9 Reasons to Write a Book through Blogging

I have devoted a whole blog to the subject of why aspiring authors should consider blogging a book rather than writing a book. I suggest that taking this approach offers a quick and easy way to get your book written. It’s also a great way to gain readers in the process, thus accomplishing your pre-publication promotion without too much effort. Additionally, you can use your material in more than one form—blog posts and book pages.

I don’t know anyone who has done a better job of this than Rebecca Morgan, bestselling author, consultant and speaker. She turned her blog into 17 different books in one year! For that reason, I asked her to send me a guest post about why she thinks blogging a book represents a good way to write a book. Here’s what she had to say.

 

9 Reasons to Write a Book through Blogging
By Rebecca Morgan

I’m the author of 25 non-fiction books, 17 of them from blog postings. Previously, I had authored four books and coauthored four others. Two of my books have become bestsellers, having sold more than 200,000 copies each and been translated into nine languages. One landed me on Oprah, 60 Minutes, NPR, and in USA Today.

I will never write the traditional way–me and my keyboard for hours at a stretch–again.

Why is writing a book through a blog better? Here are nine reasons.

1. It establishes credibility and high search engine rankings before your book is published. With frequent content embedded with your keywords, your blog rises to the first page of Google listings. Then when your book is ready to sell, you are already at the top of the search engine results.
2. You can see what attracts people to your topic, and then write to those issues or subjects. Watch your analytics to see what search engine phrases people use to find your blog. If they fall within your target area, write more of those.
3. You can note what topics are most popular. See which ones stay in your top 10 list, and write more to those topics, as people obviously are interested in them.
4. You can build a community among those who write comments, subscribe via RSS and Feedblitz. Capture the email addresses in Feedblitz so you can send special mailings to them, offering special deals on your book and future related products.
5. You get feedback on your postings through comments. Entice people to comment through thought-provoking questions. See which ones create the most buzz.
6. You can show your writing style. If you are wanting a major publisher for your book, your agent and/or editor can easily see your writing style beyond what you put in the proposal, which fast tracks your book.
7. You can generate media coverage before the book comes out with an online presence beforehand. I was contacted by radio, TV and national newspapers (the Wall Street Journal, for example) before the books were released because of my blog.
8. You can create cross traffic from other related blogs by swapping “blog love” (getting on each other’s blogroll). Those blogs will send more readers to your site.
9. You can search by your blog name and/or URL to find those who list you on their blog roll. Offer them your affiliate program so they earn money from sales made to their readers. Ask if they’ll do a book review. Offer to be on their podcasts to discuss your “blook.” Offer to give five free books to their readers for a contest.

It was easy to assemble 17 books ranging from100 to 238 pages in length from my blog postings since the writing was already done. However, I began one blog with the intention of writing a book through it, so in that case I started to write from an outline as I had with previous books. Then I’d interject postings on events that happened that I wanted to share. I committed to writing every day and did so for 18 months; I then cut to 3-4 times a week. When I started to compile my writings into a book, I realized I had 2,000 pages! So I divided them into separate books.

If you write 750 words (approximately three pages in the finished book) each day, you could have the writing of a 120-page book done in 40 days. You would still need to have an editor go through it and have the cover and inside designed and laid out, so add another 2-6 weeks to the process. You could have a book ready to go to press in three months!

So start now. Perhaps look at past postings to see if you have the guts of a book, then flesh out what is needed.

About the Author

Rebecca Morgan is an international keynote speaker, trainer and consultant, the author of 25 books—two have sold over 200,000 copies each and are translated into nine languages, the creator of over 400 audio products (MP3s, CDs), webinars, teleseminars, and transcripts, the sole writer of two award-winning and money-making syndicated blogs, and the writer and/or editor of two ezines. Additionally, she is the principal/partner in three companies and one not-for-profit. In 2009, she released 17 books and revised two others. In the last 10 years, she’s interviewed 300 industry experts in her teleseminars.

To learn more on the nuts and bolts of how to create revenue from your non-fiction content, attend Rebecca’s 6-part webinar series, “Making Money In Your Jammies: Create Revenue from Blogs, Teleseminars, Webinars and Related Products” starting Oct. 26. But hurry, as there is a 40 percent discount if you register by Oct. 20.

Making Money in Jammies

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