From blog to book
Many bloggers make the move from blogging to actually writing full-length books in print. This seems like a good idea to me - your success as a blogger can really help you to promote your book online. Gina at the Lifehacker blog wrote about and she made the following statement which I think rings true:
…the advantage any blogger-to-be-author has is this: you’ve already created an audience. Because of Lifehacker.com, I was able to include web site statistics, reader testimonials and site awards in my book proposal, which convinced my publisher there was already interest in the topic. Not to mention the thousands of posts on the web site which gave them a clear idea of my tone and writing style.
And these days if you want to publish and sell a book, it is no longer necessary to have an agent and a publisher - you can do it all yourself. At Lulu.com you can
and by promoting it on your blog, you will no doubt get some sales. Since they do not require any set-up fees, you don’t end up wasting money if *heaven forbid* you do not sell as many as you would like. They have many services to promote your publication, and even a community that no doubt will help you gain insight from seasoned online publishers. And they do not restrict themselves to books alone - you can also publish calenders, CDs, photo books, dissertations, brochures and much more.
This has many advantages. At Beneath the Cover Yvonne Divita mentions that:
It’s a faster way to market – POD publishers can turn a book around in several months, compared to years at a traditional publishing house. And, it’s more personal. The author gets to have a say in cover design, choice of title, and page layout.
I think that the freedom that comes with this approach to publishing will be a big appeal to many people looking to translate their blog into a book. As bloggers are accustomed to the personal aspect of blogging with complete freedom of content and design, it would be difficult to deal with suddenly conforming to the requirements of the publisher.
More resources about publishing a book:
from ReadWriteWeb
Some things to be warned about from Writer Beware
Related Posts
Posted: July 29th, 2007.
Comments: 16
Comments
Comment from
Time: July 29, 2007, 2:33 pm
Great article! Although I do have second thoughts about POD publishing after reading the article that you linked to.
Comment from Danielle
Time: July 29, 2007, 3:13 pm
I think POD would be good for publishing your first few books, then with a few under your belt it may open you up to opportunities you might not have. So few books actually get published by “real publishers” that I think POD is a great no-cost, low-cost way of getting those first words in print.
Comment from
Time: July 29, 2007, 4:50 pm
Lulu.com is one option that my cousin and I have been thinking about when we’re ready to do a Gummy book :)
Comment from
Time: July 29, 2007, 5:21 pm
I think that would be great! I know many of your readers would buy it, and it could launch your career. Then book #2 could be published by Jim Davis Independent Press haha! :D
But I think you should send it to actual publishers first - who knows, right?
It seems like a good option, and since you don’t have any setup fees, then it’s just a matter of writing/creating/drawing a book! I think that people warn against them, but really at the end of the day: Would the book get published otherwise.
Comment from
Time: July 29, 2007, 5:26 pm
We’ll definitely consider sending out material to actual publishers as well and see what happens. We need to write it all first of course..hehe. It will probably be the story of Gummy from the very beginning :)
Comment from
Time: July 29, 2007, 5:31 pm
Awesome review, I’ve never heard of Lulu. com, great info Danielle!
Comment from
Time: July 29, 2007, 5:35 pm
@Mike - Gummy from the very beginning - now that would be a book I would buy! You have made one sale already and the book is not even written yet!
@Christy - It seems like a good service. If I ever write a book, it will for sure be my “publisher”.
Comment from
Time: July 29, 2007, 10:00 pm
First time I hear about that but it actually makes sense !
To be honest, I was really surprise at the number of great - blog - writers out there. It’s gonna make great books too I guess !
Comment from
Time: July 29, 2007, 10:12 pm
There are so many blogs that I think translate well into books - whether fiction, nonfiction, art. And I think this does a lot for breaking down the elitism that exists in the literary circles, and the difficulty that can come with having a first book published. Here success is based on demand, and not on whether a publisher decides to grant you that success.
Comment from
Time: July 29, 2007, 10:32 pm
yeah i’m hoping to get my new book A Billion Little Pieces out soon!!
i hope Oprah selects it for her Book Club!!
;PPP
@Mike - yeah LuLu is a pretty c0ol idea* - i just don’t like the limitations of their Page Layouts*
Comment from Danielle
Time: July 29, 2007, 11:19 pm
Having your book selected for her book club would guarantee fame and fortune! :D I would love to read a book by a Canadian blogger/flickr king.
Comment from
Time: July 30, 2007, 12:16 pm
Cool!. I will check lulu.com and the other sites. It´s pretty interesting to convert the blog to book.
Comment from Danielle
Time: July 30, 2007, 4:56 pm
I was thinking of you as I checked out the Lulu.com website. :)
Comment from
Time: July 30, 2007, 7:30 pm
I’ve been thinking the same way. I’m using blogging to build up information to submit with my artworks to fine art shows and galleries. It allows me to fine tune and get great feedback from many before putting the info before the shows and galleries. Thank you for your insights and tips.
Comment from
Time: August 3, 2007, 6:44 pm
This is gonna be a bit of an epic, I’m afraid.
First, POD is not *publishing*. It is *printing*. It is a digital printing *technology*.
POD “publishers” are pretty much printers who use POD technology to get your book out there. Lulu is nice because it’s self-service and therefore cheaper.
The trouble with Lulu etc. is that the ISBN you receive is not your own. It is associated with the “publsher” and you lose control over your own work in some important ways. For example, if you want to put yourself forward as serious, any major reviewer sees the iUniverse/Lulu ISBN and you’re forgotten. They just won’t do it. You might have a fantastic niche book, a great novel, but they don’t want to know.
The only thing that Lulu etc. makes it easy to do is print books.
Also, because the middle man also needs to make his profit, you pay more per book for POD books. When you consider that Amazon takes 55% of the cover price and requires that you cover shipping to them (Amazon.com advantage program), you must set your book price high enough to still profit. If you only want to do non-bookstore sales, say if you go on the talking circuit, you’re much better off.
Lulu is great if you don’t want to print a lot of books or just want to print your memoirs. (I used it to print my drafts to get a sort of sense of how big the book would end up being.) However, if you want to sell more books, you might consider setting up your own small, publishing company, getting your *own* ISBN so you can promote your *own* brand, and going direct to the POD printers such as Lightning Source.
If you want to *really* try to break into bookstores, then offset printing is the way to go. Expect it to be expensive and expect it to be hard, hard work. You will need to print at least 1000 to make it worthwhile.
Anyone considering putting out more than a few copies of their book really, really needs to do a lot of homework. It isn’t just “print the book and the business will come.” It’s endless, endless hard work and book-pushing and knowing where to stick your fingers in a niche. There are resources out there.
Btw, a niche book will often earn more sold through the appropriate grapevine than a traditional publisher. People might look down their noses at a self-pub book, but when you make (say) $10 per book vs. $1 in royalties you need to sell a whole lot less. ;-)
Comment from
Time: August 3, 2007, 6:45 pm
Books are not selected for book clubs…they are sent to them months in advance of publication and arrangements are made.
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