7 Reasons to Blog a Short Book…FAST!

Most of the time I tell those who want to blog books to write long. But once your full-length book is complete, of if you’ve got an established blog, there are many reasons to write short. By this I mean blog short books.

Most people think a book has to be long and must take them quite a while to write. That’s not true. You can become an author by writing a short book fast, and there are many reasons you might want to do so.

I qualify this by reminding you that the idea behind blogging a full-length book is to write a long enough book so that it takes you 6+ months; this builds platform. As I said, if you have done that or you have an existing blog, consider blogging a short book—even before you blog your full-length book. Blog a lot of short books, such as a series, and then compile these into your “big” book. This achieves the same end result—a full-length book.

I’ve self-published 14 books, all of them short. Most of them also were written quickly—in less than a few months (sometimes in less than a month). A number of them blogged.

Almost every week it seems I discover new short books of all types. Some look just like “real” books. They are perfect-bound paperback books. Others are saddle-stitched booklets, which means their binding consists of staples. Many of my books fall into the booklet category. I also have workbooks published in this manner.

And then there are the ebooks. I can find shorts, singles, guides, manifestos, short stories, and novellas—all produced first on a blog and then published.

Why Blog a  Short Book?

Why would you want to produce a short book fast? Here are seven reasons:

1. You want to say you are an author or expert.

If you have reason to claim you are an author now, not in six months or two years, a short book can prove just the solution you need. For example, a short book can help you get speaking engagements or coaching or consulting clients, because it proves you are an expert in a subject area. I produced several short books for this reason.

2. You need a book for an event.

There may be times when you want to sell a book at the back of the room when you speak or give one away. This can come in handy when you first begin speaking and aren’t getting paid for your talks. It’s also useful if you have a topic that lends itself to a workbook. Possibly, you just want to impress your audience. Or maybe you are going to a convention or conference and want to hand out something special. Short books, especially booklets, can be quite cheap to produce, and sometimes they can be printed in a day.

3. You want to create a product.

Maybe you produced a video or audio, and you’d like to create a book to accompany it. No need for your magnum opus; a short book—even an ebook—will do just fine and enhance the value of your product—your book. If you have no products yet to sell off your author website, a short book fast fits the bill.

4. You want to give a book away to build your mailing list.

Your mailing list is an essential part of your author platform. However, these days no one signs up without reason—not even for a newsletter. You must give them something for free to get them to “opt in.” So why not create a short free book fast? This can provide just the incentive they need to hit “subscribe.”

5. You want to jump start your writing.

For many wanna-be authors, a “big book” is just…well…too big. If you feel that way, start small. Jump-start your writing and your path to authorship with something short. You might even write a chapter and publish it as a book. Do this for every chapter in your book. You’ll then have a lot of short books published. When you’ve finished, compile all those short books into that big book you dreamed of writing.

6. You have an idea but not enough content to justify a full-length book.

In this case, you have the perfect idea for a short book. And if you have a few related ideas, you can produce a series. When you’re done, just like in #5, you can compile the series into a full-length book. Viola! You have enough content.

7. You want to sell more books.

The more books you write, the more books you sell. Plus, you can write short books that directly support the sale of a full-length book. Plan out and blog books that  help you promote your existing books to accomplish this. You’ll make more residual income in the process (more book sales=more royalties).

If any one of these reasons appeals or applies to you, it’s time to start blogging a short book. How do you do that? You follow all the same steps as outlined here or in How to Blog a Book: Write, Publish, and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time, but you do it in short form. This could mean you simply write a series of blog posts—10 to 30 posts (maybe more). And this series becomes the book—after you add an intro, conclusion and an extra chapter.

See? Same principles, but you can have your book done in a month or less. You’ll become an author quickly, because you blogged a short book fast.

Isn’t It Time You Wrote Your Book?

For the first time, I’m offering my popular webinar and conference session topic How to Write a Short Book FAST! as an online mini-course. If you would like to learn more about the variety of short-book structures you might try, how to write them quickly, how to use them to increase your income, and, in the process, get inspired with numerous ideas for short nonfiction books you could write (and use to become an authorpreneur), join me on October 15 from 12–1:30 p.m. Pacific Time for the first of this course’s two parts. Click here to learn more and to register. Space is limited. Reserve your spot!

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