Many years ago, when my kids were small, I always said that I’d have “Go and wash your hands!” printed on my tombstone. I got sick of saying the same thing over and over.

Nowadays when I talk to writers I say: “Go and get a blog!” I’m sick of saying that, too. Maybe I should get it printed on my forehead…

Here’s a snippet from someone else who’s discovered the benefits of blogging when it comes to writing a book.

MarketingSherpa: How a Marketing Pro Wrote His First Book: 12 Tips for Making a Hard Job Easier reports:

“-> Tip #2: Start with a blog
Start blogging about your book’s topic to help establish a writing rhythm and organize your thoughts. You can use some of the content in the book. ‘Let’s say I had three [blog posts] one week. I basically created a half chapter just from blogging three times,’ Pulizzi says.”

So please… GET A BLOG! It truly will help you to complete your book, and get it published. Indeed, you may find a publisher (because an editor or agent will find you) long before your book’s complete.

Step by step to blogging success

Blogging for Dollars is a comprehensive blogging package which helps you to make money blogging.

Pro bloggers can make serious money, whether you choose to blog for a company as a freelance blogger, or build your own entrepreneurial blog. Many bloggers make six figures annually, and blogging networks have been sold for millions of dollars.

Make money blogging today – you’re sure of success with Blogging for Dollars to guide you.

Many people want to write a book. Few people ever get around to doing it, because writing a book is a considerable commitment. In my long and colorful writing career I’ve written many books, so in this article, I’ll share my tried and tested “Lazy Writer’s Method” with you.

My method will work successfully for nonfiction, less so for fiction. So if you’re writing a novel, just sit down and write it. Novels are rewritten, rather than written.

My method works because it cuts down on the time needed to write a book, and it also lets you make a little money along the way – always useful for a working writer to keep the wolf from the door.

OK, let’s get started. You’ve had a brilliant idea for a book.

Here are the four easy steps of the Lazy Writer’s Method:

1. Write an article on the subject of your book

The first step is to write an article on the subject of your book, and get the article published in a magazine or newspaper. Yes, you can publish the article online, but I don’t recommend this method.

You must get your article published in print, because if you do, you’ve soared over the first hurdle: the gatekeepers of publishing, the editors.

Anyone can get an idea for a book – in fact, if you put your mind to it you could probably get a dozen ideas before breakfast. Ideas are cheap.

If your idea passes the publication test however, you know you’ve got an idea that others respond to… and you’ve made a little money too.

2. What’s the response?

Your article’s been published. Now check the response.

Bit tip – ANY response is great. If you get a dozen letters congratulating you on the article, wonderful. If you get another dozen letters castigating you for the article and wanting your scalp, even better.

If there’s no response to the article at all, look for another book idea. The lack of response proves that your article’s (possibly) not worth pursuing at book length.

3. Write another couple of articles, and an outline

Let’s assume you got a response to your article – or there was no response, but you love the topic, and you’re committed to writing the book.

Your next step is to write another couple of articles, and an outline for your book. This package is part of your “chapters and outline” proposal package you’ll send to publishing houses and agents.

Get the two additional articles published.

Then rework the three articles and complete your publishing package. (You’ll need to do a competitive marketing analysis too.)

Send out your book proposal to people who can buy it.

4. The truly lazy writer’s way: blog your book

Most writers would now wait, for a year or two, until a buyer showed interest, and offered them a book contract.

However, you’re not just a writer, you’re a Lazy Writer, so take the next step, which is blogging your book.

Blogs are instant publishing and they’re amazing tools for savvy writers. Start blogging on the topic of your book – you’ll get readers. Your readership will attract the attention of editors and agents, and with a little luck, you’ll get your book publishing contract much more quickly than you would otherwise.

So if you’re thinking about writing a book, try the “Lazy Writer’s Method”. It’s a fast way to write and sell a book.

Write more – the key to your writing success

Yes, you can write more – even if you’re a world-class procrastinator.

Did you know that when you write more, your writing improves? Many of my writing students experience this. They find that when they write more, writing is easier for them – they’re not dominated by their inner editor.

My new writing class, “Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” is based on lessons I developed for my private coaching students to help them to write more, improve their writing, and make more money writing.

If you’re struggling with your writing, the class will help. The techniques you’ll learn in class with help you write fiction, nonfiction, and copy for business.

Discover how you can write more, improve your writing, and sell more of your writing to higher-paying markets.

From idea to print, most books take around two years – and some can take a lot longer. That’s a lot of time to invest in a project which may or may not be successful.

So, how do you save yourself a lot of time, energy and pain, and find out whether your book will be successful before you write it?

Please note – by “successful” I mean that your book sells – to a publishing house initially, and then is a hot seller on the bookstore shelves. If you’re publishing an ebook, “successful” means that you sell lots of copies.

Your blog is a fantastic test-marketing tool – use it

Blogging gives you the means to test-drive your book ideas. For example, if you were thinking of doing a book on diet cooking, create a blog first and post some articles about diet cooking.

The number of clicks and comments you get are a good indication of how appealing (or unappealing) this idea actually is.

If you get NO clicks, and no interest, you’re likely to get exactly the same results when you spring your diet cooking idea on a publisher.

A few blog posts are a lot faster to write than a book proposal, or an ebook, if you’re going the ebook route.

Test-marketing works for everyone, even for writers, so test-market all your books before you write them.

Write more – the key to your writing success

Yes, you can write more – even if you’re a world-class procrastinator.

Did you know that when you write more, your writing improves? Many of my writing students experience this. They find that when they write more, writing is easier for them – they’re not dominated by their inner editor.

My new writing class, “Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” is based on lessons I developed for my private coaching students to help them to write more, improve their writing, and make more money writing.

If you’re struggling with your writing, the class will help. The techniques you’ll learn in class with help you write fiction, nonfiction, and copy for business.

Discover how you can write more, improve your writing, and sell more of your writing to higher-paying markets.

Publishers are always looking for the next book sensation, and they realize that new writers aren’t aware of how publishing works.

So they’re scouting blogs, hoping to find their next bestselling author.

It’s even happening in India.

Penguin, HarperCollins scout blogs for book ideas reports:

“And there are others chasing your favourite blog that could be the next bestselling paperback. Harper Collins India is keeping an eye on some bloggers as they find extraordinary pieces of writing that are of wider interest.

Says Saugata Mukherjee, senior commissioning editor, HarperCollins Publishers India, ‘I believe that blogs are a great way of discovering an author’s capabilities and although we have not made any offers yet, our first blog book is a possibility sooner than later.’ “

I’ve just published Blogging for Beginners on my Writing Hacker site – discover how you can use blogs. Blogs are amazing instant-publishing tools.

Your Blog: Your Vital Sales And Promotions Tool For 2008

Gotta blog? My ebook, Writing Success with Blogs by Angela Booth, helps you to take the first steps into the new world for writers: instant publishing on blogs.

Your writers’ blog is your must-have branding tool. It also has a very practical use – it’s a writing portfolio. From the ebook: “Before editors will pay you to write, they want to know that you can write. They want clips – copies of material you’ve published. This seems like a Catch-22: you can only get published if you’ve been published. Your writing on your blog can be in lieu of clips. Your blog lets editors gauge your abilities and style, before they put down the cash.”

The book helps you to create your own writer’s blog.