Blogs to Book Deals
I’ve been following the stories about bloggers getting book deals based on the content in their blogs. Todra Payne a makeup artist started a blogger blog and EIGHT DAYS LATER she had a book offer from a publisher. She is clearly an expert and has done makeup for lots of big names.
David Meerman Scott blogged about his book “The New Rules of PR (pdf file).” It had more than 100,000 downloads, plus lots of attention on blogs. He had presold so well that he emailed an agent and got an immediate reponse and a book deal!
Chris Anderson, editor of chief for Wired Magazine wrote a magazine article, then blogged about, then gave away chapters, then published The Long Tail. It already had an audience and his blog helped him refine and improve his book. Most people are afraid of giving away information thinking that means people won’t pay for it. In reality he built his audience before he even wrote his book. It’s #192 in sales on Amazon now.
Some books haven’t faired as well. But it’s clear that if you’re an authority and you can write, there is a market.
More examples:
- Julie Powell’s story about cooking up a book deal and changing her life.
- USA Today chimes in
- Penguin Books blogs and has published several blogs to books with mixed success
This post has been in the que for a while…please add other articles in the comments section. I will add a more complete list when I have more time.
10 Responses to “Blogs to Book Deals”
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October 18th, 2006 at 9:47 am
Robert Schoble and Shel Israel’s Naked Conversations is another book that wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for Schobles prolific blogging and use of his blog to find interesting case studies to illustrate it. Good read by the way.
October 19th, 2006 at 5:43 am
[...] Does your bio include the title “Author”? Mine doesn’t …. yet. Some food for thought. [...]
October 19th, 2006 at 7:04 am
And Andy Wibbels’ “Blogwild!: A Guide for Small Business Blogging” is another resource for the biz minded with closet book deal aspirations. Newspapergrl – no doubt your book deal is coming soon.
(P.S. “A-Ha Yourself!”)
October 20th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
Thanks for writing about my example. What’s remarkable about my case, is I pitched an agent via email for an idea for a book based on my “New Rules of PR” ebook and the tens of thousands of downloads and many bloggers who posted about it. I got an email reply from the agent in 2o minutes and signed with him that very day. Wow.
October 20th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
Hi again Janet, Sorry I forgot to mention that I am blogging my book as I write it.
October 23rd, 2006 at 4:18 am
As a startup blogger in the process of launching my site, and blog in early Jan 2007, I was wondering about niche information products and the monetizing thereof. Surely all the information is available on the net for free. I’m in the process of finishing my first ebook on this and would like to sell the information (as it took me many hours of research) from my site. Is this a viable venture?
October 23rd, 2006 at 10:13 am
David,
Thanks for visiting and commenting! Congratulations on a 1-email 20-minute book deal. You are now my standard example of publishing success because of a blog.
Henre, take note of what David has done. Blog about what you’re writing about. If your blog and information is good then you’ll build an audience who will gladly pay for your ebook.
Saying you can get everything online free is like saying no one will buy a book because they can check it out from the library. The internet is huge and there is a lot of bad information along with the good. Establish yourself as an authority and build credibility (blogs are a great way to do this) and you’ll have an audience who will look to you as a trusted resource.
Good luck!
Best
Janet
October 23rd, 2006 at 10:17 am
I have always wanted to read “Naked Conversations” it’s on my list. Thanks for pointing it out. I’d like to write an ebook and if that faired well a book. A lot of what I write about is timely so it doesn’t fit regular book format. I think I have a few years of learning and success before you’ll see a book from me. Right now it would be about online marketing for the small business: big results that fit smaller budgets.
Thanks for the great comments!
Best
Janet
October 23rd, 2006 at 1:14 pm
The only way a publisher would pick up my brother’s book – his first – was after he had built a blog and generated enough enthusiasm in the subject matter. The publishing landscape is certainly changing.
October 24th, 2006 at 7:10 am
[...] Thought I’d flag an interesting conversation started last week by Newspapergrl looking at blogs to book deals. An interesting topic area as blogs are becoming a great tool for authors and publishers alike to pre-test interest and demand in content. The example she uses that triggered my interest to post about it was that of David Meeran, who managed to turn his successful eBook into a book deal – she writes: [...]