Author Websites for Dummies

robjvargas

Rob J. Vargas
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This thread is kind of scaring me. I signed up with GoDaddy the other day to secure my author name domain and I'm using the website builder option they offer. Was this a mistake? I wanted something really simple and it seems to fit my needs, but if it's going to cause problems later I might as well try another vendor.

It's not guaranteed. But if you disagree with GoDaddy, and try to leave, they control not just your site, but the pointers to your site.

That's powerful stuff.
 

Literateparakeet

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I've been thinking about "branding", I think this is a huge part of an author website. To understand this better I've been looking at websites.

One of my favorites is this one from a fellow AWer: http://voireylinger.com

Within one second of landing on this site you know exactly what it is about-genre, tone etc. Very well done!

Here's another one that gives you a good idea at a glance what her writing is all about http://www.joannaweaverbooks.com

I love Malcolm Gladwell, but his is the most boring website I have seen:
http://gladwell.com

If you don't know anything about his writing, there is no clue here for you. But then again, he writes very thought provoking nonfiction, how would you "show" that on a website. I don't know, either way Malcolm Gladwell rocks.

What does a fantasy brand look like? Here's George R.R. Martin
http://www.georgerrmartin.com

My favorite part of this is his "not a blog" blog. :)

One of my favorite authors is Lisa See. http://www.lisasee.com

I like her website, but I think it needs a bit more tweaking. If you google her name or bring up her website it says "Lisa See Official Website Just Another WordPress Site" OOPS! :

So--what do you like in an author website? Any favorite examples you want to share?
 

Prophetsnake

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Stay away from Wix.

It's far too expensive compared to say, Squarespace, which is a superior site in any case.
 

oceansoul

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I use BlueHost. It seems to work for my needs. I used GoDaddy for my first blog and I don't miss them.

I've used BlueHost for all kinds of projects and always found them completely reliable, helpful and to have loads of easy to install features.

I built an online game using them once, and they supported the high traffic volume very well. Never any downtime.
 

Erguvan

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The owner of GoDaddy posts proud photos of himself bagging large African game. Gross.

I use Greengeeks. They're servers are powered by green sources and even give back to the grid. You might think you are saving the environment by not using paper and using the Internet instead, but the servers are huge polluters.

Having said that, I have heard that it is difficult to get domains away from Greengeeks-- but I have heard that about every provider out there. If enough people start complaining about it, maybe some consumer laws will be passed specifically addressing this problem.
 

williemeikle

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I've thought long and hard about mine and I think I'm just about there now -- I went for the williammeikle.com domain name with a small provider on the West Coast for $30 a year, and I've got sections for News, general About Me stuff, sections for the books, and a section for the genres I write in.

All handcoded in HTML and CSS, as I'm old school techie from way back...

http://www.williammeikle.com
 
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Zeddo

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Does anyone use the Authors Guild website service?

You have to join the Guild to use their services (costs around $75-80 to join). Among other services, they have free website templates which you can customize to some degree and which include a blog option. Website hosting costs start at $6 per month. For a non-techie like me, it was a good option.
 

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William that's a super site. I would suggest that you mask your email address (by using AT for the @ or something similar) to avoid as much spam as you can.
 

Captcha

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Is there any point in trying to 'shop local' on this?

I'm Canadian and would prefer to support a Canadian business, but I'm not at all interested in learning about the techie side of things and would like to keep everything as simple as possible. Are these two goals mutually exclusive, does anyone know?

ie. Are all the user-friendly hosting services based in the US? Does anyone know of any Canadian options?
 

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Is there any point in trying to 'shop local' on this?

I'm Canadian and would prefer to support a Canadian business, but I'm not at all interested in learning about the techie side of things and would like to keep everything as simple as possible. Are these two goals mutually exclusive, does anyone know?

ie. Are all the user-friendly hosting services based in the US? Does anyone know of any Canadian options?

There's Google's blogspot.ca
 

dantefrizzoli

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This helped a lot- you never know what's good to use and what isn't sometimes
 

marinapr9

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I use Create.net for my websites, and I have several.
I find it reasonably priced, it has a shop if you need one, some nice templates and really good support.

I like the simplicity of use with Create. I can't stand websites with flash, or take ages to load, or are too arty farty and hard to navigate. I just tend to click off if a website is like that.

Mo Hayder is one of my favourite authors but her website is a nightmare.

http://www.madeleine-mitchell.co.uk

http://www.lewisthorntonpowell.com

http://www.karma-holistics.co.uk
 

Bryan Methods

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I've used BlueHost for all kinds of projects and always found them completely reliable, helpful and to have loads of easy to install features.

I built an online game using them once, and they supported the high traffic volume very well. Never any downtime.

I've not had it for long, but BlueHost does very nicely for me too!
 

Kasubi

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Hi guys,

I've helped a few organisations set up their first websites. Can I share my quick and dirty tips?

1. A friend put me onto Internet.bs. Despite the name, it's very user friendly and often cheaper than other URL retailers. Once you've bought your domain name from them, you can set up as many different e-mail addresses as you like, forwarding to your standard gmail/hotmail/yahoo account. Here's [link removed for malware alert] everything you need to know about that[/URL].

2. Google 'email alias gmail/hotmail/yahoo'. An e-mail alias lets you reply to e-mails from your gmail/hotmail/yahoo e-mail account as though you were replying from your @whoever.com domain name address. It lets you look all professional without requiring another e-mail account. So, someone e-mails you at [email protected] and you reply from [email protected]. Simple, effective, and keeps your private e-mail address private. Each account varies how you do it, but aquick google will give you the instructions.

3. There are die hard WordPress fans (Morgen Bailey does WordPress author websites cheaply), there are Joomla fans, there are Wix fans... I'm a Blogger fan. Don't roll your eyes. The reason for this is that Blogger is completely and totally free, whereas WordPress and the like try to up-sell you for adding PayPal buttons and personalising the design. With Blogger, it's easy to make it look like a website rather than a blog, or to integrate the blog if you want a blog (most writers do). The entire Pagan Writers website is run off Blogger - three blogs strung together to look like one. All completely free. Basic HowTo here.

Then, using Internet.bs, you just forward your URL (www.whatever.com) to take people there.

It's quite rough and ready, but it's free other than the URL, and it allows you a fair amount of control and creative freedom. When you get rich and famous, maybe you'll pay someone to do something swanky. (I melt every time I see author Colin Cotterill's website).

If you want a free domain name, check out DOT TK.

As you've already mentioned, YouTube is a fabulous resource. If you get stuck, just type 'How do I...' and it's practically guaranteed someone's made a tutorial about it.

Final tip, there are programmes that purport making the design process easier. Most notably Artisteer. I tried it, found it to be a waste of money. Was quicker and cleaner to do it myself. Blogger really is quite user friendly once you get the basics down.
 
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PeteMC

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Damn I wish I'd looked for this thread a week ago before I threw together a Wordpress site without the faintest idea what I'm doing! Oh well it's done now...
 

Lizzie7800

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My domain was purchased through godaddy and my blog/site is hosted with Wordpress. I really like it so far, but I haven't tried to switch either. I'm a little nervous now too after reading the comments about godaddy!

I really do like that they're there for support anytime. I've called several times now and they've helped me with difficult issues that I could've never figured out on my own.

I can't say that I've gotten any sales from my site, but I've been able to send people there from out of town that want to order a copy from me directly instead of Amazon. (so it can be signed) It's nice to have somewhere to send them so they can pay via paypal.
 

MarkEsq

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Is anyone familiar with The Grid? https://thegrid.io/

Touted as Artificial Intelligence helping you build a web site, the promos are impressive but I don't see a way to try it out before committing. So, just wondered if others here had heard of it or tried it.

ETA: I see it's not up and running yet, but the concept is cool so I, for one, will keep an eye on how things shake out.
 
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robjvargas

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Haven't tried thegrid, no. But here's an interesting discussion of it.

Since it's a site for Web designers, it might be biased. Still an interesting read that makes sense at this point in time.
 

AW Admin

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1. A friend put me onto Internet.bs. Despite the name, it's very user friendly and often cheaper than other URL retailers. Once you've bought your domain name from them, you can set up as many different e-mail addresses as you like, forwarding to your standard gmail/hotmail/yahoo account.

I have some concerns about their TOS. I'd be wary about using them.

Also I've removed the link to the Google Drive file because I have a malware warning related to it.
 
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