Renton Neighbors: Won't You Be Our Blogger?

Renton Patch is not a newspaper — it is so much more. It’s your community commons, your town square. It’s the place where you take a passeggiata and talk to your neighbors. It’s where you come to tell the community what is on your mind.

We welcome blogs on health, food, schools, business, the arts, technology, environmental issues, politics — you name it, we want to help you share your thoughts on it! And candidates, we invite you to blog as well (No mudslinging allowed, but blog as a way to communicate directly with the voters on the subjects you feel are most important to Renton).

So come and be a part of the online community, let your voice be heard as a blogger on Renton Patch.

This isn't a reporting job. It's blogging. You write what you want to say when you want to say it and do it on your own schedule. You can post once a month, once a week, even every day if you wish. It's up to you!

Patch won't own what you post, so you can repost your entries to and from your Wordpress and Tumblr account. Much like The Huffington Post has done, Patch is providing local bloggers an online platform to have their words seen by a larger audience.

We will review blog entries on Renton Patch to ensure there are no libelous claims and to avoid obvious typos, but we won't change your content because your voice has a right to be heard.

If you're interested in learning more about blogging on Patch, submit an application here and tell us a little about yourself. To read posts by the great bloggers who already are contributing to Sammamish-Issaquah Patch, check out our Local Voices section.

Once you're given blogging rights, follow these guidelines to upload your first blog:

1. Log In to Patch.
2. Select "Blog Central" from the tool bar (It will be on the far right).
3. Click "Write a New Blog Post."
4. Select the template. Use "Standard" if you're writing a post, or use "Media" if you are only uploading a photo, video or PDF.
5. Write a compelling title that will attract readers to your blog.
6. Type the body of your post (I'd recommend doing this in a word document first and then cut-and-past the text into the online text box). 
7. Add hyperlinks to articles you mention, websites you talk about or to your other blogs.
8. Select the "ABC check mark" button to make sure you've spelled everything correctly.
9. Write a brief description about what you just wrote. IE: 10 steps on how to make vegetarian lasagna.
10. Upload a photo or video, if you'd like.

And you're set. After selecting "Save & Preview" at the very bottom of the blog form, the editor of the site will receive an alert that a new blog post has been submitted. He or she will then review the entry and post it. If you write something compelling or of great public interest, your blog might even be featured in the top spot on the homepage.

So how about it? Won't you be our next Renton Patch blogger?