Multi-author blogging September 23, 2006

I almost missed posting on my thoughts about multi-author blogging. First of all, I think it the idea of multi-author blogging is great! This way you share the workload, provide more than one perspective, and you have someone to bounce ideas off and share editing duties with. However, you may be producing a different product with each post so it is best to put some guidelines in place. I would suggest the following issues be addressed:

1) Define the writing style (formal/informal, first person/second person)

2) Define the linking style (will you hyperlink a single word, a few words, a link itself)

3) Determine whether to include the authors name in the post - will the reader (or the bloggers) benefit from knowing it is a multi-author blog?

4) Who will blog when? Will there be two posts one day and none another, or will you space it out to keep it regular?

5) Decide before you begin if the authors should be commenting on each others’ posts, or if they should address issues behind the scenes (not on the blog!), so as to not cause any bickering or animosity amongst the staff!