Everyone needs a home on the social web. Maybe you already have a website, or an author page on Amazon or Goodreads, or a LinkedIn profile. Any of those might be your home base, or hub.

But I’d like to talk you into thinking of your blog as your hub. A blog is different from a plain ol’ website, which is why you see so many authors having a blog alongside, or even a part of, their main promotional website. And that’s not a bad thing, because it kind of separates out the purely promotional stuff from the behind-the-scenes conversation.

An author website can be static – updated only when there’s a new book, a launch or other news. It can be out-and-out promo – find out more about my books and buy them, here’s my media page, tour details, publisher and agent contacts etc. It’s your shop window. It’s where you wear a clean suit and your brightest smile.

Your blog, on the other hand, is far from static. And it might even be a bit scruffy around the edges. You can wear your jim-jams, no-one will mind. It’s the place where you can be as much yourself as you want to be – which doesn’t mean baring all – please!

But it’s a place for conversations (rather than press releases), for confidences (rather than hype) and for giving (rather than selling). Honesty, generosity, listening and sharing – isn’t that the way we make friends in real life? So why would it be different online?

A blog is your own space, for you to define by whatever criteria feel right for you. It’s where you have a genuine voice, unmediated. Over time it grows into an amazing trove of your writing, your thoughts and anything else you want to add to it – whereas a profile page on a social or commercial platform has much less flexibility for expression, plus it could change or even disappear without you being consulted.

Create a blog and make it your home and your hub – it’s where the heart is.