See One, Do One, Teach One

As both a blogger and as a novelist, Tobias Buckell has unique insight into the skills of a modern author.  He recently came to my attention as one of the bloggers displaced in AOL’s retirement of bloggingohio.com.  His experience yields excellent lessons for young writers looking into traditional and online writing opportunities.

How did you start blogging for bloggingohio?

Almost exactly a year ago I was let go from dayjob as an underpaid tech support guy at my local university. I made the decision to become a freelance writer and professional blogger. I decided that since I had 8 years of blogging under my belt that it would be something that, although crazy, would fit with my skills and interests. I applied at Weblogs Inc. for another position that they had advertised for, and they saw that I lived in Ohio and asked if I’d be interested in an experiment in local blogging. I was happy to, and started in April.

What was your goal for bloggingohio and what did it do well?

What was cool about BloggingOhio was working with some awesome bloggers. At first I started working with Clevelanders Hannah Blumenfeld and Katherine Galo who were hired on along with me. In June or July I got promoted to lead blogger, so I scared up some cool talent to come work there, like Jeffrey Smith in Toledo of Just A Comment, author Chris Barzak from Youngstown, Tom Barlow in Columbus, and a travel writer, Jamie Rhein, also hailed from Columbus. That was a pretty cool team.

How is writing for a blog different than creating the depth of a novel? If you were forced to choose one, which would you rather do and why?

It’s an interesting difference. With blogging I can sit here, spend fifteen to twenty minutes and have a post. It publishes near-instantly, and within the day I will have comments back on it.

Within a month or so I get paid for it. There’s a constant feedback cycle that’s completely addictive. With the novel you spend a year writing, revising, and then more months before it gets published, the money is spread out far and between, and there are a lot more people involved in ever step.

That being said, I would lean towards novels. I really dig fiction. Though if I could make the money I made blogging writing fiction online in a bloggy format, hell, sign me up!

For the fledgling writer, do you think traditional journalism, blogging, or authoring novels would have the better chance of making a healthy, honest living?

I think that would depend on what your writerly inclinations are.
I think there is still more money in journalism, then blogging, and writing fiction last. I’ve been slowly adding articles and non-fiction work to my income stream, and the pay is much better for the work involved. But the blogging is fun and very creative and lets me geek out on stuff I like geeking out on, and it is more steady, so I don’t see stopping it unless I’m asked to leave! I think a mix of all three is a very smart bet. Get into old media, new media, and whatever else you love. Multiple and diverse income streams are a freelancer’s best friend.

What have you taken away from the bloggingohio experience?

There is a really cool crew of Ohio bloggers out there. You’d be surprised how active this state is. Toledo and north-east Ohio (Cleveland etc) have bloggers involved in meeting local politicians, meeting up, covering local events, and just showing the way for citizen journalism in the near future. Seriously, check out http://toledobloggers.com/ and http://www.meetthebloggers.net/.

With what projects are you currently involved?

I’m doing work over at www.BloggingStocks.com which is an awesome blog. I also blog about space access at www.Futurismic.com, and of course, I blog www.tobiasbuckell.com just as I always have for year and years. My second novel will be out this summer, and since I just signed a 3 book contract I’m working on a new book right now. There’s always something going on.

My exploration into niche blogging continues by exploring the bloggers behind the now retired Divester blog.