Writers: Don't Stop Blogging! ....Unless you hate it.

I'm waaay late to the party on this one, but since it's a topic that likely won't go away for a long time, I think it's okay for me to weigh in.

A few weeks ago, the blogosphere exploded on the subject of, well, blogging. Awesome author, Roni Loren, gives a nifty list of links to the debate here. Also, you should totally follow her blog because she's one of the best out there. She's always on top of what's going on. Whereas I am not, as you can see. (Hey, I was sick that week, then my blog was booked up with awesome guest authors and Halloween fun. In my universe, Halloween takes precedence over current events...unless it's the zombie apocalypse)

Anyway, two of the main debates are: Should an author bother to blog? If so, what should they blog about? An agent caused a furor over this advice: "Don't blog about writing."

Anyway, here's my opinions on these matters:

AUTHORS SHOULD DEFINITELY BLOG

Why?

A) To connect with other authors.
I've met the greatest people through blogging as well as found valuable information on all aspects of the journey.

B) Blogging may not equal BIG sales, but it does equal sales. I have bought books because I liked the person's blog.

C) Book giveaways and contests are the BEST!

Who doesn't like winning free books? If authors stop blogging, then those awesome giveaways stop and that will make this poor smut-writing-janitor very sad. Also, these giveaways do equal sales and connections in miraculous ways. Here are some examples:

1. I have a very limited budget so I am careful on who I buy. If I win a book and love it, I will buy the next one and be a customer for life. AND I spread the word to my friends, who then buy the book as well. 
2. An author once ran a contest in which she awarded a full manuscript critique to the winner. I won and her critique made the book awesome enough to get my book deal.
3. Through blog tours and giveaways I have made friends and valuable connections. They promote me to their readers and vice-versa

 Pretty cool, huh? And all of this came from author blogs.

Now to the next point:

WHAT SHOULD AUTHOR'S BLOG ABOUT?

My short answer: Anything!!!

As for the "don't blog about writing bit," I say, go ahead and blog about writing, just don't be boring. I think Chuck Wendig has one of the most entertaining blogs out there...and it's all about writing.

However, the whole "not blogging about writing" admonishment was a bit of a relief to me. For the longest time I had believed the opposite and felt guilty for my nothing-to-do-with-writing posts. But now that I figured out how to track my most popular posts...check it out! Most of them have little-to-nothing to do with writing!

Then there's the advice to write about a niche. I simply can't do that. I have too many interests, which is why you'll see everything from cats to rock stars to movies on here. And ya' know what? When I let go of the guilt and let things be that way, my traffic went up exponentially.

The summary? Blog about whatever you want, as long as you be yourself.

And finally, if you hate blogging, (and it's pretty obvious if you do since your posts are probably sporadic or dry as burnt toast) then DON'T do it. Find some other way to connect to readers. The options are limitless.

Those "in-between" times.

Argh, my internet was down all day yesterday and though it was kinda nice to have a break, it felt really weird. Then again, I've been feeling weird all week. I'm now stuck in the "in between."

As you can see by my progress bars all those projects are complete. I can't start on the 2nd draft of HIS SOLO PROJECT until I hear back from my crit buddies, same deal with the 3rd draft of WRENCHING FATE only for that one I need to find people to crit it.

So now I have nothing to work on. I have 3 stories floating in my head but I'm struggling to decide whether I should start on one, or wait until summer vacation's over. The kids have been making even blogging difficult...and I am behind on my fishing.

Yet, without the writing or revising, I've felt out of touch with everything and have had trouble sleeping. I always do during the "in-between."

I know I waxed big about not agonizing over these things in my Summer Resolutions post. But I've already totally bombed #1 and # 5. :)

What do you do during the "In Between" times? Do they drive you crazy too.

Serial Stories, do or don't?

Hi, guys! I'm still fighting this damn head cold, but at least I'm back in action. I'm ready for a rousing discussion, if you are willing to indulge me.

A lot of people have serial stories on their blogs. Some of my friends do. With one, I never read her serials, but I'm first in line to get em once they're in book form. As a reader, I never read them because A.) I hate reading on a screen and won't do it more than I have to and B.) Because I read so fast that snippets just irritate me. I want the whole thing.

As a writer, I do not write them because A.) It's hard to tell when you post a piece of writing whether or not you posted enough for it to be legally considered "Self Published." This isn't an issue for my self published friends. B.) I never know whether the story will "die" or not. A few have then what, you guys are left hanging? C.) I edit and revise after each draft is written and I don't want the public to see my unrefined crap and typos.

However, that's only my perspective on the issue. I want to know what you guys think. Are there any serial stories on line that have you hooked? Do you write them? If so, why? And if you are in the anti-serial camp, what puts you there?