BLOGGING: IS IT ON LIFE SUPPORT? By Kathy Ivan

I keep hearing blogging is dead. Can this be true? I read as many blogs as I used to, I just don't have the time. I rarely have time to write a comment, either. The number of blogs I read has gotten smaller, but I still read some. Especially ones by people who post things I enjoy reading about.
VARIETY: I like a variety of topics when I'm blog hopping. Yes, I want to know about your new book when you have a new release. But don't overdo it. Share it at couple of places, and I'll check it out. But not 20 or 30 or 40. There's only so much information I want to know about your book. If you give away too much, then what's the point of reading the story? I'll know most of it from seeing so many blog posts.
ENTERTAIN ME: I like to be entertained. If you tell me a little bit about yourself or something that you’ve been participating in, or someplace you've visited, chances are good I'll hop over to your blog and check it out. Tell me about your dog or your cat. Tell me about your closet full of handbags (Vicki). Give me a reason to keep coming back to your blog.

PICTURES: Definitely put up pictures on your blog. Break up all the paragraph after paragraph with pictures pertaining to your subject matter. If you've been on a trip, stick a couple of photos up. It makes what you've said come alive visually. After all, don't they say a picture is worth a thousand words?
BREVITY: And for goodness sake, don't be longwinded. Brief and to the point is more entertaining and likely to get people to show up than long paragraphs droning on and on, beating a subject to death. Keep it short and sweet (KISS). Yep, I know KISS stands for another saying we writers use, but that's the lovely thin about words, they can have multiple meanings.

No, I don't think blogs are dead. Just take a look at the Plotting Princesses. We are alive and kicking and continuing to grow. So I'm going to take my own advice now and shut up. 

Kathy Ivan is a writer of romantic suspense with paranormal elements and contemporary paranormal romance. Her latest release, Losing Cassie, just released and is available in e-book and paperback. She is also a participating author in a 9-author box set (for $0.99) releasing on September 1st. She's currently busy working on her latest, a romantic suspense, plotting ways to get away with murder.