Bloggers Who Get Book Deals

It's an established fact that millions of people blog. Some figures state more than one-in-seventeen people do it. Very few actually have an audience, though. Many bloggers go years without people taking notice. Yet, in this crowded, commonly unsuccessful marketplace some bloggers do get an audience. A few have become so popular, they are now getting paid to write books, from memoirs to fiction.

Wil Wheaton, a professional actor, wrote on his blog to promote the book he had written. He sold over 3,000 of the books online, and shipped them off himself. When the publishing world took note of it, he was offered a book deal. He's now has three books down the pipe for O'Reilly and Associates.

Biz Stone, a designer of the popular Blogger software, became an writer by obssessing about things. In this case it was blogging. He was heftily rewarded, because not only does he have one of the most popular pieces of weblog software on the Internet, but he's also a published authour.

Salam Pax, an Iraqi translator and architect, had a popular blog which showcased an Iraqi perspective of the Second Gulf War. It was turned into a book by the highly prestigious newspaper, The Guardian. He then got a full-time job for the newspaper.

Julie Powell was an employee in an unpromising job. She had had enough of the mundane tasks she was directed to do, and decided to direct something of her own. She set out to make 500 Julia Child recipes and post them on her blog. The media soon picked up the story, and in no time she had gotten a "really obscene book deal."

Rebecca Blood took an interesting route to getting her publishing contract. She established herself as an authority. Using her expansive knowledge of blogging history, she wrote a well-researched, scientific article about the history of blogs and how they relate to culture. After a publisher saw it, she wrote The Weblog Handbook, a definitive blogging book.

Jessica Cutler used to write anonymouse posts about her sexual encounters with Washington elite for her blog, The Washingtonienne. After her identity was discovered, she was immediately fired and sued. Luckily for her, though, she was offered a hefty book deal by the publisher Hyperion.

Ana Marie Cox is another success story. After slaving away at low-end sectors of many successful journalistic enterprises, she decided to try her hand at blogging. What resulted, was Wonkette, a highly popular political blog for Gawker Media. Her unique writing style led her to a position as Time Magazine's Washington Editor, and the publishing of her book, Dog Days, in 2006.

Sources:

Blogger Help: How To Get A Book Deal With Your Blog - help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41991
USATODAY.com - Publishers put bloggers between the covers - usatoday.com/life/books/news/2005-04-17-blogger-book-deals_x.htm