Post date: Sep 30, 2010 9:49:5 AM
Are You Ready to Blog a Book?
Anyone can blog or become a blogger. No one and nothing stops
you from opening a free (Yes, free.) account with a site like
Wordpress.com or Blogger.com a beginning to blog.
However, not anyone can blog a whole book. To blog a whole
book you must have the ability to write a whole book. This
entails being able to conceptualize a complete book,
organize the book and carry out the concept from start to
finish—in this case in short, targeted posts
written—and published on the Internet—on a
regular basis.
Anyone who can write and has writing worth reading can blog.
(Actually, lots of people who have little to write about and
no writing worth reading have blogs, blog and call
themselves bloggers.) However, the same rules apply to
blogging a book as do to writing any other nonfiction book
(or work of fiction for that matter). After all, even though
you are composing your book post by post in cyberspace, you
still are writing a book. Therefore, you must have a great,
salable idea with a big enough market to make it worth
writing.
You also need to know you have enough information to fill a
book (a minimum of 20,000-30,000 words, which equates to an
80-100-page book) rather than enough to fill an article.
Additionally, you need to be—or to become—the
expert on your topic. (In some cases, this can be done
simply by blogging and blogging well.) Plus, your blog/book
must offer value to readers, or no one will show up more
than once to read it.
If you and your subject matter meet all these criteria, you
are ready and able to blog a book. If you don't, you can
still blog. You just may not want to blog a book. Nothing
stops anyone, however, from blogging or from blogging a
book. Anyone can register a blog and begin blogging with the
intention of eventually completing a book manuscript.
If you want to blog a book, though, I suggest you approach
this endeavor like any other book project. This means
putting aside your writer's hat and putting on your business
person's hat before you begin your book project. This allows
you to look at the big picture of both your blog and your
blogged book. Only when you do this can you decide if it is
a viable business proposition.
So, ask yourself this question: Are you willing to approach
your blogged book like a business person or only like a
writer?
If you answered, "Like a writer," maybe you should consider
you blog as your daily writing practice instead of as a book
project. If you said, "As a business person,"
congratulations. You've joined the ranks of the most
successful nonfiction writers because in this day and age
successful nonfiction writer must also be savvy business
people.
A businessperson asks these questions about a blogged book:
Is my topic unique? Does what I have to say add value? Is
there a market for this book? Who are my readers? What is my
competition? How will I position myself in the market? What
will I include in my blogged book? How will I organize the
book (and, thereby, my blog)?
Are you really willing to delve into these questions and
find the answers? If you answered "yes," and you have met
the criteria mentioned above, then you are ready to consider
blogging a book.
About the Author:
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, which DanPoynter (The
Self-Publishing Manual) says "provides the plan for
producing both the blog and a book that agents, publishers
and readers will notice." Subscribe to Nina's newsletter at
http://www.copywrightcommunications.com and receive 10 tips
on how to blog your book FAST!