Blog power

My friend Julie sent me an article from the New York Times about how publishers, lacking the budget to send authors on conventional book tours, are sending them on virtual book tours instead--now authors are doing the rounds of the book blogs.

It's a fairly positive article about the power of blogs, and has some interesting details about how authors and publishers can benefit from blog publicity.

But there was also an interesting quote about how the authors have to learn how to interact with bloggers and their audiences:

Although blogging is another form of writing, not all authors seem equally suited. Joshua Ferris, author of the critically acclaimed novel “Then We Came to the End,” guest-blogged for a week at the Elegant Variation, a literary blog, where he declared his fondness for the band the Hold Steady, rounded up literary news and promoted graduate writing programs. Still, at the end of the week, he apologized to readers: “I only posted late at night, and only once a day, whereas other bloggers keep you returning throughout the day. I didn’t respond to many of your comments, which seems an important part of the blogger-commenter contract.”

Interesting. I have that Joshua Ferris novel. I'll have to check out his blogging appearances before I read it...