In January of this year I decided the time had arrived for me to consider publishing a series of blog posts into a book. I had read of several other bloggers who compiled some of their posts and successfully published them in book form in order to sell them on both their websites and Amazon. So in honor of SMART Living 365’s Third Anniversary this month, and with over 250 blog posts, I thought, “Why not?” Today, I am officially announcing the launch of my first “blog-to-book” print and ebook, Simple-SMART & Happy, A SMART Living 365 Guide to a Sustainable & Meaningful Lifestyle on Amazon.com. If you’ve ever considered writing your own book, and especially if you are a blogger, here are five reasons I feel it is a valuable and worthwhile thing to do.
Why Put Your Blog Posts Into A Book?
#1 It’s a perfect way to repurpose our work. Most of us who write do it because we want our work to be read and feel we have something valuable, helpful and interesting to share with others. Blogging is perfect for that. But once we’ve blogged for several years, many of our earlier posts get overlooked in favor of new content. So, putting posts into a book form offers a great way to repurpose our work. Plus, for whatever reason, most new readers tend to overlook previous posts so this is a good way to share what they may have missed.
![SMH book cover E1[1]](http://smartliving365.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/SMH-book-cover-E11-187x300.jpg)
Simple-SMART & Happy highlights the central theme of simplicity and sustainability from my blog. All included articles highlight the benefits of how a more simple, minimal and sustainable lifestyle leads to a happier life. I’ve included the articles from that category that readers read and responded to most frequently. And I’m keeping my price as low as Amazon will allow to attract the greatest number of readers.
#2 To introduce new readers to our writing. While many of my regular readers have been following my blog for sometime now, there are millions of readers out there that don’t read blogs, have never found my work before, or don’t like reading anything online. By putting my work on Amazon I can introduce my writing to an entirely new audience in a way that may not be available if my writing only appears on the Internet.
According to a 2014 report by Morris Rosenthal, on his site, fonerbooks.com, Amazon is the biggest book retailer in the world at this time. Regardless of how we feel about one big corporation having so much power, Amazon makes it very easy to be an author. By self-publishing this book on Amazon both in print and as an ebook, I am reaching out around the world in a new way to find readers. Even if putting the book on Amazon serves only as advertising for my blog, it will serve its purpose.
I have also discovered that while younger generations are fluent in the blogosphere, there are thousands of readers who still insist on doing their reading in print form. From now on I can easily refer others to my work in this avenue.
#3 The learning curve is a valuable way to keep our minds expanding and young. I’ve mentioned before that I have two books that were published by two separate publishers several years before I began publishing my own. What that experience taught me is that most of the work for beginning writers with small publishers, still falls on the shoulders of the writers themselves. In other words, regardless of what is promised, nearly all promotion is up to the writer. If you are going to have to do all the promotion yourself, you might as well publish it yourself, retaining complete control of your work, and a significantly larger percentage of the royalties.
The good news is that Amazon makes it easy. For Simple-SMART & Happy I did all of the formatting myself for both the print book and the ebook. Was it hard? Not really because I am fairly computer literate. Was it easy? No. It took a great deal of time and commitment. Also fortunate was the fact that I had all the programs necessary (MS Word and Photoshop) to make the book and the cover. My husband Thom made the cover for me. Beyond that, I had the help of three APs—Accountability Partners—who helped proof and perfect the existing work. My amazing APs for this project were Kelly MacDonald, Bobbi Logie, and Melinda Walsh. Thank you ladies!
When I was done I felt like I had taken a language course at college. For anyone who wants to keep your mind flexible and growing, you can either study Spanish or learn how to publish your own book.
#4 It’s fun and gratifying to see our work in print and available in different venues. I have been fortunate to have three previous books printed to date. But holding one of your new creations in your hands never, EVER gets old. And while every book publishing is a little different, I’ve learned something every step of the way. And because my writing is fairly eclectic, I’ve been introduced to all sorts of wonderful people around the world who have been drawn to one or more of my creations. Thank you!
#5 It’s a great way to celebrate the Third Anniversary of SMART Living 365. While technically this is my sixth year of being a blogger, I’ve just finished my third year here at SMART Living 365. What I learned from my first blog is that it’s critical that you write about something you are passionate about because by the time you hit three years (or less) you will run out of things to say or run out of love for the work. I’m extremely happy to say I’m still very enthusiastic about all of the ideas I explore on SMART Living and look forward to sharing many more as the years unfold. Publishing this book and ebook is an awesome way to celebrate.
In case you haven’t guessed, I plan to do an entire series of blog-to-books in the months to come based upon the other themes on my site. I think the process itself is an excellent way to keep my topics fresh and active and I’m looking forward to seeing how the public responds to this new way of sharing my ideas. You know I’ll be sharing my progress with all of you as the days go by.
I am very proud of all my books because each one of them represents a part of my mind, heart and soul. They are also the best I could share of myself at the time they were written. To all of us who believe that our writing has value and worth and deserves to be read by as many people as possible, publishing our blog to a book is just another SMART step on our path.
So what do you think? Is publishing a blog-to-book a good practice?
This post is part of a blog hop-linkup at: Book Musing Mondays on 12/1/14
Thank you for linking up this project with Book Musings Mondays. Can’t wait to read more about it. I plan to pin your picture to our board if that is okay. I would love to learn more about how you published your blog into a book too. Maybe we could connect up someway?
marykatbpcsc45 at gmail.com
Thanks.
Hi Mary! You’re welcome for sure. I love to connect with other bloggers so I will send you an email. I’d be happy to share anything I’ve learned about the blog to book process. I’ve been planning to put out another one and got distracted but definitely intend to do more. I will send you an email and we can chat! ~Kathy
Congratulations, Kathy. You are such an inspiration. I have a lot more posts to write before I’m ready.
Hi Jennifer! Thank you…I do hope that this inspired you and other writers to do the same. If you read my post about nexting, it is ALWAYS good to have things to look forward to. Please let us know when you launch yours! ~Kathy
You are an inspiration. Like others who’ve posted a comment have said, this is something I’ve been mulling over and mulling over–and debating whether a book needs fresh material or whether repurposing and organizing into subject areas can create a book.
Material is only half the battle, tho. Figuring out how to self-publish is the other mountain to climb. Congrats on getting both done.
Hi Penny! I think a lot of us have been thinking about doing this and if I can serve as inspiration then GREAT! I also believe that once you’ve done it the next one and then the one after that will be even easier. I’ve also read lots that say “series” do very well. The theory is that once a person finds you that appreciates your style and writing, they will be a fan and read more of your work as it comes available. And self publishing is something we can all do now thanks to Amazon. If you have any specific questions just post or email me directly. I am happy to help. ~Kathy
Kathy, very inspiring. Congratulations. I would like to publish a book one day. Have to get motivated. It is a lot of work. Good for you for going the distance. What publishing platform did you use?
Yay for you! And thank you for such great info….I think i need to revisit some of my older posts and see what treasures I have buried there!
I’ve been thinking about a book for a while (of course 🙂 ). Thanks for your insights.
Hi Sharon! I think your blog posts would fit extremely well into a book. It’s really not that difficult and if you DIY there is no upfront cost. What do you have to lose? Go for it! ~Kathy
SO MUCH BETTER! Ha! Yes, before, POD was a sketchy, sleazy business, so I did a small print-run of 1100 books, and that was pretty much my best option, because POD was so sketch back then. So I had to pay up front, carry inventory, etc. Yikes. “The kids of today” have it easy! 😉
Congrats! I am so happy for you. You put your heart and soul into these posts so I know the book is a worthy project! It is an amazing endeavor and I wish you the best!
Hi Jodi! Thank you for your good wishes. It was a fun project and I’ve learned so much and made such great connections that I already consider the project a success. Everything from here on out is gravy!!! ~Kathy
Hi Kathy Gottberg,Wow Firstly a big congratulation for your amazing book. I am glad you are think about a great idea publishing your blog through a book its fabulous. I have no words for your this think am so happy and inspire with you. Thanks for sharing :)Keep it Up :)God Bless you
Hi Addison! Thank you so much for your encouragement. It is VERY MUCH appreciated. ~Kathy
I do, I have a travelogue, but I first self-published it in paperback way back in 2003, when things had barely started rolling. I didn’t have nearly the resources available to me that there are today! For the print layout, I designed it, then hired someone to do the actual layout and provide the print-ready PDF. A friend designed the cover — again, there were no cover designers, or how-tos or inexpensive stock photos back then. I released it as an ebook in Dec.2011, and yes, I did the formatting for that, which seemed like a total breeze compared to the earlier version.
Oh yes, hasn’t everything changed so much for the better (IMHO!) in the last 10 years? I also have a newsletter business that I do for escrow companies and now everything is done on the computer and through the net. As you say, in the good-old-days (NOT!) we did our own layout, had to print everything out, paste it up, drive it to the printer and then back to pick it up and ship it out.
If you first printed as a book back in 2003 it was also probably a lot more expensive too huh? Now it costs nothing if you are able to do it all yourself. Publishing has changed so much and for most of us it has been a positive change. Thanks for sharing your experience Laura. ~Kathy
Congratulations on your newest book! And yes, I think that the blog-to-book idea is a great one, for all of the reasons you so succinctly listed. And who doesn’t like a good compilation? It’s like you’ve done the searching and organizing work for us!
Hi Laura! Thank you for your best wishes. And I know you have a book out too. Is it a compilation or is it all new material? Did you do all the formatting yourself. Anyway, it looks great too and you KNOW how great it feels to have your work in print. Thanks again for coming by. ~Kathy
I hope you are having a great day, Kathy!
Thanks for your reply. Your blog is awesome! It seems that there are many ambitious writers here; good for me as an ambitious reader now. … unfortunately it wasn’t always like that. Forgot to mention that your book “Practical Spirituality” arrived from Amazon UK last week. 😀
BTW, Germany is doing great, summer finally arrived, and today we are going to play against Portugal (our first game in the World Cup).
My new mantra for this month is “declutter”. Happy Reading!
Hi Gosina! Aren’t you just an awesome person. “Practical Spirituality” is my first book and will always hold a special place in my heart. I was deeply honored that Findhorn wanted to publish me and was very proud of the association. Unfortunately because it is 10 years old they have discontinued printing more copies and it isn’t even available in the U.S. anymore except through independent book sellers. I’m thrilled to hear you were still able to find a copy from Amazon in the UK.
Please let me know what you think of it. Much of it focuses around an organization that Thom and I created here in California and was a special time in our lives. But when the time came for us to move on after nine years, there was no one who wanted to take on that responsibility so we disbanded. Still everything in the book describes deeply held principles in my life and I trust you will see much of “Finding Grace” in there too!
Thanks again for your great support. And good luck to Germany in the World Cup! It’s play RIGHT NOW! ~Kathy
congratulations! That’s a fantastic idea and a wonderful resource for people who want all the wisdom in one place!
Hi Jo! Yes, I strongly encourage all bloggers to at least think about it. You have so many great posts and ideas on your site that it would be a natural for you. If I can ever help in any way just let me know. ~Kathy
Hi Kathy!
Congrats! I’ve just finished your book “Smart & Happy”. What a pleasure to have read your book.
The idea of simplicity is simply appealing. I’ve started this year to declutter myself from too much stuff, but I still have a long way to go. I’ve been an Elvis fan for almost 37… I guess I don’t have to tell you more. 🙂 I already gave away my fan magazines, Elvis jewelery, glitter and glamour t-shirts, records and so forth. Two weeks ago I saw an Elvis tribute show in Munich, and believe it or not, I didn’t buy anything! YEAH!! BTW. I’ve just started the book you’ve mentioned “Shiny Objects”.
Stay Smart, Happy and Healthy!
Gosina from Germany
Hi Gosina! How are you? How’s Germany these days? Thank you for reading my latest book. And wow! Starting out de-cluttering one of your hobbies is ambitious. Most of us start simplifying with the easy stuff–junk in our closets, clothes we haven’t worn in 10 years, things like that. So good for you for going for something that you had been really attached to–AND for going to the tribute show and walking out with no stuff. Isn’t it true we can still enjoy those things that we love without having to OWN anything.
Thank you again for all your support Gosina. It is VERY much appreciated. ~Kathy
Thank you for this post! My daughter was just asking me today why I hadn’t written about a particular topic more on my blog. I told her I was thinking about writing a book about it in the future instead. She said, “do both” , but I have been wondering if that is a good idea. Seems like it might be!
Hi Susan! Thank you for stopping by SMART Living and joining the conversation! Your daughter is SO-O-O right! While I don’t have the stats to prove it just yet, I do believe that there is an entirely different audience for print or kindle books as opposed to our blogs. And it is such a feeling of accomplishment and joy! 🙂 Please let me know if you do it so I can help support your work! ~Kathy
***So what do you think? Is publishing a blog-to-book a good practice?**
BRILLIANT. That’s what I think.
I’m in the process of doing the same thing about my sister, Kay.
…but it seems quite overwhelming!!
Hi Kim! Good for you too! Are you going the same route as me with CreateSpace and Kindle or going another way? I know there are a couple of options out there but the one I took really seemed to be the easiest. Let me know if you found another alternative. And let me and everyone know when you do the big launch so we can all support you! ~Kathy
Thanks for writing about this, Kathy. It’s so timely for me because I’m thinking more and more about publishing a book. This would be a great way to get my feet wet. I’m a bit scared about it (my first one) but I have a message I want to get out, and I want to keep on facing challenges that will ultimately help me grow and learn as a writer.
Congratulations on your book. It must be exciting, and I love how you explain all the positive reasons of using Amazon as your platform. Best of luck to you!
Hi Cathy! Yes I read your last post and think this is something you definitely should consider. I know with the first one it is always more challenging but trust me, once you’ve got a couple out there you can’t help but ask yourself, “Why not?” Unless you have one of the HUGE publishing houses behind you when you start, you really will be in much the same position as you will be doing it yourself. Plus, I used to think that having someone publish my work was somehow “better” than me doing it on my own. But things have changed so much now in the publishing world AND most readers don’t really care as much as us writers do about who did the publishing. As I mention in the article, you have to promote it yourself to get it out where people can find you regardless.
So go for it! If you have any other specific questions about the process, please don’t hesitate to ask! ~Kathy
Hi Kathy,
Congratulations!! I like your idea very much…it feels great to have your book and you do all the formatting yourself…it is quite time consuming, though easy as there are a lot of tutorials to guide. I published my first book of poems, which were just lying here and there, in my note-pads and it was really a fulfilling experience.
Thanks for sharing the news, I must go and check it out!
Hi Balroop! Yes, as I just replied to Haralee, the first two books made me sit on the sidelines and observe many of the choices that were made–especially the book about real estate! The editor and I went crossways a couple of times over edits they insisted upon. And because I was just the writer I had little choice but agree if I wanted the work to be printed. Now we can do it ourselves the way we want. I so encourage you to give it a try Balroop! Go for it! ~Kathy
Congratulations! Now you have learned another skill set beside the other benefits of seeing your work harvested together.
Hi Haralee! You are so right that I’m very proud of my new “skill set”. Because my first two books were just about completely in the hands of the publishers regarding the cover, the edits, and the promotion, it is incredibly empowering to know that I created the book ALL myself. Of course the flip side is that any errors are mine too! But I’m okay with it! Thanks for stopping by! ~Kathy
Congratulations, Kathy! This is super exciting stuff! I just went on Amazon and bought the book … as of THIS MOMENT it is on it’s way!
I really can’t wait until I get to the point in blogging where I could even think about putting a book together. Such an ingenious idea, and I can’t wait to get your bloggy goodness in paperback form. 🙂
Hi Sarah! Oh WOW! What a nice surprise. 🙂 Your support is so very much appreciated! And yes, I’ll be one of the first when yours is published. Now that I have all the details, all you have to do is ask. I think you publish more posts than I do–I’m fairly content with one of them a week–so you’ll have a pile of them good to go before too long. I think it’s also fun to have something to “next” about for our blogs so I highly recommend it! ~Kathy
Congratulations! How exciting. As a brand new blogger, I have never even thought of this – but I will file it away for someday – if I’m lucky 🙂
Hi Lana! Thanks for stopping by SMART Living and leaving a comment! And Congratulations to you too for taking the step to blog. I can be so very rewarding. And I think it’s good to have things you can do in the future to mix it up. It keeps the process more interesting and there is always something new to learn–like I said, it’s keeping my brain healthy!:-) If I can ever help in any way please let me know. Now I’m going over to check out your site! ~Kathy
Congratulations, Kathy! This is a fantastic idea. It’s been on my list of things to get done to adapt my blog into an ebook (hadn’t thought of a print book). All the reasons you mention are absolutely true. Reaching even more people and continuing to build your audience off the internet! I’m very excited to hear that you will be sharing your process and experience in doing this as it will surely help me out. I have self published my self help book for divorced women and so I know first hand the amount of work involved! Your books look awesome, Kathy and such wonderful information you provide to us readers.
Hi Lisa! I would definitely recommend doing a print book too. When I published my novel to ebook a year ago I didn’t do the print and I really wish I had done them at the same time because I received several comments from people saying they didn’t like to read on the computer. So now I make it easy on them. 🙂 Again, I believe the hope is to reach as many people who may enjoy the topic and my writing so having it in multiple formats is SMART!
And actually, if you did your own formatting for your ebook I actually thought the print book through CreateSpace was a bit easier. It’s more like an actual books so you can double check it that way. If you ever have any specific questions just email. I would be happy to share anything I’ve learned. ~Kathy
I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while now, but need to carve out the time to do some editing, add some complimentary content and perhaps some more photos as well. Time… the one thing I can’t make more of (or buy!).
I’m still working on Finding Grace – enjoying it very much – just haven’t had the time to just plop down and read in giant chunks of quiet bliss yet. Maybe this weekend, now that I’m back from Vegas and NYC.
Thanks for sharing this post. I’ll bookmark it for future reference/as a reminder of what I need to do myself!
xoxo nancy
Hi Nancy! I was thinking about you and hoping you’d recovered from your mega-hike a week or so ago. Plus with all the traveling and working you do it’s a wonder you get any posts done at all. But I’ll be that if you did take the time to compile some of your posts around your theme it would be a HUGE success. If you ever have any questions about that, just let me know! I think with your experience, and how much you can ENDURE 🙂 this would be easy!!!! ~Kathy
I have one thing to say… Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! That is so exciting! Hmm. I wonder if I should try this?
Hi Diane! YES-YES-YES! Go ahead and try it out. It is exciting and fun and costs very little if your a DIYer like me. Thom made the cover and I recruited my APs from the Midlife Boulevard site to help with the proofing. What have you got to lose? Let me know if I can answer any specific questions for you. ~Kathy
Hi Kathy and congratulations on getting your new book up and out there!
I haven’t yet picked it up but I will when I get a free “my time” moment 🙂
I like the idea of re-purposing your old posts while sprucing them up a bit or adding new content to an old idea. And you’re right, there are those who have never read a single word of yours who will now have the opportunity to do so.
Thanks for the inspiration and take care. My best to all.
Lyle
Hi Lyle! Thank you. It is a fun and exciting way to celebrate your work. I would encourage everyone who writes to give it a try. I think we learn so much in the process and no matter what the outcome of the project, we’ll know how to approach it better in the future. I think your writing would make a great book. So go for it! ~Kathy
Hi Kathy,
Congratulations indeed, this is such a wonderful achievement 🙂
Yes, I’ve also often thought about converting my posts into an eBook, but never got down to doing it, though I plan to, especially as mine run pretty long!
You are right, the wider the audience, the better the reach and not everyone is a blog visitor. More so, Amazon and other such places are a great resource for books and all those who love to read the real book, and they might not be online, like most bloggers. I think it’s a very good decision for your Blogiversary coming up. 🙂
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice weekend 🙂
Hi Harleena! Thank you 🙂 And yes I think many of your posts would make a great book. You tend to write posts that are longer, more detailed and full of information. They make such a great reference and I think are sometimes easier to read over some time rather than all at once. And you also have a couple of distinct topics that could be highlighted that way. I say “GO FOR IT!” ~Kathy
Kathy, you have helped me to see blog-to-book in a new way. I first heard of this practice when one book came out by the authors of a popular blog. I felt they were only trying to make money with this practice (and the price was too high for something I could get for free).
Basically I saw this practice as a money grabbing self promotion. Thank you for showing me there is another reason. Congratulations on your book I will check it out when I get back from my vacation.
Hi Lois! I’m glad I was able to give you a new perspective on this issue. I do think, as I’ve said in a couple of other comments, that some bloggers can do this more effectively than others because some are more like articles than a “blurb” or just commentary on a person’s life. I think it all depends how you put it together and what your intentions are for getting it done. I also think that the price is a contributing factor. As I mentioned, I keeping the price as reasonable as I can. But I also think when we make something easier or more convenient for readers that has some value. How much? Who knows? This “experiment” will tell me if I must make adjustments in the future. Thanks for your thoughts. ~Kathy
P.S. Did you get me email about your book of recipes? Let me know and I’ll leave a review on Amazon.
Congrats!
People badmouth Amazon all the time but it has made my life possible.
That said my book can’t be taken directly from my blog and being disorganized structuring it properly is hard. However….
Hi Pia! Thank you! As you know it does feel really good to have your words in print and available. As I mentioned to Dave in the other comment I do believe that some bloggers and their posts are more transferable into book form than others. You, like me, tend to write articles rather than short blurbs and I believe those have “legs” as they say. We’ll see. You know I’ll blog about it at some point or another! Thanks for stopping by! ~Kathy
I look forward to reading your works! Having blogged for four years now I agree that earlier posts can get lost in the shuffle. And there was some good stuff back then! Thanks for putting the time into your book and good luck.
Hi Dave! Yes! I think the blog-to-book will work better for some of us bloggers than others because our work tends to be formatted and written as articles rather than blurbs–like yours. The more information our posts communicate to our “target market” the more that the book will have value IMHO. But we’ll see. So much of what I do is an experiment anyway so I’ll be letting you know how it turns out. Besides that it is just fun to figure out how to do something and then hold your creation in your hands! Thanks for stopping by. ~Kathy
I\\\’m thought about doing this. I\\\’m glad it worked for you. Good luck with your sales.
Hi Janie! Thanks for stopping by SMART Living and sharing your thoughts. If you ever have any specific questions I can answer just let me know! ~Kathy