Writing multiple blogs

I have -- and have had -- other blogs.

I deleted at least one of them (started on BlogSpot, the precursor to Blogger, or perhaps still related in some way...??), which was kind of dumb in retrospect...at the time I didn't know I could just change the name and thus preserve the longevity of my blogging ("member since..."). At the time, I only had an inkling of why it mattered.*

I have other blogs besides this one (formerly "Write On!").

One is MotherMorphosis. I do not write in that one anymore, but leave it up because it contains a ton of stories and is connected to my book by the same name, as well as another book I wrote, What Would Mary Do?

Another is Boy To the World! This has the stories that are going to go into the book I want to publish next, also by the same name. This one is a hosted blog on Wordpress, which was recommended to me by a marketing/business consultant. I followed all her instructions, and many times since, I have wondered why, because it is really hard for me sometimes to keep up with all the updates and plug-ins and tech support issues that I have to resolve myself.

(My book Snakes, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tales evolved from many sources, including those two blogs.)

Yet another is Next To Godliness and has nothing to do with books or writing, but is a hobby-turned-business my family created on the side. The blog serves as a primary website and not so much as a web log.

I have another blog for stories that I write under a pen name. I am on the fence about continuing this. It doesn't serve me very well in the plan for "Me, Inc." but is an outlet for the things I have to say but probably shouldn't or they'd embarrass my kids (or me).

Write On!'s revival is because I figured I need somewhere to write about writing and sharing general thoughts, ideas, questions about being an author and columnist. I have found that just publishing stories is *nice* but not all that effective in promoting books (why would someone buy a book when they can read (almost) all of the material online?) or engaging in repartee about writing/publishing (mostly I get "likes" and a comment like "I can relate" here or there.)

*Why would an author and columnist NOT have a blog or website...I don't know. Many don't, as I learned at the author event I attended yesterday. Some asked me for advice. Part of me thought, "Why are you asking me? I'm not an expert..." and then the other part of me thought, "Well, yes you are. You have been writing for 35 years. You have three published books available on Amazon.com, you have a regular column, your work has appeared in several popular anthologies, and so on (the litany of things I tell myself when I need shoring up, which is a lot...unless you're Stephen King or Rick Riordan you are probably your own biggest fan.)"

There was a dad I knew from Cub Scouts who is a social media professional. He told me I should blog every day. He is actually the person who inspired me to start this blog, with its first empty post from more than four years ago (and another draft post, which will likely never be published as it is now irrelevant): "I should blog more." So, yeah. I should.