Any opinions on the best free blog for a novelist?

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by ebooklovers

One of the things I love about Tumblr is that other users will also be able to see your post, regardless if you two are connected or friends. This means that Tumblr automatically provides an audience to your post so all you need to do is to make a good and interesting post for your market.

Unless I've mis-understood your point, that's true of all blogging software. Some offer ways to lock posts down so that only certain people can view them, but by default they'll be visible to anyone.

[Penforhire]

avantman is correct, blogs are public by default though you can make them private. Comments are another area where you can make choices (e.g. to approve each comment before it is posted or restrict who can comment).

I'm not sure if there is an easier way to provide blog subscriptions now but I used Feedburner, a 3rd party service, to offer one. Every time a new post goes on-line it is directly fed to subscribers. A small amount of background blog jiggering was required to code a "click here to subscribe" button in my blog. Wordpress had easy enough examples to guide me.

[Elfwreck]

Tumblr's good for high-activity limited-feedback posts. There's no decent archiving function at Tumblr; if you write That Perfect Article that bounces all over the web for a week and a half... in another month, nobody will be able to find it. Tumblr has very limited comment functions--usually none; they're allowable but not automatic. Tumblr's designed to have its content reblogged and shared around; not good if you want your stuff to stay where you can track it.

It can be used for marketing, but it's a very specific type of marketing. And a lot of the literary market is staying away from Tumblr because Tumblr is where the porn is it's picture-heavy and discussion-light, and crowded with teens and college students.

I wouldn't recommend Tumblr as a commercial platform for anyone who isn't already very savvy about social media networking unless their target demographic is Tumblr users. Like Twitter, it can be used as an adjunct to a more traditional site, but as a main platform it's got some serious weaknesses. They're not insurmountable, but wouldn't be easy for a beginner.

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

I'm not sure if there is an easier way to provide blog subscriptions now but I used Feedburner, a 3rd party service, to offer one. Every time a new post goes on-line it is directly fed to subscribers. A small amount of background blog jiggering was required to code a "click here to subscribe" button in my blog. Wordpress had easy enough examples to guide me.

I just dragged the "Follow Blog" widget to one of the widget areas. When I write a new post, it sends an email to subscribers. That's on a blog hosted on wordpress.com A self-hosted Wordpress install doesn't have that by default, though it's probably available to install.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Tumblr's good for high-activity limited-feedback posts. There's no decent archiving function at Tumblr; if you write That Perfect Article that bounces all over the web for a week and a half... in another month, nobody will be able to find it. Tumblr has very limited comment functions--usually none; they're allowable but not automatic. Tumblr's designed to have its content reblogged and shared around; not good if you want your stuff to stay where you can track it.

It can be used for marketing, but it's a very specific type of marketing. And a lot of the literary market is staying away from Tumblr because Tumblr is where the porn is it's picture-heavy and discussion-light, and crowded with teens and college students.

I wouldn't recommend Tumblr as a commercial platform for anyone who isn't already very savvy about social media networking unless their target demographic is Tumblr users. Like Twitter, it can be used as an adjunct to a more traditional site, but as a main platform it's got some serious weaknesses. They're not insurmountable, but wouldn't be easy for a beginner.

Thanks. I'm much informed about this stuff from your advice. It's greatly appreciated.

[cathalmc]

I paid for my book's domain to get hosted by WordPress, it's very cheap. They allow you to upload files for hosting so you can put links to samples of the book there - although you have to change the file extension from .epub or .mobi to .zip, and add a notice to the webpage to anyone downloading.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by cathalmc

I paid for my book's domain to get hosted by WordPress, it's very cheap. They allow you to upload files for hosting so you can put links to samples of the book there - although you have to change the file extension from .epub or .mobi to .zip, and add a notice to the webpage to anyone downloading.

I heard about that uploading feature. It is nice. But for now I'm going w/blogspot because it's easy. Thanks for the input.

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by robert eggleton

Greg, if you paid a penny to promote your book, please do not refer to yourself as an author.

I don't remember seeing any suggestion that Gregg had paid to promote his book, but I'm curious. Why shouldn't he call himself an author if he has?

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by avantman42

I don't remember seeing any suggestion that Gregg had paid to promote his book, but I'm curious. Why shouldn't he call himself an author if he has?

Yeah, I really want the answer to that as well. Very curious to know what Robert meant.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by robert eggleton

Greg, if you paid a penny to promote your book, please do not refer to yourself as an author.

Plenty of authors pay to promote their books. They attend conventions they pay for to do book signings; they buy business cards with the name of their book on them; they buy webspace dedicated to their authorial career. None of that makes them "not authors."

Not sure how it's more noble to pay a percentage of one's sales to someone else for their promotional efforts. Authors whose publishers cover "promotional costs" are still paying for the promotion--they just don't know how much, vs how much they're paying for editing and how much for the publisher's office space.

[bmcox]

I'm using Wordpress and Tumblr. I haven't really delved into all that Tumblr can do but there are a couple Tumblr blogs that I follow and they're fantastic.

Between Blogger and Wordpress I went with Wordpress because it had the most options for customizing and could later be ported to a self-hosted site.

If you are willing to spend a monthly fee, I hear Squarespace is also a good choice.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by bmcox

I'm using Wordpress and Tumblr. I haven't really delved into all that Tumblr can do but there are a couple Tumblr blogs that I follow and they're fantastic.

Between Blogger and Wordpress I went with Wordpress because it had the most options for customizing and could later be ported to a self-hosted site.

If you are willing to spend a monthly fee, I hear Squarespace is also a good choice.

Thanks for the feedback, bmcox. I appreciate it.

[TaraMcTiernan]

I'm throwing in my vote for Wordpress too. The best! I've had a blog with Blogger and the problem is, you never know when you'll go there and something won't be functioning properly. Today I tried to get on and change some of my pages and it wouldn't load the pages at all. Just hung there. My other sites have been with Wordpress and they were great/no problems...

[Alex Bleach]

It's worth mentioning a blog is only useful if it is updated regularly, otherwise stick with twitter.