A VERY Informal Book Review and Discussion

Well, as of yesterday, I finished reading my first book of 2015. As I said in my 2015 Goals post, I hope to read 25 books this year (2 books per month and the Bible over the course of the year). Not bad, huh? A book in four days. Actually, I read it in less that twenty-four hours... BUT it was only about 165 pages, so it's not really all that impressive. Anyway, this book was a little bit different, but it was interesting.

The title of the book is HOW TO BLOG A BOOK by Nina Amir.

Kind of a weird idea, isn't it? Blogging a book? Why on earth would anyone want to do that? Well, that was my initial question when I stumbled upon this title in Barnes & Noble Saturday afternoon. However, after flipping through it for a minute or two, I decided to buy it just because it was a sort of intriguing idea, weird or not. After all, with the publishing industry the way it is nowadays (overcrowded and unbelievably hard to break into) writers who truly want to get their work out there pretty much have to be open to alternative publishing options. So, I figured I'd give it a chance and see what Mrs. Amir had to offer. 

And I was rather impressed. 

Though I'd never really given that much thought to blogging a book, Nina Amir makes a pretty good case for it. I mean think about it. What's the one thing writers really want (besides caffeine IVs)? Readers, of course... and what's the first step to acquiring readers? By putting your work out there FOR people to read. What's a fast way to do that (and get much-needed feedback)? You guessed it. Blogging. Also, if you're the kind of person who struggles to finished projects (ahem... ME), writing a book a post at a time is a good way to keep yourself accountable because if you fail, it's out there for everyone to see. 

What's even more interesting is that sometimes, if your content is good enough and people like what you've got going on, publishers will find your blog and offer book deals. Pretty cool, right? I thought so.

Anyway, these are just a couple of reasons Mrs. Amir offered in favor of blogging books rather than going the traditional publishing route. There are ten reasons altogether -and all are pretty darn enticing. 

After explaining WHY writers should consider blogging their book, Mrs. Amir explains HOW to go about this, along with how to increase blog traffic and make the most out of your blogging experience. To be honest, by the end of this book (even though it's geared toward nonfiction writing), I was thinking about whether or not I should give it a try with my YA book. *Still haven't made a final call on it yet, but I'm seriously thinking about it. 

All in all, HOW TO BLOG A BOOK was an interesting read and even if you aren't interested in blogging a book, I believe much of what Mrs. Amir writes could be beneficial to bloggers in general.

For more information, you can visit Nina Amir's blog (which eventually became a book): http://howtoblogabook.com

Writers, have you ever thought about blogging a book?

Readers, would you be interested in reading a book published via blogging?

Why or why not?