Blogging doesn’t have to be an activity that take you away from writing your book. You can blog your book—write, publish and promote it all at the same time post by post on the Internet. If you don’t want to place the first draft of your manuscript on your website, however, your blogging time can still help you churn out book manuscripts—just not your magnum opus. You can turn your blog into a book-production machine by continually writing and publishing blog post series.
Let me explain.
A blogged book consists of a manuscript you consciously plan and then write (and publish on your blog) as a series of posts. The book does not have to be long, however. It does not have to be your full-length novel or work of nonfiction. It can be a short book or an ebook. Better yet, it can be a series of short books.
No matter what type of book you decide to blog, a blogged book always consists of a series of posts you plan in advance and then write, publish and promote from your site. Long or short, fiction or nonfiction, the strategy remains the same. Write a series of posts that all logically go together. Publishing them on your blog, one after the other, and then turn them into a book.
Blog 12 Books in 12 Months
Imagine this: You create a blog plan for the whole year. Each month’s content revolves around a theme or topic. That means for any particular month you focus each post on the chosen topic. If you write on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule, for example, you produce nine posts each month.
Now, take this a level deeper. You decide to produce 12 short ebooks this year, so you plan out the posts for each month with an ebook in mind. The posts will flow one into the next, each one providing the next logical bit of information for your blog readers and, ultimately, for your book readers. (Write these in Word or Scrivener to produce a manuscript. Then copy and paste into your post.) At the end of the month, take those nine posts, add one additional post and an introduction and conclusion. Voilà! You have written an ebook.
Rinse and repeat, and you’ll have 12 short books by the end of the year. (Wow!)
Blog One or Two Books Per Year
Let’s drill down one more level. Assuming each post you wrote averaged 500 words, you produced 6,000 words per month or 72,000 words in a year. You’ve not only written 12 short books, but you’ve also written a sizable nonfiction book!
You now can cut out all the introductions and conclusions you wrote for each ebook, edit as necessary, and produce a full-length nonfiction book comprised of 12 previously published chapters (ebooks). You might even want to add one or two additional chapters to provide readers with new content. Plus, you can add an introduction and a conclusion.
You could split the year in half and produce two full-length books in a 12-month period. Six months of blogged content, after all, equates to 36,000 words. Just add one or two additional chapters to attract blog readers (and ebook readers) to the finished work, and you’ll find yourself at 50,000 words with no problem. That word length is perfectly acceptable for a full-length nonfiction manuscript or printed book.
The Book-Blogging Machine
What would happen if you created such a blog plan and carried it out every year? Your blog would become a book-production machine! You’d write and produce 12 short books and one or two long book every single year. At the same time, you’d provide your blog readers with highly valuable content, promote your forthcoming books and build a platform of raving fans.
So, tell me again why or how you think blogging takes you away from writing your book or books?
And if you need help planning out or blogging a book, take advantage of the March Madness special on my author or book coaching services.
Photo courtesy of wavebreak_media.
Nina, your information is so helpful and encouraging! Thank you so much. Do you find that publishing an e-book helps or hinders getting published by a publisher? Will a publisher want all-new content or added content that hasn’t been offered in the e-book? Or will they reject previously published e-books and want all new content? I am still in the planning and writing stages and have not published an e-book yet. Thank you for your help!
Say a writer follows this Blog a Book idea. What’s to keep someone from “borrowing” your book as his or her own book? And why would someone buy a book they’ve already read?
Jus’ wondering.
Good evening, Mrs. Amir. Really love this idea of how you can turn out 12 books a year from your blog. Can’t wait to start the Blog a book challenge next month. Hope you and family have a great weekend.
Hi,Anna. If you want a traditional pubishing deal, you might want to just blog your book–a long book–and get enough subscribers to your blog and mailing list to prove you have test marketed the idea and built a platform. Then propose. If you publish an ebook and it fails–doesn’t sell–you will have a hard time convincing a publisher to take on the project. I never recommend self-publishing if traditional publishing is your goal–not with the book you want picked up. That said, if you sell a lot of copies, a publisher may be interested in the book verbatim or with additional new content.
Mary,
They likelihood of someone borrowing your book is slim. As it is said, you have more to fear of obscurity than plagiarism. Take all the precautions–copyright your site, use a plugin with a time stamp, submit to the copyright office.
As for your second question: https://howtoblogabook.com/5-reasons-why-your-blog-readers-will-buy-your-blogged-book/
Hope that helps.
Thanks, John!
I love this blog and the book. Nina Amir, every single time I read something of yours, you inspire me to action. Thank you!!
Thanks so much! That’s my intention! I’d love to use your comment as a testimonial!
Personally, I love the idea of how you can turn out 12 books a year from your blog. Can’t wait to start the Blog a book challenge next month.