Turning Your Blog Into a Book

Blogger Push Button Blogging’s article, “How to Get a Book Deal With Your Blog” tackles another aspect of blogging: making mountains out of molehills.

Part of the joy of blogging is the instant gratification of being published. This is reinforced by the power found in the Copyright Laws that states that something is protected and preserved once it is “fixed”, or set in a permanent medium. So blogger’s work is not only protected by law, but PUBLISHED for the world to see. WOW.

Now, what if you wanted to turn that little thrill into a bigger one? You can get good enough at blogging on your own blog to then guest blog on other blogs, building your reputation as an expert blogger. Maybe start more than one blog and blog on all of the different blogs as your own guest blogger?

There are many ways of getting to be classified as an expert through blogging. But at some point it will happen. It will strike you at any moment. It is the urge to be “really” published.

Getting published in a book, whether as the sole author or contributor, is a thrill. Total thrill. A book is tangible. You can show it to your parents and grandparents and they will understand and clap their hands with pride. Haul around your laptop and point to a blog post and they will smile and say politely, “That’s nice, dear.” A book is real. The web is virtually real. Not as much fun.

So how does it work? How do you go from blogger to author? According to the Blogger post, you begin by blogging with a focus, concentrating upon a specific subject and becoming an expert on it. No, the book publishers will not automatically track you down and hand you a check, but it gets you a body of work and collection of material that can create a book.

From there, you have something to build on to create your book. The next steps are up to you.

There are two methods of turning your blog into a book. One is self-publishing your blog in printed form, the other is taking the generated interest, enthusiasm, and expertise, and working with a publisher to turn your blogging expertise and experiences into a book. This second method can come to you in a variety of ways.

To work with a publisher to turn your blog into a book, you can either be “found” by the popularity and topical subject matter of your blog, such as being a blogger in Iraq during the invasion of the US Forces, continuing to blog while bombs fall around you. Or you can go knock on doors and beat on drums to convince a publisher to take you on, the old fashioned method.

Here are some good resources for either option:

Self-Publishing Services: Blogs to Books

• Cafe Press
• Blog Binders
• LuLu

Tips on How to Get Your Blog to Book Published

• Washington Post – Publish Your Own Book
• Science Politics – Turn Your Blog Archives Into a Book and Sell It
• How to Turn Your Business Blog Into A Book in Six Easy Steps
• Making Your Own Coffee Table Book
• The Economics of Publishing Your Own Book
• Writers Write
• Creative Commons

Have you had your blog turned into a book? How was the process for you? How did you do it? Any tips for us? Was it worth it? How did your blog change when it reached print form? Did you change and edit the blog content or leave it as it was? What’s the difference to you between reading a blog and book? How did it change your life?

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen