Wish to pen a book? Begin by blogging your work

To write a book someday...what an often heard, yet-to-be fulfilled <g data-gr-id="28">dream</g>! If it’s a long cherished wish of yours too, it’s probably time to take a leaf out of some of the bloggers-turned-authors’ books.

According to these authors, their first step into the literary world started with their blog which gave them all that was needed — confidence, discipline and a dedicated audience. Blogger-turned-author Ganga Bharani, for instance, credits her blog for sowing the first seed of thought to write a book.

“I started writing opinion pieces in newspapers when I was 15. Those which did not make it <g data-gr-id="32">to print</g> occupied space in my blog that was dead otherwise. I did not have even one reader then. My interest started inclining towards telling stories five years after my blog was created,” said Bharani, who presently has two books to her credit.

“I wrote short stories and blog series. One such series received good reviews and readers suggested that I publish it as a book.” The initial journey wasn’t <g data-gr-id="34">easy</g> though, as Bharani received a lot of rejection mails from publishers before things turned around. “After several rejections I decided to restrict myself to my blog. When I had written four blog series and all got a good response, a publisher approached me through a mutual friend and proposed the idea of publishing one of the series,” she says.

She added that now her blog readers have begun reading her books as well, thereby earning her a dedicated audience. Beloo Mehra, another blogger-turned-author, had <g data-gr-id="37">similar</g> experience. 

He says that the blog helped him muster the confidence to finally pen the first book on the subject that was close to his heart — the Indian education system.“The idea for my first book came up as a result of my blogging experience. It was in 2014, I had been blogging for a year when a month-long writing challenge came up. I chose to write on the challenges and issues facing the Indian education system,” added Mehra.