We know many of you love your blogs, and gleefully publish photos and posts without thoughts to reuse your work in other forms. But we know some wonder: could this be a book? Recently we wrote about how a WordPress.com blogger scored a book deal for You Are Not So Smart. But what if you want to do it all yourself?
As a blogger who has authored several successful books with publishers, and who works on WordPress.com, I recently self-published a book based entirely on posts from my blog. I wanted to see what I could learn, and I’m here to share it all with you.
The book I self-published is called Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds. It’s a collection of my best essays from my WordPress blog at scottberkun.com, where I write about ideas, creativity and leadership. The book has done well, and has often been in the top 100 books on philosophy and other categories on amazon since it was published.
There are four questions I often get asked by other bloggers.
1. How do you shape a blog into a book?
This is the wrong way to start. A book is a different reading experience than a blog, and to “shape” a blog into a book assumes words are like clay, where you can shove them into any shape you like. A book is a longer reading experience, and every chapter, or every page, needs to line up in a readable way with the others. It will take some effort to rework material written for a blog to fit well together as a book. Don’t start with the assumption you’ll include every single post on your blog, or keep them in the chronological order they were written.
The first step is to make two lists: possible posts and possible concepts. You might discover a book concept that’s strong, but you only have 10 or 12 posts that fit. That’s ok. You can always choose to write more. Of course the theme of your entire blog could be the theme for a book, but consider other concepts too.
I went back to the beginning and made a list of posts that might be good enough to include. I made a separate list of possible book concepts. One concept I saw in some of my posts was intelligent provocation: asking big questions and offering intelligent and entertaining answers. I filtered the list based on that concept, and arrived at 45 possible posts. Then I hired an editor to help refine the list, and the result was 30 posts that, while all written independently, fit together into an excellent read.
There are services like Blurb or Blog2print that will take your WordPress.com blog and build a book from it. If your WordPress blog is self-hosted, and not on WordPress.com, you might take a look at Anthologize, a plugin that automates the process of converting your blog into an e-book. But these services do nothing to shape your work into a great read. No software can do this for you. There is an enormous distance between a ‘book’ and a ‘book someone will enjoy reading’ and that distance is closed only by your hard work.
Plan to take a draft version of your book and ask people to read it. Ask for feedback on improving the order of posts, or which posts don’t fit. You’ll notice people expect tighter and more careful writing in a book, compared to reading posts online. It’s acting on this feedback that makes the difference between a book that feels like a book, and a book that feels like a bunch of random posts thrown together. Revise posts, or write new material, to develop the book into a singular strong narrative. I asked for volunteers on my blog for people to give feedback on the drafts and their input was a key part of making the book so strong.
2. How do you actually (self) publish a book?
To go the traditional route, you’ll need to reach out to publishers or agents and try to find one that’s interested. This takes significant effort beyond writing the book itself. In all cases, traditional or self-published, the hardest part is writing and editing an excellent book. If you’re dedicated to your book, self-publishing can allow you to focus your energy on making the book better, rather than in searching for someone to give you a chance you can give yourself.
If you already have a well edited manuscript, you are most of the way there: the technical parts of self-publishing are surprisingly easy. You take your complete manuscript, after it has been copyedited and reviewed by an editor, and convert it to a PDF. With a PDF in hand, there are many services that will convert your PDF to a print or digital book for you.
For Mindfire, I used Lightning Source for the print edition, and a service called BookBaby to manage the digital editions. These services list the book on amazon.com, and it can be purchased like any other book on amazon.com, including Kindle, iBook and other digital versions. It doesn’t cost much: maybe a few hundred dollars. If you choose to only produce a digital version, it can be much cheaper.
The more work you do, the cheaper the services are. If you are willing to hire your own editor and cover designer, or do those tasks yourself, and take care of details like getting an ISBN number, you can user services like Lightning Source or CreateSpace to simply print and distribute he book. But if you want to hire people to help you, services like CreateSpace and Lulu.com let you pay them to take care of many steps on your behalf.
3. Why would people buy a book if the content is free on the blog?
The rise of the iPad and Kindle have proven the demand for longer reading experiences, experiences longer than what the web provides. A compilation of your work offers a deeper experience than what people get through your blog alone. Blogs are fantastic for small to medium length reading experiences, but to consume 40 or 50 posts without interruption, posts that are chosen to fit together on a specific theme, you need something else. A book is a better experience for this kind of continuous reading.
A book gives you an object demonstrating your talents to potential clients, business partners or anyone in the world you wish to impress. Since a book is often perceived as being a greater accomplishment than having a blog, it can be a stronger invitation to a new reader to give your work a try. It also allows your fans and friends to buy copies of your book to give to their friends as gifts: it helps them help you spread word of your work.
4. How can I use my blog to help the book succeed with the book?
If you involve your readers as your produce the book, they will naturally help spread word when it’s done. Using polls I asked my readers to help pick the title, to give feedback on several rounds of cover designs, and many other decisions. This attracted new readers curious about how books are made, and allowed me to collaborate with my readers on the book, increasing their interest in seeing it finished and released.
It’s counterintuitive, but giving the book away for free for a time helps a new book, and your blog, tremendously.
First it rewards your regular readers – who deserves a free copy more than your regular readers? The free give-away helps enlist them to reach out to their networks to bring more people to your blog for the first time. I gave Mindfire away for free for 48 hours, and had over 10,000 people download the book. It’s true my blog is popular, but many of those downloads were by people who had never heard of me before. My great fans on my site helped spread word on twitter and Facebook of my free offer, spreading my reach for future blog posts and books. I still give 1/3rd of the book away for free as a preview for anyone who wants to give it a try.
5. What’s the first step to take?
You’re a blogger: start by blogging about it. Ask your readers if they’re interested in helping you work on a book. Post your list of book concepts and see what they think. Perhaps there’s an author, editor or designer who reads your work that can lend their expertise. Take a careful look at the work you’ve already written and start thinking about what concepts might match.
Have questions about converting your blog into a book? Leave a comment.
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Reblogged this on finnegan2749.
Useful tips,thank you!
Reblogged this on nccmrm97.
Thx, nr. 6: Meanwhile, let your intentions to publish a book, not distract you from ongoing blogging.
I write for over 10 years every day (in Dutch)….my blog is my diary and more. I do export is sometimes, move from place to place, start again, but in my personal archives is over 10 years, every day blogging……I wonder if anyone will ever read it, some day……
thank you for say us the way to publish our blogs. For me it is wonderful, I know now a few tools to make my dream reality. Now i’m writing a science fiction in my blog. When I finished I want to publish the book of course, but for now I don’t think the way to make that.
When I finish the book sure I see this step you say in the post.
Again thank you.
Thank u for your great idea
fieltro
I wrote the books first and then blogged some of the stories. My books are collections of anecdotes based on my personal experiences in the work force, caring for animals, travel, life observations – real life, not fiction. I’ve also written some childrens stories.
The manuscripts have been edited, and need to be edited again, but I’d like to be published. It’s much easier write than be published.
I’m on some forums and have written magazine articles from my own forum topics.
I cannot stop myself to write here that this is one post I was missing on blog recently….I have gone through your post and would like again to go through to plan my strategy. Thanks for writing such a motivating article.
Interesting.. & Congrtulation for your book. 🙂
Reblogged this on awriterwritesalways and commented:
I’m contemplating a new story, but not sure if I want to go the regular route, agent and all, or publish on line. Will give this page a closer read and weigh the pros and cons. Thanks for posting this!
nice … thankyou ..
Reblogged this on pravinchn.
Reblogged this on Bellesapepper37's Blog and commented:
This is interesting to read. Something to keep on the back burner for the future.
Reblogged this on Pascalalter’s Weblog and commented:
Prawie każdy tekst z bloga można drukować, także zdjęcia.
Lecz co to będzie za książka?
Raczej słaba – blog nie lubi refleksji, opisów – ani dialogów.
Action, ..action – powtarzam spokojnie.
Raczej notatki + relacja – nawet dla siebie.
Jednak jest tutaj kilka pomysłów do takiego przekształcenia.
Wydaje się, że koniczni są realni ludzie-story. (opowiadacze)
Plus zdjęcia; prosimy na ujęcia.
Avanti, Avanti !
A very interesting idea, helpful tips. Thanks for sharing.
Reblogged this on malaysiaairlinesfamilies and commented:
To NUFAM & MAFAA representatives, please post evidence of your accusations where we would deliberate before approving and please stop your childishness of the WOOF WOOF thingy.
I’m planning to create an eBook (maybe more than one) from my own blog so your post is timely. Your advice is gratefully received!
If I may, I’d like to suggest that Smashwords.com is a fantastic resource for writers wishing to self-publish. It truly is self-publishing – there are no up-front fees; SW gives you a free ISBN for your ebook; converts your ebook into all the major formats; and is a distributor to Apple, B&N, Diesel, Kobo, Sony, and Baker – Taylor. SW keeps a few cents per book sold – I believe the author nets about 65% of the list price. I’ve been with Smashwords for 2 years now.
Also, you can register your books with Amazon KDP for free by doing it yourself. There’s no reason for authors to pay anyone to post titles to the sites I mentioned.
Vanity publishing serves its purpose, I guess, but I’ve never been impressed with any company that charges hundreds to thousands of dollars for things you can do for yourself quite easily for free. Authors don’t have to come to the publishing table with hat in hand, begging for crumbs while handing over fistfulls of cash.
Today’s economy is driving cover prices down toward 99-cents and “free.” Anyone care to estimate how long it would take a newbie author to recoup their $4,500 investment for iUniverse to publish & market a book? Then, to make a few pennies off a paperback book sold through CreateSpace, I had to price my book at $9.99 – which is insane for an unknown author.
Make it easy on yourselves and keep the costs low – self-pub your books as ebooks via Smashwords and Amazon KDP. Word of mouth, and not up-front investment, will decide how well your books sell.
Thank you for the interesting read.
Good post.
I just had a book published (not on the same topics that I generally blog about, admittedly) and it’s certainly an interesting experience. One thing I’ve noticed: if you think checking your blog stats page is fun, wait until you have an Amazon Sales Rank to follow…
Would I ever consider asking my publishers whether some aspects of my blogging could be turned into a book? Maybe. For now, they’ve got me busy on another project anyway, but it’s an interesting thought…
Great idea, Anne Walsh.
it’s good idea.
Was there an extra cost for converting your work to an e-book, Scott?
Useful information, although I’m nowhere close to writing a book. Thanks for sharing.
I love this idea. No coffee table is safe now!
Magnificent timing of this information! Thank you!
Great Idea! Congratulations!
Reblogged this on indraisme1987 and commented:
Let me reblog this, please.
Reblogged this on hallucinatingmartyr and commented:
Awesome
I’m very new at blogging. I didn’t even start using computers until I was 65. Some of the basic mechanics escape me. I used to write a newsletter called “The Wandering Chef” but producing it was too complex. I’m an ecologist and my wife and I have raised 8 kids over much of the Western Hemisphere and had many [sometimes bizarre] adventures. But I don’t know how to write any of this up – or even if anyone would be interested.
Michael
Many thanks for this. I was thinking of just moving over to wordpress.org to make some money as is, but i think yo need a bank account in the USA for this. Is this true?
Great information, Congrats and thanks for sharing!
Hi Scott,
This is fantastic! You are so generous to share in very clear way on how to turn a blog into a book. I would like to folllow the steps but I may not have time. Is it possible to out source to you?
Warm Regards
Protasio
Blogdaki yazılarımın kitaba dönüştürülmesi konusundaki bilgilendirici yazınıza teşekkür ederim. Daha önce fizik kitapları yazmıştım öğrencilere yardımcı olmak için. Makale ya da yorum yazmak kolay. Ancak, kitap yazmak çok zor ve çok zaman ve emek istiyor. Kitap yazmak için henüz hazır olmadığımı hissediyorum.
Bilgilendirmenize sevindim, teşekkür ederim.
Interesting and really encouraging!!! Maybe, one day, I’ll do the same! 🙂
Very interesting read thank you 🙂
This is terrific. Thanks for this post as well as the links to the additional super-helpful material.
Cheers!
Reblogged this on freeliteraturestuff.
great catalyst to go publishing books. I have published 2,700 articles so far, and two novels on wordpress, and it is not procrastination that is my problem: I don’t have and cannot afford the tools (my own computer, connection, and printer…) and lack the proper and handy physical connections to start any project…Asking readers for input after you have done the work is the right way to any endeavor… Congratulation
Great thoughts Scott, thanks. My spouse has been pressuring me to start working on a conversion although I only have about 176 posts to work on so far and have only managed about 27,500 hits so far.
I always smile when I see comments like one from yesterday about “clogging up the internet with blogs and stories”. I have been keeping a watchful eye out and apparently the internet is not actually full yet. Also, as of yesterday evening there were 7,005,097,641 potential readers out there. I can’t believe in that vast array of people enough of them wouldn’t be interested enough in the right project to pick up a book, dial it into their reading tablet or maybe just find it on the net.
Dream bigger, work harder, love with abandon and write as if everyone is waiting for your next book!
Mister Mac
How Ironic, I just started using wordpress a few days ago. As my first practice exercise I wanted to see if I could duplicate one of my personal websites which was originally created with FrontPage. I chose thegreatestdogsonearth.com and pretty much succeeded duplicating it with thegreatestdogonearth.wordpress.
The ironic thing is I just completed this project and checked my e-mail to find this post. The greatestdogsonearth is basically two ongoing books in autobiographical form written by my dogs. So now I have your example to compare my work to and I didn’t even have to search for it. Maybe it’s an omen or some sort of sign from the internet gods. What ever it is thanks for the help.
I am in the process of creating a Kindle Single using essays from my blog, and was considering using the Amazon’s CreateSpace for editing – have you used their services by any chance? I think it costs about $200, I’m curious to know if it’s worthwhile.
I love the idea of using your readers feedback for help choosing the title and cover, but I only have about 20 readers (and very few comments), so chances are if I asked them questions, they would leave me hanging, like when I tried to high-five my daughter’s friend after soccer practice. Embarrassing.
Fine ideas! I am looking for a day I will acheive same feat as yours.Congratulations!
Great post. I am always amazed that my writing/editing clients don’t get the idea of repurposing material. I have taken their blog posts, workbooks used in workshops, and articles and repurposed the material into an e-book. Always get at least three different products from one. Use mindmaps to help identify what more you can do with what you have already done. Thanks! Pat
Reblogged this on Your Marketing Girl and commented:
Imagine that!
How to turn your blog into a book is a very interestiong concept, and it sounds like a really good idea. 🙂 I’m a wannabie writer, and I’ve never thought of turning my posts into a book perhaps I’ll try it.
Thanks for all of the tips.
I’m fascinated by all of this. Do you think, in the publishing industry in this day and age, it is actually necessary to have a blog/internet presence before trying to publish a book? Just wondering….
Reblogged this on webdediseno and commented:
Una gran idea para crear tu propio libro
It has been my goal from the beginning. Thank you for your insight. 🙂 http://www.hairamerica.wordpress.com
It’s been my goal from the beginning. Thanks for the insight.: http://www.hairamerica.wordpress.com
Great work so far, Scott! Good luck in the future!
“Have questions about converting your blog into a book? Leave a comment.”
And yet, my question was erased by the WordPress Blog Police!
What an interesting place the kingdom of WordPress is…
I am very interested into turning my blog into a book… though I haven’t any idea where to begin. I’m sure it would cost alot of
money which I don’t have to put out on a book. I would like to at least have several books for my two grandchildren … they are
my only family left of my son. I lost my son almost 2 years ago. I have no family excepting my husband… writing is the only way
I can leave something of myself for my grandchildren to know ‘me’. Granny Gee
I released my first ebook for free on my blog, but I want to do another one. I will definitely be using these resources. Thanks!
olá gostei da ideia wordprees. mas vou pensar melhor sobre isso.obrigado
atenciosamente: Socorro
Fantastic insight.. Thanks for sharing!
Great idea and wonderful timing. I subscribe to writer’s digest and they have two articles
in the May/June issue regarding the new era of publishing. and the basics of diy e-book publishing.
it works well as a companion read for all these interested.
And congratulations on the new book. Food for thought.
Thanks.Smile
As a fledgling blogger I look for ways to expand my writing courage and having this type of template helps me take the steps necessary to finally work my way to my lifelong goal of pulling together the endless number of random and not so random thoughts that keep me at the keyboard. I have been looking for this post forever thanks for the wings.
Your post is great! I’m on my way publishing a book too.
But I wonder If you have given out so many free copies then does it hurt your profit a lot?
thank u. this resonates and seems “doable.” keep on.
Has anyone mentioned http://www.blogbooker.com ? That free and simple software takes your WordPress Blog and turns it into a pdf file. Perhaps you’re not editing posts prior to publishing a real book but it’s still a nice way to archive your Blog for posterity/printing……….
I was looking for the exact thing 😛 many thanks!
Thanks for this! This may help me make one of my dreams come true. Would you recommend an ideal time period to do the book as far as site hits?
Thanks so much for this information. Will keep it in mind for the future, as I plan to start blogging about my life with Asperger’s syndrome, which I am planning to turn into an ebook in the future.
I am impressed and hope to get there on day. Currently, my relatively young blog on home business, http://www.ProfitsArena.com/category/articles has attracted a lot of positive encouraging comments. I have been busy with other things but hope to post more soon. If I eventually get enough related posts, I would surely consider making it into a book. Thank you
I have been feeling a book coming forth through me. Thanks for putting these concepts together with opportunities for assistance.
Very informative and exhaustive article. I have not thought about a book from my blog but yes, sometime later I will work on it.
I mostly blog on technical articles. (They are the ones that get max views 😛 ). Do you think such kind of a “technical” book be build from blog posts?
I like it…
http://www.pratamametalindo.wordpress.com
Reblogged this on Bangdidik’s Weblog.
This was a great article. I don’t plan on publishing a book but the suggestions helped me understand how to categorize if if should. This old woman(why does this sound older than “this old man”?) needs only to get some memories and thoughts compiled for my family. I have promised my grandchildren (7 in all – 21 to 34 years of age) to make a book of my poems I wrote for each of them (about all of them) I should live so long!
Wow, I did not know that you could take a blog and transform it into a book. One of the reasons why I begn blogging in the first place was to gain writing experience. I will definitely take your advice into consideration when I write my next post.
Thanks for the great ideas! Now I know where to start. However, I’m having problems with access to blurb and blog2print when I tried it. An error occurs when I try to have it access my blog at raymondolivercruz.wordpress.com. Perhaps my blogsite needs additional formatting?
Interesting!on my blog I cover a few main topics and instead of converting it into a book,I think it would work well as an eMag! Excellent!
Thank you for writing “Mindfire..” I am looking forward to reading the book and I know that it,will be inspiring to many wanna be writers who are unsure how, where, when, to ho about writting and publishing their work. It is, a much needed book for our times…Sincerely,
I.
Plan to go one step at a time.
Reblogged this on Pallies Unite and commented:
For those who to turn their blog into a book
Reblogged this on evelyn caro's Blog.
Wow! I’m a first-timer and I found this article to be awesome. I feel like I just got smarter…and richer!
Great information,thank you & good luck!
Nice work and congratulations, and Welcome to my blog.
i find this very challenging, congrats on the making of your book
Great information…..
Thanks…
Thanks for a great post.
I have got 2 books self published in Personal Development – Personal and Spiritual Growth and I am about to start writing on my blog to create another book to help people become your own life coach.
Have you got any tips that you can give your readers on getting high ratings on Amazon!
Kind regards
Allan
Reblogged this on StanfordGirl.
Very..nice
Good and reliable info. for those of us trying to figure out what to make out of our regular blogging.
thanks for sharing, thats great
Thanks for the great information, encouragement and resources! And, congrats on your book. Look forward to reading more great news about what you are doing in the coming years.
I do have two questions that seem to continuously popping up on my blog, ‘The NW Fire Blog’…1) how do you protect your content from copyright infringement and 2) people have been asking for a discussion option on the blog to discuss with others. I only where people can comments.
Thanks again! – Lisa
I belief, to convert blog-posts to e-book, is an interesting topic. I’m just startingup to write topics on my personal views, on b logs. I think, more posts in future, could edify into an idea, with reader’s feedback, personal contribution, and hard work. Great idea, for a Writer’s Blog. Thanks.
A very nice idea. I’ve not heared before. Thank you very much!
Thank you for the insight! Like many on wordpress, I started my food blog as a way to discipline myself to start writing material for a book (one of my goals in life). I’m a long way off publishing but it is so inspiring to read about the process.
Wow, what an awesome opportunity! My blog must be one month old right now. Can’t wait to accumulate more content and create a book one day. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your info, and hearty congratulations on your book. I hope to publish my web novels sometime soon, and I’m keeping this post bookmarked for future reference.
Reblogged this on lisparc.
it is so nice, maybe I need to prepare for it too.
Congratulations on the book deal! Thanks for all the insightful tips.
I would like to print posts and photos from my blog into a book form simply for my own personal library and as a form of personal history. I don’t self-host my site, I use wordpress.com. But I can’t get blurb and other similar services to work – apparently it is because I own my own domain name and due to the redirect it screws up the cogs in the system. Do you, (or anyone else) know of a workaround for this problem? This is something that has frustrated me for a very long time. You mentioned “Anthologize” but it appears that is for self-hosted sites, correct?
I’m at a loss. Any ideas? Thank you, MoSop
Your best bet is to ask support at Blurb as it’s their service that has the problem.
One workaround to the domain name issue is even if you have a custom domain, we still have a wordpress.com address for your blog. Using that address instead might work.
Hi Scott, Thanks for this post. I would really like to get something published and will see how good the blog or book material turn out once compiled into a book. Writing a book looks like alot of work, I gues once you are driven, it doesn’t really matter as long as it comes out right. God Bless you.
Reblogged this on will2ventures.
Reblogged this on earlymorn.
Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your experience. All those links you provided went straight to Evernote!:) I have a question I hope you can find the time (or anyone here) to answer, should I copyright my blog?