Why more and more bloggers are writing novels?

Many bloggers today have moved on to writing short stories and novels. Writers like Preeti Shenoy, Aseem Rastogi, Sneh Thakur, Naman Saraiya, Nikhil Rajagopalan, Rohini Kejriwal, Kunal Dhabalia, Rikin Khamar and many more have all been avid bloggers first and then moved on to writing novels and short stories. This week we should try to examine what is it that prompts bloggers to try their hand at publishing and do such authors have an upper hand over other first time writers.  
 

Already an expert at writing: Regular blogging has its advantages. It disciplines you, teaches you how to express yourself well and also gives you a feedback as to what is working well with your audience. The comments, tweets and clicks you get tells you how you fare and what the audience wants to read more of. So after having a blog the book you write becomes more of an educated try. And the success rate of such books is definitely higher.


Popularity: With a successful blog you can be really popular. And apart from writing you get a chance to connect with other bloggers on blogosphere and you could also participate on the many contests that happen. Also if you are popular finding a publisher for your book, or simply marketing your book on your really popular blog can boost your book sales many times.  


You’ll be known: Getting your book published is a big high. You will not only boost your confidence and bask in the glory of your achievement, but with a published book your blog image will increase big time. People who have read your work will visit your blog and people who have visited your blog might buy your book… Wow… Now this is called killing two birds with one stone. 

Forced cognition: This means the more you talk about and share a particular idea the more you seem to digest the point. So the more you write on your blog, the more you hone your skills as a writer and more the chances of your success. Apart from the publicity the more you have blogged the better writer you shall be.
 

Bag a chance to write since you blog: There have been many people I know who got the chance to write since they were into blogging actively. For instance, Rohini Kejriwal, who has written two short stories for Down The Road says, “My blog has been quite helpful in my getting published with Grey Oak Publishers. I write for and am the Editor of an online magazine and I happened to ask the editor Ahmed Faiyaz about the publishing house he is associated with. He asked me for a link for some of my writing and I gave him my blog url. After reading it, he said he saw potential in my writing and I got to write the foreword for their first anthology, Urban Shots and two stories in Down The Road.”

So it makes complete sense when so many bloggers are becoming writers. And if you too blog, then you know what to aim for…