Why and How To Blog A Book Rather Than Write It

In the past few months, the publishing world has seen an increase in the number of books hit the market that began on the internet as blogs. Yes, bloggers have turned into authors.



With the recent flurry of blogs turned into books, aspiring writers might want to consider blogging their books into existence. Lots of good reasons exist for choosing this way of getting your book into print-only one of which involves being discovered by an agent or publisher and landing a big advance.



Not sure if blogging a book would work for you? Consider the following 10 reason for doing so:



1. You can publish as you write.

2. You get exposure and build "platform."

3. It can give you expert status.

4. Your writing gets read.

5. You can test market your idea.

6. It's a daily writing commitment.

7. You get feedback on your writing.

8. It provides a method to make sure you complete your manuscript.

9. To show what you've got...but not all you've got

10. You and your blog might get discovered!



I created a blog, called How to Blog a Book, as a way to demonstrate the ease with which a writer can blog a nonfiction book. Fiction writers can use many of the same principles to blog novels as well; however, my expertise lies in writing, editing and publishing nonfiction books.



The "first draft" of just about 24,000 words-enough for a 100-page book-will be complete just five months later. I have a "secret" element I have left out and plan to add to the print version. I might self-publish this book, turn it into an e-book or choose to first produce a book proposal and see if I can find a traditional publisher to take it on-if it isn't discovered in the meantime.



The posts in the blog offer readers information on how they can write their own book via a blog. By reading the blog, they can follow me along as I blog my own book'a book about how to blog a book. The posts offer information based on my knowledge as a freelance nonfiction book editor, writing coach and publishing mentor who often works with aspiring writers on their nonfiction book proposals. In How to Blog a Book, I recommend that nonfiction writers who choose to blog a book go through what I call the proposal process to evaluate their blogged book idea. The steps for doing so are outlined in the blog, as are a variety of other necessary tools and tips for blogging.



Basically, though, to blog a book, you need just start publishing 200-300-word posts in your blog 3-5 times per week. In no time flat, you'll have a book written. Programs exists that will turn your blog into a book, but most of them end up looking just like your blog. If you plan on self-publishing your blog later, I suggest writing your posts in Microsoft Word, and then cutting and pasting them into your blog. In this way, you'll create a complete manuscript. Later you can drop this into a program like Adobe InDesign to layout your book for publication. If you plan on traditionally publishing, you just need to break you manuscript into chapters, create a book proposal and you can begin submitting to agents and publishers.





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Nina Amir is the author of the forthcoming book, How to Blog a Book, A Step-by-Step Guide for Writing & Publishing Your Manuscript on the Internet, a speaker, and a writing and publishing coach and mentor. Hire her to help you move past your fear and frustration with the publishing process and reach your dream of publishing your work. Get a Blog Analysis Guide by subscribing to her newsletter at http://www.copywrightcommunications.com .