If you’ve been reading my column, Mama-Rama, in the Lansing State Journal’s publication NOISE (and for a time, in the Greenville, SC LINK) for the last four-almost-five years, you may be wondering what became of it. Unfortunately, due to cutbacks at NOISE, the column (along with a lot of other content and sadly, some great staff) got the axe.
So that leads to the question: now what? In many ways, my blog is like an extension of my column anyway, and it’s not going anywhere. So if you’re a loyal reader and you’re experiencing withdrawl, you can check in here a few times a week to hear me give my take on modern parenting.
But, I’d like to continue my column in a more official way, too. Given the state of newspaper publishing at the moment, that may mean approaching websites, regional parenting publications, or maybe even moving to a new format (Mama-Rama on the radio?). I’ve also been toying with the idea of publishing the best of my 200+ existing columns into book format.
If you’ve found this post because you were a reader of Mama-Rama and would like to see it live on–or even if you never read my newspaper column but would like to hear more from me–tell me: what format sounds most appealing to you? Would you buy Mama-Rama: the book? Would you listen to the essays read out loud? Would you click through on a regular basis to read me on another website?
Looking forward to hearing what you think! And, as always, thanks for your support and for being such a great audience over the last four-plus years. I’ll really miss being in the NOISE!
Hmmm… Hearing the columns read might be interesting. Maybe you could try a podcast at first and see how it’s received. After that, you could float them to NPR…
Sorry you’re column was dropped. I’m not in your area, so I didn’t know of it, but I know it’s a loss. I vote for publishing your column in a way that reaches a wider audience: i.e. website, podcast, book (one or all of the above).
Hey - I’m so sorry about this…I like Clayton’s idea - podcast and NPR - go for it!!!!!
Sorry to hear about your column. That’s a bummer. I think you have a few distinct ideas here, all good. Your past columns, bundled, would make a great book. Continuing the column elsewhere would give you an expanded platform. And the whole podcast thing is definitely interesting. Probably a bit of a different audience with some cross-over. Go for it!
Thanks for the ideas so far, everyone…keep ‘em coming!
As for the podcast thing–I am so intrigued by this, but I’m curious: do people really listen to podcasts? I do once in a while, but often just plain forget to download & listen.
Another option might be approaching a local radio station and trying to build an audience that way (maybe combined with a podcast). I’m in a smallish town now, so getting into radio may actually be pretty accessible.
I won’t drop the book idea, either. I’ve got so much content needing a permanent home!