Recently an interesting comment on LinkedIn caught my eye, an obvious lover of books was undertaking the painful task of pruning of his collection. In the process, he dismally discovered that most of the non-fiction business books he had picked up over the years gave only one or two main ideas and the rest of the book became a corollary to support the main ideas through anecdotes, reasons and more narrative lines.
“Do 2-3 ideas deserve a book or a blog?” he queried.
I looked at this question, through the eyes of a ‘would-be author’.
Are you mulling over whether your idea needs a book or a blog (N.B.: here I am just limiting myself to informational non-fiction)?
- Time
Writing a blog takes up less time as compared to book. Plus a blog can easily be updated and corrected with new information.
Whereas, writing a book is a far longer process but…And this but relies on your blog…
If you have already blogged about your subject matter to a good extent then you can pore over the blog posts and easily create a structure for your book.
If you starting first with a book, many people advise to first create a blog, build your audience and then create a book. Several writers have begun with blogging and ended up writing a book. Well known inspiration to creation coach, Nina Amir has written extensively about successfully turning your blogs into books.
Score: Blog 1 Book 0
- Credibility
Even in this digital age, books give you more authority than blogs. Writing a book can springboard you to different platforms that a blog usually can’t, like invitations to speak at conferences or to consult for large companies.
Lilly Singh a well-known youtuber created a book How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life Opportunities. And in India, Rujuta Diwekar was known as Kareena Kapoor’s exercise coach and nutritionist till she wrote her book and became a household name as a celebrity nutritionist.
Score: Blog 1 Book 1
A more personal reason for writing a book, even though you might have a basic 2-3 ideas is that while writing, you will have to really gain clarity on your ideas and explore them in depth.
I think every idea counts and if that idea can help somebody then it’s worth writing about- in whatever form you desire.
Writing books, helps create a personal brand and a deeper recall.
One of my authors had a website and also spoke about his niche subject in newspapers and media, but when he wrote his book- there was a sudden change. Wherein, earlier his articles/talks would be limited in context and time, now he got more coverage and his consulting business grew to an extent where he could leave his day job and concentrate with a single-minded focus on his niche.
That’s the power of writing a book!
But till then at least blog…keep creating content and conversations around your idea…because the more you write, the clearer you’ll become- not only about your idea but how to put it across.
The first step in writing… is to write!
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