This article serves not only as an introduction to folks who don't know what a blog is, but specifically to encourage my fellow authors who don't have one yet to get one.

This article originally appeared in Self Published Authors Newsletter for April/May 2006.

Last year, in Self Published Authors Newsletter, we featured an article by Judy Cullins entitled “Should Authors Have A Blog?” I’m looking around the internet a year later and my resounding answer is not only “Yes” but also I have to ask a few authors, “What do you mean you don’t have a blog?”

I mean, surely, you have a website. You understand that in today’s world, everyone has a website, and an author without one should just go bury their books in their backyard.

O.K., so, all sarcasm aside, I know that making a website isn’t easy. A large section of the internet exists however to make this easier. Some are free, many are cheap, and some are downright expensive. Even in this arena the adage of you get what you pay for is valid, but finding the best balance of features for your money is important.

A subsection of the publicity juggernaut that is the internet is made up of those sites that let you create a blog. Short for “web log”, a blog is a dynamic website that exists for you to post your thoughts, news, ideas, answer feedback, etc. You can write anything from a simple random thought to a diatribe, list your upcoming book signings, or share your latest article. In many ways, the simplest and most effective website an author could have is a blog.

A blog is generally organized in reverse chronological order, with your newest posts at the top of the webpage. You can usually have other pages that do not change, thus being static. These can be dedicated to your book, with links to places where readers can buy your book. Such a static page could be your main homepage with the blog as a side feature.

More than just a place for you to share your writing with the world — which for any author makes a great way for people to become familiar with you — readers of your blog can respond with comments to your posts. This makes a blog a combination of something between a forum and a guestbook. You as the author write, but readers can still interact with you.

There are a number of website host providers who provide space for a website than can include a blog. Others just host a blog but one that is flexible enough to be your entire website. If you have your own server and want complete control over layout, there are many free or commercial programs that you (or your server administrator) can install for you.

Almost all blogs can be created in minutes and customized within an hour to present to the world. (For some though, customization never really ends.) If you have a website already, some will integrate well, others may just have to be linked, but can still look like part of the whole. But for those few of you out there considering a new website, or don’t have one at all, take a serious look at creating a blog.

Even more important however, and I cannot stress this enough, is to find a blog provider that will generate RSS or Atom feeds. RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication, and is a type of file that is made up of excerpts from your blog with links to the full entries. An Atom feed is just a different standard than RSS, but most blogs support both.

Readers of your blog can visit your website and then subscribe to your RSS feed. They would need a newsreader (like Newsgator.com, Google Reader, My Yahoo, and more) in which they will receive your updates. This is quickly taking over a publishing niche that email mailing lists once held.

It means people no longer have to visit your website directly to know what’s going on with you. Some of you may think this is a bad thing, but think about this. If people want to know what’s new with you, they are not likely to hit your website on a regular basis unless they can expect new things to read.

With an RSS feed from your blog, they’ll be automatically updated whenever you write anything there — and if that news piques their interest, they’ll be hitting your blog to read the whole message… and other messages… and clicking links, etc. It drives people back to your website after the initial visit.

News websites have really capitalized on this new syndication medium. For example, people don’t have to visit CNN.com every day for their news fix. Headlines are sent to them. Now imagine your website being part of that new medium.

Are there websites that don’t fit this model? Sure. Websites that never change and only give details about your book. One step above that, are ezines like this one that just don’t come out on a regular enough basis. But an ezine that has weekly or even more frequently updated content should definitely consider a blog over a mailing list.

In the publishing world, now more than ever, activity means success because that will keep your readers interested. It also catches the interest of search engines. RSS feeds are constantly slurped up by search engines and that means more hits.

Finally, if you don’t have a blog with an RSS feed, you won’t be able to have a podcast. Should you have a podcast? Well, that’ll be my topic next time.

So enough evangelizing, right? What’s the best blog for you? Well, there are quite a few to choose from. I personally have tested a large spectrum of them, but my votes go to a handful of options.

YAHOO 360 - Free social network with blog (3 out of 5 stars)
- Free but you need a Yahoo account (also free).
- Probably the best profile/social networking page on the net, and is part of the Yahoo.com.
- As it truly is a Profile page, its strength is that you give many details about yourself. This makes it weak for giving details about your book. (Though you can devote your “About Me” section to this.
- The blog is quite simple but does the job. This is one of those sites where the blog is part of the overall profile you create.
- This is only a recommendation of you want more than a blog and want something that is part of a social website. I don’t recommend a service like MySpace for such plans.
- This makes it a weak choice for a professional site. But if you want to connect on a more personal level with readers, this has its merits.

BLOGGER - Free remotely hosted blog (4 out of 5 stars)
- Very fast setup, easily customizable by templates and CSS, and it offers most of the desired features.
- If you want a blog that looks almost any way you want, is easy but powerful, and free, this is the one.
- Plus the fact that it is owned by Google means it is that much closer to the blog search feature of Google.
- The only feature that is really missing is static pages, which means a Blogger page makes a good fit into other websites, rather than hosting everything on one server.

WORDPRESS - Download to your own server (5 out of 5 stars)
- Free software which you can download and install yourself on your own web server or hosting provider.
- Your server must have PHP version 4.1+ and MySQL version 3.23.23+.
- Offers everything Blogger does plus it has the ability to have static pages.
- There are many extension plug-ins available for further tweaking your page.
- This is the best choice if you have your own server and want complete control over your blog.
- If you don’t have your own server, you can start one on theirs at http://wordpress.com. Not all features are there, but for the most part this is an amazing solution.

SQUARESPACE.COM — Pay service hosted blog (5 out of 5 stars)
- This is the only pay service I recommend because of the sheer number of features they provide at even the least expensive tier. Going up the rungs they boost the limits and add only a few extras. Most everything is available from the start.
- Personal tiers: $7, $12, or $17 per month.
- Business tiers: $20, $25, or $30 per month.
- They do offer a free 30 day trial that does NOT require a credit card to sign up for.
- You can try all of the options from all levels so you can find the right plan that will fit your needs.
- They offer much more than just blogs. Not only can you have static pages you can even have forums and guestbooks.
- Finally, my biggest praise: it is modular. Truly as simple as dragging the feature you want onto your page.
- Ultimately, if you are paying for a website right now, take a look at SquareSpace.com and see if you can do the same thing there. I bet you can and probably for a smaller monthly fee.