Many aspiring writers get their start as bloggers. Experience has shown that blogs offer valuable insights that are not commonly found in mainstream media. More and more, bloggers are respected, especially when they offer the expertise that’s not easily found.
As bloggers grow in popularity, more and more people consume their content. Over time, they become celebrities within their domain. Heightened popularity would then compel a blogger to come out with a full-length book. One of the easiest, and most ineffective, ways bloggers publish a book is by creating a collection of blog posts. This approach often falls flat. After all, why would anyone pay for a book when they could just read the blog? In this article, we’re going to look at three ways a successful blogger can go from a blog to a full-length book.
- Focus Is Everything
Bloggers come in all shapes and sizes. Some bloggers are highly specialized, while others cover a broad range of topics. Blogs are intended to cover whatever the creator wishes to share with the world. Nevertheless, the most successful blogs specialize in a given topic.
That’s a full-length book that should focus on a specific topic. A book is intended to provide a deep discussion of a topic. While there is an overarching message, the aim of a book should be to present an argument and develop it as deeply as needed. This is something that a collection of blog posts cannot achieve. Ultimately, all successful books stay focused on a topic. Subsequent books can focus on other topics not covered in the first one.
- Books Have a Specific Audience
There is no such thing as a “universally appealing” book. All successful books have a specific audience in mind. Thus, transitioning from a blog to a book means honing in on a specific target audience. Blogs can cover a wide range of audiences. After all, that’s why they exist. On the other hand, books need to cover a specific topic that’s intended for a specific audience. From there, subsequent books can branch out into different topics and audiences. The best practice, in this case, is to cover one topic, for one target audience at a time.
- Books Should Expand on Blog Posts
Generally speaking, blog posts skim the surface on most topics. When bloggers wish to drill deep into a topic, they often write a series of blog posts. However, blog posts can’t possibly cover the amount of ground that a book can. After all, the purpose of a blog is to provide quick and actionable information people can take with them. In contrast, a book should be an expansion of short blog posts. If anything, a blog post can serve as a hook to the book. That way, if a reader wants to expand on the topic, they can pick up a copy of the book. Ultimately, a book serves as a repository of information. That’s something that a blog is not intended to be.
