Blog your way into a book deal ~ By Chris Abraham

In 2014, your first step towards becoming a published author with a traditional publishing house is to start a blog focused on what you’ll eventually want to write a book about.
 Your second step is to grow a community around the writing you’re doing on your blog.
Step three is to start writing for sites that have bigger, stronger, and more influential readerships than your own blog does. Eventually, and often immediately, you’ll watch your hobby become a profession.

I have been saying the same thing for over a decade: you can write yourself into any job you want. And it’s still true — and may be even truer today than it was in 2003. Why? Because in 2003 there were plenty of jobs, plenty of money, very few Internet-savvy hirers, and the Internet really wasn’t ubiquitous like it is now. And, back in 2003, the publishing industry was still deeply in denial that their hegemony would dominate the written world for years to come (where they were in 1993, a decade earlier–it’s true, denial is our strongest muscle).
Do I have a recent example of this happening in the wild?

Case-in-point: my buddy Minh Lê. He just sold a picture book to Disney! During the day, Minh works for the Federal Government. At night, he’s a loving husband and father. At some point in his busy, fulfilling life, he also loves literature. He love literature a lot. He’s the guy who always has a thin paperback book of short stories or essays in the a

pocket of his blazer.  When he sits or waits, it’s always a book he settles into and not his phone

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Chris Abraham is a leading expert in digital: social media marketing, Internet privacy, online reputation management (ORM), and digital PR with a focus on blogger outreach, blogger engagement, and Internet crisis response.

• A pioneer in online social networks and publishing, with a natural facility for anticipating the next big thing, Chris is an Internet analyst, web strategy consultant and advisor to the industries' leading firms. He specializes in Web 2.0 technologies, including content syndication, online collaboration, blogging, and consumer generated media. Chris Abraham was named a Top 50 Social Media Power Influencer by Forbes, #1 PR2.0 Influencer by Traackr, and top-10 social media influencers by Marketwire; and, for what it’s worth, Chris has a Klout of 78 the last time he looked.
  Chris is currently Director of Social Media at Unison agency, where he is expanding their social media offerings by starting a social media practice. Unison is an integrated brand agency combining strategic, creative, and technology services to help their clients build and strengthen their brands.
  Chris recently completed a five-month contract with Reputation.com as Team Lead, Special Projects, in sales for their "Whale Hunting" team. Chris was one of two whale hunters tasked with closing clients for their high-end Picasso Online Reputation Management (ORM) and Executive Privacy products, from $10,000-$100,000/month campaigns for high-net-worth and high-profile individuals and Fortune 500 companies.
  Prior to Reputation.com, Chris ran his own digital PR and marketing company, Abraham Harrison, LLC, from Washington, DC, Portland, Oregon, and Berlin, Germany, with clients including: Kimberly Clark, The Daily, Habitat for Humanity, Greenpeace, The Fresh Air Fund, International Medical Corps, Sharp, Pew, Alzheimer’s Association, and others. Previous to starting AH, Chris worked on the Interactive Team at Edelman Public Affairs in Washington, DC, consulting with clients such as Wal-Mart, Shell, and GE on blogger and social media strategy. Before Edelman, Chris was Technology Strategist for New Media Strategies, a pioneer in online brand promotion and protection with clients including Sci-Fi Channel, Buena Vista, TomTom, Paramount Pictures, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Disney, Reebok, EA, RCA, and NBC.
  In the early nineties, Chris joined The Meta Network, a seminal online virtual community based in Washington, and so began his career as an expert in online community development, social media, social networking, and online collaboration. Chris has had a web presence since 1993 and started blogging in 1999, focusing on community, connection, innovation, and brand extension. As a technologist, Chris has consulted T. Rowe Price, the US Department of Treasury CIO, Friendster, Deutsche Telekom, and others.
  Chris has taught blogging courses for the Writer's Center of Bethesda, has been a guest lecturer on public affairs blogging at Columbia University's SIPA school and the American University in Washington, DC, the Emergent Technologies Advisor to the Urban Institute's Communications Advisory Board, and a Renaissance Weekend participant since 2001. Additionally, he is the go-to expert on social media, citizen journalism, technology, and the Internet for BBC World Service, CNN Radio, and CNet's BNet.
  Chris received his BA in American Literature from The George Washington University, studied American Literature at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, studied French at the University of Hawaii, and studied German at both the Washington and Berlin Goethe-Instituts. In addition to the Huffington Post, Chris blogs for his own blog, ChrisAbraham.com, for Biznology.com, for Socialmedia.biz, and for MarketingConversation.com. Chris has written for AdAge’s DigitalNext and Global Idea Network blogs.
  Chris is indulging his mid-life crisis by buying a motorcycle and taking up the shooting sports including trap and target shooting with both rifle and pistol. Until he gets the novelty of gun ownership out of his system, you’ll find Chris in South Arlington, Virginia, right across the river from his beloved Washington, DC.
  Chris is president of Gerris digtial and director of social media at Unison.
  (Disclosure: I am a former employee of Reputation.com and they continue to sponsor my work)