Blogging a Book

Certain blogs are good enough to publish in book format. American Bedu, http://americanbedu.com/ , for instance, contains  posts of interest to those who would understand life in Saudi Arabia from an international perspective. I’d love to be an editor, and cull the wheat from the chaff for an eventual hard copy book of that blog. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong course of undergraduate study, so the only editing I get to do is of my own work.

That’s OK. I have enough of it to occupy my time for the rest of my life, and since I have gravitated towards the memoir genre, I continually contemplate the writing of my own memoir,  publishable in book form, of course.

Aside from the reasons or the advisability of such a project, I am finding excellent resources to help an author accomplish just that– writing a book. One such resource is Nina Amir’s “Blog a Book” blog, in which she shows the ways in which a blog can be brought into the service of producing a book:



Occasional bloggers think that their blogs can be lifted and patched into a book, but that wouldn’t work except for a small group of highly focused blogs with dedicated followings, such as American Bedu. The blog format has developed into a vessel to contain conglomerations of outpourings from the blog writer’s psyche, and as such, has enjoyed tremendous popularity. Even focused, purposeful blogs tend to represent fluid affairs and current topics, or else serve the instruction of esoteric subjects.

Nina Amir’s idea turns the thrust of the blog around. Rather than using a blog to elucidate the blogger’s ideas on religious, political and social positions— interspersed with daily activities, menus, and weather reports— a blogger could use a blog to shape and hold a book project.

I like this idea. I will think about it.Let me know if you, too, think it’s a good idea for your writing.

About Marahm

At first glance, I may appear to be a middle-aged American woman with kids, grandkids, retired from a job in a hospital, gratefully relieved from the responsibilities that come with all of that. Behind the image, which is true enough, I am fairly unhinged from much of American mainstream living, having spent twelve years in Saudi Arabia, years that sprung me from societal and familial impositions, and narrow bands of truth. I have learned to embrace my identity as a seeker, an artist, and a writer. I study Arabic and Italian language, because I love them, and I love their people. I still dream of spending more time in the Middle East and Italy, though the dreaming now seems more real than the possibilities. I am a photographer. I write, and sometimes publish, flash memoir, and now a blog or two.
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7 Responses to Blogging a Book

  1. Pingback: Blogging a Book | Marahm | Blog about Blogs

  2. Sarah says:

    I recently started a (private) blog for my PhD. Hopefully as I write the thesis it will be useful for me. I really like the idea of doing it as a daily series of blog posts. 🙂 So far I’m using the blog as a combination of a “lab notebook” of sorts and a bunch of literature reviews. I think if you like using blogs and are used to them, they can probably be used for all sorts of things!

  3. Thank you very much Marahm for your kind and generous compliment. Maybe one day I will be fortunate to do that.

    I wish you all the best with your writing.

  4. djd says:

    I don’t consider myself a writer so I would not be aiming for a book, but the blog format can be used for any kind of theme. It can be interesting to get feedback, I would imagine.

  5. unsettledsoul says:

    It certainly is not for me, as my blog is more a cathartic outlet of my inner workings and very erratic, but I definitely think it is doable, as long as one sticks to a certain theme and doesn’t go off track.

  6. Nina says:

    Thanks so much for mentioning my blog, How to Blog a Book, and the ecourse here in your blog. I really appreciate that! I also love that you find the idea a workable one. If you try it, please leave me a comment on the blog about how it worked for you. Also, if you are looking for more information about writing and publishing books, please be sure to check out my other blog, Write Nonfiction NOW! at http://www.writenonfictionnow.com. You’ll see it has a sister blog, Write Nonfictioninnovember.com, which also has a ton of great info. Good luck with your memoir.

  7. Serenity says:

    It’s a lovely idea! Though I’m not sure it’d work for me, ’cause my blog’s all over the place, totally random and all! But thanks for sharing it with us! 🙂 I had no idea this existed!

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