why writers should blog

In my internet wanderings, I stumbled upon these words by J. Mark Betrand:

"It’s not a panacea, of course, but an author site is the ultimate convergence device, a business card, a curriculum vitae, a newsletter, a publicity machine. And in spite of the publish-on-demand revolution, a website is still the only context in which a professional can self-publish without any stigma attached. That’s what blogging is, after all: a guilt-free vanity press...An author these days needs a website. And a website these days needs a blog. I’m nothing if not the poster boy for that."

...and so it begins.