The key statement in Dave’s commentary on Meg’s piece for me is the following:

“If they do it as a sideline, as the Macromedia bloggers do, a labor of love, somehow I trust that more than if maintaining a weblog is their job. “

I suppose that the degree to which this is true is the degree to which the weblogger is perceived to have “voice” (in the Cluetrain sense,  in other words,  isn’t giving themselves away by whitewashing the product or service with hype).   The more open the weblog is with allowing criticisms or pointing out flaws or pitfalls in the product or service,  the more authenticity comes across.  With many religious publishers,  a variety of resources are sold through the one channel,  and therefore room exists for some good comparisons.  The effective “brokering” of resources for religious communities can surely do so with a display of passion and enthusiasm for enabling the readers to find appropriate material,  or good coverage of certain topics.

More thoughts on “Religious Publishing that Sells”….