Wiley Marketing Director Ellen Reavis Gerstein attended the "blog to book" session at Blogher last month and came back with several interesting questions that were raised. She's tossed those questions my way for an editorial opinion.
Q: Can blog content be put right into a book? Should it?
Absolutely, yes, blog content can be put into a book. I'm sure there are many more examples of this but the one that comes to mind first for me is Joel on Software described as "This is a selection of essays from the author's Web site, http://www.joelonsoftware.com." This is really no different than collecting previously published articles, syndicated columns, short stories, or other works into a larger book. Some (like Joel on Software) are successful as books, some aren't.
As to the should it be part, that's a question each author and their prospective editor/publisher would need to come to grips with. When I look at book to blog proposals, the kinds of questions I ask are:
- Is the blogger's blog audience as big as their whole audience can get, or is there a universe of people who don't read the blog who might read it in book form? It not as important that your blog has 100,000 subscribers as it is to get a feel for whether the book will interest the millions of people who don't subscribe
- How dedicated and passionate are the bloggers regular readers? Are there dozens or hundreds of potential members of a "volunteer sales force" waiting to become your Customer Evangelists? That's one of the things that was really evident in the success of Naked Conversations. It wasn't the tens of thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of blog subscribers Robert and Shel had, it was the hundreds of hardcore fans they had who'd tell everyone they meet "you need to read this book."
- Who are your regular readers and are they influential? Who links to you?
Scoble Shel [updated - how do I dance my way around having confused Robert and Shel? thanks for the link Shel!] had a great post a couple of years back on this topic but I can't find it. It was something to the effect again that you might only have 1 reader, but if that 1 person in turn influences thousands of people, that's better than a lot of readers who influence no one. Again on Naked Conversations, I can't count how many small business owners, department managers, and other influencers we had who'd directly influence sales by buying dozens of copies of the book for their employees or staffs.
Q: Are there rights issues? Legal issues between who owns what content?
A book coming from previously blogged posts may make for a messier contracting stage, more time with a legal department working our precise wording, but it won't legally preclude a contract. Some editors or publishers may choose not to work with previously published content, but that's a matter of choice more than legalities. They may choose not to spend time writing specific language for this situation instead of a boilerplate contract.
There can be exceptions and problems however:
- If you publish your blog under CreativeCommons or any of the other more "open" alternatives to traditional copyright, you may severely limit the number of editors or publishers who are willing to touch it. These "open" alternatives are the opposite of the exclusivity publishers seek through contracts. I'm not saying I disagree with CreativeCommons, just that you may not find many publisher's legal departments who want to deal with it
- Do you own your blog posts? If you blog for a blogging syndicate or other corporate blogging arrangement, they may own your posts in which case, they'll be a party to the contract with the publisher. This is in theory no different than the earlier example where a syndicated newspaper columnist turns columns into book. But it raises the issue of who owns what and who is granting what rights to whom. Every situation will be unique here depending on the terms the blog posts were originally published under
What you should be careful to spell out in the contract with the editor and the publisher regardless of these complications is:
- You obviously want a publisher who is supportive of your continued blogging (duh)
- Who owns the content of your blog posts written about the book, about the topic of the book, but not in the book
- Are you obligated to continue to host the blog during the life of the book in print? For x months/years after the book is declared out of print? Conversely, can the publisher require you to stop the blog at some point?
- Does the publisher get creative control or approval about your blog?
Q: Do publishers want to see unique content in a book, and if so, how much?
This is a question you and your prospective editor(s) need to work out. If I were an author shopping a proposal like this, I'd probably talk to more than one editor and get more than one opinion. Does my blog's content standalone as-is? Does it need to be supplemented to be interesting and marketable in book form? Once you've heard a couple of different opinions specific to your content and audience, then you can decide which approach you are most comfortable with.
The unasked, bottom line answer:
If your content and ideas are good, almost anything is possible contractually. Find the editor and publisher you are happiest with, most comfortable with, who is most supportive of your approach. If you can get that match, you'll all find a way to make it work.
Updated Aug 13: Wiley Executive Editor Chris Webb answers these same questions here too. It looks like he and I are mostly on the same page, with maybe one or two different spins.
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