I remember when I was in high school (a long time ago, admittedly). I was an avid sci-fi fan at the time (and still am), and I recall reading several stories of the “doppelganger” variety.
You know—the main character somehow creates, or is somehow gifted with, an exact double and the two go about planning and executing a variety of hi-jinx.
These stories almost always follow the same trajectory: (1) discovery/creation of the doppelganger, (2) the main character and his/her doppelganger start on a course of action that they think will be fun/beneficial/lucrative, and (3) something goes terribly wrong and it all falls apart.
One of the tamer varieties of this sub-genre are those stories where the main character gets the doppelganger to do all the things he or she doesn’t want to do—go to school, do homework, do chores, etc.—while the main character kicks back and enjoys life (until, inevitably, #3 above happens).
I guess these stories are popular because we all wish at one time or another that we had a double to do part of our work, to make us twice as productive (or just to do our work so we wouldn’t have to). And I guess these stories always end up disastrously because the writers of the stories realize that in the real world such wishes are just fantasies.
But today, I want to share with you a way where you literally can get twice the work done in the same amount of time. You won’t even need a doppelganger!
And not only that, you’ll end up as a well-respected, published author at the end of the process.
How do you make this miracle happen? By “blogging your book.”
Blogging a Book: The Basic Concept
The idea of blogging a book isn’t new. In fact, the definitive book on the topic, How to Blog a Book, was written by Nina Amir eight years ago, and many similar books have followed since then. But I still find many consultants who are unaware of the approach, so here are the basics.
If you’re writing regular blog posts, you’re creating content. And you know what a book is? Just a lot of content on a single topic.
So, the key is to figure out the topic of the book you want to write, and instead of trying to write your regular blog posts and add extra time into your schedule to also write your book on the side, you “blog your book.”
Here’s how you go about it. Take your book idea and write out as detailed an outline of the book’s chapters as you can.
Now, go back and take a look at all the blog content you’ve produced and look for posts that cover some of the topics in your book outline. If you find some content you’ve already produced that, with some revision, could fit into your book plan, copy and paste it into a document. This is the start of your book manuscript. No use writing from scratch content that you’ve already covered once.
When you’ve done that, take a look at the parts of your book outline that still need to be written. Often, the sub-topics in a chapter can serve as a series of blog posts. Plan them out and, on your regular blog schedule, write them. Once you’ve posted the content on your blog, copy and paste it into the appropriate section of your book document.
As you go along, your book manuscript will grow and will, at some point, achieve “critical mass” where it no longer seems to you like just a dumping ground for your blog content, but rather starts to resemble a fully-thought-out book.
At this point, set aside some regular time in your schedule to start revising the work, paying special attention to transitions, tone, and language. Since part of your book started life as various blog posts, it may seem like a bit of a cobbled-together Frankenstein’s monster, so you’ll need to focus on consistency as you revise.
And that’s basically it. I’m sure you can see that, instead of trying to do two different things—write your blog AND write a book on the side—the smart approach would be to write content once, then use it for two different purposes. Two birds, one stone, as they say.
But the fact that you’ll end up at the end of the process with a lot of blog posts and a book manuscript to boot only scratches the surface of the reasons you should blog your book. Let’s look into it a little more deeply.
Nine Reasons You Should Blog Your Next Book
Reason #1: You Get Your Book Written—Obviously, “blogging you book” gets your book written, and that’s the main goal, right? So many consultants seem to think that they have to add extra time into their schedules to write a book. And, when you’re already stretched thin and harried, adding another big project to the stack is just too much for most people to face. So, they put it off and keep saying to themselves, “Someday….”
Reason #2: You Produce Content in the Meantime—If you “blog your book,” you’re continuing to produce your regular blog. This means that, not only are you writing your book, you’re making a name for yourself as a blogger in your field at the same time.
Reason #3: This Process Leads to Better Search Engine Rankings—The more solid content pages you add to your blog, the better your blog site will rank in search. And the higher your site ranks, the more people will find it and read your work. It’s what’s called a “virtuous cycle,” a positive feedback loop.
Reason #4: You Gain Readers in the Process—The higher your blog site ranks in search, the more people will find your site (duh!). If you have a process for capturing those site visitors while they’re on your blog site (by having a free lead magnet to give away in return for them opting into your list, for example), you’ll build a powerful asset that you can tap into in the future.
Reason #5: You Have the Opportunity to Build Relationships with These Readers—When someone opts into your e-mail list, that means that they’ve found something they like in your work. They’re your kind of people, and you’re their kind of writer. It’s a match made in, if not Heaven, at least in cyberspace. Now, all you have to do is continue to interact with them regularly via e-mail and build that relationship. And since they’ve already proven that they like your work, they will be prime candidates to buy your book when it’s ready.
Reason #6: “Blog Swapping” Allows You to Spread the Word and Expand Your Launch Network—While you’re blogging your book, if you take some time to identify other popular bloggers in your field, you can approach them and propose some “blog swapping” (reciprocal guest blogging) to build each other’s authority in the field. Here’s how it works: you write a blog post that’s relevant to the other blogger’s audience and he posts it on his blog. You’ll, of course, include a link to your blog at the end of the post. This drives traffic to your blog and grows your audience. Then, return the favor and invite the other blogger to write something for you to post on your blog, with a link back to her blog. This will help her grow her audience, but it will also do something for you. It will position you as someone with authority in your field, someone who obviously knows the “movers and shakers.”
Reason #7: You Can Adjust Your Book’s Content on the Fly as You Get Feedback—One big advantage of blogging your book is often overlooked—you can get feedback as you go. When you write a book the old-fashioned way, you slave away at it for six months, a year, maybe multiple years, and then you take it to a publisher, only to find out that they see serious flaws in it. If you blog your book, though, you’re constantly asking your blog readers to give feedback in the form of comments. Based on the feedback they give, you may decide to beef up one section of the book or cut out another section entirely. With this feedback loop in place, the chances of producing a manuscript your audience will want to buy go way up.
Reason #8: Your Blog is a Writing Sample for Book Publishers—In the traditional approach, you write your book manuscript, then you send it off to a publisher. If you don’t blog at all, the publisher will see only the manuscript. If you blog your book, however, before you even send the final manuscript to the publisher, you can do some preliminary communication with them and direct them to your blog. When the manuscript lands on their doorstep, they will be familiar with your work, and if they like your blog, they’re more likely to give your book manuscript a fair reading.
9. You Set Yourself Up for Radio and Podcast Appearances to Build Further Visibility—As you aggregate your blog posts into your book manuscript, start looking for opportunities to speak about the topics you write about in your upcoming book on radio shows and podcasts. These platforms are always looking for content to fill their publication schedules, so find shows and podcasts that talk about the kind of material you’re writing about and offer to be a guest. This gives you the perfect opportunity, at the end of the show, to pitch your upcoming book.
As you can see from this list, blogging your book offers many more benefits than just getting your book written. In fact, doing it this way actually does much of the heavy lifting to set you up for a successful book launch (a topic I’ll dig into in future posts).
Those of you out there who have “blogged a book” before, I’d love to hear about your experiences with the process. And please let me know what you think about the list of benefits above. Did I miss any big benefits that should be added to the list?
