Lying increases the creative faculties, expands the ego, and lessens the frictions of social contacts.
- Clare Booth Luce

Uh, the gravity of an irresistible (yet misleading) headline! Yes, I am guilty of reading The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging. On page 74 the book lists the Top Ten Horrible Publicity Stunt Ideas, and by using above headline I ruthlessly copied and modified the horrible publicity stunt ideas 6 and 9.

Now that I am blogging for a mere 15 months I wasn’t quite convinced that a book published in 2008 would be able to present interesting insights on blogging on top of what I already know. After all, these days technology changes fast within two years. In fact, there are a few minor details that have changed since the release (for instance, the Yahoo self-service platform for small publishers, also known as Yahoo Publisher Network Online was closed as of April 30 this year). However, the book’s content is so much more than a mere instruction on running your blog. This is a book written by the very best blogging professionals in the Internet business world, and, regardless of whether you are a blogging novice or a blog professional, you will not put this book aside unless you have read it in full.

Yes, there is information on starting a blog, increasing web traffic, making money online, etc., but I wouldn’t recommend this guide for that particular purpose. There are other, much more detailed works available. The guts of this book is – as strange as it may sound – about the nature of blogs, their history, their impact on today’s world, and, most importantly, the passion that comes with writing a blog. The passion is emphasized by comments from people like Nora Ephron, Harry Shearer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Gary Hart, John Ridley, Steven Weber (Hey, Steve, I don’t hate you! I just miss Wings!), and others.

Reading the Complete Guide to Blogging effectively convinces you that you need to start your own blog immediately, and if you already have one, the authors give you the feeling that you are one of them. There is no looking down on the poor blogger with his/her mere two pages. The guide is full of advice for everybody. The language is clear, comprehensive, and professional. The reader will learn why The Huffington Post is so incredibly successful in times where traditional newspapers are struggling to maintain readership.

This book is a must-read for every blogger at every level, including those who work for the online versions of traditional newspapers. It is made to learn from the top professionals in the business.

The only complaint I have is about the extremely sparse table of content, now that I am looking for the definition of Fair Use and Copyright (Here it is – page 50). I hope it is “fair use” when I quote the horrible publicity stunt ideas 6 and 9 here in this post. If it’s not, please contact me, and I will humbly repent.

Horrible Publicity Stunt Idea #6:
Start a rumor that a book based on your blog is the next Oprah selection (and, OMG, you’re giving out tickets to the show where she’ll discuss it!).

Horrible Publicity Stunt Idea #9:
Write an open letter to the National Parks Service offering $10 million if they’ll have the Statue of Liberty hold a sign  with your blog name on it for a day (in place of the torch). Since you know they’ll say no, it doesn’t matter that you don’t have $10 million.

For eight more horrible publicity stunt ideas I recommend reading The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging.

Book Description

- Source: Amazon.Com.

The editors of The Huffington Post–the most linked-to blog on the web–offer an A-Z guide to all things blog, with information for everyone from the tech-challenged newbie looking to get a handle on this new way of communicating to the experienced blogger looking to break through the clutter of the Internet. With an introduction by Arianna Huffington, the site’s cofounder and editor in chief, this book is everything you want to know about blogging, but didn’t know who to ask.

As entertaining as it is informative, The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging will show you what to do to get your blog started. You’ll find tools to help you build your blog, strategies to create your community, tips on finding your voice, and entertaining anecdotes from HuffPost bloggers that will make you wonder what took you so long to blog in the first place.

The Guide also includes choice selections from HuffPost’s wide-ranging mix of top-notch bloggers. Among those who have blogged on HuffPost are Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Larry David, Jane Smiley, Bill Maher, Nora Ephron, Jon Robin Baitz, Steve Martin, Lawrence O’Donnell, Ari Emanuel, Mia Farrow, Al Franken, Gary Hart, Barbara Ehrenreich, Edward Kennedy, Harry Shearer, Nancy Pelosi, Adam McKay, John Ridley, and Alec Baldwin.

A No-Nonsense Guide to a Professional Blog

Last, but not least, if you want honest information on how to start a web site or blog and make money from it, check out my book, A No-Nonsense Guide to a Professional Blog(There is also a preview of the book). Honestly, I wrote it after learning about the so-called “Google Profit Library” and reading the book “New Path to Riches” by Nick Usborne (Don’t buy it. It’s a huge waste of time!). I deemed it was time to stop the nonsense. The book shows you step by step how to set up a professional blog with some advice on how to run it, and maybe even make some money from it. The difference is, you don’t pay me at all (I would appreciate that you buy the book, paperback or PDF), and the required investment of roughly $120 per year goes to your Internet service provider for running your web site. Also, check out myprofessionalblog.com. This is the web site I created to write the book, meaning I created the web site, made screen-shots and included them into the document.