If you write a blog, you really should consider writing an eBook. Andrew Jones talks about Kindle Singles, and how blog writers should start converting their books into this new format that the traditional publishing industry has generally overlooked.
Also, publishing your blog as an eBook allows book readers to interact with the author, which is something most readers want to do. Do you have a question about something the author said? Go to his blog and ask him! It’s genius.
I recently read Keep Your Greek by Constantine Campbell, and I found the format refreshing and simple. Why? Because it follows a blog post format. This makes sense, because before this was a book, it was a series of blog posts. The chapters are short, and are broken up into 300-500 word divisions.
At the end of the chapter, he includes comments from his blog.
I love that if I have a question about a chapter in his book, I can go to his blog, and ask him. Yes, I can interact with the author himself. That is awesome.
This becomes even easier with ebooks as you can actually include links in your ebooks back to your blog posts. Double awesome.
Do you want to write books? Start by writing a blog. Do you already have a blog, and you want to write books? Get some practice by converting your blog posts into eBooks. More on that later this week.
You’ve got my brain percolating…
So I could edit my book (which is in the works right now) for a second edition, but this time specifically rig it for Kindle with an full assortment of links?
Potential interaction with readers? Direct links to source material?
I could do that without breaking a sweat. The only thing that irks me is that I didn’t come up with this on my own.
You are money on this one……..
I don’t actually have a Kindle, so I am not sure it works on a Kindle. I don’t have a Nook or an iPad either, but I have tried this on both of those, and it works great. Both of those have internet browsing capabilities. Does the Kindle have internet browsing capabilities?
Of course, even with all the links, you will still need to sell your book….
I definitely consider blogging a step in the book-writing direction, but I’m not sure about taking blog posts and putting them straight into an e-book. I guess old-fashioned me still sees these as two different formats. Are you considering doing this with your blog?
David,
No. I don’t do this. As you say, the two formats are definitely different. To create a book from blog posts, A LOT of editing and reworking of the posts need to be done.
It appears that Keith Guiles reprints his blog posts into book format: http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=1073843. I think the books would look better and read better if he had spent some time reformatting and editing, etc.
I am kind of going the other way…I am writing a book, and then I post reworked sections from the chapters as blog posts. Not everything from the book makes it on to the blog, but this allows me to “test run” the material and get feedback as I go along. Also, the posts are fairly scattered throughout my other blog posts, so unless someone is really paying attention, they will not even recognize they are reading a section from the book.
I did kind of the same thing. I wrote a “book” (I use the quotes because I never even tried to pitch it…it was mostly a personal exercise) about adoption, and I’ve taken sections from that and redone them at certain times on my blog. I suppose either way can work if done right.
Have you thought of reworking it again, and publishing it as an eBook? Lots of people want to read about successful adoption stories, especially if it includes ideas/suggestions on how to accomplish their own adoption.
I’ve just started hearing about Kindle Singles – and my husband (J. Steve Miller) and I are looking to convert a lot of our youth ministry materials (www.youth-ministry.info) and character education lessons (www.character-education.info) into the Kindle Single format.
Timely article, thanks for sharing it with the writing community, Jeremy.
It looks like you have to submit a Query to be accepted into the Kindle Singles store. Here is what they say on their Kindles Singles Page:
We welcome submissions to Kindle Singles. We’re looking for exceptional ideas–well researched, well argued and well illustrated–between 5,000 and 30,000 words. Please email them to
ki************@am****.com
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Hi, Jeremy. I found this article today on SheWrites and thought you and your readers might find it helpful. “7 Tips on How to Sell Books on Kindle” by M. Louisa Locke.
http://www.shewrites.com/profiles/blogs/7-tips-on-how-to-sell-books-on
That is a GREAT post. Thanks for alerting me to it. I will use it in the future as I move toward eBook publishing.