Recently, I was asked great questions about blogging and book writing. In response, I shared some of the synergies that happen when you blog and how your blog can help your book.
Here are 9 ways blogging can support your book writing:
1. You find out what your audience is really interested in.
2. You discover what questions your readers have about your subject.
3. You develop a community of people who love what you have to offer and will lovingly spread the word when the book comes out (and buy your book for themselves and their friends, as well.
4. You get feedback from your readers about what works and what doesn’t.
5. Your following grows.
6. You may get some great stories from your blog readers as comments–and can ask them if you can share them in the book, possibly getting more details for the book, as well.
7. You find your voice as a writer.
8. You learn what bores your blog readers, or what they don’t respond to.
9. You can use some of your posts as jumping off points.
Can you blog your book? Sometimes. Your posts will need to have a certain coherency and make sense in a book–you can’t just slap them all together and call it a book. If you really want to blog your book, outline it in detail first. Then figure out which parts you can blog.
Comments? Questions? Share away…
Hi, thank you for all of this awesome info! I was told by an agent that I should make sure to have a tracker on my blog so I can tell potential publishers how much of a following I have. My question is what is considered a good blog following? Is there a number range that is considered a successful blog?
Hi Yvonne, That is a great question and there isn’t a “short answer” since it depends on your readership and the particular niche/market of your book. For a dating book, you’d have to have a huge following–possibly six figures, but at least high five. For a more niche market, five or ten thousand highly engaged readers might be enough to excite a niche publisher. Good luck with it. What is your book about?
PS I just checked your website–very inspiring.
Hi Lisa,
Thank you so much for taking the time to do that! That was kind of you and I am glad that you liked it. If you know anyone you think might get a smile out of my blog please pass it along. Right now, I average just over 1000 visitors per month but have some new ideas to promote it. The book is the same idea but takes place from just before the diagnosis and uses humor to detail the first two years.
That’s a very healthy start in terms of visitors–and great that you are thinking of additional ways to promote–as you can probably guess 1) think about where your target audience hangs out online 2) consider guest posts to reach new people (if the guests promote to your target audience 3) comment on other people’s blog posts and articles that are related to the arena you write about and appeal to a similar target audience.