This week’s posts start year two of the Book●ed blog. When I started this weekly blog, I joined an exploding universe on the internet. In the blogosphere, it is the best of times, it is the worst of times.

Whatever your interest or question is, there is a website blog waiting for you, just a mouse click away, no matter where in the world you are. All you need is internet access to get a boatload of free information. That’s the best of times.

However, there is no true oversight on the internet. People can make almost any claim without penalty. And they do. Frequently. That’s the worst of times.

For authors and booklovers, blogs can be either a boon or a bane.

Marketers advise authors to create their own website with a blog to promote their books. Companies offer services to create websites, many for free (although you may have to pay a maintenance fee or face having the website dropped). While authors might be advised to regularly update their blogs with useful content, no one advises how challenging that can be. Or how to draw people to their blogs. Can’t tell you how many blogs get sidelined within a year or are so poorly produced that they drive away potential book buyers.

Blogs are an effective way that businesses draw people to websites promoting products or services. Caveat emptor: buyer beware. If the blog or site make claims or promises that look too good, too easy or too inexpensive to be true, they likely are. If a blogger tells you one product or service is much better than all the others, make sure that blogger doesn’t have a financial interest in the service he or she is promoting. Can’t tell you how many authors have fallen into this trap, only to later bemoan losing money and time on a publisher, editor, agent or marketer that failed to produce promised results. It’s okay for a blogger to promote a product or service, as long as he or she is upfront about it.

Authors: if you want to find the real deal, look for actual examples of produced work. If possible, talk to people who have used the product or service you are interested in. Educate yourself about the processes and costs involved. Knowledge is power.

On the best-of-times side, there are many wonderful blogs that offer insights to books, authors and the many ways books are brought into the world. Blogs expand opportunities to discover great books that haven’t made the best seller lists, the major media book reviews or the front displays at bookstore chains. The Book●ed blog is one of them.

I plan to continue bringing you weekly blog posts for the love of books and reading. If there is a topic you would like to see covered, please leave a comment for me. Meanwhile, I invite you to visit the past 52 weeks’ worth of Book●ed blog posts as I welcome you to the start of another great year. It’s the best of times.