Book Blogging 101 – Chapter 3 – Setting Goals, Road Maps & Editorial Calendars
Section 1: Setting Goals
Goals, just like in life, should be set for your blog. You want to have something to work for, strive to achieve. Without set goals and paths you can quickly flounder and lose your way.
What type of goals can you set for a blog?
There are tons, depending on your theme or purpose. These are questions you have to ask yourself based on your industry and trends. As a book blogger my goals included making industry contacts with publishers, authors and publicists. I also wanted to one day receive an ARC in the mail (not from a contest). I wanted to one day meet an author at a signing. Things like this are based on the industry I blog in, but you also want to set goals as far as general blogging is concerned.
Common goals you should try to achieve:
- Follower/subscriber counts
- SEO goals, high rankings in your chosen keywords
- An average comment count – set out to get an average of 5 comments or more a post
- A pageview number
- Twitter followers, or Facebook likes
Goals like these are substantiated by numbers and easy to achieve. Set goals like 100 followers in the first month and set out to achieve that by visiting other blogs like yours and commenting and asking if they would like to visit your blog. You can do this – just follow your roadmap!
Section 2: Mapping Out Your Future
Do you have an EndGame? Are you a writer that plans to use your blog to promote your writing? Are you a artist that wants to one day sell your art work?
Set that End mark on your roadmap that you want your blog to follow and then easily map your path to it. This might go on for awhile, in fact most of the time it just continues to grow. Your EndGame might change along the way, but always have that map in mind as you blog along with your goals. Things will always change along the way, but doing this helps you focus and gives you little steps to do, instead of a broad spectrum of larger achievements.
Section 3: Editorial Calendar
Once you have all your questions answered, your name figured out and your style, its time to lay it all out on the table. You might have only one follower, who happens to be your mother right now, but if you write it, they will come.
I always suggest to novice bloggers that before they even put that OPEN sign on their blog, to have at least two weeks worth of posts scheduled. A month worth is even better. You want to have every day mapped out for a good long while, this will give you time to network your petunia off.
Having a good editorial calendar and sticking to it will save you. It makes life easier and organized. If you have a review blog, grab at least 10 books that you’ve read in the past and review them – this will give you a good cushion. Then scour the web for social memes or networking events you want to participate in and map those blog posts out on your calendar also. Then once you have those all lined up start visiting other blogs, forums and social networking sites. You are ready to start blogging.
This technique takes the pressure off of you as a blogger. This way you have posts going live and you don’t have to worry about “WHAT TO POST” the night before. This gives you time to focus on promoting your blog, instead of writing your blog.
Tips:
Use Google Calendar, a great and free way of seeing everything in perspective
Wordpress user? There is a great Editorial Calendar plugin. I use it and couldn’t live without it.
Book Blogger News:
Cease & Desist goes Wild
Bullshit Reigns in this latest bit of WTFery. It would seem that a man by the name of Jazan Wild aka Jason Barnes, who has a comic called ‘Carnival of Souls’ has decided to legally threaten anyone that posts about Melissa Marr’s latest book of the same name. This means he is sending Cease & Desist letters to anyone who writes a review of Marr’s book. It would seem that he is lawyering up and getting ready to sue Harper Collins for exclusive title rights. Best post I’ve seen about this is over at Bookalicious.org who got her own letter and Wild has actually commented with his “proof” on that post.
The comment does elude that Barnes holds a Trademark to the name, but the argument seems thin considering there is also a 1962 movie by the same name and the comic came out in 2005. The author claims that the Trademark is for classes of good i.e books, comics etc., not movies. — But, considering Mr. Barnes has also filed lawsuits again NBC [Wild v. NBC Universal, Inc., 788 F.Supp.2d 1083 (C.D.Cal. 2011)] regarding how an episode of Heroes was “virtually identical” to a scene depicted in the comics, I would say that Barnes is chasing the payout, not the legalities. Especially since that same lawsuit was dismissed and the courts took “judicial notice” that the initial idea of a nightmarish carnival was first depicted in the 1962 work ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’. 1962 seems to be a popular year in this story. Basically this seems like insecurities of a struggling comic author, Barnes himself does not have an original idea or title, so he has to reaffirm himself with lawsuits to justify his originality.
The base fact though, is that he is trying to intimidate Book Bloggers (no matter how you feel on his legal rights of Trademark) and that is the lowest form of ridiculousness. Get over yourself Mr. Barnes you are targeting the wrong people. Step off of innocent bloggers who just want to promote a good book — not one of those Book Bloggers is infringing on you. If you have a legitimate claim, the courts will see it, but why must you harass bloggers in the mean-time? How can we pity you as the victim when you are lashing out at the innocent? {source}
Another blog Goes AWOL
Misfit Salon is the latest blog to disappear. Stephanie’s blog is completely shut down, along with her twitter account. Misfit is one of the blogs that I followed since the beginning. Wayback in 2009. Stephanie’s fun take on everything literary will be missed.
Happy Thursday. Talk Less. Read More. Blog with Integrity.
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Holy WTF, Batman! I cannot even wrap my head around the ridiculousness of this Carnival of Souls BS!
It is ridiculous, just because it is so misguided. There are ways to handle things — and this is not one of them.
I can understand, to a degree, what the Carnival of Souls deal is about. The guy had a trademark applied to his comics, which wouldn’t actually apply to anything else prior to the trademark being established (so everyone saying he’s full of bull because of titles from decades ago don’t really have much of a leg to stand on – it would really only apply to anything that came after his trademark was established), and I can see why he’d feel a bit defensive because he gets the trademark and then something else with the same name comes along and threatens to upset what he’s spent years building.
However, that’s where things get a little fuzzy. I’m not 100% sure of the details, and that’s why I’m not sure if what he’s got trademarked is the title, the idea, or the series itself, which is a combination of the title, the idea, and a zillion and one other things. From everything I’ve gathered, it seems to be the title. And if so, then he may actually have a small case against Marr and/or Harper, because if he’s the only one with rights to use that name, then, well, that’s how it goes. Look at the whole crazy thing with the state of Kentucky trademarking their name, which is why Kentucky Fried Chicken had to legitimately change their name to KFC for a while to avoid having to pay out large wads of cash on a daily basis. It may be a pathetic, but there was some legal ground to stand on.
But regardless, what he’s doing to book bloggers is just plain wrong. He doesn’t want info about Marr’s book to be spread about? Fine and dandy. But he has no rights to tell people to remove their reviews of the book. May as well also attack Amazon, GoodReads, and every other site that has a listing for Marr’s book under that title. He’s doing nothing but making a bad name for himself, hurting his own sales and making himself incredibly unpopular. He’s going after the wrong people. What he’s doing is like being angry at the weather and so not even being threatening to the meterologist who reported it but instead getting angry at the guy who brings the meteorologist’s coffee in the morning. Vocally. And in public. It’s misguided anger and insecurity, absolutely, and it’s going to be his downfall whether or not he wins his case.
If the guy has a trademark — then yes, in the end, Marr will have to change the name of her book. I’m a big proponent of originality and if the man took the time to TM – then yes he should be able to make HC change the title on Marr’s book. Researching this though, there are over ten books with that same title, including another comic (a Buffy Comic). I understand HC’s take on this, but if that is their only argument on it, then yes, they are doing their authors a disservice, because titles of course should be researched for TMs.
The way he is going about making his case, though, is really wrong. First, his lawyer should be sending Cease & Desist letters, not him personally. And the reason they probably aren’t sending them out is because they know he shouldn’t be sending them to independent bloggers. It would be like Kentucky asking the Washington Post to C&D because they are running a Kentucky Fried Chicken advertisement. It is up to the responsible party (HarperCollins) to change all their advertising, promotions not the outlets these promotions are advertised on. It is just a poorly thought out tactic and looks more like an attack then a legitimate claim.
Hey Guys, to sending out cease and
desists to bloggers… here’s the facts. I sat back from June to Sept. after trying for months to plead with HarperCollins and Marr to not release a new series, which had a series titled “CARNIVAL OF SOULS” as it states on the hardback listing on Amazon in the book description. (Even a single title is still a violation of my trademark, people are confused thinking that Marr must have a series. That is my requirement to obtain a trademark. Not Marr’s to infringe mine.)
I
received endless “Google Alerts” with “CARNIVAL OF SOULS”
being promoted all over the web. Not my “CARNIVAL OF SOULS” series but
rather a trademark violated version. On Sept 10th the night before my 24th
anniversary, I had had enough. I went down the “Google Alert” list
and sent the cease and desists to whomever had posted my mark. No bloggers were
singled out. This was to let everyone posting this book know that the
“CARNIVAL OF SOULS” mark is a registered trademark that HarperCollins
is knowingly and willfully violating. The bloggers are not doing a damn thing
wrong. They are doing their job and got caught in the crossfire, and for that I
am sorry. It is HarperCollins and Melissa Marr who have done the wrong thing
since day one. And I have to defend my series. Pam, the blogger who posted the story goes on to say how nice and forthcoming I was. Nowhere did I threaten to sue bloggers. Never was that the intention, though I believe people with another agenda are spreading that lie. One must send C&D to make all parties aware that a willful and malicious infringement has occurred. Not by bloggers but by Marr and HarperCollins. Again I told them in June, that I had this series name and trademark. What kind of person still steamrolls over years of someone’s work after knowing they are going to do just that by releasing a series with the same damn name?
Here’s our legal position from my attorney Ted Shiells. I hope you understand:
I
am the attorney representing Mr. Wild in the trademark infringement lawsuit
that is the subject of many postings on this blog. Many of the questions raised
by some of the postings will be addressed by the Court in that lawsuit in due
course. I would, however, like to clear up possible misconceptions.
First
of all, to clarify Mr. Wild’s recent emails to “Pam” of “bookalicous.com”
and a few other reviewers, Mr. Wild was not threatening to sue any of these
persons. He only intended to make them aware of his trademark rights in
CARNIVAL OF SOULS, to minimize the confusion he has already suffered with
respect to HarperCollins’ conscious choice to use his registered trademark for
its new book (soon to be a series of books) by Melissa Marr. Mr. Wild has no
intention of suing bloggers and reviewers and we apologize for any
misunderstanding in that regard. (We especially thank “Pam” for her 9/11/12 comment
on “bookalicious.com”
that Mr. Wild has been “very forthcoming and nice.” That is, of course, the
tone Mr. Wild wishes to strike.)
Mr.
Wild did not want to sue HarperCollins and he did everything possible to avoid
it. Mr. Wild made HarperCollins aware of his United States Trademark
Registration No. 3,921,658 for CARNIVAL OF SOULS in June of this year, well
before HarperCollins was set to publish the book, and politely asked
HarperCollins to simply change the name. He sent many follow up emails to
HarperCollins and/or its attorneys trying, in good faith, to resolve this
matter with HarperCollins without the need for litigation, at a time when it
would have been relatively easy for HarperCollins to change the name to another
perfectly good title. Unfortunately, Mr. Wild’s suggestions fell on deaf ears.
This left Mr. Wild the choice to either protect his legal rights or just give
up. After spending over eight years building a business using Mr. Wild’s
CARNiVAL OF SOULs registered trademark, Mr. Wild chose to protect his legal
rights.
The
commenters who pointed out that one cannot trademark the title of a book are
correct. However, the United States Patent and Trademark Office makes a
distinction between the title of a single work (which may not be trademarked)
and the name of a series of works (which can be trademarked). Mr. Wild’s
CARNIVAL OF SOULS trademark is for a series of comic books, graphic
novels and novels, not the title of a single book. There is simply no legal
question that trademarks may properly be granted for series of books. There are
currently over 6000 registered trademarks for series of books or novels.
HarperCollins itself has 100 or such trademark registrations for “series” of
books or novels.
HarperCollins’
bluster that Mr. Wild’s suit is “completely without merit” etc. needs no
response, since the appropriate forum for such arguments is the Court. I do
note, however, that HarperCollins’ contention that Mr. Wild has “no exclusive
right to [use of CARNIVAL OF SOULS] as the title of a creative work” is a
misstatement. As discussed above, Mr. Wild’s registered trademark covers a series
of comic books, graphic novels and novels. It is not just the “title of a
creative work.”
Some
postings expressed the opinion that Mr. Wild should not be entitled to his
CARNIVAL OF SOULS trademark because the phrase “carnival of souls” existed
prior to Mr. Wild’s adoption of it as a trademark for his series of novels and
graphic novels. Under trademark law, however, it is not necessary for a
trademark to be a uniquely coined term, like KODAK. To the contrary, many
well-known trademarks are for otherwise common words or phrases used in
connection with various goods. For example, APPLE is the name of a fruit but is
also a well-known registered trademark covering computers. Wendy’s
International, Inc. has a trademark registration for “WHERE’S THE BEEF?” Reg.
No. 1,410,896, for “restaurant and carry out restaurant services,” even though
this is a common phrase, not invented by Wendy’s. One of HarperCollins’ own
trademark registrations for a series of books is “I CAN READ!” (Reg. No
4,163,123), which I believe most people will agree is a common phrase.
Some
postings expressed the opinion that Mr. Wild should not be entitled to his
CARNIVAL OF SOULS trademark because there was a 1962 movie by the same name, a
remake of that movie and/or a KISS album by that name. That is also not how
trademark law works.
Trademark
registrations are classified into 42 different “International Classes,” each
covering different types of goods or services. It is very common and perfectly
acceptable for the same word or phrase to simultaneously exist as a trademark
in more than one International Class, for different goods or services. For
example, the word LIFECYCLE (itself a common word) is a registered trademark in
International Class 21 for bottles (Reg. No. 3, 981,589); in International
Class 19 for plastic and wood composite building materials (Reg. No.
3,120,123); in International Class 9 for computer software (Reg. No. 2,954,623)
and in many other classes, for different goods and services, all owned by
different companies.
Mr.
Wild’s trademark registration for CARNIVAL OF SOULS is in International Class
16 (comic books, graphic novels and novels) and in International Class 41 (for
multi-media). By contrast, movies (such as the 1962 movie) and recorded music
(such as the KISS album) are generally classified in International Class 9. In
the lawsuit, Mr. Wild is only seeking to enforce his trademark against
HarperCollins’ infringing use in connection with its novel (which is to become
a series of novels), the same goods covered by Mr. Wild’s CARNIVAL OF SOULS
trademark registration in International Class 16. This is an appropriate
exercise of Mr. Wild’s legal rights, notwithstanding prior uses of CARNIVAL OF
SOULS for the titles of movies or record albums, which are for different goods
in different classes.
As
to the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” use of “Carnival of Souls” in the title of
one book in the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” series, though that use does not
predate Mr. Wild’s use, it did not present the threat that HarperCollins’
massive promotion of its CARNIVAL OF SOULS novels (soon to be a series) has.
(Incidentally, the name BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER is itself the subject of many
trademark registrations owned by Twentieth Century Fox, including Reg. No.
2,480,081, for a dramatic television series.)
For
those who are interested in getting the facts, the legal papers in this case
are available on “pacer.gov.” (You need to set up an account, though the fees
are usually only a few dollars). Click “Find a Case” and “search the pacer case
locator.” Once you log in, click “civil” and then enter “8:12-cv-01191” as the
“case number.” (The case name is “Jazan Wild v. HarperCollins Publishers LLC).”
The facts might even change the opinion of some of the posters. Of course,
ultimately, the facts are what matter in Court.
I hadn’t known about the CoS thing until you posted about it. Wow. Crazy stuff.
It saddens me to see another blogger gone.
I reviewed Carnival of Souls by Marr, so I look forward to getting my own cease and desist letter from Mr. Barnes. Should I be offended that I haven’t gotten one yet? What, my blog isn’t big enough to capture his attention? I agree, he sounds like he’s chasing the New American Dream- suing his way to riches!
What? Wow. Thanks for the news on this. I had no idea. What an uncool unfair thing to pull.
I’m reading Carnival of Souls right now and had no idea this was happening! In any case, I look forward to posting my review because I’m a huge of Melissa Marr.
Oh, and thanks for bringing this to our attention, btw! Seriously had no clue.
Title trademarking is a pretty ridiculous thing. There are -so- many books out there that share the same title, or close to it.
I feel like a totally aimless blogger at the moment. I threw away all goals for followers, SEO and pageviews, etc. It was way too stressful to try and think up ways to drive traffic and I wasn’t having any fun. Focusing on the numbers (or lack thereof) made me think about why I started blogging and it wasn’t a numbers game. Of course without the goal of growing my blog(s) I’m unsure of its/their future(s).
And I never had an End Mark, though that’s really important, I think. I suppose I just don’t know what the next step is, if there is one. You blog, you write reviews, you read books, you interact with the community. Unless you plan on monetizing your blog and earning an income that will sustain you, I’m not sure what the next logical step is. Which is why, I wonder, people just stop after awhile. There is no higher reward other than what you get each day. Unless you become the darling of the industry there is somewhat of a ceiling at this point. I’m not sure what comes next at the 3 year, 5 year, 10 year marks. Are there any active book bloggers that have a blog that’s at that point yet?
Thanks for the tip on the WP editorial calendar plug in! I’m really going to try to use it. I hate calendaring things with blogs. It makes it feel so job-like, but I’m trying. I just get that twinge whenever something pings that I “have to” do and it makes me grumpy. If it’s not calendared it feels like more of a choice than a requirement. But I’m going to check this calendar tool out. Thanks so much!
As far as blogger news – I hadn’t heard of that blog before, but it does make me sad that I’ll never get to know them.
I’m always surprised when a long-standing blog just disappears into the aether.
And as far as that trademark situ, what I’ve determined so far, unless I’m totally misunderstanding, is that he trademarked the name for a series not an individual work. So my question is, if Marr’s series is entitled something completely different it shouldn’t matter that one book is. But I’m no expert. I’m also wondering if he’s only targeting big named bloggers who have reach/traffic versus just anyone who reviewed the book.
And is he commenting on people’s Amazon reviews or just targeting book bloggers? Amazon would have far more visibility than the blogs.
Oh, no! I’ve been away for three weeks…Stephanie closed her blog? I loved Misfit Salon, and like you, I’ve been following since 2009. So sad to hear that
I know — it’s not there no more
(New Orleans saying – we love bad English)
I totally agree with making an editorial calendar! I recently started doing it and it’s so helpful. I don’t feel as stressed out anymore and there’s a lot more time to social network, as you said. I think Google Tasks (in Gmail) is really helpful too as a reminder about what emails that have to be sent out, etc.