How to Blog Your Way to a Book Deal

By: Tracy Repchuk
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:43:09
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In July of 2005, I started to play around with a blog. In essence, a blog was a daily journal type of personal website that you could instantly get up and running, and use to promote yourself, your books and display your work, until you got a conventional website. I wasn’t quite certain what I would use it for, but I loved the freedom of being able to write and share thoughts with whoever was interested. It was also a good tool for promoting yourself and referring traffic back to a master website, and taking advantage of the search engine inclusions.

As an advocate for blogs, and an author, when I came across something called a blook, I felt a shift occur in the traditional publishing house philosophies, and thought how wonderful it was to see another route to riches for the common writer. It opened up the world of writing, publishing, promotion, and catharsis in many cases - and this is called a Blook.

A blook is a book with content that was developed in a significant way from material originally presented on a blog, webcomic or other website. This material includes the website's characters, themes, ideas or outline that ends up getting published as a printed book.

As the Editor of Poetry Canada magazine, I get queries all the time about: what type of book should I write, how do I get an agent, a publisher, an editor, should I self-publish, and the answer to these questions can go on ad infinitum, and range from what you know, research, hard work, hard work, dash of luck, and/or go for it.

But with the discovery of blooks, and now a prize for them aptly called “The Blooker Prize,” recommendations came easier. Creating a book is now as easy as selecting a topic, and working at it every day, while you document your journey, adding insights and tips. With a prize totaling $15,000 and no fee to enter, now you can afford to convert your blog to a blook, and start searching for the next big publishing deal, or at the very least get your book thoroughly funded.

I discovered that tons of blooks have already been published, both by traditional publishers and self-publishers. In fact, some traditional publishing houses in search of the next big name author, have begun to mine blogs and websites for new talent. In the world of self-publishing, more and more content is being developed first online.

The launch in 2005 of the Lulu Blooker Prize for literary coincided with the 450th anniversary of Gutenberg's invention of movable type, and it offered fresh evidence that the oft-touted rumor of the death of books is greatly exaggerated.

This type of award and recognition opens up a whole new world for those who can write, and write, and write, but couldn't successfully get it to the promote stage.

I checked out the various winners of the 2006 Lulu Blooker Prize, and it was very interesting and simple for some. One winner for Non-Fiction named Julia Powell, had a blog site that took you on her journey of doing a full year of Julia Child's recipes. Kind of like a reality based TV show in print. She won for her conversion of that journey from Blog to a book called Julie & Julia (hardcover).

Other winners were:

Fiction - Cherie Priest for Four and Twenty Blackbirds. You can now find the book in print, and getting rave reviews and for the

Webcomic - Zack Miller for Totally Boned: A Joe and Monkey Collection

So if you are looking for motivation to write, create, and just do it, here is an interesting way to one day get recognized for it.

Happy writing, sharing, and best of luck on your journey.

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