if they want to join in. Give them dates to choose from, along with ideas of what they could write about. If they say yes to the adventure, coordinate dates and writers, and let the fun begin! See the series as a ministry to your readers, and enjoy sharing encouragement alongside other writers.

How My Series Became a Book

You never know how God may use a series. At the beginning of 2016, I started a blog series with 6 friends, and we called it Breaking the Chains. We wrote about how God helps us to overcome anxiety, unforgiveness, pride, anger, critical thinking, spiritual depression, hopelessness, and so forth. At the end of last year, God laid it on our hearts to turn this blog series into a book. I invited more people to write about the topic, and the compilation now has articles from 20 writers about overcoming 25 forms of spiritual bondage. The book releases April 27th, and if you leave a comment below, you will be entered to win a copy!

Here is a little more about the book:

Breaking the Chains: Strategies for Overcoming Spiritual Bondage

Just like God’s people in the Old Testament longed for freedom from captivity and oppression, God’s children today long to be free from spiritual bondage. Powerful enemies such as fear, anxiety, anger, and loneliness war against our souls, but Christ empowers us to break their chains. Freedom doesn’t have to be a distant dream. It can be our reality.

Does your soul long to be free? Twenty authors have joined forces in this compilation to offer strategies for freedom by sharing personal stories, meaningful Bible verses, and chain-breaking principles. There are even some short stories.

Discover the strategies you need to break free from spiritual bondage and to form your own battle plan for victory. With God’s work and our cooperation, strongholds can crumble, chains can be broken, and freedom can usher in God’s peace and joy.
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God has blessed believers in Christ by connecting us in a spiritual family. Expand your writing “family” with writers who are like-minded. See if they want to join forces to write about a topic that will touch many readers. Share the blogging adventure together, and see how God blesses the team effort. 

Have you ever plotted the course of a blog series, and seen it take off? What was your experience? If you haven’t, do you think participating in a series would be fun? Tell us in the comments below, and remember that when you leave a comment, you’re entered into a 24-hour giveaway for the book. The giveaway will end 24 hours after this blog post goes live, and the winner will be announced in the comments on Thursday. So be sure to come back and see who won, and don’t hesitate to join the conversation!

To learn more about the book and its contributors, click this link: Breaking the Chains: Strategies for Overcoming Spiritual Bondage. If you would like to join the virtual release party on the 27th, visit Facebook for information. 

TWEETABLES
Friends don't let friends blog alone! @KatyKauffman28 on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

How a blog series can lead to a book - @KatyKauffman28 on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Katy Kauffman is an award-winning author and a co-founder of Lighthouse Bible Studies, a ministry which seeks to connect people to God through His Word.

She has taught the Bible to women and teens, and has two published Bible studies for women, 2 Timothy: Winning the Victory and Faith, Courage, and Victory which won the 2016 Selah award for Bible studies. She is an editor of Refresh Bible Study Magazine and the designer of Broken but Priceless: The Magazine. She makes her home near Atlanta, Georgia.

17 comments:

  1. Excellent piece, Katy. We're stronger together. A group within our writers guild began a "First Draft Society" exactly 3 years ago. We share our first drafts online, no quotas. Every quarter we polish them and publish a collection of them. We just published our 12th book. And with quantity came quality. Several pieces have won writing contests. Shared doing inspires.

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    1. That's exciting! A dozen books you've made together. Thank you for sharing about that, Jay. I agree that once you've written first drafts for a while, they tend to get better and better. And you have some brave writers who are willing to share their first drafts!

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  2. You're such a great community-builder, Katy. I love how your blog series evolved into a book - how inspiring! Fingers crossed for the drawing. :) Can't wait to see you in May.

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    1. Ah, thank you, Cathy! I am glad I get to see you in May. I enjoy contributing to Almost an Author with you. Thank you for commenting and entering the drawing!

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  3. Your positive spirit is such an encouragement to me. I can't wait to read your book! See you next month at Blue Ridge.

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    1. Thank you for saying that, David! I am glad you want to read the book. I look forward to seeing you at Blue Ridge!

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  4. What a wonderful idea, Katy. This is an inspiration. It makes blogging worth the time and effort, and now I will pray for God to bring me blogging buddies, who share my heart for working with women in moving from broken to beautiful. Thank you so much.

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    1. Thank you, Yvonne! I wish you well as you start your new website. Having friends to blog with has definitely helped me and added to the joy of writing. I hope you will consider joining some Facebook groups to find blogging friends. I can think of at least 4 that I am in. Please email me if you would like to discuss this more. My email address is adventurewriter@hotmail.com. Thank you for commenting today. Your mission statement is a special one.

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  5. Congrats on the release of your book, Katy! :)

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    1. Thank you, Andrea! It was a blessing to put together.

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  6. Interesting idea. Thanks for sharing and God bless your efforts when your book is released.

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    1. Thank you so much, Marlene! I hope you enjoy this kind of adventure in the future if God leads you to do it. God bless you!

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  7. Spoken by a true blogging friend--great stuff for all of us who fight the endless battle of what to write about, and then what to do with it after we write it. Well done, Katy, and congratulations on the book and all the work that led to it.

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    1. Thank you, Ron! I am grateful to write alongside you. Thank you for your contribution to it and to Refresh!

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  8. I really like this idea, Katy. I have seen others guest post on blogs, but what a unique way to plan a blog series. I think it is wonderful that your blog series has now become a book. I can't wait to read it.

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    1. Thank you, Sheryl, for your comment and for wanting to read it! It's a blessing to keep the connections I make at writers conferences. You never know how God will bless those friendships.

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  9. We have a winner for our giveaway! Cathy Baker, your name has been drawn by the book's associate editor, Beebe Kauffman. Congratulations! I will be in touch. Thank you, everyone, for participating in the giveaway!

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