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 27^th, 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 27^th, 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.