Comments on: Petite Anglaise - a Review

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:51:49 +0000

A very interesting post, especially since every man, woman and their dog in the food blogging world is scrabbling around for a book deal or putting together a proposal as we speak. I have a problem with turning a blog into a book. Part of what makes a blog appealing is the daily (or regular, in any event) window it gives you into another real person’s world. You get to know them and their families and adventures and have a chance of interaction. Unless you are a devastatingly good writer or have a truly extraordinary life, the same format is unlikely to be great as a book. Don’t get me wrong - I have no problem with bloggers writing books, but I don’t think the logical first choice is to turn your blog into a book, or to write abotu your blog in any way. Especially with foodblog books, I ask myself this: if you are already a reader of the blog, why would you rush out and buy a recipe book when so many of the recipes will be available for free on the blog? And if you are not already a reader of the blog, why would you buy some unknown person from the weird ‘n wonderful world of blogging’s recipe book rather than, say, Nigella’s? Just asking.

Dooce rocks. It’s quite alarming how much I look forward to her “exclamation point” posts…

By: Sharing the Love « Charlotte’s Web

Sharing the Love « Charlotte’s Web — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:25:27 +0000

[...] writers and deserve to be published, lauded and admired for their efforts. Unlike some, who become famous for blogging and then write unremarkable books, but who am I to [...]

By: Litlove

Litlove — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:22:01 +0000

How VERY fascinating. I had tea with Rosy Thornton on Thursday and was amazed to hear how difficult it is for fiction writers to write what they want. Agents and editors are very demanding people it appears, and yet, in bowing to the gods of the commercial market, don’t they miss out on the special, individual, quirky qualities of the writer before them that ought to be nurtured rather than fed through the sausage making machine? Well, what do I know, but I can imagine now what happened in the journey from blog to book. When will editors learn to hone individuality rather than insist on the orthodox?

By: When Publishing, Go Write A Proper God-Damned Book, Please?

When Publishing, Go Write A Proper God-Damned Book, Please? — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:35:30 +0000

[...] demonizing a blog turned blook. And the problems mentioned were exactly the same as a hundred other similar reviews I had read in the past: it was sloppy, it was put together slap dash without a thought on how it [...]

By: PreciseEdit

PreciseEdit — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:31:20 +0000

This is often the case with journal writers, too. Very few ever attain the quality of Anais Nin or other great journal writers.

By: Diana

Diana — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:01:32 +0000

Oh, I think imani makes a good point. Here in rural Idaho, the number of people who have never even gone online (and have no desire to) reminds me that blogging, or even reading blogs, is by no means as commonplace as it feels to me!

By: Emily Barton

Emily Barton — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:45:42 +0000

It’s funny. I read JULIA AND JULIE before I’d started blogging, and it was the book that pushed me to decide to start blogging. I loved the book at the time, but since reading it, I’ve met so many online who I think deserve book deals more than she did (you being one of them). I wish more publishing companies would say, “This person can WRITE! Maybe he/she would like to write a novel for
us, “instead of trying to turn blogs into books. As we who like to play around out here in the blogosphere discuss all the time, they’re two very different sorts of things, and I doubt many blogs would make great books. They’re best read the way they’re written, piece by piece, not all at once. (Of course, having said that, I’m still eagerly awaiting QC’s book, but she’s SUCH a genius, I’m sure she can pull it off.)

By: Helen

Helen — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 08:50:39 +0000

When I read in the paper that Catherine Sanderson had lost her job because of her blog, I thought: “Ooh that’s interesting,” but although I kept meaning to check her blog out I never got round to it. If anyone wanted to turn my blog into a book I’d have a screaming fit and say: “No way!”

Bitter Is The New Black by Jen Lancaster is a book from a blog and I thought it was excellent and extremely funny. I didn’t read her blog until after I read the book, though.

By: imani

imani — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:44:26 +0000

I know it often seems as if everyone in the world must know what a blog is by now, but in the USA (not sure about Canada, never read of any surveys done here) the people who have never read a blog, much less heard about one, regularly reaches or tops 50%.

By: henitsirk

henitsirk — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 19:03:09 +0000

I felt the same about Julie and Julia–too much fluff to pad out something that was sufficient as a blog (I assume, not having read it) but insufficient to really carry a book. I was going to say that perhaps it’s the “log” part of blogging, that diaries really don’t make compelling books. But then I think of Anne Frank, or Benjamin Franklin, or even Samuel Pepys. Of course, they were all writing about more weighty matters than cooking or sex and lawsuits….