While I appreciate the extra space, I don't know what to do with it. I'm not what you'd call an "About Me" writer. I have the stories blog for excerpts and fiction stuff, and the photoblog for pics. My public bibliography is posted and linked to the sidebar; so is everything else I think is interesting (and I think I already have more than enough stuff on PBW.)
Before I pass on it altogether, I thought I'd ask you guys: is there anything I don't already have on the blog that you'd like to see me post on these pages? Let me know what you think in comments.
Added: I'm going to be tinkering with the sidebar today while we discuss the possibilities.
Elizabeth Spann Craig's blog, Mystery Writing is Murder, uses one page for links to buy her latest book. Have a peek:
ReplyDeleteBuy Delicious and Suspicious
I'd definitely appreciate a tags (labels) cloud.
ReplyDeleteSure, I can leave the site and go use Google to search your site - but that doesn't help much when I can't remember what to search for.
Browsing through tags tends to help me find stuff quicker, and I'm less likely to get distracted and led offsite.
To be honest, I think the latest releases section is pretty outdated. Perhaps it should have a different title or be condensed to releases in the last year?
ReplyDeleteDeb wrote: Elizabeth Spann Craig's blog, Mystery Writing is Murder, uses one page for links to buy her latest book.
ReplyDeleteGood suggestion and a nice example page, thanks for the link. :)
Shawna wrote: I'd definitely appreciate a tags (labels) cloud.
ReplyDeleteI had tags on the sidebar for a while, but the list became so long I thought it was unsightly. I've also thought about indexing the entire blog, but this would be a good way to put that off a few more years, lol.
Anon wrote: To be honest, I think the latest releases section is pretty outdated. Perhaps it should have a different title or be condensed to releases in the last year?
ReplyDeleteBecause I write in different genres and have so many releases in one year I set it up to show the last ten novels I've pubbed. I should probably retitle it.
Hello:)
ReplyDeletethank you for the question...and I do have some thoughts.
in regards of what your blog means to me...these are the suggestions:
*Move the 'Freebies" to a separate page/tab. This will free u some sidebar which is getting long , if you read just one post. This Freebie page can be updated and link placed in the Blog page. :)
* Same for your Writing links and References. :)
* move the Blogs that Rock me to a static page. Once they are on their own page...people can click that tab instead of scrolling down.
1.As I see it...the front page of the blog is about you and your life as a writer and your writing project.
2.The Freebie page and the Writing Links/Helps pages are(would be) about you helping US. Which , again, you let us know of new info through your 'Front page'.
3. The 'Blogs that Rock Me' is (would be) places of interest we will want to see and visit. This list does get bigger but not so quickly. Thus a static is better than the visitor scrolling.
Then that would leave your 'Disclaimer Policy' (which I just now saw). Almost at the bottom of your sidebar...where it will get noticed.
As always I enjoy your site...change if you want or not. I will still be here:)
Debra Saturday :)
ps.thanks for this has given me the opportunity to refine my blogs! hehe:)
Debra wrote lots of interesting things to think about, including: 1.As I see it...the front page of the blog is about you and your life as a writer and your writing project.
ReplyDeleteThis is the thing that worries me most. I started PBW to be first and foremost a writer's resource. It is often (probably too much) about me, and that stuff is to placate the people I work for, but my primary focus has always been to provide info and links that are of interest to writers. Maybe I should start rethinking the whole blog, I don't know.
Also, I think the blogroll is going to be extinct in a couple of months, given the number of blogs I liked that have vanished or gone static, so it's probably a good idea to get rid of it now before it becomes a collection of links to porn sites or something. :(
Great suggestions, Debra, thanks for taking the time to write them up.
You could use one for your entire backlist... people are always wanting to know what other books you have out and what pen names you've used.
ReplyDeleteEven though some of them are out of print. Easy way for them to try and figure it out.
you could also do one that focuses on the writing tips you've done-like your novel writing notebook and that sort of thing.
Maybe have a page per genre with as many titles as seems reasonable for that genre and perhaps anything you'd like to tell us about that genre and how it relates to you. Perhaps a dedicated writer's resource page? Retain links in the main page sidebar, of course, but when you create the page, there should also be a tab created somewhere (I haven't tried this blogger feature yet, either, so I haven't noticed how it manifests),l so that may not be as important.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I believe someone has already suggested, a page for Freebies.
Shiloh wrote: You could use one for your entire backlist... people are always wanting to know what other books you have out and what pen names you've used.
ReplyDeleteExcept Anonymous up there who thinks the sidebar backlist is outdated and badly titled. ;)
you could also do one that focuses on the writing tips you've done-like your novel writing notebook and that sort of thing.
Good idea.
You know what I would love? You did some kind of reviews of speak and write software. I have a couple of friends who suffer from RSI and are writers, and I'd love to be able to send them to a page where you talk about that software (I did that in the past and it cheered at least one of them a lot!).
ReplyDeleteOne thing that happens is that they get discouraged that they won't be able to write anymore (they're writers) and I think knowing that there's another pro writer out there who has suffered from not-typing but beaten it, would really cheer them up. I had a link where you talked about that, but I lost it. :P (Yes, I suck....) Anyway, I've just always found that very heartening as well as useful. It's hard to find good reviews of the software for fiction writing purposes.
BTW, I also suffer from stupid knee issues and have always found you to be kind of a hero in writing anyway. :D
Jean wrote: Maybe have a page per genre with as many titles as seems reasonable for that genre and perhaps anything you'd like to tell us about that genre and how it relates to you.
ReplyDeleteHow it relates? Hmmmm. I've been blackballed from SF, hounded out of romance, been inappropriately marketed as paranormal romance, slapped with a gag order on the WFH work, and what else. . . oh, yeah, I scare the crap out of the inspy people. Not really a full page, though.
Perhaps a dedicated writer's resource page? Retain links in the main page sidebar, of course, but when you create the page, there should also be a tab created somewhere (I haven't tried this blogger feature yet, either, so I haven't noticed how it manifests),l so that may not be as important.
I was just fiddling with create a page and it's a little weird.
And, I believe someone has already suggested, a page for Freebies.
I think the freebies (all of them, not just my e-books) are really the most valuable info on the blog. I'd love to do an index of everything, but the work would be horrendously time-consuming (just the thought of rechecking all the links makes my head hurt.)
Vom wrote: You know what I would love? You did some kind of reviews of speak and write software.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words. The idea of doing a page for handicapped writers with VRS and other links does greatly appeal to me; I think there's far too little info about resources for us on the internet.
Morning Lynn,
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a page for handicapped writers with VRS - that's great. It would help all of us.
For example, while I'm not dealing with VRS, I learned about Dragon Naturally Speaking from you a couple of years back, and it's been wonderful.
Another Viehl widget? I seem to remember that I learned about great stickie/post-it note freeware from you, too (they are scattered across my desktop now).
Which goes to this: you provide a lot of practical info for writers. The hardware as well as the software, if you will.
Maybe a page with tools and gizmos? Separate from the substantive how-to writing advice and guidance (and inspiration)?
Thx for everything,
Reba
To minimize clutter on your homepage, you could move all of the links and resources that you've got to a separate page. :) That way it's all in one space/page and not on the sidebar, plus easy-to-access.
ReplyDeleteAnd I would love to know more about you all the same. :D An About-Me page would be wonderful so we could get to know more about the type of writer and person you are.
You could also have a page with a list of all your works that you've published and a little summary or excerpt for each. :D
~TRA
http://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com
I loved the "Ten Things I've Never Told Anyone About StarDoc" that you had yesterday.
ReplyDeleteHow about satellite pages about "Things you don't know about..." for each series. It could have little world building stuff that you think is cool, but never makes it into the books.
Reba wrote: Maybe a page with tools and gizmos? Separate from the substantive how-to writing advice and guidance (and inspiration)?
ReplyDeleteI'd love to do one for writing tools, gadgets and generators; I'm passionate about everything from VRS to sites like Wordle. Excellent suggestion, thank you.
TRA wrote: To minimize clutter on your homepage, you could move all of the links and resources that you've got to a separate page. :) That way it's all in one space/page and not on the sidebar, plus easy-to-access.
ReplyDeleteThe more we talk about this the more I'm thinking the sidebar could be converted into pages. For example, after Shawna suggested tags I played with the labels/tag gadget and discovered I've used 387 different tags on PBW. That's definitely something I'd rather not have cluttering up the front page.
And I would love to know more about you all the same. :D An About-Me page would be wonderful so we could get to know more about the type of writer and person you are.
I appreciate the compliment and the interest. I'm old, boring and ordinary, though, and after so many years of working in Publishing I've been forced to become a very private person, too. I'd rather my books take the spotlight anyway; they're much more interesting than me. :)
Suzi wrote: How about satellite pages about "Things you don't know about..." for each series. It could have little world building stuff that you think is cool, but never makes it into the books.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind letting a few things slip now and then, but I keep most of my worldbuilding private because I don't think a writer should explain their work or show too much of what happens behind the scenes. Also, having private records no one can access but you is a safeguard against lawsuits, or can be used as evidence when you have to sue someone for copyright violations.
I do love the new bibliography page.
ReplyDeleteAnd maybe rather than post short/snips of John and Marcia or scenes that might be just a paragraph or two long that you want to throw out there for us, those could be posted on a separate page. Once it was set up, a permalink to the actual snip can be listed at the top of the page.
I don't know what else. I was primarily thinking along those lines though.
Other than that, I think there are some great suggestions here.
Theo wrote: I do love the new bibliography page.
ReplyDeleteI just wish I could put everything on it, lol.
And maybe rather than post short/snips of John and Marcia or scenes that might be just a paragraph or two long that you want to throw out there for us, those could be posted on a separate page. Once it was set up, a permalink to the actual snip can be listed at the top of the page.
You and Darlene are going to make me write another John and Marcia post, aren't you?
I don't know what else. I was primarily thinking along those lines though.
Other than that, I think there are some great suggestions here.
Amen. And thanks for the heads-up on the extra pages being available, btw. I never notice things.
The ideas above are great.
ReplyDeleteRather than give you more to think about- look at me being helpful ;)- I've got a question. You mentioned a story blog in this post. Can you provide a link? I'm tired, so maybe I'm missing it, but I found the photoblog but can't find this.
Btw, I have just started my first foray into fantasy with your Stardoc novels and I'm loving it. Thanks for writing.
Just a 'yeah, me too' to the comments about shifting a lot of the sidebar content to static pages. Just to eliminate the long scrolling.
ReplyDeleteBut, honestly, whatever you decide is just fine. I'll read your blog no matter what its format.
:)
lisa
I think I could make good use of this on my own blog! Thanks, Theo
ReplyDeleteHi Lynn,
ReplyDeleteI'm a reader of yours...actually, more of a lurker to be honest. ;) I think your other readers already suggested just about everything.
BUT there is something cool about Google tags (they call them 'labels') that I wanted to point out. You can select which labels are displayed.
Every label does *not* have to shared. You can go through and select on the labels you feel are important or that your readers frequently search.
I hope this helps, :)
Deb