To Blog or not to Blog...That is the Question

As a virtual book tour coordinator, I am constantly surfing the Internet for interesting, eye-catching, and frequently updated blogs to host Pump Up Your Book Promotion's clients.

Our tours typically consist of a healthy mix of book review, author interview, genre and/or topic, reader, and writer blogs. What never ceases to amaze me, however, is the number of writers who don't blog. It doesn't make sense when the Internet has opened up new and free avenues for writers to promote their work, that people out there aren't taking advantage of it.

I can understand why some writers don't have websites (I don't know much about HTML either), but blogs? Come on, you're missing a chance to promote your work for free and all you have to do is something you already love--write.

In the pre-blog world writers were told the importance of having a website--and they definitely have value. A blog, however, gives you the chance to have ongoing conversations with your readers in a way that just isn't possible with a website.

I always tell my clients, if you have to decide between creating a website and creating a blog, then I suggest a blog. I have both, and the number of visitors to my website doesn't even come close to the number of people stopping by The Book Connection.

So, my question to you is: do you have blog? If so, what do you like about it? What are some of the benefits that blogging has provided you? And if you don't have a blog, what's keeping you from starting one?






Cartoon image borrowed from http://www.blogoklahoma.com/