Starting a blog is the easy part. Keeping it going…and going…and going is what separates the good bloggers from the great ones.
Our interviewee today, Annette Nellen, is a tax professor and Director of the MS Taxation Program at San Jose State University. Just earlier this month, she celebrated the 18th anniversary of her blog, 21st Century Taxation.
How does she do it? What’s she learned?
Let’s get to it.
Why did you become a lawyer?
I thought about becoming a lawyer while in high school, but college led me to accounting. I thought the path that led me to become a CPA was enough, but I do enjoy going to school and gravitating to tax work made law school more intriguing. I went to law school at night while working and greatly enjoyed studying the law.
Why did you begin to publish?
I started writing articles while I was in public accounting. I enjoy research and writing and always learned a lot from digging deeper into primary authority that is required to write a tax article. Moving into full-time teaching, research and publishing are required but that’s fine with me. I try to write two to four articles a year in addition to updating textbooks I’m involved with and preparing materials for several conferences I might speak at during the year. I started blogging while I was a fellow with the New America Foundation over 15 years ago. My charge as a fellow was to get new ideas out to the public such as via op eds in newspapers. Blogging was emerging as another avenue and I launched the 21st Century Taxation Blog in 2007 and I continue to keep it going. Getting over 7,000 hits per month is motivating and encouraging.
What’s been most rewarding in legal publishing?
Hearing from readers and students who found an article or post helpful or who have an intriguing question. As an academic, I can spend a lot of time on tax policy matters which I greatly enjoy including sharing ideas and research with practitioners who often don’t have time to delve deeply into such matters. My blog and most of my writing for journals is focused on policy matters on how tax systems can be improved by reflecting how we live and do business today and to follow principles of good tax policy.
What’s been the greatest challenge in publishing?
Finding enough time! I have a long list of ideas and notes for future articles. Teaching, working with students, university activities, and a good deal of volunteer work with the tax sections of the AICPA, ABA and California Lawyers Association keep me busy, but these activities also often generate new ideas to research and write about – and I meet lots of interesting and knowledgeable colleagues..
What would you tell a law student or a lawyer out there on the fence about whether to join you as a publisher?
I think the study of law attracts people who like to research and write so that is a good starting point. If you are already delving deeply into a IRC section or part of one, you likely have a strong starting point for converting that learning into an article that will be of interest to fellow practitioners. Writing about a tax issue you’d like to know more about that will involve digging deeply into the statute, legislative history, regulations and court cases is a great learning experience and these activities can help you be recognized by peers and potential clients as an expert in an area.