I have two thoughts on this subject. The first is of course! The second is heck no! In the end I decided to put together some pros and cons discussing the matter. Feel free to jump in with more ideas!

5 Pros for Authors Owning a Blog:

1. You are the editor. You can treat it like a newsletter or diary. You get to decide what goes up and what doesn’t. Want to talk about your sex life? Go ahead, but it may be a little TMI (too much information).
2. You’re easy to write about. Who knows you better than you? There’s so much you can take from to inspire others with: your writing schedule, writing process, writing life, future books, etc.
3. Your fan base gets a regular update on your life. They came to you, they want you, if they wanted someone else they’d go look them up and follow them.
4. Everything is somehow about you. Even with guest authors, they’re your friends and acquaintances, mentors, fellow authors, publicist, etc. so while you’re sharing the floor, you’re still in the spotlight.
5. Increases Your Book Sales. It’s searchable and drives traffic to your main website and your books and can very easily increase your sales.

5 Cons for Authors Owning a Blog:

1. Providing constant content. How do others do it? How do they provide fun quirky content day after day to keep readers interested and coming back? It’s a heck of a lot of work and can be stressful. You could be devoting that time to writing more books or personal time.
2. Building a readership for a blog is tough. Why struggle getting noticed when readers and reviewers would gladly share their blog readerships with you? When something comes to you as a great blog idea, ask one of them to host it. Chances are they’ll jump on it (see last point). You’ll get coverage (and pro point five) and they’ll get good free content. It’s a win-win deal.
3. Do you really want to get that close to your readers? You love them and hearing from them, but do they really need to know what you’re doing all the time? Where’s the line between the public you and the personal you?
4. You’re not internet savvy. The idea of writing a blog gives you chills. You just master Google for research and now it’s time to start a blog? Which platform should you use? Is it easy to use? Does it look professional? You wouldn’t even know where to start!
5. It doesn’t sound like fun. You would much rather read other people’s blogs than write one yourself. There’s no shame in that and really there are plenty of ways to get out in front of readers. Channel your time and energy into those and relax.

Middle Ground: if options one or two aren’t for you there’s always co-opting. You can easily share a blog with fellow writers in your genre or under the same publisher. That would cut out the time you’d have to devote to upkeep in both content and promotion. Plus it gives you another way to network and reach readers.