In January 2009 I started a blog about how to blog a book. At that time I had way too many unfinished nonfiction book projects—at least seven or eight. Though my expertise lies in nonfiction books, I also had one novel manuscript tucked away in a file on my computer.
So why did I begin a blog that forced me to initiate another book project? Why did I want to write a book in the public eye, where anyone could see whether I made progress, whether I finished it, and what my rough draft looked like?
I did it because blogging a book represents a great idea. Not only does blogging offer one of the quickest and easiest ways to write a book, blogging technology allows aspiring authors to promote themselves and their books as they write. This means writers build a following of readers as they blog their books into existence—a following of readers who also will buy a printed book based on those very same blog posts.
Why not simply write a book the old-fashioned way and publish it traditionally or independently instead? Today you must be more creative if you want to produce successful books, by which I mean books that sell to an above-average number of readers. You have to take your career into your own hands. You have to become your own public-relations representative and promotion and marketing director. You have to start your own publishing company. Taking advantage of the current online technology allows you to do these things easily and inexpensively, if not effortlessly.
Also, current technology has changed how people read. We live in the Internet Age. Many of us spend much of our day connected to the World Wide Web. We also read online. Why not write and publish online, too?
While other forms of publishing cost money, blogging your book is free—or can be. You can “publish” your book one post at a time on the Internet for nothing. Zero. Zilch. Or next to zilch, if you so choose.
Plus, if you write effective marketing copy and promote your blog well, it’s possible to gain more readers than you would with a traditionally published book. Imagine one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, or even one hundred thousand people a day reading your blog. Wouldn’t you find that rewarding and exciting? Wouldn’t you feel successful as an author?
Nowadays, blogs constitute one of the best ways to build the coveted author’s platform. A blog read by thousands of people each month goes a long way toward impressing upon a publisher that you are a good publishing partner with a marketable idea. It also proves that you will be able to sell your independently published book. Many publishers now expect aspiring authors to have blogs and to blog often because this tool is so effective for creating successful books.
It behooves aspiring authors, therefore, to become bloggers—and to consider writing their books on their blogs.