Here are a few basic instructions and some mandatory inclusions:
1.) Agree to a carnival hosting date.
2.) Blog a "content call" entry at least one week prior to your hosting date in your blog (this announces your upcoming carnival and requests carnival submissions from your readers).
3.) Begin your carnival with a personal introduction. Avoid making your carnival simply a list of links. Do not rely on the Insta-Carnival supplied by Blog Carnival as a format for your carnival. In other words: simply copying-and-pasting the InstaCarnival and posting it without editing it to reflect your personality is BORING! Write your carnival conversational. The idea is to make your carnival interesting for your visitors. Allow your unique personality to add a special touch to it. Have fun!
4.) Assure you have links to at least five or six different blogs. This means that if there are not enough submissions received to fulfill this obligation, the carnival host is expected to find some interesting healing-focused links to use in the carnival on his own.
5.) No more than two links should be given to any blog per carnival.
6.) Include a link to the previous week's carnival.
7.) Include a link to the blog of upcoming week's carnival host.
8.) Include a link to the carnival archive page - http://healing.about.com/od/community/a/carnival.htm
9.) The "subject line" or "title" of your blog entry must include the name "Carnival of Healing" and # of the carnival you are hosting (see example a) optionally, you can include a subtitle of your choosing (see example b).
- Acceptable Title Examples:
a.) Carnival of Healing #4
b.) Carnival of Healing #7: Different Perspectives
11.) Be sure to test all your links to make sure they are all working.
12.) Email me at healing@about.com or spiral@spiralvisions.com to let me know your carnival has been published so I can promote it at About Holistic Healing.
Note: Review these two past carnivals as a general guideline on how to present a good carnival. Optional: Send trackbacks to the blogs you have featured in your carnival. For blogs that don't accept trackbacks consider posting a comment on the blog to inform bloggers that you have linked them from your blog to theirs.
What Not To Blog: Avoid blogging submissions that appear to be primarily "self-promotional" in nature. The carnival is meant to be an information resource not a free advertisement avenue. If a carnival submission is a sales pitch for a product or fee-based service, forget it. Remember, the carnival is being hosted on your blog. Since you're the owner - you get to decide what types of links you are comfortable with posting in your carnival.
If you are interested in hosting an edition of The Carnival of Healing on your blog please fill out this easy application form.
