I came across an interesting blog post not long ago and bookmarked it. I also left a comment. If you are considering blogging a book, you might want to read it–just to get a different perspective than mine. It’s written by Joel Friedlander, the proprietor of Marin Bookworks, in San Rafael, CA. Joel is a book designer, a self-published author, and blogs at TheBookDesigner.com. He has been a guest blogger for me on Write Nonfiction NOW!
He offers five reasons why you shouldn’t blog a book, including:
- Blogging is specialized writing
- Blogging needs lots of formatting
- Blogs are mostly written in either a commercial or a journalistic style
- Blogs are about communication
- Blogs need a schedule
You can read read his post here.
Joel brought up some good arguments in his post. However, I would say that if you go through the nonfiction book proposal process first to see if your book is worthy of being blogged, and then you set out with the intention of blogging a book to create an audience and attract attention and get that book written, you’ve negated many of his reasons for not blogging a book. Plus, if you edit your manuscript to rid it of blog-like formatting and overly blog-like style–and then hire a professional editor to polish it up, you’ll have a manuscript that reads well enough for a traditional publisher or for you to independently publish without fear of turning away readers.
So, I say, keep on blogging those books. But take Joel’s words of caution to heart.
Nina,
Thanks for the link, and for your thoughtful commets on the subject. Of course, you are right, there are books that can profitably be published first through a blog. But being thoughtful about it never hurts.