Since 43 Folders launched three years ago, I’ve been thrilled and humbled by the insight that readers, commenters, and the occasional guest blogger have brought to this modest undertaking. And I’ve regretted that it’s been a little clunky to properly share those insights with the same authority and promotion as your hapless author’s contributions. Well, I think we’re about to get better at that.

As I said when we relaunched, one of my favorite things about our site’s nifty new brain is the ability for our readers to participate more actively in contributing to the site. Partly that means integrating forum posts into the mix alongside proper blog posts (yeah, I know the new UI for the forum really sucks; we’re working on that), and partly that means providing more options for viewing comments and subscribing to the topics that most appeal to you.

But the biggest change, and the one I want to highlight today, is that I’m now opening up the corner office to a very select group of folks whose work I particularly enjoy and who I want to make sure everyone here gets to learn about. To wit, I’m slowly (and very deliberately) offering top-notch writers, thinkers, and Friends of the Folders their own 43f blog.

The authors who get those keys will be permitted and encouraged to post A+ writing that they want to share with you any time that it suits them. As these folks add new posts, you can always view their work at “http://www.43folders.com/blog/USER-NAME”, ala http://www.43folders.com/blog/merlin-mann. You’ll also notice that, in the right rail of most pages, there’s a little block showing “Recent 43f Blog Posts.” That’s my stuff and their stuff, too.

Important Thing: non-Merlin posts (like all forum posts) will not automatically be promoted to the home page (nor to the main RSS feed) — I will be hand-selecting the stuff I think deserves extra attention. I want to really be clear that this is not intended as a way to shovel a bunch of extra junk into your life every morning. I do think this change will broaden the topics and opinions that appear here in a way that most of you will really enjoy. We’ll have to just wait and see.

While I’m not considering requests for new bloggers right now, I really encourage anyone who’s interested in getting one some day to keep posting great stuff to the forum, and to keep up the swell comments on other folks’ posts. If you rock, I will notice you, and don’t be surprised if you get an offer to have a blog. If you totally rule. But this will not be the Oklahoma Land Run, so don’t pack your Conestoga just yet.

If non-Merlin posts are not your bag, remember you can always subscribe to just my stuff (as well as lots of other “just this” stuff). It’s important to me that I maintain an editorial voice and that the site not turn into one of those lamentable destinations where bleary-eyed barkeeps shovel stale peanuts into your bowl all day long in a vain attempt to keep you on your stool. That’s not what I’m here for, and it’s sure as shit not what you’re here for.

So watch this space over the next few weeks. We have some amazing folks working on their first posts, and I’m looking forward to hearing what you think of ‘em once they start punching the clock.