I met Nina Amir at the Writer?s Digest Conference in New York City this past January. She had asked me to write a foreword for her forthcoming Writer?s Digest Book, How To Blog A Book over e-mail, so it was nice to have the opportunity to meet her in person before turning in my thoughts to introduce the book.
If you know my work, you know I am not necessarily a proponent of blogging your book as the primary road to publishing success. However I am a proponent of growing your platform in whatever ways make the most sense to you, your topic, your strengths, and your audience. So, if you choose to blog your book in whole or in part and that?s what feels right and makes sense for your readers and works for you, then so be it.
No matter how you choose to pursue your writing and publishing goals, there is no substitute for professional skills. Blogging in and of itself is unlikely to propel a person from anonymity to writing and publishing success without the steady accumulation of many additional professional skills. Most writers succeed after the accumulation of many years of hard work and professional development, not just a few weeks of blogging. Nina knows this, and her book does not propose otherwise.
If you want to be an author today, you pretty much accept that blogging goes part and parcel with the process of championing your work and ideas out into the world. If you are headed for a book deal, ultimately, you are going to need to think beyond the book. And blogging is a good tool for using your book as a springboard to expanded opportunities, rather than seeing a book as the end of the road.
Indeed, there is no end to the publishing road. And book publication is not usually the crescendo many authors anticipate it will be. It?s more like the starting gun at the beginning of a race. There?s always more for authors to do before the book, during the book, and after the book than we would like to imagine. And if blogging makes your process easier, more enjoyable and more successful?great! You?ll likely be doing tons of blogging eventually.
So, if you feel the call to blog, or you already blog and have wondered if it might be leading to a book, thanks for helping me welcome Nina!
About Nina Amir
Nina Amir, Inspiration-to-Creation Coach, inspires people to combine their purpose and passion so they Achieve More Inspired Results. She motivates writers and non-writers to create publishable and published products and careers as authors as well as to achieve their goals, fulfill their purpose and?live?inspired lives.
The author of How to Blog a Book: How to Write, Publish and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time (Writer?s Digest Books) and 10 other books, Amir is a nonfiction consultant, blog-to-book coach and author and writing coach with more than 33 years of experience in the publishing field. She also is the founder of Write Nonfiction in November. She writes four blogs and two national Examiner.com columns. Additionally, she speaks weekly about writing and publishing on the popular radio show ?Dresser After Dark,? hosted by Michael Ray Dresser.
In addition to her work in the field of writing and publishing, Amir also speaks and writes?about self-improvement, human potential, practical spirituality, and Judaism. In all she does,?she focuses on helping people live their lives fully and manifest their desires?whether those desires look like written products or something entirely different. Learn more at ninaamir.com.
About How To Blog A Book
How to Blog a Book teaches you how to create a blogged book with a well-honed and uniquely angled subject and targeted posts?and how to build the audience necessary to convince agents and publishers to make your blog into a book.
Inside you?ll find:
- Basic information on how to set up your blog and the essential plug-ins and other options necessary to get the most out of each post
- Steps for writing a book easily from scratch using blog posts
- Advice on how to write blog posts
- Tips on gaining visibility and promoting your work both online and off
- Tools for driving traffic to your blog
- Information on how to monetize an existing blog into a book or other types of products
- Profiles with authors who received blog-to-book deals
Author Nina Amir explains how writing a book in cyberspace allows you to get your book written easily, while promoting it and building an author?s platform. It?s a fun, effective way to start writing, publishing, and promoting a book, one post at a time.
The Very Short Interview
When did you know for sure that you were a writer and that writing would be a major energy focus in your life?
I started writing fiction as a young child, and in high school I began focusing on creative writing more seriously. When my mother discouraged me from a career as a novelist, I looked into journalism and took a journalism class. . That class, which had a very charismatic teacher, set me on my path to writing for publication as a profession. I revived the school newspaper and began writing a school news column for the local newspaper every other week my senior year. It also helped me realize I wanted to write the kind of articles and books that would help others.
Who has always been behind your writing career and who helped pull you up the ladder of success?
My mother always encouraged me to write. My early high school teachers encouraged me, but my college professor, who has since died, John Keats, was a huge inspiration, as was Jake Hubbard. That said, Prof. Hubbard was hard on me to the max. That actually helped me the most because he taught me to be self-reliant, persistent, determined, and to creatively make things work even when meeting deadlines or reaching goals seemed impossible. That?s the attitude you need to succeed.
Agent Mike Larsen has often mentored me, and my involvement over the last nine years?going from attendee to volunteer to speaker?with the San Francisco Writer?s Conference, which he and Elizabeth Pomada founded, has played a huge role in my success.
Of course, my husband, who has been the primary breadwinner in our family, makes it possibly for me to pursue my writing dreams. (Jeez. That sounds a bit like the acknowledgements section in my book!)
What is the most frequent comment you hear about your book (or books) from readers? Tell us a little story about the response to your work.
Since my book only was released last month, I don?t have a lot of stories yet from people who have read it. However, just today I received an email from a man whose business is focused on marketing and websites. He he had purchased How to Blog a Book even though he had read a good bit of it on the blog. He couldn?t wait to read it and start blogging his book and to tell his clients about the concept at his next workshop. He plans on suggesting they purchase the book and start blogging books to support their businesses. ?I hope they?ll get inspired to blog books, too,? he said.
At a workshop I taught right after the book was released, a woman purchased a copy. Her full-time job leaves her little time to write or to build author?s platform. The idea of writing just 250-500 words a few times a week and publishing her work on her blog?and actually getting read?appealed to her. She emailed me a week later; she?d set up a free WordPress blog and had, indeed started blogging her book. ?Thanks so much for inspiring me to get started on my book and on my platform?finally,? she wrote.
?Inspiring? is the reaction I hear most to my work. People get inspired to create something new or to do something differently.
And Now, Your Turn
Now it?s your turn. You remember how this works right?
I ask you a question. You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.
Please just respond once, even if you make a typo. 
Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today?s books). Please read the complete rules at least once!
Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway! I hope to see you here every day this month. Bring your friends!
When is the last time you tried something totally new in your writing career? What happened as a result? If you haven?t tried anything new lately, what could you try that?s new in order to jumpstart or refresh your career?
Ready, set, comment!
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