The Newbie Blogger Initiative is BACK!

One of my favorite initiatives from last year, the Newbie Blogger Initiative, is back in full force this year.  It’s an exciting program, because it encourages people to start gaming blogs and then also helps them out with tips, tricks, writing help, and mentorship to encourage them to stick with it and be successful.

Blog-fading (or the act in which bloggers disappear leaving their sad website all alone without any updates) is extremely common.  I even do it myself regularly…..though I always try to come back eventually!  One of the big reasons is because people run out of things they want to talk about.  I’ve found that if I just open up the “new post” editor, words come flooding out of my mouth.  I rarely think about the post ahead of time, or compose it in my head.  I know this is different than a lot of successful bloggers.  But I also tend to write about my own personal experiences playing games, which might not be interesting to many people but always was fun for me to write.

I think the Newbie Blogger Initiative is great, because the number of high quality MMO blogs feels like it’s been dwindling over time.  Some of my favorites from back in the day are still posting, but the scene doesn’t feel as large and vibrant as it used to.  Instead of just sitting back and taking it, bloggers are doing something about it!  Over 70 blogs from veterans are currently participating in the NBI, and I’m sure there will be more before it’s all said and done.

I’m offering myself up as a mentor.  While my work here is sparse and sporadic, I also have a presence elsewhere on the web.  I have a pretty popular Twitter account, and I’m Lead Editor at The Border House, a popular feminist gaming blog.  I’m also a professional community manager for a living, so I think I can lend some advice when it comes to editing, writing, social media promotion, growing and cultivating a community, and providing interesting content that people want to read.  Feel free to reach out!

I’ll also be adding these new blogs to my RSS reader and I’ll be reading and commenting on them! I’m excited to welcome this batch of newbies and I can’t see what sort of content is created!