I like your blogs, because they are real. About real things, even if fun, non serious things, and you’re not trying to be somebody you’re not. I also think it is wise not to post too much personal information, and really it’s none of our business about your personal side of life (unless you want to share it).

As an added bonus, my extended family also gets a glimpse of what I’m going through (because, although I have a rather constant inner dialogue going on, I’m not so talkative in real life*).

*My kids may disagree on that point entirely.

Still, what can you do? I’m enjoying what I’ve written so far, and even if nobody else reads it I’m having fun!

I do not keep my blog to sell books. Nobody who doesn’t already have my books even knows about it. (Speaking of writing well – have you ever seen a clunkier sentence?)

It’s a community thing, for me. In my physical community, there are lots of readers, but not many writers. I like to talk to/ listen to writers – and I do it through blogs. I don’t count my hits, and there are days when I get no comments, and that’s okay. I’m journaling, and celebrating, and moaning about writing, and that’s enough, whether anyone reads it or not.

Click here to read it!

I try to post things that will interest at least a few people who aren’t me, but really, it’s sort of like a digital scrapbook for me in a lot of ways. I like taking pictures and doing random art projects, and I like having records of them. I’ve also used my blogs to explore specific things in essay format, and to keep tabs on my progress on particular projects. I do post a lot of pictures of my cat, but that’s just because I adore my cat. I don’t think those posts tend to be terribly popular with the masses, in spite of your apparent thoughts to the contrary.

I read your blog because I consistently find content that interests me (though I tend to skim the sports posts), and because the comments are usually quite good as well. I did find your blog before I read any of your books, and I have bought your books since then, but if I hadn’t liked your books, I’d still read your blog. There are definitely authors whose books I like, but whose blogs don’t interest me, and authors whose blogs I like, but whose books don’t interest me. I should say, though, that if I like an author’s blog, I am more likely to give their books a try, so it does seem like blogging does potentially help sales.

I post really sporadically, going months and months without posting things, then posting for a solid few weeks. My blog is a sightly crazy mix of fanfic, original fiction, book reviews and general ranting.

I recently friends-locked my journal because I got hit by serial adders with inappropriate material on their blogs, and I didn’t want that sort of thing being linked to my blog. But even before that, I never had more than maybe half a dozen people read anything I posted, and only about two or three comments on my entries.

But I’m happy with my tiny audience. There’s a certain freedom in knowing that none of the insane ramblings are likely to be read by anyone but me. I don’t write to be famous, I write because it’s fun.

I love reading blogs too, both those written by my friends, and a huge number of author blogs. A lot of authors (present company included) are pretty awesome people, and blogs like this one make you all seem a bit more real, which is a fabulous and wonderful thing for a book geek from the Sydney suburbs to experience.

My public blog is very new and it has two purposes: 1) so I can gab about books and 2) to give my family and friends (most of whom are on the other side of the world) an idea of what I get up to in Australia. I’m not sure how compatible those purposes are yet, but I’m having fun in the meantime.

The other side if the “for me” bit. Sometimes I want to write down what I’m thinking about. It’s therapeutic or a nice reference for a year from now. Or I just want to lay out my favourite photos from the year or something random like that. Apparently it amuses others as well and they read it. Those people are nice, but I don’t really know who they are, so I’m not targeting them.