On Getting Your Name Out There: Author Blogging

There is a great deal of pressure for writers to blog, for themselves and for others. Typically, whoever's asking you has the presence of mind to be a little ashamed: "We can't really pay you for this, but you'll get your name out there." This of course is disheartening for people like myself. I worked as a waiter while finishing my first novel, and being paid nothing for what I write is only going to send me back there.

Still, I've been blogging for six years now and during that time have...