Blog vs writing a book: this is one of those chicken and egg type questions. For the purpose of this article, we are focusing on non-fiction books. However, this article is also relevant to fiction writers.
Firstly, to write a book, you must blog. By blogging you will be:
- developing your writing skills.
- establishing yourself as an authority on your topic.
- attracting an audience.
- getting feedback on your ideas and writing.
- using this feedback to edit your work.
- proving to yourself people want to read your work.
- creating a following online.
- building a database for warm-list marketing.
- pre-sell your book and other content.
- and lots more.
Secondly, to write a book, you need to chunk down the book into chapters. Next, you chunk the chapters into smaller pieces. This makes writing more manageable. As a result, blogging is a perfect way to write you book, one small chunk at a time.
Repurpose the Blog vs Writing a Book Question
Consequently, the writing a blog vs writing a book question is unnecessary. When we work with our clients and members of KESWiN™ Academy, we encourage them to start with blogging. This helps them to gain confidence in their writing skills. Many have not written for years. As a result, they struggle with knowing what to write and how to write it. Under the support and guidance of experienced coaches and mentors, members quickly improve their writing abilities.
Repurposing the blog vs writing a book question is more about repurposing your blog posts into a book. In fact, many of the best-selling non-fiction books today have grown from popular blogs. That is to say, readers don’t have time to sit online and read every blog post written on a website. In other words, popular sites grow too big to easily consume on a website. Therefore, readers prefer a well organised book to download or buy. They can then read it at their leisure. This is most important with non-fiction content.
First the Blog, then the Book
In conclusion, there is no blog vs writing a book dilemma. Our best advice is to start writing and blogging. If you need to develop your writing skills, are unsure what topics to write about, or want to learn more blogging, ask us. We provide consulting, coaching, mentoring, publishing services and training to individuals and small businesses.