Please Don’t Blog Your Book: 4 Reasons Why

It’s been a inclination ever since I worked full-time arsenic a book acquisitions editor: Blog-to-book deals. I acquired aliases oversaw nan publication of much than a twelve bloggers-turned-book-authors. Sometimes it translated into book sales, sometimes not.

Point is: I cognize that blogs tin lead to book deals.

However, I want you to deliberation doubly earlier you determine this is your path. Here are 4 reasons why.

1. Blog penning is not nan aforesaid arsenic book writing.

Blog posts, to unrecorded up to their form, should beryllium optimized for online reading. That intends being alert of keywords/SEO, existent events/discussions, celebrated online bloggers successful your area, plus—most importantly—including ocular and interactive contented (comments, images, multimedia, links).

It seems almost silly to person to authorities it, but blogging (as a shape of writing) holds tremendous merit connected its own. Writers who ask, “Can I blog to get a book deal?” astir apt deliberation of nan blog arsenic a lesser shape of writing, simply a conveyance to thing “better.” No. A blog has its ain reasons for being, and blogs do not aspire to go books if they are genuinely written arsenic blogs.

Never usage a blog arsenic a dumping crushed for worldly that’s already been written for nan people medium—or for book publication—without immoderate information for nan creation of nan blog.

2. Blogs tin make for very bad books.

If you dump your blog contented into a book without immoderate further improvement aliases editing, I’m consenting to stake it will beryllium a bad book (unless, of course, you wrote nan book first and divided it into blog posts!).

It’s existent that galore bloggers connection a compendium of their champion writings arsenic an e-book, for nan convenience of their readers, aliases repurpose their blog contented successful a useful aliases imaginative way. That’s not what I’m talking about.

I’m talking astir deficiency of imagination for really nan contented ought to look successful print, aliases really it ought to complement, extend, aliases disagree from nan online version. How tin nan contented use from a people presentation? How does it get enhanced aliases go much typical aliases valuable?

To springiness a mates examples:

• Kawaii Not (a book that I oversaw publication for): This is an online animation that was adapted into a spiral, stand-up book, pinch perforations astatine nan apical of each page. The book was tremendously functional: Cartoons could beryllium easy torn disconnected and fixed to someone. We besides included stickers.
• Soul Pancake: This is simply a colorful activity-like book, based connected nan galore questions and discussions that hap astatine a tract of nan aforesaid name. If you were to comparison nan tract and nan book, you would decidedly find nan aforesaid themes, styles, and sensibilities. However, nan acquisition of nan book and nan acquisition of nan tract are 2 very different things!

I must admit, though, overmuch depends connected nan genre/category of what’s being written/published. For instance, erstwhile it comes to a book that’s illustration-driven, location whitethorn beryllium little difference betwixt what’s posted online and what goes into nan book. But that’s a book that sells based connected its visuals, not its writing!

3. It’s much difficult for communicative useful to get picked up arsenic book deals.

This is simply a generalization, but astir authors who inquire maine astir this blog-to-book arena are either memoirists aliases novelists. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to people a book woody pinch specified a work. The blogs astir apt to people book deals are successful nan information-driven categories (e.g., business and self-help) aliases humor/parody class (e.g., Stuff White People Like).

Furthermore, I only cognize of memoirists who’ve scored blog-to-book deals, not novelists (remember, we’re talking astir BLOG form, not organization sites for illustration Authonomy). A mates examples of memoirish blogs that made nan leap: Julie & Julia and Waiter Rant.

4. I emotion books that delve profoundly into a taxable and make nary consciousness arsenic blogs.

I publication hundreds of blogs each week. Much of my reference is done online, successful fact. So thing makes maine much irritated than erstwhile I beryllium down to publication a book—expecting thing meaty, in-depth, and worthy of my afloat attention—than to find it sounds much for illustration a bid of blog posts. Unfortunately, owed to nan blog-to-book woody (in part), this is becoming much common. (Also, immoderate books now mimic nan online world by chunking nan contented truthful nan book sounds “faster.”)

In my mind, a book is simply a awesome mean for delving into those topics wherever nan simplified, keyword-driven, ADHD world of blogging has nary place. If I publication a book and think, “I could’ve gotten this from a bid of blog posts,” past I see it a failure.

What are immoderate indicators that a blog-to-book woody mightiness activity for you?

• You’re blogging successful a nonfiction category, particularly if your blog focuses connected really to do thing aliases solves a problem for people.
• You’re focused connected your blog for nan joyousness of blogging, and you person nan patience, determination, and thrust to support blogging for years. You won’t get nickname overnight, and it takes clip to create a following. Ultimately, it’s nan buzz you generate, and nan assemblage you create (your level created by nan blog), that attracts a patient to you—not nan penning itself (though of people that’s important too!).
• You work together that nan book woody isn’t nan extremity of nan road, but different measurement to grow your assemblage for your blog (or services/community connected to your blog).

If a blog-to-book woody way is appealing to you, past I highly urge checking retired Chris Guillebeau’s 279 Days to Overnight Success. He landed a book woody successful astir 1 twelvemonth based connected his blog. But he was laser-focused successful his strategy and single-minded successful trading and promoting his blog to each nan correct group successful nan blogging organization (not nan publishing community). In different words, he has nan mind and bosom of an entrepreneur. Do you?