A platform can mean the difference between landing or not landing a book deal. It also can make the difference between successful on unsuccessful book sales. Today, Beth Bauer (@JourneyofBethB) provides seven effective ways to build your platform and increase the likelihood of your blog and book succeeding. Building a robust platform is one of […]
How a Book Review Led an Introverted Blogger to a Book Deal
Every author should know why they want to write a book—and why they are writing a particular book. That’s the author’s mission statement. However, every blog or book should have a mission as well. The mission of Jenn Granneman’s blog, Introvert, Dear, is clearly stated on the site: To let introverts everywhere know it’s okay […]
How a Blog Helped Emily Benet Achieve Her Dream of Successful Authorship
If you want to hear a classic blog-to-book success story, this is it. Emily Benet is one of those bloggers who was “discovered.” But she set out to create her dream of successful authorship–first as a blogger. Born in London to a Welsh mother and Spanish father, Benet moved to Barcelona at 13, where she […]
What Happens When a Publisher Thinks Your Blog is Your Best Book Idea
Sometimes a blogger doesn’t realize his blog content might hold the content to his next book—until someone points that out the blog represents his best book idea. In 2009, Larry Brooks (@storyfix) launched his blog, www.storyfix.com, to deliver core fiction writing craft tips, teaching, and perspective for writers at all levels. He had built a […]
How to Get Traditionally Published with Low Blog Readership
You started blogging to build a platform and land a traditional publishing deal. But you’ve got a problem. You’ve been blogging for while—a year or more—and you still don’t have a lot of readers. You’ve been sharing posts on social media sites, blogging often and in a focused manner, but your efforts just haven’t paid […]
Tien Chiu on Mastering the Craft of Blogging a Book
Tien Chiu started blogging her book Master Your Craft: Strategies for Designing, Making, and Selling Artisan Work in 2012. I remember distinctly the day I met her. She had just started blogging her book, and she had come to a California Writers’ Club meeting to hear me speak on the topic of how to blog […]
Joe Ponzio on Going from Book to Blog to Book
Joe Ponzio started his blog as a way to build platform for the book he planned to write (not necessarily blog). When his blog readership exploded, he sealed the success of his book. After going book to blog to book, he reports, “the book and the blog go hand-in-hand.” In the case of Fwallstreet.com, both […]
Lizzie Skurnick on Going from Blog to Book: Shelf Discovery
Lizzie Skurnick’s blog-to-book success came from her regular Jezebel.com feature column, Fine Lines. This blog consists of her meditations on favorite, old-school YA (young adult) novels from the late ‘60s to the early ‘80s—books much beloved by now-grown-up women. Skurnick says, “The book resembles the blog, but I added twice as many columns and organized […]
Going from Blog to Book: The Daily Coyote
Since Shreve Stockton is a professional photographer who “writes on impulse,” it’s not surprising that her blog, The Daily Coyote, is primarily a photo blog. When her photos and stories of her life with Charlie, an orphaned coyote who she’d raised since he was ten days old, caught the interest and imagination of people world-wide […]
Paul V. Vitagliano’s Born This Way Blog Attracts Agents After Two Weeks
When I saw Paul V. Vitagliano’s blog-to-book story, I was intrigued by both his story and the stories he had published on the blog and in the book, Born This Way: Real Stories of Growing Up. I immediately asked him if I could feature him here. He conceptualized and launched the Born This Way Blog […]