Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

You must be talking about Wordpress.com. I think the no ads upgrade has been around for a while. They are just doing a better job of marketing it.

Demetrius wrote: "I have over five things on Blogger. More recently, I tried putting together something on Wordpress.
I'd appreciate any feedback or criticism.
Thanks.
http://demetriussherman.wordpress.com......"

It looks as though you have a pretty basic install of a wordpress theme. You haven't really posted much for me to give feedback.

I'm using Blogger platform and I like it because I can easily change the design. Now I'm using the Simple template and I think it looks really clean and beautiful. My blog is:

www.VictoriyaTodorova.blogspot.com

I am a newbie to blogging. I started using Blogger about a year ago, and did not do it on a constant basis. Now, I want to update my blog often, and wanted to get some reading material regarding blogging for beginners to blogging for creative writers.

There are so many books to choose from, and I want to get some opinions on which eBooks to review.

I went thru both blogspot as well as the blogspot. I use blogspot for my personal blog. U can chk it out here www.amartyaraghav.blogspot.in while wordpress is being used by me for an official site www.evedrops.com . Experiencing both i wud suggest blogspot is better and easier. To like fb page of evedrops pls follow the link www.facebook.com/evedrops

Pia wrote: "I LOVE using Wordpress (the software) and Hostgator as a host. One button install. 24/7 help. I like to "own" my own part of the web, and self-hosted blogs afford me that luxury. There are so many ..."

I use wordpress too, but I have Bluehost as a host. However, they have had some problems recently in their server farm in Utah along with some other annoyances. Have you had any issues with Hostgater "throttling" your site?

I loved reading the comments here, and I heartily agree with the folks who favor Wordpress. I notice that Blogspot mixes up the size of my letters. I get a nice professional appearance with Wordpress, and even the Wordpress.org is more userfriendly than Blogger. I have started up with Blogger because sometimes I wonder how many blogs Wordpress can handle. The wordpress.org version is pricier, but you get more options and freedom.

I like wordpress. I did weekly contributing on blogspot, and I used the blogspot system, and for some reason it froze up a lot. I, too, like that at anytime you can upgrade to .com site. I, personally, prefer wordpress. Then again, I have seen some blogspot sites with a lot more "personality."

i used blogger and i love it. i tried wordpress and found it hard. Whichever suits your needs go for it.

I used to be a Blogger fan for some time, while I was blogging just for fun. Recently, I decided I could make money out of my hobby and make it more serious, so Blogger is no more suitable.

I decided to switch to WordPress.org (and so I did using a great app www.cms2cms.com) for a number of reasons:
1. WordPress is now mine, and I don't have to be afraid that Google will shut down Blogger one day.
2. WordPress has more design oportunities and functionality.
3. WordPress is more SEO friendly.
These are the reasons I switched, but now as I am getting to know my new platform, it looks like the best choice I ever made, however, it is not as easy as Blogger used to be...

Wordpress > Blogger. I'm a professional web designer with a personal weblog. There are so many more options. You can ultimately have your own website instead of just a blog. The possibilities are endless. Plugins, widgets, and SEO tools to name a few. Ability to make it mobile and tablet compatible as well as social network integration are also awesome. There are some great Wordpress books out there if you're not familiar. It's easy enough to do it yourself if you don't know about web design, yet advanced enough that if you do know (or hire someone) you can make it look like a $10,000 website easily. Good luck and feel free to message me for help with website/blog on Wordpress.

I think Blogspot works nicely for blogs, just not comfortable with it, and the way it mixed up my letter sizes. There's lots of plug-ins, and I jumped on the SEO plug-in straight away. It's more work - you gotta pick your key words wisely - but doable. You also get a larger choice of themes, and that's great for me because my webmaster suggested that I change themes every few years.
Barbara

24/7 in France: Wordpress.COM is more user friendly than .org with no hosting needed and you own the blog. Blogger is easy to use, as well, but you technically do not own it and it can be shut down for no reason. Hope this helps.

WordPress self-hosted all the way. the suite of plugins for various functionality can't be beat. You can get all kinds of free themes (though I recommend purchased ones). If you'd like to get a good idea of how much a WordPress 'blog' can do, visit www.amazingstoriesmag.com and take a tour - the entire thing is WordPress basedusing an adaptive theme that let's it reformat for the device you are using.

I am upgrading a Wp site which is here http://involution-odyssey.com/ (The front page is temporary so don't judge by that- go to Home instead) It is basically a book centred site but I have been advised to blog,blog,blog.

Two questions 1) is it better to keep the landing page static for the book or 2) a fluid changing blog about the book? and second one is if I change to Hostgator to host it can I take the upgrade I have paid for with me? What might be the downsides of HG? Grateful for advice

I don't know what kind if upgrade you paid for so can offer no info regarding that.

the mantra for blooging is more consistency than anything else. even if you are going to miss a scheduled post - stick a note about that in there.

So far as layout goes; in WordPress there is a way to create a static front page with a menu tab for the blog. that seems to be pretty standard for most book promotion blogs - you might want to look at ways to put an excerpt of your current post on that front page.

Thank you Steve. For reply and advice. I have visited yours and it is very slick!

go to www.68caliber.com for one I did entirely by myself. Amazing Stories had the support of Woodall'Design to do the heavy back-end coding for special stuff. I'm strictly a theme and plugins kind of guy

go to www.68caliber.com for one I did entirely by myself. Amazing Stories had the support of Woodall'Design to do the heavy back-end coding for special stuff. I'm strictly a theme and plugins kind of guy

Alice wrote: "I used to be a Blogger fan for some time, while I was blogging just for fun. Recently, I decided I could make money out of my hobby and make it more serious, so Blogger is no more suitable.

I dec..."

I agree with Alice,

WordPress has given me a user friendly format, packed with useful widgets, support and advice for Free.

When the blog started taking off, I bought my .com for $18 pa through WP and kept every WP option, including the chance to upgrade further should I choose :)

Highly recommended...

Hi Philippa,

I just bought my own .com after using wordpress.com. It will still be the wordpress base, but I'm hosting with hostgator. I cannot even exaggerate how helpful hostgator has been. I'm so NOT a technical person, and even when my misunderstanding is stupid, the folks at hostgator have been super kind and patient with me.

Blogger is better

Shqip

Wordpress is super for me but it may be because i am using an all in one marketing system with it that has over $6,000 in tools technology and training and is free. If anyone would like an invitation to check it out just let me know.

Maureenz wrote: "Wordpress is super for me but it may be because i am using an all in one marketing system with it that has over $6,000 in tools technology and training and is free. If anyone would like an invitat..."

One of my great failings is in marketing. Your system sounds interesting, so if you don't mind, I'd like to try it out. Thanks a lot.

I think Blogger is much easier to set up and use, particularly if you're less technical.

Wordpress is what the big boys use, but it is more complicated for less technical do-it-yourselfers.

Most newbies I know hire someone to create their Wordpress blog.

(both blogging platforms allow you to create blogs that can look like Web sites. Both allow you to use a custom url.)

I wish someone would tell me the purpose of all this 'blogging' that is so frequently spoken about. There must be millions of individual blogs out there (or so it seems). My question is, who cares if I did this, that or the other? Nobody reads all those things, or even knows they exist in most cases. Seems a terrible waste of time I could be using to write books.

I've been using blogspot for a number of years:

http://dostoevskiansmiles.blogspot.co...

And generally I don't have a problem with it, it's free, it's easy to post content and edit it. Simple to redesign the layout.

I have had trouble recently trying to set up a second 'links' page, I've uploaded it but it just feeds back onto the home page when I clink on it.

Hi, I must admit I get tired of Blogging and I also would like to know if it pays off. But I have sent lots out and I guess I will keep doing it in case it is working.
My New book from my series of children's fantasy books was published on the 10/7/13 in America by Alpha Wolf Publishing so I do hope the blogging is doing a little good. http://maryfilmer.com/ I also have a great animation on my website hope you get time to have a look at it.
Mary Filmer Children's Author

Very nice, Mary. Best of luck!
Mary wrote: "Hi, I must admit I get tired of Blogging and I also would like to know if it pays off. But I have sent lots out and I guess I will keep doing it in case it is working.
My New book from my series o..."

I suppose a goodly part of my problem is that I'm 72-years old. My life has been devoted to aviation, and that's really not of much interest to a lot of people. I mean, really, who cares what an old retired Air Force colonel has to say in this day and age? How many people are interested in the finer points of the F-104 fighter, or the F-111 fighter/bomber? Not too many folks these days even know what those are. Do any of you remember the days when the Russian Bear bombers came across the North Pole probing our defenses, or what our response was? Do you even care? Not likely. So my point is, why bore folks with ancient history.

You just might be surprised, Raymond! Having lived near Nellis AFB, we saw a lot of the F-111. And, having done plenty of "ducking and covering" as a kid, your personal experiences and/or knowledge of those big Bear bombers would also interest me. And I doubt I'm alone.

Raymond wrote: "I suppose a goodly part of my problem is that I'm 72-years old. My life has been devoted to aviation, and that's really not of much interest to a lot of people. I mean, really, who cares what an ol..."

I have no ads, do the ads automatically insert themselves later? I have to be honest. Blogger is tons better financially anywho. Everything is free but domain and way cheaper. Wordpress....gosh I'm surprised they dont charge you per blog post haha

Raymond wrote: "I suppose a goodly part of my problem is that I'm 72-years old. My life has been devoted to aviation, and that's really not of much interest to a lot of people. I mean, really, who cares what an ol..."

I think what you have to say sounds interesting.

I personally like WordPress. It was offered free on my hosting site. Everything was easy to use and there are several books out there to figure it all out if you need help. WordPress does have some paid versions but the free version works just fine for me. As far as blogging I use it more as a diary to jot down what I'm thinking and yes it is time consuming but not as time consuming as you would think. I thought the same thing at first. Why would I blog when I could be writing? But I have had a few people stop by and leave real comments not spam. I delete all comments because I feel like they are useless compared to connecting on Facebook or Twitter and chatting.

J.W. wrote: "You just might be surprised, Raymond! Having lived near Nellis AFB, we saw a lot of the F-111. And, having done plenty of "ducking and covering" as a kid, your personal experiences and/or knowledge..."

I flew out of Nellis during the late 60s. We didn't use those for intercepts, though. That was earlier in my career, flying the 106 and then the 104. Since we couldn't fire on them unless they fired first, we got really up close and personal with them on occasion. The Bear was a BIG airplane, especially compared to our fighters.

Katy wrote: "Raymond wrote: "I suppose a goodly part of my problem is that I'm 72-years old. My life has been devoted to aviation, and that's really not of much interest to a lot of people. I mean, really, who ..."

It was a different world then, and it was interesting sometimes. The American public wouldn't believe how many times we stepped right up to the brink of all-out nuclear war. Got scarey a few times.

We are creating a blogging platform for financial blogs. http://ggfinances.com/ . My friend(co founder) want to make it similar to Wordpress.org(which means they can take it to their own hosting separate domain). I am thinking more like tumblr.com or blogspot.
Any Ideas?

Hello!
You should know that Blogspot is more user friendly in contrast to WP, however, it's unsecure, anytime your blog content may be deleted with no reason. With WordPress, you are the author and it's up to you post it or delete. And you're right, WP has much more advanced and professional theming system. It's easy to optimize it, so it would be good for promotion. While choosing WP, you will need some time to get used to it,just little time. Also, there are lots of plugins that will help you with management matters, you'll be able to get more traffic and users. here you may weigh all the pros and cons of both solutions http://bit.ly/15jeUFX
King Regards!

I use wordpress alot on all my sites but I love how blogspot gets out to all the engines and really gets my info out there
www.olympicequipment.com

In reading these posts, it seems there's a lot of confusion about Wordpress, domains, hosting, ads vs. no ads, and in some cases why anyone would even bother with any of it. At the risk of creating as many questions as answers, I will attempt to explain how these things work.

First, although commonly known as a blogging platform, Wordpress (as well as BlogSpot and others) is a content management system which can be used to provide an easily customizable and editable website which may or may not include a blog. The Wordpress.com website provides the opportunity for free hosting and setup of your site as a subdomain (such as mywebsite.wordpress.com) or you may register your own separate domain (such as mywebsite.com) for a fee and Wordpress will provide free hosting. The other option is to use the free wordpress software on a paid web hosting account.

One point of confusion seems to be regarding domain registration versus hosting. Domain registration is simply claiming a name for your website. Hosting is securing a place for your website to reside (think of it as office space for your website that has a physical address where people can find it). As I said, Wordpress.com (as well as BlogSpot and others) provides free hosting, whether you use a subdomain or you purchase your own domain. The main advantage of free hosting is of course that it's free and this can be a good choice to get started with if you are on an extremely tight budget. There are a couple of major disadvantages of free hosting though. First, your website will have ads on it, and you can't control what ads appear on your site and there's a good chance that they will not only distract your site visitors from your content, but may even offend them or run counter to your "message". For example, I know a holistic healthcare provider who used free hosting who had an ad on his site for a prescription drug that he actually criticized in one of his blog posts (a bit of a mixed message). The ads are what pay for your "free" hosting. If you don't want the ads, you'll have to pay for the hosting, whether you use Wordpress.com or another web host. Another big disadvantage is that you don't "own" your website, even if you purchased your domain. If you purchased your domain name, all you own is the name, not the site itself. Your site can be removed at any time for any reason. While this doesn't usually happen as long as your content is pretty mainstream, if it's something that could be deemed "offensive", it is a risk.

Now, paid hosting is a much more professional option, but if you are on a tight budget, you can wait until you have a little marketing money to work with. It's not a big deal (it's a little complicated if you don't know how, but you can always pay a nominal fee to get someone to do it for you) to move your domain and website content to a new web host if and when you decide to do so. So how much does hosting cost? It depends on what web host you use and what options you get, but a basic web hosting package that will service most needs can be had for about $100 per year (that is not a typo - despite what many website developers charge for hosting that they will happily re-sell to you, if you buy direct from a web host, it runs about $8-$10 per month, with price breaks for the greater period of time paid in advance). Many web hosting companies include domain registration for one site with their hosting, but even if they don't, it will usually only be $10-$15 per year (by the way, a lot of scam artists have taken to sending out email and regular mail notices for domain registration renewal at highly inflated prices - there's no need to pay more than $15 per year, and that's on the high side!).

There is one other expense that is optional, but highly recommended and that's an anti-hacking service. Don't think anyone would bother hacking your little website? Think again! There are bots out there constantly looking for vulnerable sites to place malware on. Content management systems like Wordpress are great for ease of use and site updating, but the downside of this is that they are relatively easy to hack. There are several anti-hacking services around, the most popular of which is Site-Lock, probably because it's an available option on many web-hosting subscriptions. My experience with Site-Lock is that it's virtually worthless, so don't waste your money. I have had excellent service from Sucuri.net. They currently charge $89.99 per year for one website, with price breaks for multiple sites. It's well worth the money! They monitor your sites for any trouble and automatically fix it. If you already have a virus or malware on your site, my experience has been that they'll get you up and running again within a few hours. If you can afford it, you will save yourself a huge headache if you ever get hacked (and sooner or later, you will get hacked).

A few other words on costs. The main Wordpress software is free (whether you use Wordpress.com or a different web host)and there are numerous themes (which are basically templates for the look and feel of your site) and plugins (which are small pieces of software that add various functions to your site). Many themes and plugins are free and can be added to your site right through your Wordpress interface. Some themes and plugins are not free, but they are optional and usually are not terribly expensive. If you're not the "techie" type, there are many website designers who will set up a basic Wordpress site for you for a few hundred dollars give or take, depending on how many pages you want, complexity of the design, etc..

Finally, the question has been asked, why an author would bother blogging when that time could be spent writing more books. It comes down to engaging your readers. Your fans want to know more about you and the more you interact and engage with them, the more they buy your books and tell others about you. Now, I have observed that many authors (including myself) are naturally pretty introverted and they don't want to really interact with their readers (I don't want to interact with my readers - I hate people!). That's fine, but realize that staying in your comfort zone will cost you in terms of sales and readers, even if you are marketing in other ways.

I was with blogger, then moved to wordpress, where many hackers attacked and ruined that, now back to blogger ( www.sirjohn.us )and doing great. The good thing about blogger is their integration with google, which makes life great. I also have my own web site hoisted by yahoo.

I'm a total dummy with HTML, but for whatever it's worth, I can do whatever I want with my blogger/blogspot blogs. There have been a couple of times I wanted to do something and wasn't sure how, in which case I just Googled "How do I ... with a blogspot blog?" and got the answer. And my pages come up as the first several pages in Google searches so I don't think there's an SEO issue either. Here are my two blogs via blogspot.

www.kristenelisephd.com
www.murderlab.com

Fletcher wrote: "In reading these posts, it seems there's a lot of confusion about Wordpress, domains, hosting, ads vs. no ads, and in some cases why anyone would even bother with any of it. At the risk of creatin..."

The problem I have with blogging is simple: my life is so dull these days that writing about it is a complete bore. Who would want to read that? "I woke up, wrote a bit, and went to bed, only to do it again the next day." Would embarrass me to even write that on a blog. My fun life is in the past, and I covered that in the first two or three entries.

Raymond wrote: "Fletcher wrote: "In reading these posts, it seems there's a lot of confusion about Wordpress, domains, hosting, ads vs. no ads, and in some cases why anyone would even bother with any of it. At th..."

That's what I don't write about. I blog on subjects as the mood takes me including creating a whole new world in support of one of my next books sci-fi btw. I tweet as well but not very often. The only announcements I make are about my books such as cover revealed, paperback released and so on. When I get up or have a cup of tea etc is not of interest to the world, it's barely of interest to me.

Raymond wrote: "Fletcher wrote: "In reading these posts, it seems there's a lot of confusion about Wordpress, domains, hosting, ads vs. no ads, and in some cases why anyone would even bother with any of it. At th..."

Raymond, it sounds like you restrict yourself to blogging about yourself. Why? Blogs are so much more interesting, and so much better received, when the blogger is outwardly, rather than inwardly, focused. Instead of writing about what you had for breakfast, take something from the news that interested you and comment on it. Or review someone else's book. Or conduct an interview. The trick with blogging is to let people learn who you are... not by telling them "this is who I am" but by letting them see your interests.

Kristen wrote: "Raymond wrote: "Fletcher wrote: "In reading these posts, it seems there's a lot of confusion about Wordpress, domains, hosting, ads vs. no ads, and in some cases why anyone would even bother with a..."

I think the biggest problem is my profession: I was an Air Force pilot for 27 years, then a charter pilot for another 10. Without wrapping that activity in a book of fiction, it's really rather dull to the average person.

Raymond wrote: "Kristen wrote: "Raymond wrote: "Fletcher wrote: "In reading these posts, it seems there's a lot of confusion about Wordpress, domains, hosting, ads vs. no ads, and in some cases why anyone would ev..."

With all respect - you're crazy! Geez, there's your platform right there. You could base a whole blog on goings on in airplanes, both military and civilian. When a plane has one of those "near misses" where it lands with no wheels sideways or whatever, people would love to hear your perspective! When a potential terrorist is caught in a routine screen, people want to hear from you, what were the odds that he could have gotten through? Personally, I'd like to know the truth about transporting animals in the belly of the plane. Would my dogs be safe down there, if I...say...moved to Europe and wanted to bring them with me? Is the air regulated? Does it get super hot or super cold? Can they breathe?

I think you could have a fascinating blog!

Raymond you could also do posts on how long it actually takes to prep a jet for take off, myths about airline accidents, the things to really be afraid of when flying, Hollywood jet myths used in movies, how crowded the skies really are, noises that mean nothing and ones fliers should fear...damn maybe I'll join the airforce, become a pilot and start my own blog LOL.

Kristen wrote: "Raymond wrote: "Kristen wrote: "Raymond wrote: "Fletcher wrote: "In reading these posts, it seems there's a lot of confusion about Wordpress, domains, hosting, ads vs. no ads, and in some cases why..."

Well, my book, The Pilot on Amazon and Smashwords,pretty well summed up part of my life. It was, of course, fiction, based on trivial incidents much amplified, in my life. As for your dog, the live animal cargo section of any airliner has the same air and climate control you would experience in first class. Perfectly safe. BTW, most "near misses", as reported by the media, are not even close at all. No drama in that, though, so ignorant reporters blow it all out of proportion. Believe it or not, we professional pilots are very good at what we do. My daughter followed in my footsteps and is an exceptional pilot, as well. I always like to tell people that if you want safety, fly. Odds of dying in an auto accident are something like 5,000 to one on any given day. Same day in a plane, 11,000,000 to one.

Raymond wrote: "As for your dog, the live animal cargo section of any airliner has the same air and climate control you would experience in first class. Perfectly safe. BTW, most "near misses", as reported by the media, are not even close at all. No drama in that, though, so ignorant reporters blow it all out of proportion. Believe it or not, we professional pilots are very good at what we do..."

Then make your blog about the reality of military and commercial flight. Be your own mythbuster. Tell people what really goes on in the cockpit, on on those layovers. Critique aviation-themed films or TV episodes. Invite pilots or aircrew who have less mainstream aviation jobs (such as airevac, or aerial firefighting) to guest-post and talk about what they do. Investigate other author-pilots.

If you want an example of how this can work, look at Lee Lofland's The Graveyard Shift, which does what I've been describing for law enforcement.