Blogspotter: Popular blogs find their way to bookstore
You don’t need a computer to bump into bloggers these days as prospecting publishers don their mining hats and proclaim, “There’s books in them thar blogs.”
If Walt Disney Co. can transform an amusement-park attraction into a blockbuster film franchise (I’m referring, of course, to “The Hall of Presidents vs. Mothra”), there’s no reason the blogosphere can’t spawn its share of best sellers.
That’s what the publishing industry’s banking on, anyway. The Publishers Marketplace deal database lists more than 80 blog-related book sales since 2003. And nearly 90 blogger books were submitted for the 2006 Lulu Blooker Prize an award for books based on blogs or Web sites. Most of these “blooks” fall into one of four main categories:
“High-concept nonfiction derived from quirky, humorous sites such as Overheard in New York. The most successful example of this strain is Julie Powell’s “Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen,” which sold more than 100,000 hardcover copies. Winner of this year’s Blooker, “Julie and Julia” was based on Powell’s online diary of her quest to whip up every recipe in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”
“Political broadsides, such as Unclaimed Territory blogger Glenn Greenwald’s Amazon.com No. 1 best seller “How Would a Patriot Act?” and his upcoming “Bush Agonistes.”
“Novels inspired by blogs, including Jeremy Blachman’s new “Anonymous Lawyer,” which Publishers Weekly called a “side-achingly funny debut.” Original Wonkette Ana Marie Cox didn’t fare so well with her political satire, “Dog Days,” but she was recently named Time.com’s Washington editor.
“Memoirs based on blogs. These run the gamut from saucy (“Belle De Jour: The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl”) to serious (the critically lauded “Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq”). Blog memoirs cover topics as varied as homelessness (Wandering Scribe Anya Peters’ upcoming “Abandoned: The True Story of a Little Girl Who Didn’t Belong”) to driving cabs and waiting tables in the Big Apple (“New York Hack,” “Waiter Rant”).
Seattle-based writer Amy DeZellar recently parlayed her DatingAmy.com journal into the comic memoir “Dating Amy: 50 True Confessions of a Serial Dater.” The former L.A. music critic was no stranger to writing for print, so the idea of landing a publishing deal had crossed her mind.
“DatingAmy.com was my own version of a column after the Seattle Times declined to have me write one for them,” DeZellar said via e-mail. “I did not plan to write a book, although the barely legible scribblings in my personal diary from that time indicate otherwise.”
Many, if not most, blook authors prove to be one-shot wonders. But DeZellar suggests blogs can launch solid book careers.
“The bloggers who are giving the rest of us a bad name are those who weren’t really writers in the first place and just sort of became writers by virtue of getting published,” she said. “A popular blog can get you a book, but not necessarily the talent to write one.”
On the other hand, blogging can help newbie and veteran writers hone their craft, especially when readers chip in constructive feedback. “Blogging is like street performing,” DeZellar said. “At its best, you learn how to hold an audience; at its worst, it’s just annoying.”
Luckily, it’s as easy to skim blook offerings for worthwhile reads as it is to scroll through the blogs they’re based on.
Drilling down
PostSecret.com may be the quirkiest blog to birth a book series. The site encourages readers to share burning secrets by sending anonymous postcards to 13345 Copper Ridge Rd., Germantown, MD 20874. Submissions often prompt a chuckle, a head shake — or both. Recent revelations include “I miss the way summertime used to feel” and “The only reason I give blood is for the delicious muffins.”