Writing as a Liveaboard

[Nostrodamus]

There are so many liveaboards who write blogs of their exploits, some of which would make very good books.
Hasanyone writen a book or articles and had them published?
How difficult was it?
What is the best way to get your blogs noticed more?

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by Nostrodamus

There are so many liveaboards who write blogs of their exploits, some of which would make very good books.
Hasanyone writen a book or articles and had them published?Pick up any sailing magazine... the articals have all been written by someone, and the ones on cruising have been written by cruisers.
Every sailing book on the shelf has been written, and published...
How difficult was it?
What is the best way to get your blogs noticed more? Write well, do interesting things, take good photographs and be contraversial. Spam the sailing forums.

Check out the Bumfuzzles...

[Tim Schaaf]

Depends on the boat, the equipment, and what kind of sailing or cruising you intend to do. The more you have, the more problems you have. "He (or she) who owns little, is little owned!" I say this as one who has owned a very simple boat, and a very complicated one, too.

[Nostrodamus]

Originally Posted by Tim Schaaf

Depends on the boat, the equipment, and what kind of sailing or cruising you intend to do. The more you have, the more problems you have. "He (or she) who owns little, is little owned!" I say this as one who has owned a very simple boat, and a very complicated one, too.

Looks like you sold your complicated brain and went for the simple cruising one and posted in the wrong place?

[AnchorageGuy]

We have had so many articles published over the last 15 years I have lost count. You can't make a lot of money at it. We have our two blogs which do OK. Chuck

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Nostrodamus

There are so many liveaboards who write blogs of their exploits, some of which would make very good books.
Hasanyone writen a book or articles and had them published?
How difficult was it?
What is the best way to get your blogs noticed more?

I doubt it.

I think a good blog lends itself very little towards making a good book without serious rewriting. And why should one rewrite something that is good already. Different media, different writing style. Concentrate on one, unless you have excessive talent and time.

I think the sailing books market is very shallow and it takes Nigel Calder to sell considerable numbers of books.

Publishing articles is difficult. The market is saturated.

The best way to get your blog noticed more is:
- write unique, quality content,
- write about things people are interested in,
- cross-create content,
- publish in places where you can include a backlink to your blog,
- use facebook, tweeter, youtube, (.... and so on) to market your blog,

In the first place perhaps: have your blog written in proper and properly formulated code that is easily searchable to search engines. Think SEO.

I hope this helps.

b.

[hellosailor]

A lot of people want to write. Some of them can and do. And a very few of them manage to make any money at it. There are very few publishers and markets that will take something from an unestablished writer, unless you are incredibly good at it.

Of course these days you can also self-publish, as many people do, but that's what used to be called a "vanity press" because you paid to have it printed--and often got nothing back except the pleasure of having been published. These days...if it catches on, you can establish yourself as a writer. Still a long shot, but if you're any good at it, go for it.

[AnchorageGuy]

Here is a great website by folks that are both boaters and writers and many are actually making some money from their books. It also gives you some good insight on how the publishing business has changed over the last ten years and how you can publish your book. How successful it might be is another story. Have a look, Write On The Water | So you want to quit your job, move onto a boat, and write . Chuck

[Don1500]

Sailing to exiotic locations, doing adventurous things, recounting (for the upteenth time) your experience in a storm, running aground, losing a sail, etc. are all good, but you need to be unique. If the article you write can be written by anyone else, it will be. If you are unique you can write about staying in one marina without going out on the blue and it will be published. Remember, "Busted Flush" didn't get out on the water much.

[Nostrodamus]

These threads are noticed.
I had the editor of a British Magazine e mail me. He was very helpful, explained exactly what they wanted and even told me how much they paid.
I explained that my blogs were not politically correct and after viewing them he said the only word he could print was "and".
He did leave me the option of doing another version and I put him in contact with two others who hopefully will submit articles.
As he said the pay is not great but knowing how to work with a magazine and the publicity is worth a whole lot more.