For all of you publishing folks who read our blog, this post is for you.

Last year’s question was “What is a blog?”

This year’s question is “Should my authors start a blog?”

My answer is always “Yes.” For a blog to be successful, you have to be writing on a consistent basis. To make it even better, you have to be reading other blogs and participating the community around your topic.

If you want some examples, check out Ben and Jackie at The Church of the Customer, the Freakonomics weblog, or Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail blog. Or how about Malcolm Galdwell? Yes, he is blogging. Here is what Gladwell had to say:

In the past year I have often been asked why I dont have a blog. My answer was always that I write so much, already, that I dont have time to write anything else. But, as should be obvious, Ive now changed my mind. I have come (belatedly) to the conclusion that a blog can be a very valuable supplement to my books and the writing I do for the New Yorker.

Ok, the next question you are going to ask is “Does it sell books?” The idea for this post came from Nick at nsputnik.com. Nick wrote a post listing the books he has purchased as the result of reading weblogs or listening to podcasts. This is one data point.

How many times have you seen books listed on weblogs? What They Are Reading…What They Have Read…What They Recommend. People love talking about books. Books are still the basis for moving big ideas.

Start thinking about what you can do with blogs. If you want to talk, give us a call or drop us note.