Green Inventions Central

9.6.10

31 Days to Build a Better Blog: I Wish to Report a Stolen Review

Day 28, write a review post.

Easy peasy. I am going to steal a review. It has almost all the right...

10 Elements of a Great Review

1. An opinion
2. A Rating
3. Balance
4. Keywords
5. Comparisons
6. A Buy Link
7. Who it’s good for
8. Personal
9. Visuals
10. Details on How to Get the Item

Where it fails to have a right element, I will fill in the blanks after the review. Ready, set, go...

This is An Opinion on the 5-Star REALLY SUPER AWESOME Book Barbies at Communion (Note the Balance in this Headline :)

A little boy walks to the river, and it becomes a Sabbath poem. News of a super-collider turns into unexpectedly poignant Mother's Day verse. Waves come to shore, two guys build a bookshelf, a girl and her dad fly to Georgia... such simple things, but they do not escape Marcus Goodyear.

Through his poetry, he reveals a mind that has a way with the world. Engaged, compassionate, quietly humorous.

I recommend every last poem in this book, but here's one beautiful in its simplicity...

Sabbath

Shed no tears for these empty buildings
around the grass field like a private
forgotten park. They will not feel lonely
next week when a new group arrives
on the wings of petroleum and expectation.
Sometimes emptiness lets us all rest
a bit and take a breath. Throw sticks
for fat dogs who run until their panting
clicks, and they wobble, drunk on fetch,
behind the boy on his way to the river
alone to dangle his feet in clear water
where no one has come today to swim.

No worries. I stole the review from myself at Amazon.

Why review the book here? Because if you are here, you might be a person who likes fun, good writing, and cool word play. Which means that Barbies at Communion is for YOU (note that this is telling you who the book is good for and that I am PERSONALLY telling you :).

Now, because you are supposedly a passive reader, I'm also personally suggesting very nicely in a balanced sort of way that you buy Barbies at Communion right now.

It will make a great summer read, for you (that is me personally telling you who this book is good for. Again. In case you forgot. Okay, and for good keyword measure, let me suggest that you buy Barbies at Communion, for you, or a friend of good taste. Right now. :)

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ProBlogger's Day 28: Write a Review Post
Paul's 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Project

COMING TOMORROW
You've Got a Gorgeous Profile, a companion to ProBlogger's Day 29: Build Profile Readership

Would you like to follow Bambi's efforts at better blogging? Here's a button, if you like :)

Pigeon photo by L.L. Barkat.

Labels: 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, Barbies at Communion, social media

25.5.10

31 Days to Build a Better Blog: Pretend Your Blog is a Barbie

Day 17, and I'm supposed to pretend my blog is a Barbie.

Well, sort of.

The real mission is to watch a first-time reader use the blog. What does the reader do? Bend the knees? Pull off the head? Show it to her friends?

You may not know this, but 99 out of 100 American households own a Barbie. This means the toy sort of... succeeded. And it all began when Ruth Handler watched little girls playing with paper dolls. She noticed they weren't drawn to kid-like dolls but rather to grown-up looking paper women that came as part of comic books.

Fascinated, Ruth watched the girls change and change and change the paper clothes and mimic adult conversation. This led her to the theory that "little girls want to be women." And this led her to the idea of a shockingly different kind of doll. One with an undeniably grown-up shape.

Ironically, this doll, which some people see as demeaning to women, is a women's success story. Handler fought tooth and nail to bring it to market in a male-dominated industry.

Okay, enough about Barbies. The real point is that you're supposed to watch how new readers use your blog, because one day it might help you figure out how to have 99 out of 100 households subscribed to you.

(Maybe you should offer a bonus zebra-striped bathing suit, Christian Dior party dress, and pink plastic high heels. It worked for Barbie. :)

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