An Abundance of Blogs

Just a few years ago I would not have been able to define what a blog was. The ones that I had heard of were personal blogs that friends had and it made no sense to me whatsoever. I mean, who cares about my kids or wants to read my opinion on the TV show I watched last night? And why in the world would I waste my time writing about my job or the book I read? That was all a “blog” meant to me.

I know there are still many of those types of blogs out there and I do scratch my head over it a little. But I also know the power of the internet better than I did several years ago and I realize how essential blogs are as a way to communicate with people far and wide. Now I am very thankful that people start blogs as a way to chat about books since more and more readers are making choices based on what a favorite, trusted blog had to say about it. I am overwhelmingly grateful that blog owners open their sites to authors, allowing this unknown person to come on and spout off about their books. How remarkable! And how awesome to have that venue to meet potential readers and devoted fans.

Yes, blogs are wonderful. And they are abundant! I know because after three virtual book tours and another on the horizon for In the Arms of Mr. Darcy I have flittered all over the internet guesting at several dozen blogs. Big blogs, little blogs, and every blog in between! One would think folks have run out of ideas for a unique blog or at least be repeating the same themes, yet that does not seem to be the case. 

Here at Casablanca we have only one thing in common: We are published by Sourcebooks and have the same editor. Our genres, styles, experiences, and career pathways are widely diverse. So how does it work? Certainly our love of romance, no matter how we approach it, is a main factor. But I think we succeed here at Casa because of our diversity. Visitors can find something they like among us and forever be discovering something new.

At Austen Authors, the new blog created by Abigail Reynolds and me, we went with a different approach. We looked around us at the numerous authors who write within the Austen subgenre of literary fiction and thought, “Why not bring them together so lovers of Austen can discover the wealth of novels all in one place!” It might sound like that would be boring, but it really isn’t. While we are all inspired by Jane Austen, her novels and characters are rich and very different. And we each approach our interpretation of her stories from unique angles. So once again there is something for everyone, no matter what they like to read.

Austen Authors launched two weeks ago and already has spawned a sequel! A Quick Succession of Busy Nothings is our news blog where we can briefly share our events, reviews, blog dates, Jane happenings, etc. on an ongoing basis.

And that is the beauty of an abundance of blogs. There is something for everyone whether they want to find a new book by a new author, hear the latest news, or even if they do want to read about a friend’s summer vacation. Long live blogs!