What Would Ben Franklin Do?

What would Ben Franklin do? July has turned out to be an exciting and stressful month.

I am traveling a lot: I visited Bermuda at the start of the month and I just came home from the SHEAR conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. Next week, I am off to Podcast Movement, the national podcasting conference, in Fort Worth, Texas.

On the home front, I am working a LOT.

Ben Franklin's World: A Podcast About Early American History continues to do well, it just surpassed 225,000 downloads. It has also started to grow in ways that I hadn't anticipated. I must create plans to handle this growth. (I promise to explain once my plans are in place.)

I am also trying to find time to work on my book. Yes, I am still working on turning my dissertation into a book and I really want to finish it so I can start my next research project.

With all of this going on, I need to find more time. Which brings me to my new mantra: What would Ben Franklin do?

I am confident that Ben would cut all non-essentials from his schedule and focus on finding an apprentice and funding for his publication.

Therefore, I will not be posting "Book of the Week" or roundup posts until I can figure out how to outsource more podcast work. I have a couple of plans to find/attract funding. I promise to share these ideas soon.

Additionally, my posting on this blog will likely be a bit more sporadic over the next few months, or perhaps not. I have several posts in my draft queue. They cover topics such as 18-Second History: How Historians Can Use Clammr to Spread History & Promote Their Work; Podcast Workflow; Crowdsource Funding Your Digital History Project; How to Tweet a Conference Panel; To Conference or Not to Conference; and Tick-Tock the Academic Publishing Clock.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

Announced: History Communication Twitter Chat No. 2

Jason Steinhauer released details about the second History Communication or #histcomm twitter chat.

When: Friday, July 24, at 1pm EST Duration: 30 - 40 minutes Hashtag to Follow: #HistComm

Questions for Chat

1. How has history communication evolved to meet the needs of today’s digital audience?

2. On which networks (Facebook, Twitter) are you most likely to seek out history info? Least likely?

3. Which history accounts do you follow that deliver excellent social content?

4. What historical subjects do the history accounts you follow cover? Which do they omit?

5. Which non-historical accounts are doing great work on social media? How can historians learn from them?

6. What is a history project you’re working on/excited about?

I'm on Vacation

It's vacation time! Given that I planned last year's hectic "French and Indian War Tour," Tim decided that this year's vacation required a bit less history and a lot less to do, so we have gone to Bermuda.

Our trip to Bermuda will be an "internet-free" vacation. We agreed that we will not post to social media, check our e-mail, or turn on our smartphones, except for taking pictures.

Aside from a planned snorkeling trip, we have made no plans.

Well, that's not entirely true. I plan to read.

I have been stashing all of my magazines and several books I want to read into small duffle bag The New Yorker sent me. I am sure I won't finish them all, but I would like to break my record of 7 books read, which I accomplished when we went to the Dominican Republic.

I hope to return to blogging sometime the week of July 6, 2015.

American History Twitter Chat Survey

Do you love to talk about history? Would you love the opportunity to mingle with potential readers of your books and articles?

Let's start a Twitter Chat about American History!

The chat will be a place where people who love American history can talk about it and a space where non-historians and historians can interact with each other. The goal of the chat is to create a bridge between the world of professional historians and the history-loving public.

Interacting with people who love history can help you find out what historical topics interest them, what questions readers have, as well as help you gain some notice and build your platform.

If you are interested in participating in a Twitter Chat about American History, please take this brief survey. It won't take you more than 2-3 minutes.