Posted 5/29/2016 10:28 AM (GMT -5)
"… Someday I will take the entire blog and turn it into a book"
Todd, do that!
I have probably said this to you before, but my "professional opinion" is that your writing style is first class!
I think I can lay claim to a "professional opinion" on this, because as a university librarian for years, I saw a zillion writing styles in the many, many books I handled, as well as writing book reviews for a number of them, and your writing style is genuinely right up there with the best I saw! Really!
A compilation of your best blogs (well, actually all of them are best!), perhaps with a foreword to the book in your own hand, or possibly in the words of a good, knowledgable associate who knows your story and can sum it up for the reader, would be wonderful!
Your book would subject classify in libraries under "Prostate cancer – Personal narratives," and would serve as inspirational reading to so many.
If you do get serious about this, I can tell you that selling books is about 95 % marketing, as it is for most new products (and, economically, a book is a product). It's finding the right publisher (one who has experience in or even specializes in cancer books). It's gauging the market, to see if this is the "right time" for this kind of a book. It’s deciding on such details as the book's length, format, even such things as paper style and typeface, and figuring what's a realistic price to charge for it (there are even formulas for that). Also, will the book need an editor, and what will be his/her guidelines for editing, based on your wishes as the author? Will there be an advertising campaign for the book? Who will be the target, and how will it be organized? Etc., etc.
So getting a book written and actually published is a business enterprise, but one that can be done, especially if the book is of such quality that the world will truly benefit from its presence (as it would in the case of your book).
Sometimes people hire an agent to do all of the above for them, one specializing in the book's subject area. That would be an expense, of course, and of course the best agents charge the most, but good agents can still be found out there who charge a reasonable price for their services, and do a good job. Or, you can do it all yourself, possibly with assistance and/or guidance from some contacts that you have made in the cancer community who have experience in publishing activities.
I know, I know, I'm getting way ahead of the game here, as you will want to get your book at least half-way finished before even thinking about publishing it, and doing the things I have just described.
But the point I wanted to make was that a good book is worth the effort it takes to get it published, and yours would be worth that effort indeed!