Blogging to build your personal brand

Posted by Renie on Mar 13, 2013 in News | 0 comments

This article appeared in Life 365, 13th March 2013.

The Book of IndiBloggers

Posted by anoop on Jan 21, 2013 in GetPublished | 14 comments

The road so far…

Ever since we made blogs into plays with the help of the very energetic Stray Factory, we have been trying ever so hard to get into waters alien to IndiBlogger.in. The publishing world! Since then, it has taken us over two years and many endless hours to get a partnership for an exclusive short story collection written by bloggers on IndiBlogger.in. We approached many publishers with the idea, but it didn’t seem to impress them. We longed for something exclusive because we wanted the whole book to echo the stories and experiences of IndiBloggers and not just one or two to be added as a footnote. Enter Harper Collins and Yashodhara Lal! The whole thing seemed to seamlessly take shape with Karthika, the chief editor at Harper Collins giving us a crash course on “Publishing for the clueless”. However, we like to believe that the whole thing happened because Harper Collins has a lot of women in their team and IndiBlogger has a lot of men! This book was meant to happen!

Challenge accepted…

We had many challenges to overcome and the road so far was not exactly smooth like some of you very rightly pointed out. With every team in different places across India and working together for the first time, it was hard to translate novel ideas quickly. For example, The IndiBlogger development team was in Chennai, while the marketing team was working out of Bangalore and Mumbai. Yashodhara Lal and Harper Collins were in the Delhi NCR region but by no means close by.  When we designed the initial site, it was like a big game of Chinese whispers. By the time the requirements ping ponged back and forth and across to the creative team in Chennai for some development, the reaction would be, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot??

Breaking all the rules…

A lot of questions regarding the rules and regulations have come up and we have had to change them a few times but here’s the thing, our primary aim is to get the best possible ideas and stories so that we can make a great book. The number of votes for example, is an indicator of the influence of the Blogger in his social circles and to establish the Blogger’s reputation in some ways. Having said that, if the story does not take shape or is poorly written, the editors will be reluctant to put the story in the book because it’s their call and their editorial name at stake.  So when it comes to the book itself, votes will amount to nothing. We would urge you to do your best to write, and take this as an opportunity to learn how and build your influence, because if not today there’s always a tomorrow. We realize that many people across the world know of the GetPublished initiative and we don’t have a name for the book yet. This is BIG!

It’s about family…

IndiBlogger is a big family and we can call it that because thousands of bloggers have met with each other in our IndiBlogger events across India.  Some of you might know that your family and friends can interact with the GetPublished program as well through their FaceBook, Twitter and many other platforms. We hope that they are proud of your efforts so far.

One of our directives is to create a book that will come alive after it is published. This in effect means that the readers of the book can easily interact with the bloggers again with most social mediums through the IndiBlogger network. We are sure that many with similar experiences would relate to the stories and will definitely want to have their say as well, keeping everyone engaged.

The road ahead…

One of the biggest issues for authors today is not the publishing itself, but the marketing and raising awareness. Bestsellers weren’t born because someone published a book.  It’s getting the word out that really matters after that. We believe that the bloggers on IndiBlogger will have no such problems.  As long as there is a good story, IndiBlogger.in’s experience of executing over 100 successful IndiBlogging campaigns coupled with your insightful understanding of social media will send this rocket into space. I must say that there are some very gutsy stories in some of the entries that we have gone through so far. I for one am expecting the book to be “Saucy with a hint of Ice”!

A glimpse of the future…

The activities around the book are going to get more pronounced as the year matures. To start things off, GetPublished is going to feature in the Bangalore IndiBlogger meet on January 20^th, 2013 as part of HP’s interactive campaign to promote everything original including writing, products and supplies. There are many more activities planned through the year and we hope that you will jump in and give us some company through this long and IndiAwesome journey.

So the next time you look through a glass window of an airport bookshop, don’t be surprised if there is a book with your name on it.

Happy writing!

Anoop Johnson

Indian by Birth, Blogger by Choice

Write now

Posted by Renie on Jan 13, 2013 in Media, News | 0 comments

Hindustan Times, Mumbai, January 13, 2013

Be it through candid blog posts or publishing houses, the one thing every writer dreams of is to see their work being read by the rest of the world. And now, to aid this dream, HarperCollins India and blogging forum IndiBlogger are coming together, to launch a unique initiative that will give Indian bloggers a chance at getting their work published. The bloggers on the IndiBlogger.in network are being invited to share their experiences under the theme of real love stories, and the best that are shortlisted will be published by HarperCollins later this year.

Read the rest of this article here, and check out GetPublished now!

Indian Bloggers come together across the globe.

Posted by Renie on Sep 10, 2012 in Blogger Meets | 1 comment

Come September, Indian bloggers on opposite sides of the planet come together to celebrate blogging.

Mumbai | Register now

Vodafone & IndiBlogger bring you the most spectacular IndiBlogger meet yet, with Lewis Hamilton himself! Not only do you get to meet him, you could be one of the lucky IndiBloggers to get strapped in next to him while he does what he does best!

Those who attend the IndiBlogger Meet also get special passes to watch Lewis Hamilton race down the streets of Mumbai as he does donuts, wheel runs and more in the MP4-27 F1 race car.

When?
Sunday, 16th September, 2012 – 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM (Lunch and tea will be served)

Where?
The Grand Hyatt
Kalina, Santacruz East

New York City | Register now

Join IndiBlogger & celebrity chef Vikas Khanna at the first official IndiBlogger Meet in New York City!

The Junoon IndiBlogger Meet promises to be an amazing day of gourmet food & cocktails amidst the merry chatter of fellow bloggers.

When?
Sunday, 16th September, 2012 – 11:00 AM to 3:30 PM (Lunch and cocktails will be served)

Where?
Junoon
27 W 24TH ST
New York, NY 10010

Make Blog Not War – A Freedom of Expression Training for Bloggers

Posted by Renie on Feb 22, 2012 in Associations | 3 comments

It’s not easy for bloggers to get credible information about their online rights when it comes to freedom of speech and internet censorship. If you would like to have a better understanding of the situation in India as it stands now, and how it affects everyone of us directly, then head over to the Internet Democracy Project. They’re organizing a day-long training session on freedom of expression and censorship for bloggers on the 25th of February 2012 at New Delhi.

In the course of this day-long program, a mix of short lectures and more interactive sessions will take you through:
-       the history of censorship in India and its current status;
-       the legal framework regarding online censorship and the ways in which it may affect you;
-       debates on difficult questions such as where and how to draw the line where hate speech is concerned;
-       what to do if you are served a legal notice;
-       alternatives to censorship to fight problematic content;
and much more. Throughout the training, we will of course be paying particular attention to how all of this may affect your blog and yourself.

Read more about the project, and people behind it, and how you can support it here.

The IndiBlogger forum has a discussion amongst bloggers about internet censorship here.

Delhi Bloggers in the news

Posted by Vinni on Dec 7, 2011 in Media | 10 comments

The Delhi HP IndiBlogger Meet is scheduled for this weekend and the media has already expressed their enthusiasm. The Hindustan Times graciously did an eye-catching trend story on the blogging scenario in the National Capital Region.

We thank HT City for this wonderful story and specially Vaishali for putting the piece together.

Looking forward to meeting you all this weekend – it’s going to be one hell of a meet!