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A Short, Quick Guide to Social Networking for Blog-to-Book Authors

September 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I just came back from giving a talk at a local writer’s club. There I heard the same question I hear everywhere I go: What’s the best way for writer’s to accomplish their social networking — especially given the fact that they really don’t want to do social networking at all. They just want to write.

Here’s my very, very short and quick guide to social networking for writers: Blog. That’s right. One word. Blog.

Oh…right. And this sentence: After you publish a blog post, post a link to that post in at least two social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or LinkedIn).

That’s it.

Basically, blogging simply involves writing. Every writer can blog. It’s not too hard. It’s not too techy. It doesn’t take too long. Except for the part about posting the links to social networks, which also isn’t too hard or too techy, it involves doing what you love — writing. After that, it’s all about telling people to read your writing. What writer doesn’t want to be read? A blog allows your writing to be read.

For those of you blogging a book, you’ve got it really easy. The more you work on your book, the more readers you drive to your blog. Hopefully, they share your book/posts with their social networks. Even if they don’t, as you build a fan base — unique visitors to your blog, you build a social network all your own right on your blog.

You should have plenty of good fodder to share. You have your manuscript, so you don’t need to create any additional content to post to your blog. Your book is your blog content. Pretty nice, huh?

If you aren’t on any social networks, go to Twitter.com and Facebook.com (and LinkedIn.com if you provide a service, sell a product or are an expert or professional), and sign up. This is a very easy and self-explanatory process. (LinkedIn is a bit more difficult and requires more information.) Then begin posting status updates – in other words, write a few words about your blog posts and then the link to your post. You can also offer a status update now and then simply about yourself. (On LinkedIn the real action is in the groups.)

That’s it.  You can do more, but that’s all that’s required for this short, quick blog-to-book author’s guide to social networking.

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Filed Under: Platform, Promotion, Publicizing Your Blog Tagged With: , , ,

How to Write a Book Proposal for Your Blogged Book

August 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When a literary agent or an acquisition editor from a publishing company contacts you about making your blog into a book or publishing your blogged book, you want to be ready. Ready equates to having a book proposal written.

Many aspiring authors and bloggers have no idea what goes into a traditional nonfiction book proposal. For this reason, I’d like to direct your attention to a series of blog posts I’ve been writing on my other blog, Write Nonfiction Now. This series is called “Demystifying the Nonfiction Book Proposal,” and it takes you through all the sections of a proposal and tells you want to include and how to prepare it. You can read the first post in the series here. All the posts are listed here.

I’ve described each of the sections of a book proposal in this blog as well. You can find these posts in the category called “The Proposal.”

Don’t make an agent or an editor wait for you to prepare a proposal. Be ready when you and your blog get noticed.

I actually got my blog noticed by writing a book proposal and then having my agent peddle it to publishers. You can do that, too.

By the way, the new delivery date for How to Blog a book is March 23. (This could change…) If you want to be sure you know when the How to Blog a Book printed book is released–and are aware of any pre-release or post release hoohah, be sure to subscribe to this blog using the form below (Plus, doing so ensures you don’t miss any blog posts.):

Filed Under: Book Proposal, Landing an Angent or Traditional Publisher, The Proposal Tagged With: , ,

Using Video to Drive Traffic to Your Blogged Book

July 15, 2011 By 2 Comments

An increasingly popular way to drive traffic to blogs these days involves video. YouTube has become a huge source of  information and entertainment. You may find that by posting videos to YouTube you can drive enormous amounts of traffic to your blogged book.

Most computers, especially laptops, have video capability, and flip cameras are pretty cheap and easy to use. Without going into a ton of detail, let me just say that once you have figured out how to video tape yourself, you an easily upload that video to YouTube.

Here’s what you do: Create an account on YouTube. Then sign in. Upload what you have already recorded either on your computer or with your webcam. If you don’t like the quality of your videos, you can add in lighting or a mike to your tools when video taping.

What do you record? You can record a blog post or information about your blog. You can record your mission statement or details about the benefits of reading your blogged book. You can tell people about your process. You can give them some tips or tools from your blogged book. You can create a book trailer. You can record whatever you like that you think might be fun or interesting. Who knows, maybe your video will go viral. And by all means, share it wherever you can…on all your social networks!

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Filed Under: Increasing Traffic, Promotion, Publicizing Your Blog Tagged With: , , , ,

Do You Know What Your Competition is Doing?

May 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

How long has it been since you checked out what your competition is doing? Way back when you were in the planning stages of blogging your book, I told you to check out your competition. Doing so would ensure that your blogged book would be unique in the cyber marketplace as well as in the book store. However, you want to continue checking up on your competition from time to time. Bloggers blog, after all, and their blog content may change. Book stores get new books on their shelves.

I mostly want you to be concerned right now with what other bloggers might be doing as you blog your book. Not that I don’t want you to be aware of new books on your topic hitting the market; I do. Because your book is taking shape in cyberspace, though, I want you to be in touch with what is going on in this marketplace. I want you to know what other writers are writing about when it comes to your subject.

First, do this to be sure you are continuing to blog a unique book. Stay up to date on what your fellow bloggers are writing about; this is the most current information on your topic to date. It’s probably current practically up to the moment. Compare their information to yours and to what is in your book. Are you providing something different? Are you coming at the same information from a different angle, with a different perspective or with a different process?

Second, insert yourself into their blogosphere. That’s right. Make yourself known in their world. Comment on their blogs. Email them and ask their opinion on topics you are researching. Ask them for a guest blog post on a topic about which they have more knowledge.

Why would you want to do this? Your comments left on their blogs provide back links to your blogged book. This helps increase your blog’s search engine ranking and helps drive traffic to your blog. Also, when another blogger provides a guest posts, he or she will promote that particular post, which also sends more traffic to your blog. Additionally, all of these steps help you develop relationships with those in your field who may one day be important promotional partners for your printed book.

So, make sure you know what your competition is doing–and create relationships with the competition if possible.

Filed Under: Competing and Complementary Blogs, Publicizing Your Blog Tagged With: , , , ,

Market Your Blogged Book to an Agent or Publisher

June 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Okay, so you’re a traditional publishing holdout, and this blogged book exercise managed to get you to write your whole manuscript but didn’t get you discovered. Now it’s time to get that proposal written and approach an agent or a small to mid-sized publisher.

In this case, you must do two things: write a fabulous query and write a phenomenal proposal. A query letter contains three things: a lead paragraph that entices an agent or publisher to want to read your manuscript, your pitch plus information about the length of your book and any special features, and why you are the perfect person to write the book.  The proposal contains the nine essential elements a publisher will use to determine if your book fits their list, if they feel a market exists for the book and if they feel you are both the right person to write the book and the best person to become their business partner. To learn about these elements, go back and read the earlier posts about the sections of a nonfiction book proposal. You can find the first one here; subsequent ones follow.

Put your book proposal together and have it professionally edited. The nonfiction book proposal represents the most important selling document you will ever create. They say you only have one chance to make a first impressions; that holds true when pitching a book. Let a professional help you make the best first impression possible. Make every word count and present an error-free document. Also, be sure that the editor you choose knows what goes into a nonfiction book proposal. Don’t just use any editor.

Also have your query letter professionally edited and proofread.

Then send out the query letter to agents and publishers. Large publishing houses typically only want agented submissions. You can submit to small and some mid-sized publishers without an agent.

Once you get a positive response from an agent or publisher, you can send in your proposal with a cover letter.

Check publisher’s and agent’s submission guidelines. For submission guidelines or to find agents and publishers, check Writer’s Market or Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents.

Don’t give up if you are rejected many times. Even the best authors have been rejected hundreds of times. I’ve heard this advice: When you get a rejection letter, just say, “Next.” Or say, “I must have sent that query to the wrong address. Next time I’ll send it to the right address.”

Filed Under: Landing an Angent or Traditional Publisher, Query Letter, The Proposal Tagged With: , , , ,

Planning Your Posts or Screen-Sized Content

April 26, 2010 By 2 Comments

At this point in the planning process, you know what your book is about and you’ve outlined its features and benefits. You know who is going to read it and in which what markets you will promote it. You know the competition and how to differentiate your blogged book from other blogs and books on the market already. You’re ready…ready to consider the contents of your book.

However, a blogged book must follow the guidelines of a blog. No long chapters here, only short 200-500 word posts (with a few exceptions). Most blog readers only want to read approximately one computer screen’s worth of copy.

Your task now involves coming up with what in nonfiction book proposal terms is called the “List of Chapters.” This equates to the table of contents for your book and is the first of two sections included in the “Outline” of the proposal.

Once you have your table of contents, chunk the chapters down into bite-sized, or screen-sized, pieces. Each chapter must be broken down into subheads that can be written as short blog posts.

To be sure you remember exactly what you are supposed to write when the time comes to compose those posts, take the time now also to write “Chapter Summaries,” the second and last section of the nonfiction book proposal. This entails a short but detailed description of each post. This will serve not only as a reminder (It’s not unusual after a month or two to find you have forgotten what you had in mind for many of your posts.) but also as a basic outline for each post.

Wow! Great job! You are now ready to create your blog so you can start blogging your book. That’s your next task.

Filed Under: Chapter Summaries, Introduction, List of Chapters, Parts of the Proposal, The Outline Tagged With: , , , , ,

Creating a Platform for You and Your Book

April 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The publishing world has changed dramatically over the last decade. No longer can you simply present an agent or a publisher with a good idea and good writing and expect to get a contract in return. You must prove that you already have people ready and waiting to purchase your book as soon as it is released. In other words, you have built a platform of prospective readers.

As I’ve mentioned before, platform equates to how many people you know or who know you who potentially will buy your book. These people can be followers on Facebook, tweeple on Twitter, blog subscribers, newsletter subscribers, podcast listeners, people reached via magazines, e-zines and on-line publications for which you write, attendees at your talks and workshops, publicity partners, and on-line and offline association memberships. You build a platform through speaking, writing, social media, networking, media gigs, etc. And you must build platform before they will come–”they” meaning agents and publishers.

In today’s publishing world the most important parts of a nonfiction book proposal are the Promotion section and the “Platform” section. Both show the publisher you will help sell your book. They want a business partner, not just a writer.

Why do you, a blogger care about platform? First, if you want your blog to be discovered and turned into a book by a publishing house, you need blog readers. Blog readers=platform (if enough of them exist). Second, if you would like to write another traditional book, or you plan on expanding your blogged book into a longer and more in-depth print version, then your blog serves as a way to promote that book and to build platform (i.e. potential buyers).

Either way, the more you build platform via guest blog posts on other blogs, articles published on your topic, news releases, press releases, media appearances, etc., the more readers will show up at your blog. All of these efforts become platform elements.

The Platform section of your nonfiction book proposal—if you were to write one—would include a list of all the things you have done to date to develop a platform. It would include statistics, such as how many unique visitors visit your blog each day, how many places you have spoken, where you have appeared as a guest blogger, and how many upcoming media appearances you have scheduled

Even if you don’t write the actual proposal, it’s a great idea to write your platform-building activities down, so you remember what you’ve done and keep track of your blog’s statistics to see if your readership is growing. Also, keep working on building your platform; don’t let a month go by when you don’t have some type of platform-building activity scheduled.

By the way, the platform section of a proposal can make or break an aspiring author’s chance of getting a publishing deal. It’s that important. As for having your blog discovered, don’t think the exposure you get for your blogged book via platform-building activities won’t be taking into consideration by an agent or acquisitions editor trolling around the Internet.

At this point, I’ve covered all the sections included in the Introduction of a nonfiction proposal. Next, we move on to the “Outline.”

Filed Under: Parts of the Proposal, Platform Tagged With: , , , ,

Are You on a Mission?

April 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I’d just like to mention today that if you are writing a proposal, you want to include a mission statement after your author’s bio. You’ve already worked on that. Remember this post?

Not every book on writing a book proposal includes the “Mission Statement” section; in fact, most don’t. It’s a fairly new section. However, my former agent, Mike Larsen, who wrote How to Write a Book Proposal, asks his authors to include a mission statement. I’m sure this will be in the upcoming new edition of his book as well, although I haven’t seen it yet.

I’ll reiterate: Knowing why you must write this book will help you focus your energy on this project. It will help you clarify your reasons for writing your book. It will help you decide if you must write this book, and it will help the people considering purchasing your book (publishers and readers) decide if they want to do so.

Filed Under: Mission Statement Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Why You Are the Best Person to Write Your Book

April 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Are you the type of writer who feels sure you possess the expertise to write your book or are you the type of writer who questions whether you are good enough to do so? Do you know you are the best person to author the book you have in mind, or do you wonder if someone better exists?

Either way, you must convince your readers you are the expert on your subject. Indeed, you must tell the world you are the only person who should write this particular book.

And now you must write down all the reasons why you, indeed, are the best person to write your blogged book. In a nonfiction book proposal, this section is called “About the Author.” Sounds pretty simply, right?

It can prove simple—or hard. That depends upon you. You write a biography of your expertise and experience, and you do this using the third person tense. You include the most important facts first, such as anything that makes you the expert on your topic, your educational degrees (if they apply to the topic), work experience, etc. Include all your achievements. See this as your resume in prose but written specifically for your book.

Obviously, an aspiring author who wants a deal with a traditional publisher needs to create an “About the Author” section for inclusion in a nonfiction proposal; the proposal is necessary to sell the book. However, a blogger needs a biography (bio) as well. Every blog should include an “About” or “About the Author” page. This allows readers to find out who you are and why you have the expertise to write your blog. This information gives your blog credibility.

So, write your bio and pace it on the “About” page of your blog. If you prefer to use a less formal bio for your blog, write it in the first person tense using “I.” If you write your blog in a more formal voice, though, stick to third person for your bio as well.

Filed Under: About the Author, Parts of the Proposal Tagged With: , , , ,

What Do You Need to Complete Your Book?

April 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

As you get closer to beginning to blog your book, consider this question: What resources do you need to complete your book? The answer to this question completes the section of a book proposal actually called “Resources Needed to Complete the Book.”

This section may not pertain to many blogged books. You, the blogger, may find that you need very little besides your mind, your fingers, a computer, and an Internet connection to write your book. Well…every blogger needs a little bit of money to pay for an Internet connection and a hosted website (since you hopefully will eventually pay for a hosted blog). You also need a computer.

Primarily this section does, indeed, cover costs. Here are the types of costs that might be included in this section of a nonfiction proposal and which you might want to consider as well:

  • Photos—You might want to purchase a subscription to stock photo provider, for example or you might need a photographer for special needs.
  • Art—You might need a logo designed or a series of cartoons to illustrate your book, or you might want to purchase a subscription to a clip art service.)
  • Permissions—If you reproduce large sections of an exiting book, you must purchase the rights from the publisher.

In this section of a nonfiction book proposal an aspiring author also declares how long it will take them to complete their book. So, take a moment—or a few—to give yourself some deadlines. How much will you write each day, week, or month, and when will you “turn in” your finished book? In other words, how many blog posts will you commit to writing each week, and how many will it take you to compete your book? Given those figures, when will you complete your blogged book? Write that down. Make that part of your business plan.

(I covered this topic from another angle in this post.)

Filed Under: Resources Needed to Complete the Book, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,
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