Five Things to Have Ready Before the 2022 Blog Your Own Book Challenge Starts.
Join us for a live call this Sunday!
The writing part of the 2022 Blog Your Own Book Challenge (BYOB) starts August 1st.
Here’s My BYOB Topic for 2022
It’s all about finding your story’s cheese…cheese sells.medium.com
If you haven’t heard of BYOB, it’s a free four-month challenge with the goal of blogging 31 posts on a topic that you can combine into a nonfiction book and self-publish. Ninja Writers has been doing this for three years now and every year it gets bigger and bigger!
In July, we spend time picking our topics and planning out all of our blog posts. We had a live call at the beginning of the month where a super helpful worksheet was given out to guide you through this process. If you’d like to join in, it’s not too late! You can grab it here.
In August we write and publish our 31 blog posts. Read through to the end for information about a kick-off call for this portion of BYOB.
In September we compile and edit all of our blog posts into a book.
And in October we prepare our books to be published.
Here’s what you need to do before August 1st:
As August 1st quickly approaches, I wanted to compile some tips for things you can do know that will help you in the flurry of writing and publishing every day.
I’m going to be out of the country for more than half of August and I’m confident that I won’t fall too far behind now that I know I have these things in place.
Have all your posts planned out and ready to write.
Part of BYOB’s planning month (July) is not only choosing your topic, but coming up with a list of all of the 31 blog posts you can write about that topic.
For each of those topics, you can get a head start on writing them by having them thoroughly planned out.
I use the PSST method for planning out each of my 31 posts.
Premise (or title)
Story
Subheads
Takeaway
I have each of these four things noted for each of my 31 posts, which means when I’m ready to write a particular post all I need to do is plug the PSST for that post into Medium and fill out each section.
It’s a great guide for what to write and really cuts out any scrambling.
Have a place to post your 31 blog posts.
Figure out where you’re going to post your daily blog posts in August and have it all set up and ready to go before August 1st.
The publishing part of BYOB’s writing month (August) is really up to you, but it can be a beneficial part of the process. It can help you find and attract your audience before your book is published in October, and it can also get you into the habit of updating a blog frequently.
You can choose to blog wherever and however you’d like. You might even choose not to post to a traditional blog!
Some ideas for some nontraditional blogging spaces could be using platforms like Instagram or TikTok. They’re quick and easy to post to, and you can share your 31 topics in a spoken video rather than a written post. If you have an idea that’s TikTok or Instagram friendly, you might even find that when you publish your book in October your audience will not have already the majority of the book via traditional blog posts.
You’ll want to get your TikTok or Instagram set up before August 1st if that’s where you choose to post.
If you’re going to stick with publishing to a blog (this is the Blog Your Own Book challenge, after all), you’ll need to decide whether or not you’ll be publishing on a website or on a blogging platform like Medium or Substack.
Because the large majority of the reason we’re blogging our 31 posts and not just waiting until we publish our book to share them is for audience building, I would heavily suggest looking at Medium or Substack. These platforms attract readers on their own, which will make it easier for you to find your audience.
You can always cross-post to a website if that’s your goal.
On Medium, you’ll want to have a publication set up for your BYOB topic where you can publish each post.
On Substack, you’ll want to create your Substack newsletter if you don’t already have one. Once you have one, it’s smart to create a section for your BYOB project so all the posts are easy to find.
Have your keywords at the ready.
Alongside having each of my 31 posts planned out, I’ve also been doing my keyword research ahead of time.
Finding your audience is all about SEO. The right keywords tell you the exact wording your target audience is using to search for this topic on Google. Putting them into your post is like feeding them the answers to their problems by getting your post higher on those Google search results.
When I’m looking for keywords or phrases, I’m really only looking for one or two that I can use in my title. If you can find that, it goes a long way towards getting you more traffic.
So, for each of my posts, I find a keyword or two and craft my title with said keyword(s). Two birds with one stone.
By the time august comes, I’ve now cut off upwards of half an hour off the process of writing and publishing every day by having these things at the ready.
Have a consistent schedule.
Writing and publishing every day is hard. It takes dedication and persistence. But do you know what you’re actually doing throughout that process?
Building a habit.
The best way for me to kick-start a habit is to tie it into something I already have going on in my schedule. For instance, most days I host a live writing sprint on YouTube with Shaunta Grimes. My plan for August is to get as much of my daily blog posts written during that time as I can. I’ll already be writing, so it’s an easy thing to tag on to a similar task.
If you don’t currently have a consistent writing schedule, think about a daily time when you’re already at your computer or even in front of a pen and paper. Can you make it a point to add on working on your blog post after or before whatever it is that you already planned to do?
If you know when you’re going to write you save all that time you spend deciding on when you’re going to write today. There’s no room for that when you’re challenging yourself to write and publish a post every day.
Have a plan for when you inevitably get off track.
I have no doubt that I’ll get off track at least once in August. But the key to getting back on track is to have a plan and just keep working forward.
My plan is everything listed above. I’ve got each of my posts so planned out that they’re already half-written. I know where I’m publishing them. I know when I’m writing them. I know what I’m calling them.
I know all of this, but it is still a very real possibility that something gets away from me and I miss a day or two. I’ll be in Mexico for more than half of August and I’m sure there will be a day where I just don’t even think about it.
When this happens, my plan is to just move forward. I won’t let myself become so disappointed that I end up missing the day after that and the day after that.
I also won’t force myself to publish multiple blog posts a day to catch up. It’s been my experience that playing catchup never ends well.
If I miss a day, my plan is to just keep moving down the list the next day. That post I didn’t write? Write it the next day. Publish it then.
With this plan, I know that I have to make up those posts come September, which means I have to hold off on editing and compiling. Knowing this, I’ll more than likely be able to convince myself to just find some time to write a publish most days in August to avoid having a week or more worth of pieces to write and post in September.
Don’t let yourself get sidetracked by getting off track. Except that it happens and move on.
Join me for a live call this Sunday!
Need some help getting ready for the writing portion of BYOB? Click here to join us this Sunday, July 24th at 6pm EST on Zoom where Shaunta Grimes and I will talk about getting ahead of the game before August 1st.
While you’re at it, check out the Official 2022 BYOB Survival Kit! It’s got tons of fun badges and progress graphics you can share and both a personal tracker as well as a group tracker where you can share your links with other BYOB participants.
See you Sunday!
Are you going to make daily posts so we can come in and share our Blog Your Own Book links?
Can you please look into changing how to receive the the official 2022 BYOB survival kit. It is asking for credit card information? I don't have a card. And it won't let me proceed further.