TURN YOUR BLOG INTO A BOOK – Summary of Power Point Presentation
BY ELAINE AMBROSE
Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop – March 30 -April 2, 2016
BAM – BLOGGERS AT MIDLIFE CONFERENCE – April 15-16, 2016 – Las Vegas, Nevada
Decide How to Publish
- Find a traditional agent and major publisher – no control, takes more time, no rights, few copies – Menopause Sucks
- Hire a book packaging company – expensive, negotiate rights, they distribute
- Self-Publish through your own company – total control, cost up front but keep all profits. Arrange professional design, cover,
and format. Do sales and promotion. Midlife Cabernet
Create Publishing Company
- Name – Mill Park Publishing, not Momma’s Little Pub House
- Decide Your Name – Some of us have had more than one due to the fact that we write better than we marry.
- Find a Niche –Written by Women, a portion of proceeds goes to charities
- Complete paperwork and register in your state as a business
- Purchase ISBN in bulk, learn Bar Codes and Copyright
- Resources: research, workshops, marketing, promotion,
- Budget for your time, professional design and layout, editing, printing, distribution, materials such as bookmarks
- Study inside Publisher’s Page of other books
- Keep Records – taxes, profit and loss, track and measure success
What will it cost?
- Start with $3,000 – doesn’t include printing or distribution
- Your time?
- Professional cover: $500
- Professional editing – $500, at least once
- Marketing and Promotion – at least $1,000
- Professional layout – print and eBook – $500-$1,000
- Depends upon number of pages
- Depends upon difficulty – artwork, charts, interior graphics
Self-Publishing Research Tools
- Copyscape checks for plagiarism
- Writers&Artists – Resource for writing, facing rejection, helpful tips
- Grammar Girl – Non-threatening rules for punctuation and grammar
- Evernote – Syncs your devices and organizes your documents
- com and RhymeZone
- Poets&Writers – writing prompts, resources, submission details
- NaNoWriMo – write a 50,000-word novel in a month
- http://www.ingramspark.com/blog
Publisher’s Details can Separate Professionals from Amateurs
- Title Page –Title, subtitle, author, publisher’s name and logo, year, location
- Copyright Page –All rights reserved, etc., year published, ISBN, Library of Congress, if necessary – see samples
- Spine –What is seen on bookstore shelves – clean – title and author name
- Running Heads – Identify each page, except title page
- Page Numbers – Make sure pages match Table of Contents
Know how to Format Chapters
- A typical chapter is at least 2,000 words
- A book needs at least 40,000 words
- A typical blog is 500-800 words
- Read each blog and select the best
- Decide the chapters of your book
- Add selected blogs into specific chapters
- Midlife Cabernet: By the Numbers
- 50% blog posts from elaineambrose.com – and other sites including The Huffington Post
- 50% new material
- 57,714 words, 216 pages, 267 words per page
- Sold more than 6,000 books and eBooks
- Two National Humor Awards and Publishers Weekly endorsement
- Feisty after 45: By the Numbers
- 45 women writers from across the country and Canada
- Increased authors from 25 to 45 to fill enough pages for a book
- 40,144 words, 166 pages,
- 241 words a page
- #1 in Humor in Midlife on Amazon.com
PLOT YOUR BOOK THROUGH A BLOG
- Outline your book and plot content
- Start writing the book as separate blog posts
- Results in first draft of Manuscript
- Already promoted through your regular blogs
- Package, edit, and publish
BLOG PHARASES THAT DON’T WORK IN BOOKS
- OMG
- Excessive profanity
- Avoid time: Yesterday, I went to the wine bar Woe is me! (Be happy you wrote a book!)
- Ending with a question: What works for you?
- Impossible requests: Call me sometime
BOOK COVERS: Yes, You Can Judge
Visually attractive in color, design, short title
- Add blurb with credentials
- Back cover copy is life or death
- Visible in thumbnail copy on Amazon
- Eye-catching in a sea of contenders
- Provocative
- Hire professional designers, illustrators, or galleries for your covers
Prepare Promotional Materials and Establish Your Brand
Organize Premiere Parties and Community Events
Track Rankings: Feisty after 45 Hit #1 in Print and eBook
Track Success

PUBLICATION FORMATS
CreateSpace
- Amazon paperback and Kindle eBook – submit files – order proof
– proofread – proofread, again
- They show records and analytics, pay quarterly
- Print-on-Demand is easy to update, distribute – no storage
- Enroll eBook in other platforms: KOBO, iBooks, Google Play
- Print layout and format are different from eBook
- Start on next book
- Hire an assistant – Finger Puppet, if necessary – Have fun!