The Book: The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging by the HuffPost Editors

I had to go to three bookstores to find it and then place a telephone order at Borders to make sure I got one of the two copies Borders had.

Being an avid public library user and placing many bestsellers on reserve, it’s a rarity that I buy a book for myself but once I heard Arianna on Jon Stewart I rushed right out to get it.

Upon reading the first 50 pages I deemed it something to be digested in an hour but I soon discovered it contains far more with good recommendations on building traffic and one of the best chapters, the history of the creation of the Huffington Post.

Starting a blog is outlined in thorough detail with everything you need to know to begin. Free ways to count traffic are listed. The importance of providing background and identification of a blogger is stressed. The best blogs are named. The changing medium of the news business is described.

The layout is designed for “non-readers” (the younger generation which does not read anything longer than ingredients on cereal boxes, I think) with a horizontal format, huge margins almost the width of each line of type, bigger type size than most, and shaded boxed copy reserved for tidbits by HuffPost contributors. It all suggests one of the “Dumber” books: “Blogging for Dummies.” (Is that out yet?)

An index and headshots of the contributors would have added a lot but would have raised the price ($15.00).

Some of the best parts are the history of blogging, HuffPost humor, covering the 2008 election, the frequent “how tos”scattered throughout the book by HuffPost bloggers (Mayhill Fowler, Jason Linkins, David Weiner, ) how Arianna’s persistence broke the Judy Miller cover-up and the mediocrity of the New York Times, Mel Gibson’s arrest and the aftermath. The tip to and post by Weiner about the McCain recipe plagiarism is a riot and worth the price of the book alone. So many times I laughed out loud while reading.

The growing reputation and credibility of the Huffington Post unfolds with no boasting by the editors making me realize how many stories it does break.

The writing style is quick and fast but not demeaning; more sophisticated than a typical newspaper or news magazine but at a lower level than the New York Times or Wall Street Journal. Really, for 15 bucks it’s a great value with lots of suggestions and tips on shooting to the blogging top.