Current Rate of Blog-to-Book Deals Reaching Past Heights

In my last post, I discussed the fact that many blogs are still getting turned into books–enough to constitute a continued trend, despite what some industry experts have claimed. In fact, I discovered that the figures for blog-to-book releases in October 2011 alone, at least from what I can tell, are equivalent to the height of the blog-to-book craze in 2009.

I reported that three blogs that had been turned into books had been released just this month alone:

1. Martha Alderson’s, The Plot Whisperer
2. Dmitry Samarov’s  HACK: Stories from a Chicago Cab
3. Sarah Wu’s (aka “Mrs. Q) Fed Up with Lunch

However, I then read that prizewinning investigative reporter and now executive editor of The New York Times Jill Abramson’s book, The Puppy Diaries, also was released in October. That makes four blog-to-book deals in one month–that I know of.

If the publishing industry is picking up and publishing an average of four blogs as books per month, that’s 48 per year. In 2009, the estimate was 50 blog-to-book deals completed; another industry expert claimed 60. Either way, this year could easily compete with 2009 at the current rate, especially given the likelihood that more than four blog-to-book deals are being made and published per month.

And anything still goes. I read in Galleycat.com that Tumblr blogs are still hot. For example, Julie Haas Brophy landed a book deal with Villard for her blog, Sh*t My Kids Ruined. A take off on her blog, the book will include  commentary and photos of destroyed objects, rooms, and children.

Here’s the thing. You can do better than creating a blog, and later a book, with funny or stupid photos and a little bit of copy. You can blog a book with value or valuable information. You can blog a book that will touch someone deeply, solve a problem, change a life. Not that there’s anything wrong with simply giving someone a good laugh.

But you can do it, and now is the time. This  is a super time to be a writer. There are blog expos and digital and print book conferences everywhere you turn. Take advantage of the opportunities — and the technologies — at hand. Blog your book now.

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