Into the unknown .. with a blog/website

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seahermit
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Re: Into the unknown .. with a blog/website

Postby seahermit » Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:32 am

Richard, I have made the point that most people will find me online because they already know my name/website name or because of promotion on social media and other sites. Why do you need to repeat what I have said?!

Also, I have at no time said that my writing is easily accessible online and can be searched for via Google. I said that it is still possible to find old listings in Google of my name and even the Kwirkypoet handle – which is the case. It needs some rooting around, but someone like you should know better than myself that, once on Google, info and our past activity tends to stay somewhere online forever!

You are the only person who has seen fit to give me a lot of negative comments. Other people have been very helpful, related their own experiences and suggested the important factors I should consider – which has helped me to decide the best course of action over this issue.

If you seriously think that I am just “getting into a lather" about unimportant matters and that my vanity “is being stroked and led into false directions before your work has been published properly”, that suggests to me that you don’t know what you are talking about (and probably have little experience of your own to draw on). If you took the trouble to search around for authors’ websites and blogs, you would discover that the great majority feature their real name prominently – readers, agents and all the rest need to know whom they are dealing with. It is nothing the f*** to do with vanity, it is to do with sheer practicalities. You need to advertise yourself widely in different ways and to do it correctly right from the start, instead of confusing everyone by changing things around later.

In short, you are talking a lot of patronising rubbish. You haven’t even got it right on the publishing aspect – “make it very accessible and promote it locally in Hastings, in the shops, before even remotely expecting agents or publishers to be desperate to beat a path to your door”. I have been getting stuff published for many years - in newspapers, mags, Hastings and other websites, a couple of anthologies (one of those also features a number of my photos and you could buy the book in Hastings tomorrow if you went to the right shops!). I am surprised that you, a local man, seem to be quite unaware of any of that. That experience has given me a pretty good idea of what people like and the next logical step is very much to aim for my own book eventually. I have had a couple of publishing offers but in both cases I have some misgivings about the reliability of the publishing concerns ..

It would be really helpful, Richard, if you could avoid waffling all over the place and instead focus your mind on what I have ACTUALLY said – and give clear, concise responses which make sense – if you wish to reply at all.

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Richard
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Re: Into the unknown .. with a blog/website

Postby Richard » Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:19 am

seahermit, I can't find any so-called online presence apart from that picture of a bearded 'salt' with a rather resentful look.
You say or imply that most people will find you online only because they already know you.
That says it all.

The real bee in your bonnet seems to be your inability to choose an appropriate nickname and even get GoDaddy to accept your choice to host the blooming contraption you wish to foist upon the world at large.

You could make a start elsewhere by attempting to publish on Ebook or sell hard copy on Amazon but will have to pay their fees on each issue, of course.
Otherwise, you can find a book printing company, I know one locally and frequently send body text, cover designs, and images for publication.
This will also cost money and time, perhaps not really worth it unless you can sell many copies (hence the term 'vanity publishing).
Some people pay an agent to get the big publisher's attention but it would be an uphill struggle otherwise.
'Waterstones' is one route into the general market from there or local shops and, of course, your ill-fated online blog.
My tip to you is to use a local company to print the publications, sell locally, and perhaps use an online presence (your website) to sell more copies over a potentially worldwide area.
Decide on the price, get an ISBN and barcode and publishing company reference, (make one up, e.g. nuttypress@gmail.com) for enquiries/reference, and phone number, for contact, on both the hard copy books and website.

Perhaps try Ebooks first to dip a toe into the water but don't expect stellar sales immediately.

Not sure why you are having problems with GoDaddy - perhaps they don't like your 'name' and it can take several days in the current climate.
Bluehost is recommended by WordPress.

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seahermit
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Re: Into the unknown .. with a blog/website

Postby seahermit » Wed Jul 01, 2020 2:33 pm

Oh dear, I am not quite sure what is wrong with you at the moment, Richard, but you are really not on the same wavelength! Or possibly on the same planet.

I'm getting really fed up with you repeating the same statements and not taking note of things I have already told you.

What "inability to choose an appropriate nickname" are you talking about? Do you take in things people write (or even read them properly)? I have had a good nickname for a number of years - the point (do I really have to spell this out again?) is that nicknames are not the best solution in this situation. It has to be my real name, that has been decided upon .. and has now been acted on too.

Why are you waffling on at great length about publishing? At no time have I said that I am looking for a publisher currently. First things first, therefore this thread is about websites/blogs - has your mind forgotten that already?

In any case, my brother is a publisher and I probably know far more about it than you do.

I am having problems with GoDaddy because big organisations are very inefficient. Do you happen to know that?

If you are unable to reply to forum posts without causing a great deal of irritation and frustration to others (because you are not paying attention), it might be best for you to retire to a quiet room with ice packs on your forehead .. You would feel better and your mind might become sharper.

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Richard
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Re: Into the unknown .. with a blog/website

Postby Richard » Wed Jul 01, 2020 7:38 pm

seahermit,

You have finally settled on tonyfrostwriter.com instead of qwirkypoet.
You know all about publishing via a brother
You are having problems with GoDaddy
You are improving your WordPress skills
You are very demanding, nasty and rude if you don't get immediate answers giving exactly what you want
You dismiss your own meanderings but jump on others if they play the same game
A picture is beginning to form in my mind...

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seahermit
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Re: Into the unknown .. with a blog/website

Postby seahermit » Wed Jul 01, 2020 8:11 pm

I never demanded anything from anybody. I asked (politely I think) for some advice from others about some technical points - what's wrong with that?

In return, I get a load of patronising nonsense from you, waffle about irrelevancies and you don't even bother to properly read what I have said and to answer it accurately.

I don't have any patience with that sort of attitude, as you have now realised. Life is complicated enough at times without getting a lot of bullshit. I think you have nothing better to do than waste people's time ...

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Richard
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Re: Into the unknown .. with a blog/website

Postby Richard » Wed Jul 01, 2020 10:14 pm

I must be nice to seahermit
I must be nice to seahermit
I must be nice to seahermit
I must be nice to seahermit

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seahermit
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Re: Into the unknown .. with a blog/website

Postby seahermit » Thu Jul 02, 2020 1:34 am

I have had some really nice and helpful advice from other quarters. You are the only one who chooses firstly to give me a lot of negative criticism, then to act the idiot.

Or maybe there isn't any acting involved? Or required?!

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Richard
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Re: Into the unknown .. with a blog/website

Postby Richard » Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:54 am

Whatever you say seahermit - You are always right 100%
Let's agree to differ and move on

Richard

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seahermit
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Re: Into the unknown .. with a blog/website

Postby seahermit » Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:16 pm

I agree with you on one point, Richard. You certainly do seem to be different from others currently ..!

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Richard
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Re: Into the unknown .. with a blog/website

Postby Richard » Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:34 pm

I was only trying to expand your horizons seahermit.
Suggesting/implying that instead of getting stuck on the limitations of one industry-standard package, WordPress for example, you would surely benefit from looking at many others. I mentioned several ways of getting text into WordPress to circumvent the messy way it inserts HTML into imported word documents.
I tried to range further to explain my philosophy.
For instance, if I wanted to produce a flyer or poster for a book, I could struggle to learn Adobe Photoshop alone, or presentation packages, but by looking at alternatives, photoscape x, Irfanview, Affinity, Photos, paint 3D and photoshop express, Libre Office, for example, I can see how to produce what I want more easily and import images (tweaked in any of the above) into, say, Libre Office Draw, to send to the publisher. Perhaps using 'PrintScreen' on the keyboard to capture screen-shots and pasting into L.O. as an image.
It would be painful for me to persevere with a brand-leader when alternatives, dabbled into across a spectrum, might just provide an easy-peasy solution.
Let the professionals do the final output - why drive a car when a bicycle will do until you need something better?
I tried to show you that it's not only WordPress that can satisfy your requirements as there are many other alternatives out there that can eventually make the learning curve easier.
Your domain name or whatever it was you were particularly concerned about, at one time is fairly trivial.
I know that you only wanted the focus of direct answers to particular irritations that annoyed/vexed you and understand your frustration in not being able to run before you can walk but there are lots of ways to achieve your goal.
The more the merrier!


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