Mommy Blogs & Professional Jealousy

There are two blogs I read on a semi-regular basis that I’ve never linked to here. The first is Tracy’s Baby Story at Today’s Parent. Tracy Chapelle is the editor of the parenting magazine’s online edition who is writing about her own transformation to motherhood.

The second is Andrea Gordon, parenting editor of the Toronto Star.
Both of these bloggers are great writers.

Why have I been holding back? Professional jealousy.

When I started this blog in January, it was not for completely altruistic reasons.

Sure, I had to do research to manage my own recovery from childbirth and thought I would share the results with other new mothers. That said, I was also worried about losing my edge as a writer by being on maternity leave. Freelance writing, while I have done it for a long time now, is terribly insecure work in terms of both income and audience share. I wanted to be both obsessed with my baby and get on with working.

As a tech journalist, I felt a responsibility to try all forms of internet-mediated writing. When blogs weren’t quite as widespread, I’d written an award-winning manifesto explaining why I read them as an alternative perspective in addition to big media. At the time, bloggers were shaking up our perceptions of the news story and readers were looking to them for their original take on daily issues.

Now that the blogosphere is so crowded (I think every reader of Babylune is another blogger), blogs associated with established brands like Todays Parent and the Toronto Star are natural places for readers,who are just overwhelmed with choice, to turn.

Plus, writers like Gordon and Chapelle have the business resources of large organisations behind them. That doesn’t leave me, a new and independent voice with a start up network, with a lot room to build an audience or hope of generating much of an income from this blog – both thoughts that are contrary to the very spirit of blogging.
Both blogs I’ve been too jealous to link to feature thoughtful, sensitive writing that, I think, is probably very helpful to new mothers.

Sorry to hold back on you.