Tips for creating a blog for my books on wordpress.

567 Views 9 Replies 7 Participants Last post by jvin248, Jan 10, 2013

65404

Discussion Starter · Jan 8, 2013

I hope this is the right spot for this. Sorry if it isn't.

I want to create a blog on Wordpress for my books. I am still writing them but would like to mess with a blog for them first. I am wanting to create youtube trailers for them to promote on the blog and video vlogs too. Right now though I just want some tips on how to do it right...

So, what email should I use when creating? Will that be the email fans email to talk to me or different?
My word press will be free at first... but is there cool designs for free wordpress blogs?
I want a clean blog but also catchy.
And I have dyslexia so my writing isn't great but that is what editors are for right? Lol I taught myself how to read and write and want to go to school soon to learn to write better. But, if I post unedited blogs with my own editing will people be scared my books will be like that too? Even though I am planning to spend a lot to have the books edited.

I guess what I am looking for is tips and help on how to create a good blog and what should be on it. What things are to be expected to be on the website and just how to make a good one.

Thank you.

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robin_hart

· #2 · Jan 8, 2013

You can use any email, I changed the pen name I was using after signing up, so I just have a different email under my contact page that I created. I feel like there are some great free templates, and that sounds like what you need now. For the blog posts, I would definitely see if you can find friends that can proofread for you, even on forums like this, because people will assume that your writing is the same as your blog writing, and that if you didn't edit that, that you might not edit the books. That's just my thoughts on it. Since you have dyslexia, you could also mention that as well. Good luck!
P.s. The post above looks pretty good. Also, if you need someone to proof blog posts, I'm no editor but I could scan through for typos for you once in a while.

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65404

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 9, 2013

robin_hart said:
You can use any email, I changed the pen name I was using after signing up, so I just have a different email under my contact page that I created. I feel like there are some great free templates, and that sounds like what you need now. For the blog posts, I would definitely see if you can find friends that can proofread for you, even on forums like this, because people will assume that your writing is the same as your blog writing, and that if you didn't edit that, that you might not edit the books. That's just my thoughts on it. Since you have dyslexia, you could also mention that as well. Good luck!
P.s. The post above looks pretty good. Also, if you need someone to proof blog posts, I'm no editor but I could scan through for typos for you once in a while.

Thank you! And I try my best to edit but sometimes things slip or I don't see them because of my learning problem but I have been getting better. I am not great but my books are much better than any other post I make because I am extra careful with them. However, it would be a smart idea to have someone proof read my blog post before I post them. I have always been scared to start a blog because I am not 100% great at writing yet... I am still teaching myself how to get better. But, thanks!

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Steven R. Drennon

· #4 · Jan 9, 2013

If the point of your blog is just to provide information on you as the writer as well as feature your books, then just keep it simple. I have a separate author site for myself and for my two pen names, and each is basically a free Wordpress template that uses only pages and not Posts or Categories.

Below is the link to my primary site, which is really very plain and simple.
http://www.drennon.com/

Another example is this one, which is for one of my pen names. It is pretty new and still under development, but it will give you an idea of what I mean.
http://www.scottdennisen.com/

As far as e-mail addresses, I would recommend using whatever works for you. I have a separate e-mail address for each site, but they both get forwarded to my home e-mail, which is completely different. If you are okay with people having access to your personal home e-mail, then use that. You just need to decide what works best for you.

As far as the content, I would suggest reviewing it before publishing it live to your site. I believe that a lot of people actually will assume that poor writing on your site is reflective of the writing they will find in your books. This site is a reflection of you, so you want it to be as clean as possible.

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Greer

· #5 · Jan 9, 2013

Steven R. Drennon said:
As far as the content, I would suggest reviewing it before publishing it live to your site. I believe that a lot of people actually will assume that poor writing on your site is reflective of the writing they will find in your books. This site is a reflection of you, so you want it to be as clean as possible.

I would definitely assume that the writing on your blog was indicative of your skill level as a writer in general. I think a lot of others would make that assumption, too. My advice would be to get someone who's good at grammar to look over your stuff before you put it up.

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Strayer

· #6 · Jan 9, 2013

I'd write about your reading problems. Cher used to talk about trying to dial a long distance number.
I don't have an email address on the blog. You can end up with a lot of spam
Your post was interesting and I bet you end up with a lot of readers.

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65404

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jan 9, 2013

Steven R. Drennon said:
If the point of your blog is just to provide information on you as the writer as well as feature your books, then just keep it simple. I have a separate author site for myself and for my two pen names, and each is basically a free Wordpress template that uses only pages and not Posts or Categories.

Below is the link to my primary site, which is really very plain and simple.
http://www.drennon.com/

Another example is this one, which is for one of my pen names. It is pretty new and still under development, but it will give you an idea of what I mean.
http://www.scottdennisen.com/

As far as e-mail addresses, I would recommend using whatever works for you. I have a separate e-mail address for each site, but they both get forwarded to my home e-mail, which is completely different. If you are okay with people having access to your personal home e-mail, then use that. You just need to decide what works best for you.

As far as the content, I would suggest reviewing it before publishing it live to your site. I believe that a lot of people actually will assume that poor writing on your site is reflective of the writing they will find in your books. This site is a reflection of you, so you want it to be as clean as possible.

Thanks for your answer! And your blogs are very neat and simple. That is kind of what I am aiming for actually.

ShayneHellerman said:
I would definitely assume that the writing on your blog was indicative of your skill level as a writer in general. I think a lot of others would make that assumption, too. My advice would be to get someone who's good at grammar to look over your stuff before you put it up.

This is actually upsetting to me. As someone with dyslexia I never judge anyone's blog to be as their books. I know books or whatever they are doing will be more important and they will want to do their best on it. But, I know most people don't understand what dyslexia people go through in life. The struggles and never ending judgment. I have learn to not judge peoples things but I know that most people aren't like this and will amuse if my blog or post is poorly written then my books must suck. So, by all the replies I will find someone to look over my post before I post them. Just so people will not be scared to read my books.

Thanks for your reply.

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maritafowler

· #8 · Jan 9, 2013

This site has some cute blog templates. http://thecutestblogontheblock.com/

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Greer

· #9 · Jan 10, 2013

Coushatta said:
This is actually upsetting to me. As someone with dyslexia I never judge anyone's blog to be as their books. I know books or whatever they are doing will be more important and they will want to do their best on it. But, I know most people don't understand what dyslexia people go through in life. The struggles and never ending judgment. I have learn to not judge peoples things but I know that most people aren't like this and will amuse if my blog or post is poorly written then my books must suck. So, by all the replies I will find someone to look over my post before I post them. Just so people will not be scared to read my books.

I didn't mean to upset you, and I'm sorry that I have. But the thing is, when a blog is used as a way to advertise for your business, it's not unreasonable for potential customers to assume that the same amount of skill and effort went into creating one as went into the other.

I read slush for a small press, and when I see a query letter that's horribly written, it always comes attached to a horribly written manuscript. Always. Never once have I seen a horribly written query attached to an awesome book. (ETA: cuz I was stupid and hit send before I meant to.) Which means that now, when I see a bad query I just assume the book is going to be bad. I still read some of it, because I get paid for it. But if I was on my own time, and the blurb or blog was badly written, I wouldn't read any farther, because I would assume the book was only as good as the advertising.

I'm not saying your writing is horrible, btw, because it's not. It's quite good, and I wouldn't have ever guessed you had dyslexia in the first place. I just wanted to make the point that when you're putting yourself out there in your business persona, people are likely going to lump everything you do in that persona together.

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jvin248

· #10 · Jan 10, 2013

get a free wordpress.com site and put content up that interests you that might interest your readers and fans. You need a website but it does not end up being your marketing platform for most. Readers need to see you have a real site with some stuff but not until your books are generating big sales/fans/etc will the website become a home to the fans.

Make sure any template you use for your blog includes RSS feeds and get a goodreads account and link your blog into goodreads.

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