As it gets harder and harder for aspiring authors to get their books picked up by traditional publishing houses, more and more bloggers are finding publishers simply coming to them with contracts in hand. If you keep up with books at all, you know that agents and publishers have picked up several author's blogs and made them into books since about 2005. For example, Julia & Julia, PostSecret and Stuff White People Like all appeared as blogs before they became books. Of course, Julia & Julia also became a hit movie.
For this reason, I decided to begin blogging a book about how to blog a successful book?a book that might be found by an agent or acquisitions editor trolling the Internet for publishable fodder.
When asked why I would even consider blogging a book about how to blog a book I replied, "I'm doing it because blogging a book represents a great idea." It's true! In the Internet Age?and given the current state of traditional publishing?writers have to become more creative. They have to take their careers into their own hands. They have to become their own PR representatives and promotion and marketing directors. They have to start their own publishing companies. They have to take advantage of the current technology.
I wants to encourage other writers to begin blogging their books. Even if their books aren't discovered, doing so provides a great way to actually get a book written. I started blogging a book that I'll complete in less than four months. I never write more than about 500 words per day; on average my posts have only 200-300 words.
Plus, the price is right. Some bloggers may choose to have a hosted blog, paying about $100 per year. Others may start out with a free blog, which means their start up cost is zilch! And each time they hit the "publish" button on their blogging software (which is free), they self-publish content for free.
Additionally, if a blogger writes good copy and promotes the blog well, he or she might actually gain more readers than with a traditionally published book. One of my blogs, gets about 1,750 unique visitors per month. Other bloggers get millions of readers per month, but if I published a traditional book, I wouldn't likely sell 100 books in a month. The average nonfiction book sells between 250 and 1,000 copies in its lifetime, let alone in a year. I reach more readers with my blog than I would with a book in a bookstore. That's a great reason for any aspiring author or writer to want to blog a book or simply to blog.
Blogs constitute one of the best ways to build the coveted writer's platform. In the past, going out and speaking to audiences provided writers with that platform. Today, you can build one from the comfort of your home. I'm not saying that a writer's platform doesn't benefit from some talks given here and there; it does. However, a blog read by thousands of people each day goes a long way towards impressing a publisher or selling your self-published book.
Author Resource:
Nina Amir is a speaker, author, writing and publishing coach, and blogs at http://www.howtoblogabook.com . Aspiring authors hire Amir to help them move past their fear and frustration about the publishing process so they can reach their dreams of getting their work onto paper and into print. For information on hiring her as a coach or a speaker, or on her other services, visit http://www.copywrightcomunications.com or write to cpywrtcom@aol.com.
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