Lawyer, Author, Blogger, Literary Agent - AMA Forum

[Keith Lee]

I run one of the most popular legal blogs in the US for new lawyers.

My first book was released yesterday.

Lots of people like it.

I also act as a literary agent, exclusively to the legal industry.

Thought maybe some people here would be interested since I've had a fairly different career track than your typical law student.

Ask me (almost) anything.

[Kafkaesquire]

I run one of the most popular legal blogs in the US for new lawyers.

My first book was released yesterday.

Lots of people like it.

I also act as a literary agent, exclusively to the legal industry.

Thought maybe some people here would be interested since I've had a fairly different career track than your typical law student.

Ask me (almost) anything.

What motivates you?

[Keith Lee]

What motivates you?

Fun? I really like my job. I'm fired up to go into the office everyday.

[Kafkaesquire]

What motivates you?

Fun? I really like my job. I'm fired up to go into the office everyday.

Is your career some fortuitous happy ending, or did you persist in going to law school to pursue it?

[Keith Lee]

Is your career some fortuitous happy ending, or did you persist in going to law school to pursue it?

Fortuitous combined with lots of hard work. Like 95% of other people, I went to law school to be a lawyer. Not for some farcical, "expand my horizons" bullshit that many law professors like to spout off. While in my last year at law school I started my blog, which grew very quickly. I had attracted such a sizable audience that a publisher came to me and asked me to write a book for them.

Through blogging, I had also made relationships with lawyers across the country. Once I had wrapped up my manuscript, I began to reach out to other lawyers/bloggers who were interested in writing books, and so began my literary agent career. So on the surface it might seem rather fortuitous, but as the saying goes "luck favors the prepared." My blog requires a significant amount of time every week to maintain. Whereas someone else might have a hobby that occupies their free time - I write. Blog or books. It's lots of work, but as I said, I think it's fun so I don't really mind.

[LAWYER2]

I just created a contemporary legal issues blog discussing novel legal issues that affect everyday people. My question is, where do you find inspiration, content and interesting subjects to write about? Any tips for growing readers and followers? Do you write for a legally trained audience or for laypersons?

[Hipster but Athletic]

Do you read top-law-schools.com/forums regularly? Are you authorized to participate in the lawyers only part of the website? I am not, because I am not a lawyer --but still, I am wondering if you use any of what's posted there when writing associate's mind?

Also, how much money do you make from your blog? If you don't want to be specific, I am just curious if you could support yourself happily on just that money, or just a side project from your law work for fun.

Also, how much money do you anticipate you will make from your book?

[Hipster but Athletic]

I am also curious --with such little content on your website, how exactly have you established yourself as one of the most popular legal blogs? And I guess my next question is, since you are one of the most popular legal blogs, do you think that adding more content would be beneficial? You seem to only publish a single article every few days --personally, this would be frustrating to me, and I would think that you've got sort of a strange operation going on, and I'd move on to other sites and would maybe check back once a week (at most) to catch up on the two articles I've missed... but apparently, it hasn't frustrated most, since you're one of the most popular legal blogs despite the lack of content.

[Keith Lee]

I just created a contemporary legal issues blog discussing novel legal issues that affect everyday people. My question is, where do you find inspiration, content and interesting subjects to write about? Any tips for growing readers and followers? Do you write for a legally trained audience or for laypersons?

RE: Finding stuff to write about. I have a very, very full RSS reader. I follow around 100ish news sources and blogs. The most time consuming part of having a blog is not the writing part but keeping up with the industry.

RE: Getting readers. Consistency is key. Not that you have to post everyday, or even on a M/W/F schedule, but putting something up on a weekly basis is big. Also interact with other bloggers. Comment freely on their blogs, build relationships with them. You should look at building an audience as a slow burn.

RE: Audience. I write for lawyers. We're not allowed to link directly to blogs here, but it's called Associate's Mind. Search for it and it will be the top result. I cover professional development, trends, legal issues, etc.

[Keith Lee]

Do you read top-law-schools.com/forums regularly?

I probably skim through about once a week.

Are you authorized to participate in the lawyers only part of the website? I am not, because I am not a lawyer --but still, I am wondering if you use any of what's posted there when writing associate's mind?

Nope. Didn't even know there was one! I'll check into it. I don't really use anything from TLS on my blog.

Also, how much money do you make from your blog? If you don't want to be specific, I am just curious if you could support yourself happily on just that money, or just a side project from your law work for fun.

I write because I like to write. That's it. I've never tried to monetize the blog. That being said, it has dramatically raised my profile in a short amount of time. I get speaking arrangements, committee positions, etc. because of it. Which has in turn gotten our firm clients. So, it does generate money I suppose, but in a roundabout way.

Also, how much money do you anticipate you will make from your book?

No clue! I'm not terribly concerned about it. As I said, I write because I like it. The fact that people will pay money for it is icing on the cake.

I am also curious --with such little content on your website, how exactly have you established yourself as one of the most popular legal blogs? And I guess my next question is, since you are one of the most popular legal blogs, do you think that adding more content would be beneficial? You seem to only publish a single article every few days --personally, this would be frustrating to me, and I would think that you've got sort of a strange operation going on, and I'd move on to other sites and would maybe check back once a week (at most) to catch up on the two articles I've missed... but apparently, it hasn't frustrated most, since you're one of the most popular legal blogs despite the lack of content.

Man, I'm way too busy to post daily. Outside of places like Abovethelaw, Lawyerist, etc., most legal blogs post very infrequently. Like once a week or every other. I try to post 2-3 times a week, which is what fits my schedule.

Also, most people just subscribe - either via RSS or by email. I highly recommend using a RSS reader. If I had to physically visit every site that I read via RSS it would take up half my day.