Too Much Blogging?

In my October 12, 2008 post, I talked about Loretta Chase's departure from the Word Wenches blog.

Ms. Chase, popular author of Your Scandalous Ways, left because she needed more time for writing.

Two weeks ago, Edith Layton said she was leaving the Word Wenches blog. Just this past week, Susan Holloway Scott/Miranda Jarrett, also announced her departure from Word Wenches. And, on March 17, Cara King of Risky Regencies announced she was leaving her blog.

All three ladies left these very popular blogs for the same reason Loretta Chase did--blogging took up too much of their writing time. Do I detect a trend? Will authors now leave their blogs because blogging takes up too much time?

These ladies are all established authors, so a little less blogging probably won't hurt their sales. Yet, even I, newbie that I am, feel the drain blogging takes. I've been skimping on this blog because I've been blogging at Romantic Synonymous and Happily Ever After. Blog posts take time and energy I could spend on writing something new.

Six months have passed since I wrote that blog about Loretta Chase. I know more now that I did then. I've already decided I won't do any more guest blogs, except for very special reasons. I have one more, on May 13 at Allie Boniface's blog, that I scheduled last November. Then I concentrate on my new story and see how well everything works out.

Thank you all,
Linda

More Shameless Promotion (Does She Ever Stop?)

Do I have a choice?
From what I can see, authors have to promote all the time. But it does take a toll on your writing.
Just this past week, historical romance superstar Loretta Chase left the Word Wenches blog so she could have more time for writing. As sorry as I am to see her go, I understand her dilemma. Although she is a wildly popular author, she has to keep writing books people want to buy. Good writing takes time. Writing blog entries can suck up a lot of that time, and you're not getting paid for it.
Lest we forget, the purpose of a writer's blog is to sell books. In my August 10, 2008 post I talked about how saturated the web is with blogs. They may not be as effective now as they once were, and an author could hurt herself if she lets her book suffer because she spends her time blogging.
But I'm a newbie, and I have to learn about promotion. Six months ago I knew next to nothing about it. Then I had this blog, but hadn't yet written a post. I didn't have a website, or know what myspace was, or how to upload a picture. I still have to work on the pictures, but I'm a whole lot farther than I was.
I'm trying. I certainly hope some of this stuff works.

Thank you all,
Linda