Last week I posted the beginning of an article on the above topic. In the ending I give reasons why you should be cautious about blogging your book and what may be the safest ways to go about it.

My take on the whole thing? Proceed with caution. If you are writing a great humorous non-fiction book on, say, why teenager’s brains are programmed to make them text while driving, then you may attract readers and increase your blog traffic. But will they buy the book after they have read it? Another reason I may be reluctant to blog my book is because of copyright issues. If your book sounds like it has some viability, what’s to prevent someone from packagi ng it, giving it another title and selling it on Kindle?

Yet another reason I think blog posts may not translate into a good blovel is the matter of pacing. If you write mini-scenes which leave your reader panting for more after each one, your reader may become tired after a while and wish to get off the roller coaster. In order to pace your novel well, you are going to have moments when events rise to a crescendo, then fall in much the same way an orchestra presents a musical item. It’s this rhythm, not the constant cliffhangers of the blog posts, that makes the reader eagerly anticipate what is to follow.

However, I do think authors can build a platform about their novel before it is published, not by blogging their book, but by blogging about it (which I plan to do). You can write a blurb about the story, give some background about the setting – if it’s an interesting one – talk about how you came up with the idea for the book. Without giving away the story, you can post, each day, or each week, something about your progress. How many pages did you write, what did you focus on, what challenges did you have? Also, don’t be afraid to ask your readers to help you unravel those challenges. If you do, your readers will feel they had a part in writing the book and will be impatient to see it in print. Hey, what am I waiting for?

Any more ideas about blogging your book? Leave a comment below.

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