How to Blog a Powerful Book

Summary

The website content discusses the process of turning a series of high-quality blog posts into a coherent and structured book.

Abstract

The article "How to Blog a Powerful Book" by Jacquelyn Lynn explores the concept of creating a book from a blog. It emphasizes that while the idea of compiling blog posts into a book is popular, the process requires careful consideration to ensure the content is organized, coherent, accurate, and well-written. The transition from blog to book involves curating and structuring existing content into a logical flow, adding transitions, and ensuring the final product has a clear beginning and end. The article also provides practical advice on editing, seeking feedback, and preparing for publication, highlighting that a successful book from blog posts is more than just an aggregation of individual entries.

Opinions

The author believes that blogging a book is viable but challenging, requiring high-quality content.
It is suggested that each blog post should be treated as a stand-alone piece with a clear structure.
The author admits to recommending blogging as a way to write a book without overwhelming the writer, despite not knowing anyone who has completed a book this way.
The article posits that simply combining blog posts does not make a book; significant editing and restructuring are necessary.
The importance of fact-checking, grammar, punctuation, and proofreading is heavily stressed.
The author advises that some blog posts may not fit into the book and should be omitted, even if it is difficult to do so.
The article recommends using techniques like lead-ins and cross-references to create a smooth transition between chapters.
It is the author's opinion that the book should not appear to be a mere collection of blog posts unless that is the intended marketing strategy.
The author suggests writing a proper introduction and conclusion to give the

The often-heard advice goes like this: Start blogging and after you’ve written a sufficient number of blog posts, combine them into a book.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it?

It’s not.

Full disclosure: I’ve suggested this approach to people who want to write a book without hiring a ghostwriter but find the writing process overwhelming. I don’t personally know anyone who has actually blogged a book.

I believe the advice to blog your non-fiction book is sound as far as it goes. But here’s the catch:

Whether you’re writing blog posts, books, or any other type of content, that content has to be high quality if it’s going to attract and keep an audience.

The basics of quality content:

Organized. Each stand-alone piece must have a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Coherent. Every word must be correct, and every sentence must make sense to the reader.

Accurate. Your content must be able to stand up to rigorous fact-checking.

Well-written. Check spelling and word usage, use correct grammar and punctuation, and proofread, proofread, proofread.

Let’s say you’ve written 50 blog posts averaging 1,000 words each and they meet the test of quality content. Do you have a book?

Maybe.

But it’s going to take more than simply pasting each post into one large document.

Just as individual articles need to be organized, so does your book. Take a look at what you’ve got and put it into a structure that makes sense.

You may find that a post you wrote early in the process works better at the end of your book. You may realize that you’re still missing some key elements of your message, which means you have more writing to do. And you may decide that some of your blog posts don’t belong in your book. (Yes, those cuts can be painful — do them anyway.)

Once you’ve got your content complete and in a logical order, you need to set it up in chapters. It’s possible to make each blog post a separate chapter, but you may want to combine some of them to reduce the number of chapters. Do what works best for your book.

Image created by Jacquelyn Lynn using MockupShots

To make your book flow, connect the chapters with techniques like lead-ins (Example: “In the next chapter, we’ll discuss this subject.”) and cross-references (Example: “We’ll examine this further in Chapter Seven.”).

The only time you want your book to look like a collection of stand-alone blogs is if that’s how you’re marketing it. Otherwise, add transitions to keep the reader moving through your content.

Finally, be sure your project has a clear beginning and end. Write an introduction (it could be titled “Introduction” or it could be Chapter One) and a conclusion (the last chapter) that pulls it all together.

When you’ve done this, you’re ready to send your manuscript to beta readers or an editor. Use their input to sharpen and polish your book so it’s as good as you can make it.

Can You Really Blog a Book?

How to Blog a Powerful Book

Create a blog and turn it into a book is popular advice — does it work?

The often-heard advice goes like this: Start blogging and after you’ve written a sufficient number of blog posts, combine them into a book.

The basics of quality content:

Congratulations! Now you’re ready to move to the publishing stage.

Want More Speaking Gigs? Don’t Make These Mistakes

Being a guest speaker is a great way to promote yourself and your business, but not if you make these common mistakes.

You’re Named in a Lawsuit — Now What?

“You’ve been served” is a scary phrase — don’t let it freak you out

Authors | Self-publishing | Copyright | Intellectual Property

Copyright Terms Authors and Indie Publishers Should Understand

I Couldn’t be an Elephant, so I Became a Writer

When you love what you do, it’s still work — but it’s awesome work!