Just as you can turn a series of a blogs into a book, you can turn a book into a series of blogs. The key to doing so successfully is dividing the sections of your book to publish as blogs into 700 to 1000 word chunks, since this is the sweet spot for blogging, according to Google’s latest algorithms. Since the required length changes from time to time, do some research on the Internet to check what this word length should be. For example, put in “google algorithm blog length 2014” or whatever year this is in the Google search engine.
An advantage to creating blogs from parts of your book is the blog can get people interested in reading more, so you can sell some books in paperback or in an ebook format from your site or through a link to Amazon. While Amazon has an associate arrangement to pay back 5% of the book’s sales price, it may not be worth the hassle to set up this system, since you will already be getting much larger royalty payments for the sale of each book.
Another advantage of these blogs is that they can help to raise the search engine rankings of your site, so you are likely to get increased traffic. The optimal way of using blogs to generate traffic is to post them once a week or every two weeks. The delay in posting future blogs can contribute to your book sales, too, since most people won’t want to wait to buy the book if they want to read more after reading your blog. As an example, that’s what I did with The Complete Guide to Writing, Producing, and Directing a Low-Budget Short Film. After I wrote the book, I created a blog on my website www.changemakersproductions.com/blog to feature excerpts from the book, and in the future, I plan another series of articles about promoting films that will be turned into a book.
Thus, you can readily go both ways at the same time – turn some books into blogs, as well as turn some blogs into books.
A good way to get started is to map out how to divide up your book and decide which sections to turn into blogs and in what order. Don’t think you have to turn everything into a blog. Say your book is about 60,000 words. Figuring on an average of 850 words per blog, that’s about 70 blogs, and if you post one a week, that’s plenty for over a year. However, you probably don’t want to turn everything in the book into a blog, especially the more detailed sections, which build on previous information in your book. Instead, focus on the sections of your book which can stand alone, such as the overview in your introduction, a summary at the end of each chapter, take-aways, and your concluding chapter. Ideally, go in order through your book to reflect the logical way someone would read your book.
In some cases, you can easily copy and paste the material from your manuscript into a file for each blog, and then copy and paste that selection into your blog template and add a title. But in other cases, you may need to write a few lines of introduction to lead into the copy in the blog, along with adding a title.
However you create your blog, at the end, add in about 50 words of copy about yourself, and before or after your bio, briefly mention where people can buy the book and provide a link to that ordering information on your on website, on Amazon, or through another bookseller. You want to make it as easy as possible for someone who has enjoyed reading your blog and wants to learn more by buying your book.
Another way to use these blogs is to send a query to the editors of newspapers, magazines, and Internet publications inviting them to republish your blog, with a link back to your website, along with your bio. In this case, call your blog an article. It’s the same content, but a blog is usually associated with a particular website or blogging platform, whereas an article stands alone. At one time, some writers used to syndicate their articles and actually got paid a small amount (ie: $10-25) for each republication of their material, much like a Dear Abby or Miss Manners column appears in many papers and on the Internet today. But now, unless you are already a household name, there are so many writers writing free articles, that any payment is unlikely. Or even if you do sign an agreement, you may not get paid, and it is impossible to try to collect a very small amount unless the publisher voluntarily pays you.
So generally, forget about getting paid for these articles. Instead, use them to increase your visibility by your article appearing on multiple websites. You can also get links in the article back to your website or to a place where people can buy your book. It is fine to pitch these articles for multiple postings around the Internet after your blog has been up for a few days, since Google and other search engines will have already logged the initial posting of original material, which will up your website ranking. After a week, you will be ready to post your next blog to repeat the process.
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GINI GRAHAM SCOTT, Ph.D., is a nationally known writer, consultant, speaker, and seminar/workshop leader, who has published over 50 books on diverse subjects, including business and work relationships, professional and personal development, and social trends. She also writes books, proposals, scripts, articles, blogs, website copy, press releases, and marketing materials for clients as the founder and director of Changemakers Publishing and Writing and as a writer and consultant for The Publishing Connection (www.thepublishingconnection.com). She has been a featured expert guest on hundreds of TV and radio programs, including Good Morning America, Oprah, and CNN, talking about the topics in her books.