You know, I used to do this years ago, and I made decent money. But I got out of the habit. Something I’m going to correct after talking with D’vorah Lansky about how simple it is to repurpose blog posts.
Now, I can monetize my blog posts in a creative and lucrative way without much fuss at all. Welcome D’vorah Lansky to the Marketing Words Blog.
By D’vorah Lansky M.Ed
Writing a book is a dream that many of us have however, the actual writing of the book may seem like a daunting task. It doesn’t have to be though.
What I’m going to share with you, is a formula for how to go from blog to books by transforming the content you already have in your blog posts into your Kindle book. That’s right! In essence, you already have the content for a book.
Think about it for a moment, you write on a topic that you are passionate about and that your readers are interested in. Why not transform that content into a published book?
Why You’d Want to Publish a Kindle Book
Before I share more on how to go about creating the content for your book, let’s look at why you’d want to publish a Kindle book and how you (and your readers) can benefit.
Being a published author, of one or many books, can boost your visibility and credibility and open up doors of opportunity for you. By “writing the book on the topic” you demonstrate that you have a level of expertise. This can make you an ideal guest to speak on podcasts and telesummits, and if interested even at in-person events.
What you may take as second nature, others are eager to learn and by sharing your expertise in the form of a published book, you can reach and help a lot more people and gain more exposure for your blog, at the same time!
Kindle Books Can be Appetizers Versus a Full Meal
Creating a Kindle book is much easier than creating content for a print book. While paperback books tend to be comprehensive and cover many aspects of a topic, Kindle books can be “short and sweet” and cover one focused topic. While paperback books can be over 50,000 words, a Kindle book can be as short as 5,000 words. That said, as you begin to curate content, you may find that getting to 7,500 or 10,000 words is a snap.
Look at how easily you can reach that word count. If your blog posts are 1,000 words in length, you could curate the content for your Kindle book with as few as five posts!
The thing to keep in mind is, you want to provide enough content, so your readers feel satisfied. So don’t rush or skimp on the content.
It Can Be More Profitable to Publish Kindle Books Than Print Books
Another advantage of publishing books to Kindle is that you can make equal or even more money selling a $5 Kindle book then you can by selling a $10 paperback book. This is because of the royalty structure. With a paperback book, the publisher needs to factor in the price of ink, the price of paper, the cost of shipping, and more. Being that a Kindle book is a digital product, it’s much more affordable to produce.
Here’s an example: On a $10 paperback book: You earn 40-60% minus printing costs, earning you $1.82 to $3.82.
With a Kindle book, priced between $2.99 ad $9.99, you earn 70%. To price your Kindle book to sell, price it from $2.99 - $4.99, earning you $2.00 to $3.50.
Being that Kindle books can be priced more affordably means that you have the potential to reach many more readers, than you would with a paperback book.
Curating the Content from Your Blog
Head over to your blog and skim through your posts. Look for articles that are on a common theme or that are related. This may give you ideas for the theme or title of a Kindle book you could create.
Next, decide on your topic and go through your blog in search of posts on and related to that topic. Copy and paste these blog posts into a Microsoft Word document, along with the current or revised title of the article.
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For example, you may want to give your posts a twist and position them as “top tips.” This can make for a compelling book title which attracts the exact readers who are seeking solutions to challenges they face.
Think about it for a second… if you were scrolling through book titles on Amazon, which would cause you to click to find out more about the book?
- Articles from My Fishing Blog
- Or… Ten Tips to Help You Catch More Fish When River Fishing
Rounding Out the Content
Once you’ve gathered the content from your blog, in a Microsoft Word document, you can add additional content to round it out. This content can include an introduction about the book and why you’re passionate about the topic, and how it can serve your readers. You can also include an “about the author” page and a “marketing” page, where you invite your readers to “claim a special gift” related to the topic of your book. This last step can provide you with a way to connect with your readers.
Edit and Refine Your Content
The next step would be to proofread and edit your manuscript. One article at a time go through and proofread. Make any updates or edits or changes. Add any additional content to round things out. You may want to include action steps or a “food for thought” section at the end of each article.
This Can Be a Time for you to Shine
What would it mean to you to publish your first or next book to Amazon? How would it feel to have your own author web page on Amazon’s Author Central? What challenges can you help your readers overcome by sharing your knowledge and experience with them?
When you think about how you can help your readers versus judging whether you feel qualified to share tips on your topic, it can help you to move forward with confidence. How can you serve your audience? Coming at your book from this perspective can take the pressure off you and make it easier to share content that can help others.
Give it a Try
Before you prejudge the process, give this method a try. Head over to your blog and scroll through your posts. Look for a theme or give thought to a topic that can tie a collection of your posts together. This will help you to come up with a title for your book, which is the “billboard sign” to attract potential readers.
You may want to position your posts as “top tips” that walk your readers through a process or equips them in overcoming challenges they face.
By taking action and curating blog posts you’ve written, you can create your Kindle book.
Are you ready to write your book one blog post at a time? Get excited because you can!
- Start by curating content from you blog. As you read through your posts, decide on the topic of your book.
- Then, look for posts related to the topic of your book.
- Copy and paste them into a Microsoft Word document.
- Compose a title for your book, that ties the posts together.
- Add a subtitle so your readers know this is a collection of posts and not a traditionally formatted book. Example: “A Collection of Articles from the … Blog.” Or… “Ten Tips to Help You Get More Done and Have More Fun.”
- Once you’ve added the posts you’d like to feature, read through and carefully edit your document. Being that you are drawing from published posts, it’s likely that the content is already well edited.
- Add an introduction, about the author, and marketing page.
- Add any additional content to the beginning or end of each post to tie things together. For example, you may want to include action steps or “food for thought.”
Go one step at a time and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you’re able to create a collection of posts that your audience will be eager to read.
Take the Next Step to Go from Blog Posts to Money-Making Kindle Books
Check out D’vorah’s Kindle Quick Start Course
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About D’vorah
D’vorah Lansky, M.Ed. is a bestselling author and content creation specialist. She has published over 35 books and 40 online training programs. Since 2007 she has taught thousands of authors and entrepreneurs across the globe, how to transform their knowledge into books, workbooks, products, and online courses.