Personally, I can’t go a day without visiting Marverous, which is a 2-author blog (some use the widely popular term “Coblog”) written by an overwhelmingly charming couple who live in Tennessee. The writing of said blog is second only to water in terms of sustaining my day-to-day enjoyment of the life I live on this green earth, and the typography and layout can only be described as “scrumtulescent.” I have a separate RSS reader solely devoted to their feed, and I always view it in its own browser window so its purity isn’t tainted by the rest of the internet. 5/5 A++++ recommended!
Does http://www.lifehacker.com count? A multi author blog (in my mind) works when it shows (1) a collaborate effort on something or (2) different perspectives on the same thing. So for instance, a blog written by a design team, showing their progress – you get a fuller picture of how they work if you are hearing from everyone. Or, it could be a blog on graphic design where multiple authors discuss a daily theme or critique a design, something like that.
I read a few. Sometimes the posting frequency is too much on some of them. Like Lifehacker, way too much coming through the RSS every day. It’s a battle just to clean them out.
FreelanceSwitch is decent. SmashingMagazine is a standard. Several others that I can’t think of right now.
Are you thinking of inviting amateurs to be a part of the blankenship empire?
No, this would be a separate project.
The Big Noob and svn (37signals) are the only mult-author blogs I seem to frequent regularly. But I don’t know if you can count svn since all of its authors are in the same company and speak with a collective voice. As for The Big Noob, I think it works because it’s built around some known & unique online personalities. It’s also a simple variety link/interest blog, so I doubt they have to spend much time coordinating any topics or posts behind the scenes.
Big Noob, Coudal Partners, You Work For Them, Armstrong Family Circus and then the music blogs like Daytrotter, Brooklyn Vegan, La Blogotheque and Catbirdseat among others…. Oh yeah, some of the tech blogs to like TUAW, Engadget & Gizmodo.
I love multi-author blogs. Blogs are about content and I want blogs with bunches of it. I think the key is if the authors share the same vision but have different voices. Bear in mind too, that only Paul’s family blog is a personal blog, the others are industry/topical blogs. Well, I guess the Noob is kind of personal too, but not too personal.
Maybe I’m so pro multi-author blog because this year I’m gonna be launching one. Hopefully it will work out.
When I was part of an MFA in creative non-fiction program, the mantra was this: be interesting. Cute, funny, hip, all that comes second.
Taking an approach similar to newspaper columnists could be beneficial, too. Stagger your articles. Don’t jump on top of one another.
I was introduced to friendswithmanagers by you so you probably have that on your list already…I dig the simplicity even though there’s three contributors.
It’s Nice That is…nice too.
I like it when cobloggers refer to one another in their posts, respond to each other frequently in comments and even occasionally post conversations between each other. All that to say – more than reading different people’s perspectives on one blog, I enjoy seeing them interact. Kind of like a sitcom. That sounded creepy.
I’m a fan of that Armstrong Circus blog — so silly. But then not. I do love the Daigle blog; I read it often. I’ve read FwM for a long time. I also read some friends the D-Train. I know Lard/Lloyd is toying with the idea (which would be fantastic)
I take it that there’s a Blankenbee blogenship coming?
Would this involve raping?
Joshua,
I read a couple of multi-author blogs and write on one. A couple of multi author blogs I read are http://www.neatorama.com and http://www.mondaymorninginsight.com. I find that many of the multi-author blogs out there tend to be link blogs to interesting stuff rather than original works.
The multi-author blog I started is for small group leaders and pastors. You can find it at http://www.smallgrouphelp.com
Great work Joshua. I have been following your blog for a couple of months and I am enjoying your stuff.
About The Author
I'm a graphic designer and sometimes writer living in Anderson, South Carolina. I serve as the Design Director for NewSpring Church. I love Jesus, my wife, Levi's Jeans, good Tex-Mex, and 8oz glass bottle Coca-Cola Classic. On good days I love them roughly in that order. Email me.
Which Multi-Author Blogs Work?
Thu 04/03/08
Do you read any multi-author blogs? What works about them and keeps you coming back? What makes you curse under your breath? Is there an ideal multi-author blog for you?