How to Turn Your Blog Into a Book

There is a growing trend that’s seeing many bloggers turning their online posts into books, and for good reason too. Books bring something extra that blogs just can’t, such as credibility (while it’s now easier than ever to publish a book, it is still considered a specialist domain) and exposure (for example, a whole new audience that may not like to read blogs or even go online). Your blog can represent an untappead source of content and inspiration. Whilst so many writers and bloggers dream of writing a book, what they don’t realise is that they may have already written a number of books, through their blog posts alone. The sheer volume of content present in a collection of blog posts could potentially be enough to fill a book, and this is an opportunity that should not be missed. The following tips are considered the quickest approach towards turning your blog into a book.

Create a content plan

First, it’s important to determine the overall topics and chapters you want to include in your book. This will make it easier to source material from your blog later, and you will be able to look through your blog, repurpose your previous posts, and select the material you need for your book accordingly.

Edit and revise

Once you’ve put together the contents of your book, make sure that you properly edit and proofread the text so that it flows nicely. It’s easy to join topics and blog posts together, but reading them in succession can often display a lack of fluency and consistency. This is one of the drawbacks of repurposing content, but it’s simply a matter of being aware of consistency when proofreading.

Include new content

While theoretically you could repurpose your entire blog contents into a book, it’s a good idea to add fresh material so that your regular readers will also purchase and enjoy the book. Featuring unpublished content can entice both readers and potential publishers. The above approach is the literal method of turning your blog into a book, but there are other options too.

Think before you post

It’s also possible to take the opposite route and create blog posts with the intention of later turning them into a book. This is a subtle difference, but can provide an active readership and ensure a consistent flow. While it may not be the quickest, this is actually the most efficient way to turn your blog into a book as it’s almost purpose-written and will inevitably require less editing. Posting regularly and publicising your blog on social media will help you build an ongoing audience. With this approach, it’s important to categorise your posts to ensure that you can later piece them together in chapters.

Build a fanbase

When thinking about turning your blog into a book, its a good idea to build a loyal audience for your blog. Posting topics of interest on a regular basis will help you build a fanbase, and when the time is right, you will have an established audience that you can pitch your book to. Once you’ve decided which approach to take and you have created a manuscript for your book, it’s time to think about how you’re going to get it out there. The easiest and most efficient way to do this is by self-publishing.

Publishing

To self-publish your brand new book, you simply need a PDF of your final manuscript, and tools such as Lightning Source or BookBaby, which can easily convert the PDF into a digital version of your book. Then bring this to someone like Dark Horse, and we can print the hard copy for you. After your book is out there, it’s all about maintaining publicity and marketing, so remember to spend sufficient time and effort on these activities, and also on your book cover too! The next time you write a blog post, think about whether it could be the subject of a book. You never know, it may just be worth your while and catapult your writing career.