I am an avid reader so I am always looking for new authors to try (to save me from bugging those on my list – why haven’t you written anything new yet?). Blogs are one way I have discovered new authors to check out.

My next hurdle is MySpace – because now EVERYONE says a writer must have a MySpace account. That’s all I need, is something else to worry about updating.

What I didn’t expect from the blogging experience is that my writing has improved. Blogging gives a writer an immediate reader response–unlike books that take months to get from computer to book stores. And the daily back-and-forth between my blog sisters and me has had more impact on the quality of my writing than 25 years of editorial input or fan mail.

Check us out: http://www.thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com

As a reader, I hear about new author’s, often by references to their blogs. I check them out and usually hop their websites, which I bookmark. I always read the author’s bio and booklist. If there are features that are particularly interesting about their blog, I’ll put in on my daily blogmail. Otherwise, I probably will visit infrequently.

As a writer, I have blogs of other authors that I visit frequently because they offer useful writing tips and references. Or, because they blog about their publication journey/experiences. This I find interesting and I read this regularly. So it depends on the blogger’s focus.

Some blogs, which have interesting commentary on the world in which we live, from the writer’s viewpoint, are worth a read. The ones I don’t like are when the blogger shares their daily minutiae. I have my own.

I didn’t get into blogging for marketing value (obviously, since I have nothing to market), but to be part of the writing community. But I think I would be more a part of that community if I used my blogging time to actually work on my books rather than crane my brain for some witty post that will attract click-happy passerbys.

As for reading authors’ blogs, it works both ways. I’m now very interested in Holly Lisle’s stuff because of her websites. But at the same time I’ve discovered a few authors I now refuse to read because of things they’ve said on blogs. So it can cut both ways.

And now I’ve spent 20 minutes commenting on this blog when I could have been writing on my own, or doing background research, or (Heaven forbid) actually doing house work.

Sigh.

The majority of my readers are other aspiring writers. My blog is mostly about my writing and about history (I write historical fiction), very seldom about anything personal. I don’t run out of topics because I can always come up with history tidbits and pictures. I know my readers love the pics of German landscapes and historical sites, and I’m a decent photographer. Having some sort of regular feature seems to attract readers and gives you ideas what to blog about.

I won’t change the way I blog should I get published. I think a blog should be something a writer cares about and wants to do, not seen as promotional tool alone.