As it gets harder and harder for aspiring authors to get their books picked up by traditional publishing houses, more and more bloggers are finding publishers simply coming to them with contracts in hand. If you keep up with books at all, you know that agents and publishers have picked up several author's blogs and made them into books since about 2005. For example, Julia & Julia, PostSecret and Stuff White People Like all appeared as blogs before they became books. Of course, Julia & Julia also became a hit movie.
For this reason, Nina Amir, a blogger, speaker, and writing coach and consultant, decided to begin blogging a book about how to blog a successful book--a book that might be found by an agent or acquisitions editor trolling the Internet for publishable fodder.
When asked why she would even consider blogging a book about how to blog a book she replied, "I'm doing it because blogging a book represents a great idea. In the Internet Age?and given the current state of traditional publishing?writers have to become more creative. They have to take their careers into their own hands. They have to become their own PR representatives and promotion and marketing directors. They have to start their own publishing companies. They have to take advantage of the current technology."
According to Amir, blogging represents just one publishing technology at a writer's fingertips. Indeed, in addition to "How to Blog a Book," she writes three other blogs and an on-line column for Examiner.com. She's also an author and journalist.
Amir wants to encourage other writers to begin blogging their books. Even if their books aren't discovered, she says this provides a great way to actually get a book written. Her blogged book will be completed before the end of May; she began on February 1. She never writes more than about 500 words per day; on average her posts have only 200-300 words.
Plus, the price is right. Some bloggers may choose to have a hosted blog, paying about $100 per year. Others may start out with a free blog.
Additionally, if a blogger writes good copy and promotes the blog well, he or she might actually gain more readers than with a traditionally published book. One of her other blogs, "As the Spirit Moves Me," gets about 1,750 unique visitors per month. While Amir admits many other bloggers get millions of readers per month, she wouldn't likely sell 100 books in a month. "The average nonfiction book sells between 250 and 1,000 copies in its lifetime, let alone in a year. I reach more readers with my blog than I would with a book in a bookstore," she said. "That's a great reason for any aspiring author or writer to want to blog a book or simply to blog."
Blogs constitute one of the best ways to build the coveted writer's platform. "In the past, going out and speaking to audiences provided writers with that platform. Today, you can build one from the comfort of your home. I'm not saying that a writer's platform doesn't benefit from some talks given here and there; it does. However, a blog read by thousands of people each day goes a long way towards impressing a publisher or selling your self-published book," Amir reported.
Amir is the president of CopyWright Communications, a writing, editing, and publishing consulting company located in Los Gatos, CA. She considers herself a writing coach not only in the traditional sense—helping people get their words on paper—but in the nontraditional sense—motivating writers past their feeling that its just too difficult today to get published. Just as some people hire a life coach to help them reach their goals, aspiring authors hire Amir to help them move past their fear and frustration about the publishing process so they can reach their dreams of getting their work into print.
To interview Amir or to hire her to speak at an event, please visit CopyWright Communications
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