From Blog to E-Book and Making it Happen
form of getting your book published. In fact, as bloggers, many of us already
have the content intact that can be turned into an e-book. But where to start
and how to promote it: Therein comes the dilemma.
At the BlogPaws 2013
Conference, Amy Shojai and Sandra Beckwith solve those dilemmas with their
breakout session, “E-books and Promotions.” BlogPaws asked Sandra and
Amy what they plan to bring to BlogPaws and how they plan to educate folks in
paw-son. Here’s the scoop:
Who are Sandra Beckwith and
Amy Shojai?
Sandra Beckwith is a self-employed
nonfiction writer specializing in small business topics and writing for custom
and corporate publications. She has written 3 nonfiction books and ghostwritten
3 others. In her past life, she was an award-winning publicist, so she teaches
a book publicity e-course.
Amy Shojai is an animal behavior consultant who blogs, write
columns, articles and books covering cat and dog care, hosts a radio show and
TV segment.
BlogPaws: Welcome aboard, ladies. How many times have you
been to BlogPaws:
Amy: This will be my first time!
Sandra: The first for me.
BlogPaws: What can attendees of your session hope to learn?
Amy: How publishing has changed, what opportunities are available
(DIY services, etc), how to harvest blog content, leveraging E-books to build
brand, creating an E-book revenue stream.
Sandra: My plan is to talk about the key elements of book
promotion.
BlogPaws: So when folks walk away from your session, you
hope they will gain what?
Amy: Bloggers can expand their reach and increase income with E-books.
The new self-publishing platforms have been made virtually "dummy
proof" (even my cat and dog could do it…if they had thumbs!). Pet
bloggers are in a unique position to capitalize on their existing
audience/platform, and remain in control of their publishing destiny.
Sandra:
I hope to bring clarity to the subject. When you don't know much about book
promotion, it's hard to know where to begin. My goal is to de-mystify the
process and help participants understand where to put their time and energy.
BlogPaws: What
will be your favorite aspect of attending BlogPaws/what do you most anticipate
as an attendee?
Amy: I
can't wait to meet in person the bloggers I've read for so long! I feel like I
already know many folks–and their furry alter-egos–but there's nothing like
in person networking to cement friendships and establish personal and
professional relationships. My *virtual* tail is wagging and purr a-rumbling at
the thought!
Sandra: I'm
looking forward to learning from other presenters and attendees. I'm sure there
will be lots to learn!
BlogPaws:
Tell us about your pets. BlogPaws loves pets!
Amy: My GSD Magic (aka "Magical-Dawg")
will be 7 years old in July. My Seren(dipity) is a 16-year-old Siamese wannabe
who kicks Magic's furry ass-ets on a daily/sometimes hourly basis.
Sandra: I
love animals, but because I don't have pets, I spend time with my friends'
dogs. It's a nice compromise.
BlogPaws: Just
for fun, what is something about you people would be surprised to learn?
have a double major in music/theater performance and write/perform music and
plays.
Sandra: I
was prom queen my senior year of high school.
BlogPaws:
Where can folks learn more about you and follow along with your presence
online?
Amy:
Blog: http://amyshojai.com
Amy Shojai's Bling, Bitches & Blood
Twitter: @amyshojai and
@About_Puppies
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AmyShojai.CABC
and http://www.facebook.com/amy.shojai
Websites: http://www.Shojai.com
and http://about.Puppies.com
Sandra:
Website: http://buildbookbuzz.com,
blog: http://buildbookbuzz.com/blog
Connect on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
get started? BlogPaws 2013 Registration is in full swing. Join us May 16-18 in
Tyson's Corner, Virginia. BlogPaws is a pet-friendly 3-day life changing
conference! Register for BlogPaws 2013 here.
P.S. You will have access to a variety of “tracks,”
including 101 for Beginners, 201 for Intermediate level, and even a Pro Level
for seasoned bloggers who want to take their blogging and goals to the next
level. An exclusive 4th track will cover a variety of topics from
Law to Lifestyle to Be the Change for Animals
This will be a great session for those individuals with a wealth of blog posts that they’d like to turn into a book or for those who simply have a book in them that needs to see the light of day! Looking forward to this session!
This sounds great! I’m a BlogPaws newbie. Does anyone know if we preregister for the track we want at BlogPaws or is that something we choose when we arrive at the conference?
E-books about pets (pet stories/ pet care) are some of the least explored genre in the digital publishing market. There’s opportunity to be gained from carting the wealth of knowledge from a pet blog to say -Kindle or other e-book reader. The blog preview tells so much about what Sandra and Amy might have shared during Blogpaws. It would have been fun to hear their experiences as successful book publishers.