How to Blog a Book

Inspiring You to Build Visibility, Boost Authority and Become an Author Post by Post

Inspiring You to Build Visibility, Boost Authority and Become an Author Post by Post

  • Home
  • About
    • Vote This Blog One of Writer’s Digest’s Annual 101 Best Internet Sites for Writers
    • Resources for Nonfiction Authors and Bloggers
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Service
  • The BOOK!
    • Table of Contents
    • Page One
    • NEW! Revised and Expanded–2nd Edition–of How to Blog a Book
    • How to Blog a Book (Revised and Expanded Edition) BLOG TOUR
    • Previous Virtual BookTours
  • Services
    • Blog Services
    • Coaching
      • Blog and Blog-to-Book Coaching
      • Author Coaching
      • Writing and Book Coaching
  • Courses
    • The Productive Writer Course
    • Inspired Creator Community
    • High-Performance Writer Group Coaching Program
    • Turn Your Blog Into a Book Production Machine
    • Build a Business Around Your Blog
    • How to Blog a Book Audio Course
    • How to Blog a Book eCourse
    • How to Blog a Book Audio Recording
  • Contact

March 19, 2019 by Nina Amir 4 Comments

Create Blog-Book Synergy to Reduce Content Creation Stress

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket

blog and book content

Many aspiring authors worry about starting a blog. They fear they won’t have the time to produce a book manuscript while trying to produce consistent blog content. However, the blog-a-book and book-a-blog strategies provide an efficient way to write and publish books—and keep up with blog content schedules. Today, digital nomad and full-time writer and blogger Jay Artale (@BirdsOAFpress) explains how she has used her blog content in books, her book content on blogs, and created work flows that allow her to write books without blogger’s overwhlem.

Do you feel overwhelmed by your blog? At some point in your blogging adventures, there won’t be enough hours in the day to produce and publish your blog content, build a following on social media, publish books, and grow your mailing list. There comes a tipping point in every blogger’s journey when you either have to let some things slip or hire a virtual assistant to help. That’s a challenge if you’re a control freak or on a tight budget.

I reached that breaking point after three years of blogging, but for the past six years, I’ve been able to maintain an effective balance between my five hungry blogs and a voracious writing schedule.

By building a synergy between my blogs and books, I’ve been able to streamline a continual flow of content and get maximum leverage out of every piece of content I create

How did I do it?

Over the years I’ve found a hybrid combination of blogging my books and booking my blogs that’s worked to keep a consistent blogging schedule and streamline my content creation process.

Knowing that your content can be leveraged for a book and a blog is a great writing motivator.

Click To Tweet

From Blog to Book

I’ve developed a travel blogging niche around Bodrum, a delightful corner of Turkey overlooking the Aegean. None of the traditional travel guide publishers like Lonely Planet or Rough Guides had a dedicated destination guide about the area, so I exported all the content from my travel blog and compiled it into a rough book draft. This was my first adventure into booking a book and was very organic and unstructured. It meant I had an uphill climb to turn these blog posts into a book to create an effortless transition between chapters and segments.

blogging a book using scrivener

My second blog-a-book experience was more mindful. I took what few articles I had on my blog to start my book and used the index card feature in Scrivener to plot out all the chapters. Each card included a short summary of the content scope.

I used these index cards as prompts for blog posts, and after writing the articles, I’d take the content and tweak it to create the first draft of my book manuscript. In many cases, the content was too long and extensive for a single blog post, so I was able to schedule a series of articles out of one chapter’s worth of material.

From Book to Blog

With my nonfiction books for travel writers, I’ve taken a different approach to creating synergy between my blogs and books. I completed the first draft of my Freewriting for Travel Writers book before I’d blogged a single related post on my Birds of a Feather website. It was one of those book drafts that exploded from a seed of an idea and is the quickest book I’ve ever written. I waited until I’d published it before serializing sections on my blog.

What I love about this approach is that when I start writing my next nonfiction book, I can use the previous book’s content to ease my blog post schedule. That allows me to focus on writing my next book.

I’m now two books into my four-book series about How to Write and Self-Publish a Travel Guide, and this book-to-blog approach is really effective. I’ve just published the ebook of Book 3 (How to Publish your Book), and I’m currently focused on Book 2 (How to Write your Book). While I’m focused on writing, I have 60,000 words from the previous book to serialize into blog posts. This provides me with an effortless flow of content and reduces the stress of constantly having to create all my content from scratch.

The Hybrid Approach

I’m working on my third travel guide, and started off using a blogging-a-book approach, and switched to a booking-a-blog approach. I had been blogging the travel narrative articles from my Cambodia flash-packing trip on my personal blog and later decided to copy them into a Scrivener project.

Then I joined a 30-day writing sprint in January to flesh out a rough book draft. So now I have a mix of content that has appeared on my blog and additional content that can be used for future blog posts.

I can use the previous book’s content to ease my blog post schedule.

Click To Tweet

The Right Content Approach for You

Whether you plan on blogging your book, booking your blog, or taking a hybrid approach, there’s a method that will work for you, your content creation, and your writing style.

Knowing that your content has a dual purpose and can be leveraged for a book and a blog is a great writing motivator. You’re getting more mileage out of each word you write. This approach to content creation and leveraging it on multiple outlets is the cornerstone of content marketing. When you create synergy between your blog and books, you become a more efficient writer and can reduce the stress caused by continual content creation.

The added benefit of creating multiple publication channels is that you provide your audience with a choice of how to consume your content. Giving them what they want, is a great way to build a loyal following.

What strategy or strategies will work best for you?

About the Author

Jay Artale abandoned her corporate career to become a digital nomad and full-time writer. She’s an avid blogger and a nonfiction author helping travel writers and travel bloggers achieve their self-publishing goals. Join her at Birds of a Feather Press where she shares tips, advice, and inspiration to writers with an independent spirit.

 

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket

Filed Under: Success Strategies Tagged With: blog content, blog-to-book, blogging a book, book to blog, booking a blog, content marketing, hybrid, travel guides

Comments

  1. Tom says

    March 31, 2019 at 7:45 am

    Thank you, such a great idea. I currently have enough travel content on my blog I could turn into a book. Not necessarily a long book, but I think it would be useful to experience publishing for the first time, before I will publish the book I am writing now.

  2. Terri Webster Schrandt says

    March 31, 2019 at 9:39 am

    Such a great, motivating article! When I started my blog I had no idea I would create an ebook about the need for photography in blogging! I do have to find more time to write about fitness in my blog as I write my next book about fitness. I still work so it is not always easy to find the time.

  3. Jay Artale says

    October 16, 2019 at 12:42 am

    Hi Tom … using your travel blog content as the basis for your first book is an excellent way to make the self-publishing process seem less intimidating and overwhelming.

  4. Jay Artale says

    October 16, 2019 at 12:45 am

    Hi Terri – I know what a challenge it is to juggle a full time career and a blog. Just try to find those little gaps during your day where you can scribble out a few paragraphs. If you get into a daily writing habit (no matter how small) it’s amazing how much content you can create within your week.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About Nina Amir

Nina Amir, the Inspiration to Creation Coach, inspires writers to create published products and careers as authors as well as to achieve their goals and fulfill their purpose and potential.

Read More . . .

Follow Me!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on Google+Follow Us on TwitterFollow Us on LinkedInFollow Us on PinterestFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on SkypeFollow Us on RSSFollow Us on E-mail

As Seen On:

social proof2

How to turn your blog into a book

Amazon.com
Barnesandnoble.com
IndieBound.com
WritersDigestShop.com

Create a Successful Author Website!

Book. Books and laptopPurchase a copy of my eBook!

Bestselling authors like Michael Hyatt and Joanna Penn use Scrivener and endorse this course! I tried Learn Scrivener Fast, too, and found it a quick, easy way to learn the Scrivener writing technology. Plus, you can use it to produce produce ebooks!
Click here to find out more!

250x250

bluehost

Writer's Digest: 2013 Best Writing Websites (2013)
This website has been awarded a Best Writing Website.
Sponsored by Writer's Digest, Writer's Market,
Writer's Digest University & Writer's Digest Shop.

TFOI Badge

Popular Posts

  • Are You Blogging a Book? List it here!
  • Can You Publish Blogged Material As a Kindle Ebook?
  • Darren Rowse on Book Deals and Discovery in the Blogosphere
  • 4 Ways Digital Marketing Helps You Blog A Book
  • Selling Your Ebook on Your Own Website vs. Amazon

Search

Categories

Archives

Copyright © Nina Amir 2023

»
«
Powered by Conversion Insights: Boost your online revenue.  
Are you a productive, semi-productive or unproductive writer? Take My Quiz To Find Out!
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.