Why Would Anyone Want to Read My Blog? (or My Book?)--Trusted Advisor Blog

As I work on editing this blog for publication I ask myself, "Why would anyone want to read this blog or my book?"  What value have I added in the 243 posts that make up this blog to date?

When I first started the blog I wanted the discipline of writing a daily blog to create a book I could publish.  I've worked on several books ad went to a Book Expo in Chicago in 2001 with the intention of publishing and marketing a book.  To date, the only book I have published (in 1992) was my 502-page dissertation.  (Very few people read it, by the way.)

I have several books started and have a goal of writing some fiction targeted for young adults.  I've been an avid reader in that literature for the last six years to build-up a better understanding for the authors, the books, and the genre.

What is this blog about?  That's a challenge.  The blog is about many things.  Wikipedia.org has this to say about a blog: 

A blog (a contraction of the term "web log")^[1] is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic.  Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog.



This blog reflects what I was thinking about, "top of mind," on the day I wrote each post.  I have gone through the blog in the course of preparing it for editing and publishing and have identified categories that have related posts.  These are still "across the board." 

My primary role is as a "trusted advisor" and many of my posts contain information to be shared from that point of view about the topic included in the post.

This still a challenge for readership.  I'm adding posts each day to the blog and to the book until the day I publish it.  Blog posts made after the publication of the first book will be saved for a follow-on book.  I have a few friends who read the blog often.  (They should, many of their ideas and our discussions find their way in to the daily posts.)  I also have two subscribers to the blog--and I am one of them.

I've explored with other friends in the publishing and bookselling business to see how I can edit the content in a way that will make it compelling for others to read.  I'm still developing those ideas.

Another editing challenge I have is to make the links show-up in the published document.  On the website and the blog, the links work.  In print, they need to be spelled out.  Many of my posts include related links for more information and for examples.

What are your thoughts?

Why Would Someone Want to Read This Blog as a Book?

Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously was a successful blog published as a book and then as a movie.  Julie Powell focused on working with Julia Child's recipes.

Readers of this blog know that the posts may vary from day to day, based on what is "top of mind" for that day.  With this post I have 240 separate entries ready to edit and am now visiting public libraries and book stores to see how I can organize these entries in a way that will be both interesting and marketable.  (If anyone reading this has suggestions, they will be welcome.)

I have created categories (for chapters), though I am not fully happy with those categories yet.  I will probably edit the posts a little for publication.

I am also checking out a book on the stories of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) for inspiration.  My goal is to have this ready for the publisher this week.

I reviewed my earlier draft books (from 2001) and don't feel compelled to rework them at this point.  Publishing this blog as a book is something new.

Editing Lots of Posts--Inspiration--Creativity-Perspiration--Perspective

Editing the posts in this blog to date--this is post #239--is lots of work.  I now have all of the posts in a format that allows editing.  To turn it into a book--or multiple books--requires lots more work and thinking about the details of the posts.

Lynn Pierce advised me that I could have the book ready to edit by the end of the weekend and she was right--it's ready for editing, though not yet edited.

I'll be working on the edits during the week and we'll see what I have to share as the work progresses.  I'm looking for inspiration and perspective as I work with creativity and perspiration. 

Wish me luck!! :-)

Books, Mentors, and Infopreneurship

In 2001 I became a protege of Robert G. Allen on the advice of a friend of many years, Jack Canfield (co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series). In March of 2001, along with many fellow proteges, I attended the Book Expo in Chicago where I met Lynn Pierce, a fellow protege who had just completed her first book and was promoting it at the expo.

I had started a book and did not have it ready for the expo.  In the morning of  September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon.  That afternoon I was diagnosed with prostate cancer.  I had the cancer removed and devoted the next six years to teaching K-12 students.  My book remained unfinished and my development as an infopreneur didn't move very far.  I completed an additional masters degree and published several research articles concerning education.

I had maintained contact with Lynn Pierce over the years and have been aware of her progress in her infopreneurship business.  I started listening to Lynn's SuccessBlueprintRadio programs and signed-up for her SuccessBuildingSecrets program.

Nine years after the Book Expo in Chicago I am ready to edit my first book for publication.  This blog will be the content and I will begin organizing the posts into chapters based on the tags I have embedded in each post.  I hope to complete the editing soon and will probably publish using my connection with Lightening Source Press.

Books, Screen Plays, Movies--Amazing Transformations

Books are fascinating.  When they are transformed into movies it is amazing what has to be done to condense the book and turn it into more direct action and dialog.  The Harry Potter series of books by J.K. Rowling are full-length books.  The movies are abridged versions of the books that still carry the basic themes and plots.  I recently re-read Dan Brown's DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons, then saw the movies and saw the amazing transformations required to create the screenplay and the film version.  Today I finished listening to The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett.  I am looking at the 1934 film and am again struck by the transformations.  The book has 31 chapters and the film runs for 75 minutes.  That film set the stage for many sequels for which the screenplays were written directly, using the characters developed by Dashiell Hammett.

Turning a book into a screenplay would be a great exercise in creative writing for language students.

Books and Movie Scripts (Screen Plays)--Challenges for Readers

In earlier posts I spoke of Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code which I recently listened to as an English audiobook, read as a Spanish companion book, and listened to as a Spanish audiobook.  Today I saw the movie--playing the movie in Spanish with Spanish subtitles.

Ron Howard was the director of the film and Dan Brown was one of the executive producers.  Having recently read and listened to the book so much, it was clear to me where the movie diverged from the book.  Some of the changes were to bring the movie-goer "up to speed" as things progressed during the movie.  Other changes seemed to involve representatives of the Roman Catholic Church in more negative ways that were shown in the book.

If you have read the book, the movie is enjoyable and you can spot the differences between the book and the movie.  If all you see is the movie, much of the richness expressed in the book is lost--along with much of the human dynamics expressed in the book.

I have had similar experiences with J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books and movies.  Knowing the book makes a lot of difference in experiencing the movie.

Ninety-first post to this blog

When I began this blog on August 10, 2009, I was committing to a daily post of reflections and ideas.  As I write the post tonight, I notice that this is the ninety-first blog.  One or two days had two posts, especially if I missed the midnight deadline for a post.

I want to write and publish several books.  A few are in various draft forms.  One of the purposes of a daily blog was to have the discipline of writing.  Indeed, another possibility for a book is to combine the daily blogs once I have enough of them written.

Reflection on daily thoughts and activities has been very worthwhile.  I don't know who is reading this blog and I refer to it in various posts and websites.  The process also allows me to make connections between activities and reflection that I might otherwise miss.

Sometimes I wait until almost 11:00PM to make my entries.  It seems that it takes that long sometimes to focus on what I want to post.  The good news is that throughout the day ideas for the blog are percolating in my mind, waiting for me to write them down.

Today has been an unusual day.  Lately I have been involved in contacting business professionals around the world to find people who want to work with me in enrolling language learners in a new, affordable, online language learning program.  I have been asking for people who are interested to contact me and have been responding to their e-mails with information.  There were fewer e-mails today and I find myself challenged to find innovative ways to encourage business professionals to check-out the programs and the business opportunities associated with them.

I need to explore new ways to connect with people who can and who want to benefit from the language learning these programs make available.  Anyone with any ideas, please comment on this post.

What does it take to write and publish a book?

In 2001, a public relations firm in Chicago advised me that they could promote me easily if I published a book.  I've been working on ideas for one or more books since 2001 and still haven't put everything together.  Perhaps I am being too much of a perfectionist--waiting for "just the right" book.