Hello!
Yesterday I spoke on a panel (with Karen and Kylie and Valerie) about making the jump from Blog To Book. It was very timely, because I came home and the twice yearly Book Royalty cheque had arrived! Bam!!
Do you ever wonder about writing a book? I wrote a post here, about getting published, but I thought it would be good to do a bit of a Q&A about how it all happens/works.
Maybe you’ve jumped from Blog to Book yourself? Then you can tell us how in the comments, right?! Maybe you jumped from Blog to Beyond and realised some fresh opportunities because of your blog. Tell us all about that?!
Would you like to ask me something about how it worked for me? Ask in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer in a timely fashion.
Do you want to jump from Blog To Beyond?!
xx Pip
Thanks so much for the advice, Pip! I really appreciate it!
Hello Robbie! WELL. I wrote my first draft 'properly' and then my lovely editor, Mary Small asked me to go back and put my VOICE in. So I did that. I was trying to do it the RIGHT way, but really, I should have been doing it the PIP way all the time! Your editor will be able to advise you on that, and I think it's good to get that clear so that you can launch into Robbie Speak, which I BET is what they want! Go YOU! xxx
I'm jumping right now! I'm most concerned with maintaining my blog "brand" in print. You did a seamless job of translating your style from medium to medium. Do you have any advice on the casual nature of blog writing vs. the more professional print style?
Well. I think it is REALLY good to start with ONE basic idea, rather than a whole bunch. There are a few reasons for this : 1) It's easier for booksellers to sell, because they know which 'section' of their shop it should be in 2) It helps you stay focused and distill you great ideas into something amazing 3) It leaves the path open for FOLLOW UP BOOKS on your other fave subjects 4) Narrowing down your idea to one category means a reader will not be confused and they will find YOUR book if they are seeking a book about craft or gardening or whatever. It won't be OVER IN A DIFFERENT section marked 'GENERAL' xxx
I love that so many Australian crafters are making real money (Oh, I hope you are!) out of what they love! Congrats!
Oh your books look so stunning… out of all the millions you are one of the most exciting "bloggers to books" I know… If I ever make money from blogging yours are the first books on my list!!! I am sure I have a book inside of me but the idea will just not hit me on the head!!! It seems like our blog is so all about family fun… the only book would have to be a "Family Compendium of Everything: Crafts, Cooking, Reading, Gardening, Living!!!" … I realize that in order to sell a book I may have to whittle the theme down somewhat!!! I was wondering how the actual idea for your books strike you – obviously they are about wonderful crafty things you are passionate about… But did you ponder/ brainstorm topics or was it a eureka moment…
Oh bum!
I would have loved to hear your blog 2 book talk.
I guess what I am most interested is, is why and whether you think people will pay money for something they can get for free?
And I am also hugely excited for you about your new job!
That is all kinds of fabulous.
Congratulations. xx
Thanks Pip; and my buddy Trish as well!! – different approaches suiting quite different material. I just wonder if blogging isn't in some ways better than book-writing though; think that it should be more a case of blog-to-book-back to-blog-and-blog-and-book-etc as you both write great blogs too!
And boy do I identify with bad poetry, beautiful (illegible) hand-writing at school, and Dolly immersion! Also was the odd kid in the class who used to see "Words at Work" as really great fun.
It really does vary, Angela. I would highly recommend that you join The Australian Society of Authors > http://www.asauthors.org > They can advise you on all aspects of becoming a published author (whichever path you choose) as well as give you great advice about contract, agents etc.
As a kind of fudgey rule, it's good to have a very detailed outline and examples of how you write for a non-fiction book, and a few chapters of your work (and an outline) if you are writing a fictional book.
You could also join a writer's group : Sydney Writer's Centre and Writers Victoria are just two I know are wonderful (although it will depend which state you are in, of course!)
I know that Hachette Australia are accepting unsolicited manuscripts at the moment (look here > http://www.hachette.com.au/manuscriptsubmissions/#more-530136)
I hope I've been of some help!!! Thanks for commenting, Angela! x
No strategy! And all hard work! x
Argh! It's so great to hear how things went for YOU, Trish! Thank you for your insights and thanks for being so open about The Trish Story!
I wish I could have been at the conference, so thank you for giving us the opportunity to ask questions here. I would dearly love to write a book (or several) but I don't know where to start. For the past few months I have been planning a whole book idea filled with projects but I don't know if potential publishers want to be more involved with the planning as opposed to me going "hello, here's a whole book I've written. Will you please publish it?" Also, I'm not sure how to approach publishers without an agent. Most of the publishers' websites that I've looked at don't accept unsolicited proposals. I'd love to hear your thoughts. xo
Hey Pip, I read someone somewhere say they needed x number of twitter/blog followers or x number of fb friends for their publisher to take them seriously. Have you come across stories like this? Is it enough to have a good idea, or do you need to prove first that x number of people agree you have a good idea? Thanks for sharing the story about your first book, very inspiring. H.
Thanks for sharing how you got your first book deal, Pip – what a lovely real life story.
I went from Blog to Book and beyond. I chose to self publish simply because a little of the info could date quickly.
I really enjoyed this process and the company I used made it so easy. The books are printed on demand so there is no minimum order. I paid a very small amount for the distributuion to major booksellers which was well worth it. Apple then chose the book for their catalogue and converted it into the format at no cost.
The royalties get paid into my paypal account monthly which is lovely. The only downside is because the publishing company is US based they withhold tax for any US based sales. I need to apply for a US Tax File number to retrieve this but it is a bit of a process.
Self publishing worked for me largely because the book was text-based. Images add to the cost and image based books also don't translate well into e-pub format at this time(though I'm sure that will improve).
Having a published book has meant that speaking engagements now come to me instead of me begging, whoops I meant negotiating, for an opportunity.
If you have an new idea, or a fresh twist on an old one, make a start. You never know where it might lead.