Blogger or Author or both?

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself: "Am I a blogger, an author, or both?"

Do you sometimes wonder whether you should be blogging, or working on your manuscript, and which is more important?

Do you sometimes think you spend more time doing marketing and publicity then actually writing?

I'm addressing these questions in today's post because I'm just as confused as some of you may be! My blogging has really taken off and I feel great with my new blogging plan and marketing strategy. However, I haven't touched my manuscript for at least a month. At least.

What does Bridget Jones say? It's a well known fact that when a part of your life is going well, another part will fall apart.

Ok, I'm being dramatic, but it is frustrating trying to find that lovely, natural balance.

I think I've found a halfway house solution though - using some of my blog content to make an eBook which I'll publish to Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform. That way I can publish something, get it out there and feel like I've achieved - all whilst working on longer projects.

Remember what you're trying to achieve when considering starting up in self publishing:

1) A brand for yourself and your work
2) Becoming an expert in your field
3) Attracting a wider audience to your website and blog
4) Making a little money to re-invest in cover design, professional editing, proofreading and marketing

If you blog regularly (three times a week), you'll know what I mean when I say your blog content gets lost pretty quickly in the archive. Everything you write should be used and re-used over and over so you get your deserved return from each piece you pen.

When I thought about this idea a year ago, I wasn't sure because I felt using my blog content was cheating - and who would buy it when they could read it for free? The trick is to create some new material but this doesn't have to be complicated. For example, how about an exercise at the end of each chapter?

I have to be organised with my blogging and write within a series each time. It doesn't matter if your blog doesn't follow one set path, but you will need to read back through your content from beginning to end and do some sorting through. Try to group by topic (check your post categories). See which posts were the most popular (check your stats). Each category could be an eBook if there is a lot of material to work with, or you could create a "Best Of" collection.

Then - Intro, conclusion, nice cover, format, upload. You know the drill.

Think about whether you want your eBook to carry the same design as your blog (think branding)... and then promote it on your blog and via your social media.