The fine lines between journalism, blogging, and writing a book have just become even more blurred thanks to a new tool called Anthologize. The application, a WordPress plugin to be specific, takes your blog and helps you turn it into a book.
Well, an e-book, but you see what we mean. The plugin allows you to rearrange the content of your blog into ordered chapters, which can then be exported into a variety of e-book friendly formats including PDF, ePub, and TEI, an open XML. If you can blog, but cannot format to save your life, you can now publish your past works in new style.
What is the draw to creating an electronic book? As e-readers have grown in popularity, be it the ever famous Kindle or the newcomer iPad, a large new market has been opened for the small time author looking to break into the previously closed book market. As many, many authors blog on the side, Anthologize is a tool to take that content and give it fresh life.
Whether anyone will buy your book is another question.
Anthologize is the result of a project called ‘One Week One Tool,’ a workshop where academics came together to build something for the community from start to launch. Anthologize, their product, launched today.
Will a huge number of bad blogs be made into worse books that will then be ignored by discerning readers? Of course. There will be some blogs however that were gold online which will turn INto diamond on an e-ink display. Anthologize can’t separate the wheat from the chaff, but it can bring the best to us.
Many large blogs have made the crossover to print, such as Stuff White People Like, and Historical Tweets. What are you waiting for? Go turn your blog into a book, put it up for sale on Amazon, and see if anyone will buy it!
Hat tip to RWW’s Audrey, a TNW friend, for finding this.
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