Gaining readers to your blogged book represents the keys to success. Whether you plan on self-publishing your blogged book or want to be discovered by an agent or publisher, you must have a successful blog–one with many unique visitors. (If you don’t understand that term, read this post.) That’s your author platform or fan base, which ensures that you sell lots of books. It’s also what makes you and your blog attractive to traditional publishers. A blog with lots of readers, as I’ve mentioned before, is seen as a positive test marketing exercise in the eyes of a publisher. As a self-publisher, it’s your proof that your book is viable as well.
So how do you gain readers? Let me count the ways…No really. One way to gain readers involves having your blog featured on another blog so the readers of that blog, which may have more readers than yours, can follow the link over to your site. If those readers like your blog, they may come back day after day, thus becoming regular readers.
To help you gain some extra readers, or unique visitors, I’d like to give you an opportunity to share your blogged books here on my blog. To do so, I’ve created a list to which you can add your blogged book. I’ve started the list with two books being blogged by Brian Cormack Carr. He mentioned that he was inspired to blog not one but two books after reading my book. Here’s the list:
Blogged Books
- crowd rank
- curated
- alpha
- newest
- queue
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Vital Vocation — how to find or create your dream job
how to find or create your dream job
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Real Food Revival Plan — how to lose weight, feel great & save the world – one bite at a time
Olympics blasted for giving vast adverts to fast food joints. That's their legacy - but what will yours be? Fake foods - or the real thing?
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A Slice of Faith - Huntington-Belle Haven, VA Patch
Added by Amanda Socci on Aug 14, 2012
"A Slice to Faith" is a new blog that recounts dramatic moments from the author's life and offers positive reflections on how faith helped the author move on.
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Jiltaroo
Added by Jenny Parbery on Aug 18, 2012
I have decided to write a memoir. I have taken myself on some fantastic journeys that I really wanted to write about. However, when I tried to start the only place that seemed logical was the sexual abuse I suffered as a child. Don't worry, I move on.
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Do What You Love: How to Live Your Dreams Starting Today
Added by DoWhatYouLoveJourney on Aug 19, 2012
Do What You Love with the help of a tested 28-day program. Find out what you really love and start living your dream lifestyle from now on. Blogged book by Mary Eve Boudreault, sociologist and author of Do What You Love Journey website. Starting doing what we love under a month is amazingly possible; this book, the 1st draft written in a month with the Write Non-Fiction Month challenge, is a sure proof of it. Enjoy!
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theseAREwordstoLI
VEby - Home Added by Jenn Shallvey on Aug 19, 2012
You are invited to join me as I unveil and reveal 11 magical sets of words that will inspire you to create a life of love, happiness and well-being.
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Jillian Godsil | writing my way out of trouble
Added by Jillian Godsil on Aug 20, 2012
Jillian Godsil became divorced. Her ex husband became bankrupt and she was left with a million euro mortgage on a house worth half that. This is her story about being in the middle.
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Orgasmo by Donald O'Donovan
Added by Adam Michael Luebke on Aug 20, 2012
My autobiographical novel Orgasmo chronicles my disastrous attempt to quit writing forever and pursue the American Dream.
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Creating Craft | A Guide to Designing Original Pieces
Added by Tien Chiu on Sep 01, 2012
Are you one of those crafters who would like to move into original work, but weren't sure how? This book offers a creative process to start you off, with hints and tips on designing your own projects. Written by award-winning fiber artist Tien Chiu.
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Slug Opera
Added by Frances Pauli on Sep 06, 2012
Book two in the Space Slugs series is currently being blogged. Book one was also a blog serial and can be found in the blog tabs. ;)
Please add only blogged books in progress! But please do add your blogged books! And, of course, share this post on all your social networks (again and again and again) so you and other blogged book authors gain more exposure–and readers–for your blogged books.
Photo courtesy of imagerymajestic.
Nina, I have read and am impressed with your book, How to Blog a Book. I’d love to list mine here but after looking at Brian’s two books, I’m not sure I’m on the right track with setting up my blog. Take a look at http://www.ltrstomama.wordpress.com. It is a seed of an idea grown out of the need to heal from the past. I’m writing publicly to my now deceased mother of the pain of my childhood with her. Also, on the same blog, I’m posting excerpts from a draft I’m writing. I don’t know if this is an appropriate way to do what you suggest in your book. Before listing my book blog here, I’d like your approval. Many thanks for your ideas and the concept of blogging a book!
Sherrey Meyer recently posted..What Did I Miss?
I think your letters to your mom are different…but I haven’t read the memoir. Maybe they could be interspersed throughout the memoir? There are better ways to set up the blog–a table of contents would help. But you are blogging a book, and you can list it. Read the book again, or at least the part about setting up your blog, and consider how you might set it up. Create a table of contents and links from installment to installment. This will make it easier for people to read as time goes on. Good luck!
Nina:
Thank you for your generous offer. I have recently written about the concept of blogging a book on my own blog. That original blog post appears here: http://socciwriter.blogspot.com/2012/08/blog-first-then-write-book.html
At the end of that blog post are 14 separate links which are blog posts to my blog on faith. Eventually, I plan to convert those 14 blog posts plus much more material into a full-fledged book.
I know for a fact that you have a huge following and readership, so I’m truly grateful for his opportunity to showcase my writing and tell your readers about my blogged-book-in-progress, “A Slice of Faith.”
Amanda socci recently posted..Channeling Jennifer Beals
Nina, thank you so much for featuring me in this post, I appreciate it! It’s also great to see what others are doing with the blog-a-book process. Sherrey, Amanda, Shannon – thanks for sharing your blogs
I’m definitely going to be interspersing my book posts (I’m adding the Table Of Contents for both books this week) with some more “generic” posts about the topics at hand, which may or may not find their way into the finished book.
I hope that’s going achieve a couple of things: it’ll keep the topics on the blog varied for readers, and it’ll make the blogging process more interesting for me, because I’ll be able to take the occasional break from writing posts for the book. And of course, those generic posts may well find their way into a later draft of the book anyway.
Perhaps the biggest lesson I can share from what I’ve done so far is that it’s important to have a defined niche for the blogs/books, which Nina goes into in detail in ‘How To Blog A Book’. My first blog (cormackcarr.com) was set up in 2009 to promote my coaching work, and I initially wrote on a whole range of topics including the two I’m now writing about on my new “blogbooks”. The problem was, that made it very unfocused and I soon lost momentum. Now that I’ve retooled that into more of an author site and a depository for my writing across the web, it feels much better and easier to manage. And the clear definition of the other sites makes me feel much more confident that I can build an audience.
Good luck everyone!
Brian Cormack Carr recently posted..Two Books in Ten Months: My 40th Birthday Writing Challenge
Nina, thanks for your input. Back to the book I go — this was the piece I was struggling with, organization of the blog. It was worse on Blogger, I think, because it lacked the flexibility that would provide the indexing capabilities. It is my plan to intersperse the letters in the book, and perhaps I should start doing that now. More to ponder. Thanks so much for your book and your time.
Sherrey Meyer recently posted..What Did I Miss?
Great insights, Brian! Focus is so important, especially when creating a niche for your blog, your book and your business.
Amanda,
I know you have started blogging your book, and little by little it will expand. Keep going. I encourage you to blog at least one post per week on the book.
Sherrey,
I have taken yours down for the moment. When you actually begin blogging it as a book, please put it back up. I think it looks like a great idea, but since you aren’t blogging a book at the moment, I can’t have it on the list; I’m sorry. :~(. I hope you will get it organized and start blogging a book very soon! I’m glad my suggestions were helpful.
Nina, completely understand!
Hi, Nina. I just found you through Writer’s Digest and I’m encouraged by your posts! I don’t think my blog counts: I’m not actually blogging the content of my historical novel, but I write about history (the “expert” idea) and the things I find as I research the novel and the real-life people in it.
Elizabeth Saunders recently posted..Wordless Wednesday — Genealogy and Quaker book finds
No, you aren’t blogging a book, but you are building expert status and blogging to promote your book. Good for you! Keep up the good work.
Thank you for this opportunity Nina. I am actually working on focusing my site down to two ideas I have currently and I love both of them so much I am having a hard time deciding. I have gotten some great advice from your site and I so don’t want to waste it.
Aaron
dadblunders recently posted..Marvelous Mom
I’m looking forward to seeing what you decide and watching your book take shape once you get going, Aaron.
Hi Nina. Thank you Beth Saunders for guiding me here.
I have different themes for the days that I post.
Memoir Mondays help me find the threads of memoir pieces and also think about the makings of a memoir. What aspects of my personal story would be relevant to readers?
Tourist Tuesdays, Writerly Wednesdays, Kuleana Thursdays, and Aloha Fridays are all a part of the grand experiment of finding my writers voice and exploring my life in Honolulu.
While I have an eye on reworking most of my posts into other incarnations, I would most like to apply your book blogging to Mondays. Your book just moved a jump and a leap ahead on my to-read pile.
Mahalo
Lara Britt recently posted..Not-So-Random Acts of Nancy
Hi Nina
You are very generous with your encouragement and support. Thank you. I appreciate your experience and wisdom gained through blogging your book. I also learned many helpful practical steps in your course based on your book.
Keep inspiring us!
Warmly
Jenn
Thanks for the sweet comment, Jenn. I hope you are doing well. Stop by again!
Dear Nina:
Thank you for the opportunity to list my current project, 99 Questions to Ask Before Writing and Self-publishing a Brand-building Book.
Thank you, also, for the information and guidance you share in this blog and in your How to Blog a Book which is a goldmine of practical information.
Roger
Roger C. Parker recently posted..How can you target your ideal readers in your book title?
Thanks for you note, Roger, and I’m happy to have your blog listed. I’ll be featuring your guest post, soon!