Learn A New Word: Blook

Several days ago in the comments section, Diane asked about my opinion of blooks? I had no idea what she was talking about—even though she explained the term: books based on blogs.

Then I read this article about blook in the Wall Street Journal and had a fuller idea what it meant.  New words are constantly entering the English language and I guess we’ve added “blook” to our vocabulary.  I have heard of a number of blogs which have become books. One of the most recent success stories is touted in this article or the book, Julie and Julia : 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen which has sold over 100,000 copies since it released last September.  Clearly through blogging this author found an audience who wanted her book.  Note the distinction in this blog—the author wrote a great blog and built a ready-made audience.

I was interested to see the editor who acquired Julie and Julia said about blogging. She isn’t looking in blogs to find her next bestseller. Why? As journalist Ian Mount quoted Judy Clain saying, “I don’t think a blog is a great place to look for new writers because there are so many, and so many aren’t very good.”

Your blog might be the starting point for a book but it’s only a start. It’s a way to build an audience who is interested in you and your writing but the text will still need lots of polish before it is published into a book. I’m always amused with the occasional note I get from someone who thinks I need a copy editor for my blog.  My response is that I don’t need a copy editor for my blog. If you don’t like the way these words come out, then choose not to read it. I don’t labor over every single sentence in this post. I do spell check my words then get them out into the entry. Otherwise, the process becomes too labor intensive, not fun and most importantly consumes way too much time and energy.

As an acquisitions editor, I have no plans to look in blogs for the next bestseller, but I am happy to add another word to my vocabulary and continue watching the marketplace to see what happens in this area.