5 Steps For Creators Turning Their Influential Content Into Their First Book

If you’ve been blogging, podcasting, social media-ing or teaching for years… maybe turning your content into a book is for you.

Have you felt the nudge to write your first book? Do you have years of valuable long-form or short-form content that you think you might be able to expand on for a book? Is your audience hanging on your every word?

For many online entrepreneurs, a book isn’t just a bucket-list item… it’s a meaningful next step in sharing their message, building a legacy or creating a long-form asset that stands the test of time, and brings you leads and readers for years to come. (Apologies for the run-on sentence; it felt necessary to really get that point across!).

Writing a book (even if you’re turning your existing content into a book) isn’t a marketing ploy. It’s not something to just throw together and publish. It’s a life-changing endeavour, and many online entrepreneurs dream of seeing their words on a shelf in a real bookstore!

If you’ve been creating content for a while, you probably have noticed that some of your posts really shine above the rest; you have lots of engagement on it and people coming to you with questions and interest. You might have some topics that you just love writing about, that light you up, and that truly inspire some of your best writing. Blogs and blog topics can be incredible inspiration for books.

There are some things to consider before you dive into turning your existing content into a book (and how to do it in a way that feels aligned, sustainable and worth it).

Why repurposing your content into a book makes so much sense.

The most obvious reason is that you already have outlines or the raw materials.

Blog posts, newsletters, podcasts, workshop scripts and even some social media content are already a starter prompt for what could potentially be a full-length book. Series work really well for this, as you don’t want your book to have a bunch of filler words just to give it length. I find that a lot of non-fiction books have unnecessary information to make it longer, which ends up making it really boring.

But doing a review of content you’ve already written can be a great way to find solid topics and figure out what your core message is and what resonates with your audience the most. At the end of the day, your book needs to be something you know a lot about, but also something your audience actually wants to read.

Books create long-term visibility and authority.

Short-form content, and even blogs and podcasts, can eventually get lost in the crowd (short-form content especially). Unlike these, a book is actually a container for deeper connection. It has a longer lifespan and can continue to have a deeper impact for years and years. You can use it to help create visibility by sharing it (and little snippets online to build interest), but it also acts as a great authority builder.

It can also serve as your “quiet business card.” For introverted entrepreneurs, a book can be a great way for others to learn more about your business. You can use it as a prompt to tell people what you do.

It aligns beautifully with passive income and evergreen marketing.

Books can sell on autopilot or with minimal upfront work. And once it’s sold… there’s nothing else for you to do with that particular sale. And the potential for getting affiliates, resellers, referrals, and arc readers for promotion is high. Imagine… writing the book and then having other people sell it for you!

You can also use it to lead into offers, digital products or an email sequence. If you write the book so it’s a natural extension of what you do in your business, you can use it to get people into your orbit. But, just remember, the book still needs to be valuable. Books are not a longer version of a freebie or a teaser for your sales. You need to give them real value, real education and real results. No one wants to read a whole book that simply “convinces” them of something, and then to get the real promise of the book, you have to purchase services. It can help you sell, but it is not a marketing ploy.

If it works naturally, you can build a funnel around it and make more sales from one buyer.

What do you need to ask before you start compiling content?

1. What core message am I trying to convey?

Your book needs just one core message. While your content might have multiple topics and messages, your book should be focused on just one overall message. It’s okay if you include multiple topics (as long as they make sense together), but those multiple topics have to lead back to one core message.

Once you review your content and pull out common themes, then you need to ask, “Do my existing pieces reflect a cohesive idea or are they scattered across topics?” The more content you have on a core message and that works together, the easier time you’ll have using that content to fuel your book. You’ll still need to add information to create a full-length book and link everything together, but finding your main theme will make that much easier.

2. Who is this book really for?

This might seem like an obvious one, but many authors start writing a book that suits them without realizing who they’re actually writing it for. Is it for your general audience, your ideal clients, maybe future collaborators, or even someone new? This should be one of the first things you nail down when you get started planning and writing your book. It will guide every choice you make through the process.

Think about what they need to hear, not just what you want to say. What do your specific readers need to hear in order to experience the transformation that they hope to get when they notice your book on the shelf of a bookstore and say, “This is exactly what I want.”

3. Do I want this to be a thought leadership piece, a how-to, a memoir-style story or something else?

Knowing the angle your book will take will help you in choosing pieces of your content that will work best to repurpose. Sometimes your content can guide this. For instance, if you create a lot of personal content about your life, a memoir might be your best option. Or if you write a lot of thought leaderships blogs, you might have a decent amount of content to create a full thought leadership book.

Sometimes you can reframe your content to fit a particular angle if there is one you are interested in using. If you’d really like to create a how-to book, but your content wasn’t exactly how-to, chances are you can adjust it and find ways to explore the how-to aspects or bring out a how-to on particular topics.

4. Am I ready to edit (not just copy/paste)?

Let me be clear… repurposing doesn’t mean simply copy adn pasing your posts into a Word Doc and calling it a book. That would be a really boring book and probably not give a lot of value. Your book should flow and the concepts should make sense. You want your book to lead somewhere, not just spew information at someone. Even with a non-fiction, you need to take your audience on a journey.

You’ll likely need to reorganize, deepen, bridge gaps and polish you flow. You can start by laying out everything you want, so you can analyze it in one place, but it won’t make sense just to paste it all down without extra work. Also, what works for a podcast, doesn’t work for a blog, and what works for a blog doesn’t work for a social media post. When you repurpose content between those mediums you have to do a little bit of work to make it make sense. It’s the same thing with a book. Even copying a couple of blogs wouldn’t make sense as a book.

5 steps to begin turning your content into a book:

1. Audit your content library

Over the years, you’ve probably created hundreds of pieces of content on a great variety of topics and angles. Even your early stuff might end up being useful. So go and gather all of your blog posts, newsletters, transcripts, any outlines or notes you’ve taken, and even some good and weighty social media posts (you’re really more looking at the words than anything). Organize them anyway that works for you.

Then, start to analyze what you have. Ignore any spelling, grammar or word choice issues. Those can be worked out while you create the book and in editing (either your self-edit first run through, or you can just leave it and let your editor take care of that). Instead, start by looking for repeating themes, most-read pieces (and any comments left by people that describe what information they picked out of the piece), or content with emotional depth. Take notes on what stands out, what feels inspired, and if anything extra pops up while you’re reading it over.

2. Group content by theme or chapter idea

It’s okay if you don’t have a book outline yet, but as you go through everything, start creating loose “buckets” or categories of ideas, topics, or lessons that feel related. Each one could be a chapter, or you can wait until you have things more organized to decide on your chapters. Not everything will fit, and that’s a sign to save that piece for later. Maybe the whole thing doesn’t fit, but there’s a line or a quote that could work somewhere.

Begin to ask things like, “What’s the through-line?” and “What’s missing?” There will be things missing as books are much longer than individual pieces of content. There are structures and flows. Right now, start taking notes as you’re going through with any ideas that pop up. Start comparing pieces of content and see what might work well together.

3. Identify gaps and connective tissue

You’ll need to add new content in to bridge old posts together. While your content might give you a great starting point, you’ll still need to figure out how to make everything connect. Take a peek at the notes you made while going through them. Somethings might need extra context, while other things might need a justification for how and where they might fit in. Challenge yourself to think deeper on topics and how two blog posts might work together to form a complete picture.

Begin writing fresh intros, transitions, and conclusions with the reader’s journey in mind. Your short-form and long-form content won’t take your audience on a full-spectrum journey. They’re meant to simply inform about a particular topic or idea. But a book should take them from their starting point (lots of validation) to their ending point, where they experience their transformation, results or get the information they were expecting from the book. For instance, if you title your book The AI Millionaire Growth Hack, your readers had better know exactly what to do in order to become a millionaire using AI.

4. Decide on a book structure

The type of book you’re writing will lead to specific ways to structure your book. For instance, if you’re writing a memoir, it could make sense to structure it chronologically so the reader can follow your life, or you might make each chapter a different story/moment in time. Maybe you want it to be topic-based. Each chapter is a different topic. For example, if you’re writing a how-to book on writing and self-publishing a book, each chapter could be a different topic or step. Maybe you want it to be a story + lesson hybrid, where you use a story to teach your reader a particular lesson.

This is a place where it is critical to keep your audience’s reader experience front of mind. Knowing who they are and how they like to consume and learn will be important here. You can seek out market research and ask people their thoughts. Asking your beta and arc readers to specifically look at the book structure can also help. If you don’t want to write the end book just to have a beta reader tell you the structure doesn’t work, you can also send beta readers a chapter (or a few) can be a great strategy too.

5. Plan for editing (and support)

Hiring an editor is critical to your process. They’re the expert on books and can guide you with your overall concept, flow and transitions, word choice and sentence structure, and even suggest ways to make things more engaging, clear, and professional. Relying on an editor when you’re a first-time author is a great way to ensure you’re putting your best efforts forward. It can be incredibly tough to spend months and months working on something to have it just flop. And since you’re repurposing content that wasn’t written as a book originally into a book, they’ll be your best friend and key player to ensure it looks, sounds and feels like a real book.

Looking for an editor? Let’s explore if we’re a good fit!

If the idea of writing a full book or trying to organize and turn your existing content into a cohesive book feels daunting, you can also hire a ghostwriter. They’ll take what you’ve already created and written, and work collaboratively with you to transform it into a book that you’d never know came from individual pieces of content. They know what to ask, to bring more out of you, and they can find ways to make getting information from you seamless. For instance, I have found that when I ghostwrite, getting clients to voice memo me ideas or sitting down on Zoom and letting them talk things out can be a great way to get enough information.

You’re more ready than you think…

You don’t need to start from scratch. The benefit to being an online entrepreneur right now is that chances are, you’ve already created a good amount of content that can either get you started or be the bulk of your book.

It’s not about needing to be “more expert.” I’m sure once you take a look through your existing content, you’ll start to see just how much of an expert and authority you are. If your audience is consuming your content, and you’re making sales, then you have enough knowledge to be considered an expert in something.

Honestly, if you’ve been showing up with content for years, the bones of your book are likely already there. It can take some time (and be slightly intimidating) to sort through years’ worth of content, but why reinvent the wheel when you probably have some gold in something you’ve already created? You’ve already written the heart of yoru book… now it’s time to bring it together, refine it and share it!

A gentle invite…

If you’re ready to explore turning your content into a book, I’d love to support you through editing, book development or ghostwriting.

You can receive as much support and collaboration to get your ideas onto paper, and the shelves of your favourite bookstore.

If you’re ready to get started, then let’s chat. Send me a quick DM on Instagram, and let’s get started.