8 Reasons to Book a Blog

Long-term bloggers are in a fabulous position to turn their blog content into a valuable book. However, some bloggers don’t know why they’d want to go to the trouble of “booking” their blogs.

If you are on the fence about transforming yourself from blogger to author, these eight reasons might convince you to book your blog.

1. Bloggers benefit by becoming authors.

While a well-trafficked blog can give you quite a bit of clout, there’s nothing quite like the expert status that comes with the title “author.” If you want to impress someone with your authority, hand them your book. It’s the best business card possible.

2. Authors reach a different audience with their work.

As a blogger, you reach online readers (and only online readers). As an author, you reach offline readers, but you can drive them to your website or blog.

Believe it or not, there are still some people who don’t like to use the Internet or read on a computer screen. A book helps you access this other world of potential readers of your work.

3. Booking a blog provides an easy way to “write” a book.

If you’ve been blogging on one topic for a long time, you may already have most of the content for an ebook or full-length manuscript. You need only plan out the best possible book you could write on the subject, search your blog for content that fits the needs of your book outline, and write new material to fill in content gaps. Edit the manuscript, and you’re ready to publish.

4. You can work smarter, not harder.

If you want to write a book but feel it is too difficult to produce posts and a book manuscript at the same time, booking a blog moves you closer to your goal—without a lot of extra work. You might discover you’ve already written most of that book and published it in post-sized bits. And even if you haven’t written all of the book on your blog, you probably have a lot of the necessary content prewritten. It’s smart—and easy—to create a book from a blog.

5. You can focus on what’s working.

A successful blog is a successfully test-marketed book idea. If your blog is attracting many readers, a high likelihood exists that you will sell a lot of books on the topic as well. Plus, you can use your blog analytics to determine the best content to place in your manuscript. If a post has gotten many views and a lot of engagements, it’s a clear winner for inclusion in your book (or might indicate the focus of the book).

6. You can create a series.

If you have a lot of content published on your blog, you might find more than one book. A blog written about one topic but that covers that topic from many angles can produce a series of related ebooks, for example. (Take a look at my Write Nonfiction NOW! Guide series at www.booksbyninaamir.com.)

7. It makes sense to repurpose.

The smart blogger never lets a blog post remain a blog post. You can turn this content into podcasts, videos, visuals, white papers, or books. You’ve produced the content; use it in as many ways as possibly by reprising it into something new—like a book.

8. Your fans, followers, and subscribers will love you for it.

Your fans, followers, and subscribers appreciate it when you make it possible for them to consume your content in new ways. In particular, they enjoy taking a piece of you home with them in the form of a book. Your biggest fans will want a souvenir from their favorite blogger (and a book serves that purpose), and they’ll enjoy rereading their favorite posts in a new form. Plus, of course, you will have included new content in the book as a gift.

If you want to discover ten reasons to blog your book, click here.

To learn more about booking blogs (and blogging book), purchase a copy of How to Blog a Book Revised and Expanded Edition. And don’t forget to purchase the Blog a Book Template Kit and How to Turn Your Blog Into a Book Production Machine to go with it!

Can you think of more reasons to book a blog? If so, leave me a comment below.

 

Photo courtesy of Who is Danny