I love reading. There are times when a quote in a book is so stellar that I just have to share it with all my loyal blog readers. And besides its quick and can help you be a daily blogger. To add to the appeal, linking to the quoted book can even lead to getting commission from Amazon. This means more books…which means more quotes…which means more…
So sharing the occasional quote seems like a great practice. And it might be…but can I share a secret?
I very seldom read your blog entry when it is just a quote from a book. I’m sure it’s phenomenal and with a sensational title you might have even tricked me into clicking on it, but the second I see it’s a lengthy quote I turn my eyes.
This Is Why
Imagine that you received a compelling invitation in the mail to come to my house. In the invitation I tell you that I’m going to be talking about life and ministry. You show up because you like the topic and want to hear what I have to say on the topic.
When you arrive at the party you discover that I won’t be speaking much at all. Instead some other guy is sharing a little piece from his new book. All I really did was give a bit of an intro to the guy and then told you to buy his book.
I imagine you left my party feeling a bit ripped off. Sure you might have learned a bit if you stuck around, but you’re so disappointed that you can hardly focus. You came to my place to hear my thoughts and I didn’t deliver the goods.
Of course every analogy breaks down at some point, but this is what I feel whenever I click on an article only to find that its just a quote from a book. If I wanted to read some other guys book I’d have pointed my browser to Amazon. I came to your house and I feel a bit short-changed.
Maybe This Will Work
Having sad all of that I’ve got several articles in my archives that are just quotes. I’m guilty of this…but I’ve been doing something else lately. It’s a bit more work but I think it better serves my readers.
When I find a wonderful quote I try to build a story around it. I introduce the quote just like I would in a sermon. And I interact with the quote and try to help the readers see how it has been beneficial in my own life. This way it doesn’t feel like you’ve come to my house to hear another dude speak.
If I come to your house I’ve come to see you. That’s all I’m saying…
But you did listen to some of the lyrics from “that” country song (even though it pained you). Good friend, indeed! 🙂
Good thoughts, Mike. Seems like you’ve described my unconscious feelings toward the same posts (although I still do them every couple of weeks)… I’ve found your tactic of interacting with the quote to sometimes fuel an entire article. It’s amazing when you’re in the “zone” how something like a small quote will open the floodgates to great ideas and how a post can just write itself.