More on Book Blogs
Business blogger Debbie Weil states that Blogging
your Book is a Must.
So…
why a book blog? It's a way to draw on the “collective intelligence” of
your readers to get feedback, ideas, tips on who to interview, pointers
to articles to read, etc. It can build buzz for your book
after
it's published. See Seth Godin's All Marketers
Are Liars and Susannah Gardner's
Buzz
Marketing with Blogs.
Dave Taylor responds in Why
Authors Shouldn't Be So Quick To Blog Their
Books
…if
I've already read just about all of your book in the last six months on
your weblog, why would I be incentivized to spend $20-$40 to get the
same thing perfect-bound just so I can place it on my
shelf?
On
the other hand, blogging about your topic is an excellent way to
establish and cement your expert status in your market segment: I read
your blog, Debbie, because you are an expert on business blogging. In
that sense, if you tell me 'I've taken all my disparete thoughts and
pulled them into a coherent 250 page treatise” then I would buy it,
just to see what conclusions you've
drawn.
…Some
material should be online, and with many books, supplemental
information and additional information that doesn't fit into the print
edition should be online (it's also a good teaser for the book), but
the entire thing, word for word? Not for
me.
Comments
18 Jul 05 | Robert
Scoble wrote …
We thought about this a
lot.
Actually,
there are several freely-available books on the Web that are best
sellers. Cory Doctorow had one. So is the Cluetrain
Manifesto.
Have
you ever read 75,000 words on the Web in one sitting? Here, go over to
http://www.nakedconversations.com and try it out. It’s all
there. It’s
pretty ugly.
But, one thing we did on our book blog
is we blogged the raw book. The final book will only be available in
paper form.
One advantage? If you search
for “Corporate Blog Book” on Google
you’ll see our book is #1
now.
19 Jul 05 | Debbie Weil wrote
…
Hi Dave,
I
pointed out in my post that there are two approaches to book blogs: one
is to post the rough draft as you write and to ask for feedback; the
other is to invite reader input on the topic of your book. Frankly
I’m
more comfortable with the latter approach. I’m just old
fashioned
enough not to want readers to see my ragged attempts at writing. Yeah,
I know that’s not terribly transparent. But I’m a
perfectionist… and
willing to admit it.
Frankly I’m in awe of
the confidence Scoble
and Israel must feel in posting drafts as they write. And no, their
blog doesn’t blunt my interest in buying their book. As Seth
Godin put
it, the published book becomes the “souvenir” when
you’ve read it
online. Don’t you think that Harry Potter fans would still
buy the
latest hardcover even if some of the chapters had previously appeared
online? There’s something about the heft and tangibility of a
real book
that you can’t beat.
Either way, a book
blog is a “must” as a
platform to build buzz for your book both before and after publication.
A topic like corporate blogging is evolving so rapidly that it really
wouldn’t make sense not to have a corresponding online
resource where
readers can make suggestions and where the author can offer updates
—
wouldn’t you agree?!
See you in San
Francisco!
19 Jul 05 | Edward Deevy wrote
…
I
believe the blogosphere provides authors with a way to get valuable
feedback that was not previously available. “Naked
Conversations” will
be a better book because of this feedback. I’ve just sent out
a
proposal for a book on business blogging directed to
“lay” people who
have little familiarity with the blogosphere. I’ll use a blog
to get
useful feedback. There is another good reason to have a book blog.
Blogs provide pre-publication marketing buzz. The question every
publisher is asking today: What NATIONAL PLATFORM do you have to help
sell your book? In a very competitive marketplace you are looking for
every advantage.
