Tuesday, December 12, 2006 6:39 AM
The morphing of weblogs continues. According to the New York Times on Sunday, blogs are being turned into books, at which time they become "blooks." Blogs Into ‘Blooks’: The Cranky and the Chaste opens with the following:
WHEN is a blog not a blog? When it develops a wide enough following to turn into a bona fide book or, as it’s known in the business, a “blook.” Early this year a panel of judges awarded the first Blooker Prize to the breakthrough blook that was deemed worthiest of all, Julie Powell’s account of the year she spent executing the recipes in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Ms. Powell’s book (which grew out of her Julie/Julia Project blog), “Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen,” has sold more than 100,000 copies.
This storyline parallels that of Jeremy Blachman and his Anonymous Lawyer weblog and book (blook?). The buzz Blachman built with Anonymous Lawyer when everyone thought it was real, continued when it was revealed that it was fiction, and then reached a crescendo with his book deal and publication of the Anonymous Lawyer book. For all the latest, you can catch up with Blachman at (great name) Jeremy Blachman's Brand New Weblog.
Crazy? Maybe. Or maybe blooks are simply part of the whole new communication and collaboration dynamic that the web has enabled. Anyone with an idea can simply start writing a weblog--today, tomorrow or next week--and try and find an audience. If the audience builds to a level where there are some commercial possibilities, the author already has the makings of their first book well in hand. Furthermore, for every author who signs a book deal, there may be others using self-publishing services like Lulu, Blurb or LJBook to produce and sell their books on demand. When the cost is near zero, you don't need to sell many to turn a profit. To me, this is part of what The Long Tail is all about (see also The Long Tail ).
Beyond personal, single-author blooks, it also seems likely that these same technologies will open wide the door for collaborative publishing. The low cost of entry and ease of use can make connecting people across the globe in collaborative efforts that start as a weblog and finish as a published work a relatively simple matter. This could be a really interesting dynamic for global legal research and writing. Think of all of the niche, but important, legal issues and topics out there going undocumented (and un-shared) due to cost and complexities. Another possibility is publishing the day-by-day accounts from high profile trials, such as the recent Enron: TrialWatch from the staff at the Houston Chronicle.
Blooks? Blooker Prize? Who knows? But, something is going on and the momentum is building.