From Blog to Book Deal to Blog to…
Posie Gets Cosy By Alicia Paulson
Creative ways to find your audience as an artist. It’s a topic that pricks the ear of any artist or writer.
Last week I went to the ProBlogger Conference (#pbevert) in Melbourne arranged by Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.
Not only was it a great opportunity to hear what some successful (perhaps the most successful) bloggers are doing it was also great to get time to sit, reflect and think about how all things blogging and from a personal perspective what I could be doing better with my blog (turns out a hell of a lot!).
IÂ was especially interested in one speaker – Pip Lincolne from craft /lifestyle website Meet Me At Mikes. Not so much from the fact that she is a successful blogger but because she has managed to also navigate from the online to the print world.
Having fired out a fair number of letters to publishers in my day and knowing how damn hard it is to get their attention never mind have them agree to read AND publish something, I have to say I was full of admiration (and yes a tinge….oh sod it a bucket of envy!) with Pip’s revelation that she  wrote her first book only 6months after starting her blog and the publishers agreed to publish it.
Like many sucessful artists Pip has a clear message and voice. As such she has managed to carve herself out a successful niche. Much like US craft blogger and author Alicia Paulson from Posie Gets Cosy. Paulson book- Embroidery Companion: Classic Designs for Modern Living – came about whilst convalescing from a serious accident. Apparently she stitched her way to recovery and 12 years later with a lot of blogging in between her book was released.
Earlier this year social media site Mashable did up a list of bloggers who managed to get a book deal. Take a look it’s food for thought.
Do you know of any artists or writers that have successfully used their blog as a platform to reach their audience? Would love to hear.
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About
Welcome! My name is Ann Nolan and I work in all things online helping brands make sense of their digital enviroment.
You can find me at www.bricksandclicks.com.au where I am the director & digital strategist of a multidisciplinary agency. Other places to find me are at @annnolan.
You can call this blog my mood board. It's where I document some of the things that are catching my attention be it in digital campaigns, campaigns leading to social good, blogging and even film.Â
You can read more about me here.
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Finally thanks for visiting. I hope you will enjoy looking around and will feel welcome to comments on any of the posts. Your participation makes it more fun (and makes me feel less alone!).Â
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I loved Pip’s story too and she made it sound so easy. There’s the famous Juile and Juila of course plus funny books like Pets Who Want to Kill Themselve and Awkward Family Photos. Check out the blogs – always good for a laugh.
I set up my blog to find an agent and publisher but then lost interest slightly as I realised the pay is better if you publish an ebook yourself. I’d still like to be published by someone else too as it’s great for the resume but all good things come to those who wait:)
I like your blog design and thinking. Keep at it!
Yes lots of good “blogs to books” examples out there. My “medium of choice (more about this sometime!) used to be screenwriting and film and it’s funny how strong the indie film industry is when you compare it to “vanity” or self publishing industry. Things are changing I think but more on this issue very soon.