In the first two blooks of this baseball series I wrote about Bleeding Red: A Red Sox Fan's Diary of the 2004 Season by Derek Catsam and A Redbird Nation Reader by Brian Gunn. After the blook experience, Catsam focused on his academic career; Gunn left blogging to write movies in Los Angeles. Although Catsam chronicled only one year and Gunn wrote for only two, both left their mark with thousands of blog readers who hopefully turned into blook readers.
Ducksnorts
Writer Geoff Young wrote a blook entitled Ducksnorts 2007 Baseball Annual based on his blog "Ducksnorts." As Marc Figueroa of the North County Times says, "Going to a Web site named after a duck's bodily function to get up-to-the-minute Padres news is like going to The Home Depot and walking out with a birthday cake."
What's a ducksnort? [Thanks for asking] Filed under Site History ... by the way, did you know that Ducksnorts (the blog, only it wasn't a blog yet) was born 09.06.97. That's right - 1997! None of this one or two year stuff for Geoff. On the same page with history is this explanation:
"The name "Ducksnorts" refers to a bloop base hit and is one of the author's favorite baseball-related phrases. He first heard it used by Ken Harrelson and Tom Paciorek on WGN and has been fond of it ever since."
More accurately, [no, not about the ducksnort] as he told Figueroa, "my original vision for the site was to cover items that maybe didn't get a lot of attention elsewhere. That's not exactly the focus now, but the name has stuck. Also, it's just a funny word." Can't argue with that.
Let the man speak for himself
Excerpts from a Q & A by Rain Delay
RD: And here’s your final question ... You’ve gone the way of full time blogging and published your first book,“ ... how did it feel to finish it? ... Are there plans in place for a 2008 Annual?GY: "It was a tremendous relief to finish the book. The time from conception to publication was less than 6 months, which really isn’t enough for a project of that scope — I left a very good job with a very good company to get the book done on time, and I’ve never once regretted my decision. If nothing else, I’ve proven to myself that I can do it.
"Finally, I will be publishing a Ducksnorts 2008 Annual. I’ve got a tentative outline, and I spend a little time each day working on the book."
Big shock, huh? Left a good job to write a blook based on his blog. But if you've been reading here for a while, you'll remember that Young is not the first author to do that. [Flic: Chroniques de la Police Ordinaire by Bénédicte Desforges comes to mind - she took a one-year sabbatical]
More of the story of "San Diego Padre blogger going pro" comes from Palm Ball:
I've quit my job ... . I will be writing full time for at least the next several months as I work to complete the Ducksnorts book. I've saved up some money and made an investment in myself.I'm still developing a strategy to go with the idea and make this thing sustainable over the long haul. My ultimate goal is to earn a living by writing about baseball full time after the book has been published.
Young elaborated to Base Blogging
BB: How long did it take you to write it? You gave up your day job to work on it, is there any way someone could tackle this in their “spare time”GY: I first proposed the idea in August 2006. After a couple months of hashing out ideas with my readers on what should go in the book, I started doing the research. I managed to complete two chapters before I quit my job, but with work, the book, and my normal blogging activities, I was putting in 15-17 hours a day and it was killing me. At that point, I decided that one of two things had to go, and I wasn’t willing to give up on the book. My wife and I had a talk, and unbelievably, she agreed with me. I left a good job with great people at the end of November and got serious with my writing. From then until mid-March, working on the book was pretty much a full-time job. Between researching, writing, self-publishing, and figuring out how to promote the book, you’re probably looking at 600 or so hours.
As for whether someone could tackle this in their spare time, I’ll answer by saying that I couldn’t do it. Then again, there are a lot of talented people in the world, so I won’t say it’s impossible. Such an undertaking would take a tremendous amount of discipline and energy. Also, if you’re aiming for a March release, don’t wait until the previous November to get started. There is so much involved in publishing a book that you might not think about, and things go wrong. Give yourself as much time as possible. To give you an idea, I’m already drawing up plans for the 2008 book.
I want to go back to one thing that Young said - that he enlisted the help of his readers. The following is from his blog:
"I need your help. I recently read something over at Seth Godin’s blog that inspired me. ... I thought it might be cool to write a Ducksnorts book. This is an idea that’s been swirling around in my head for a while, and I think I’d like to act on it."Like I said, though, I need your help. Here are two questions we have to answer before moving forward:
- "Why would you read a Ducksnorts book?
- "Why would I write a Ducksnorts book?
"For me, 'it might be cool' isn’t a compelling enough reason to actually write a book. It’s a good first step, but I’d like to identify what, specifically, you and I would get out of this.
It's the readers, folks. They're the reason you blog; they'll be the reason that you blook. Anybody disagree with that?
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Blooks of Baseball
Boston Red Sox • St. Louis Cardinals • San Diego Padres
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