Blog Commenting: Building a Community

Here's the latest from Jami Gold, Paranormal Author :

We’ve all seen blogs with different styles of comments left by visitors. Some blogs are infested with spam comments. Some are vibrant communities. And some are happy with any comment.

I know of some authors who have turned off comments entirely because they don’t want the pressure of replying or the risk of their blog looking “empty” if no one comments. But I also know the first place I felt part of the writing community was in the comment...