Based on your suggestions.....

Steven Lake · 03-09-2018, 10:53 AM

Just in case you guys got the crazy idea that I don't listen to your suggestions, I present you with my newly redesigned writing website: https://realmsofimagination.net/ And I'm *NOT* posting this to self promote, so mods please don't take it that way. I actually just got done with a redesign based off a number of the suggestions made here by you guys and wanted to show you guys what I had so far. The biggest changes are the front page (more me and my books promotion, zero blog stuff, save only for the menu), plus I split out the "About Me" section per the recommendation of several. I also fleshed it out a LOT!! I will still probably add more later on, but at least I have something online now more than I did before.

The rest is primarily cosmetic to bring it up to a more modern and pleasing look (plus one that's easier to navigate. Now I'm not done with all the changes as I have other things that will be coming along down the road as I get time, but I wanted to show that I do listen to your suggestions, even if I don't accept them out of hand or right away. So in a way, even though we kinda snarked back and forth in the billboard thread, I did take your suggestions to heart.

I also FINALLY, after countless weeks of pulling teeth and fighting with Amazon, got my first new books up there on their site. Yes, they're in print only, and there's only 3 new ones, but it's progress. Who knew that Amazon could be so ridiculously difficult about putting books online. Sheesh. And the ebook versions of those new books are coming soon too. But again, teeth pulling. Oy. You'd think they'd want to sell people's books on their site. But given the grief they're giving me and my buddy, I highly question that. Anyhow, stuff is happening, albeit slowly. It kinda makes me feel like I'm back in the old dead tree days again. haha. Anyhow, I just wanted to pop in and let you guys know I took some of your suggestions and made them reality. Also, if you have more suggestions to make the site better, I'm all ears.

skb · 03-09-2018, 04:39 PM

Yay! Nice work.

I can see that you've put heaps of time into that site (web sites are time vortexes...vortices...er, anyway...).

I particularly think the book stuff is the winner here. One click to get to the info on each book and clear icons to denote where the desired book can be sourced. It was so easy to navigate around and view the book information.

Go you good thing!

My only grizzle (and it's a purely personal thing) is that the font size is very small. But that's a real "I'm old and my eyesight is shot" comment.

Nice work, Steven. Congratulations!

Steven Lake · 03-09-2018, 06:41 PM

Thanks!

As for the font size, it's set to default web size, which I think is 10pt. But being one who is heading into the "old guy" category myself, I totally understand your issue with the font size. ^_^;; But thanks for the complement on the site. I did take everyone's suggestions, weighted them against each other, and implemented what I could to get this.

gmw · 03-09-2018, 07:22 PM

I don't think you're getting browser default font size (when I compare it to an ultra-simple HTML file in Firefox your font is smaller). At a guess you are inheriting from some style or higher level HTML object.

The site changes (other than font size) are visually pleasing, but from a content perspective (in regard to the many comments you got on another thread) I don't see it as that different. You are still mixing your speculative and religious content, and this is always going to put some people off. Such is life.

Steven Lake · 03-09-2018, 07:41 PM

lol, well, I figure some of that is going to be expected. I mean, you'd get the same thing if you mixed pure scifi and pure fantasy on the same page, as the scifi purists would be put off by the fantasy and vice versa. But, separating the various parts of the about me page is likely to make a bigger difference than separating the books by type.

gmw · 03-09-2018, 07:55 PM

It's not quite the same thing. The big three: religion, politics, sex. Keep them away from everything else (and each other) or be prepared for the consequences.

I have no problem with you publishing religious material under the heading of "Realms of Imagination", but I had thought you might get some objections from religious folk. And, as you've seen on the previous thread here, finding religious material on your site will definitely impact how people looking for speculative fiction will view everything else on your site.

But you've been doing this for a long while. If you're happy with the results you are under no obligation to change anything. I am only pointing out that keeping the material together under the one site is not really achieving what was suggested by various people under that other thread.

BookCat · 03-14-2018, 01:27 PM

Further to gmw's comments, I was disappointed when I clicked on one of your book covers, expecting it to be a romance, only to find that it was a religious book. I tried another where both the title and cover strongly suggested romance, but it was another religious book. I would be nice if you made it clearer which books are of what genre by perhaps putting them on different lines, separated by the name of the series and the genre.

You've fleshed out your About Me section maybe a little too much. I was reading the bio part and at times it was just Too Much Information.

The overall look of the site is good. I had to zoom in to read it.

JSWolf · 03-14-2018, 01:36 PM

There are some serious gotchas with the new website.

For one, the text is just too small. You cannot have the text be too small.

On the my books page, the text on the covers is too small and because they are all bunched together, it's no possible to tell the type of book the way it is. You need to separate the different main categories from each other.

The forum also has the text too small.

The about me is too long.

So get to work and fix it otherwise, you'll get people leaving pretty quick.

skb · 03-14-2018, 04:12 PM

I hadn't even noticed the christian books initially. I think you need categories (because I wouldn't want to stumble upon a christian book even by accident, sorry). To be brutally honest, I wouldn't read any of those books once I'd spotted the christian ones - so for people like me, it could be hard to come up with a solution. I thought you were going to separate the two interests...

Also, this may be my OCD, but on the page with the book covers, the covers should all be the same size (I know, it's picky). You can do this easily enough in most graphic packages.

The internet. Bringing people together so they can disagree about everything since...forever. You're never going to please everyone.

You've certainly addressed (and fixed) some of the structural issue. But it's the content that's going to be an issue for so many (like me).

03-09-2018, 10:53 AM	#1
Steven Lake Sci-Fi Author Posts: 1,157 Karma: 14743509 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Michigan Device: PC (Calibre)	Based on your suggestions..... Just in case you guys got the crazy idea that I don't listen to your suggestions, I present you with my newly redesigned writing website: https://realmsofimagination.net/ And I'm NOT posting this to self promote, so mods please don't take it that way. I actually just got done with a redesign based off a number of the suggestions made here by you guys and wanted to show you guys what I had so far. The biggest changes are the front page (more me and my books promotion, zero blog stuff, save only for the menu), plus I split out the "About Me" section per the recommendation of several. I also fleshed it out a LOT!! I will still probably add more later on, but at least I have something online now more than I did before. The rest is primarily cosmetic to bring it up to a more modern and pleasing look (plus one that's easier to navigate. Now I'm not done with all the changes as I have other things that will be coming along down the road as I get time, but I wanted to show that I do listen to your suggestions, even if I don't accept them out of hand or right away. So in a way, even though we kinda snarked back and forth in the billboard thread, I did take your suggestions to heart. I also FINALLY, after countless weeks of pulling teeth and fighting with Amazon, got my first new books up there on their site. Yes, they're in print only, and there's only 3 new ones, but it's progress. Who knew that Amazon could be so ridiculously difficult about putting books online. Sheesh. And the ebook versions of those new books are coming soon too. But again, teeth pulling. Oy. You'd think they'd want to sell people's books on their site. But given the grief they're giving me and my buddy, I highly question that. Anyhow, stuff is happening, albeit slowly. It kinda makes me feel like I'm back in the old dead tree days again. haha. Anyhow, I just wanted to pop in and let you guys know I took some of your suggestions and made them reality. Also, if you have more suggestions to make the site better, I'm all ears.

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03-09-2018, 04:39 PM	#2
skb Evangelist Posts: 401 Karma: 1597305 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Ipod G4, MacOS 10.12, Calibre, Pocketbook Touch HD 3	Yay! Nice work. I can see that you've put heaps of time into that site (web sites are time vortexes...vortices...er, anyway...). I particularly think the book stuff is the winner here. One click to get to the info on each book and clear icons to denote where the desired book can be sourced. It was so easy to navigate around and view the book information. Go you good thing! My only grizzle (and it's a purely personal thing) is that the font size is very small. But that's a real "I'm old and my eyesight is shot" comment. Nice work, Steven. Congratulations!

03-09-2018, 06:41 PM	#3
Steven Lake Sci-Fi Author Posts: 1,157 Karma: 14743509 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Michigan Device: PC (Calibre)	Thanks! As for the font size, it's set to default web size, which I think is 10pt. But being one who is heading into the "old guy" category myself, I totally understand your issue with the font size. ^_^;; But thanks for the complement on the site. I did take everyone's suggestions, weighted them against each other, and implemented what I could to get this.

03-09-2018, 07:22 PM	#4
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,809 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	I don't think you're getting browser default font size (when I compare it to an ultra-simple HTML file in Firefox your font is smaller). At a guess you are inheriting from some style or higher level HTML object. The site changes (other than font size) are visually pleasing, but from a content perspective (in regard to the many comments you got on another thread) I don't see it as that different. You are still mixing your speculative and religious content, and this is always going to put some people off. Such is life.

03-09-2018, 07:41 PM	#5
Steven Lake Sci-Fi Author Posts: 1,157 Karma: 14743509 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Michigan Device: PC (Calibre)	lol, well, I figure some of that is going to be expected. I mean, you'd get the same thing if you mixed pure scifi and pure fantasy on the same page, as the scifi purists would be put off by the fantasy and vice versa. But, separating the various parts of the about me page is likely to make a bigger difference than separating the books by type.

03-09-2018, 07:55 PM	#6
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,809 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	It's not quite the same thing. The big three: religion, politics, sex. Keep them away from everything else (and each other) or be prepared for the consequences. I have no problem with you publishing religious material under the heading of "Realms of Imagination", but I had thought you might get some objections from religious folk. And, as you've seen on the previous thread here, finding religious material on your site will definitely impact how people looking for speculative fiction will view everything else on your site. But you've been doing this for a long while. If you're happy with the results you are under no obligation to change anything. I am only pointing out that keeping the material together under the one site is not really achieving what was suggested by various people under that other thread.

03-14-2018, 01:27 PM	#7
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,912 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	Further to gmw's comments, I was disappointed when I clicked on one of your book covers, expecting it to be a romance, only to find that it was a religious book. I tried another where both the title and cover strongly suggested romance, but it was another religious book. I would be nice if you made it clearer which books are of what genre by perhaps putting them on different lines, separated by the name of the series and the genre. You've fleshed out your About Me section maybe a little too much. I was reading the bio part and at times it was just Too Much Information. The overall look of the site is good. I had to zoom in to read it.

03-14-2018, 01:36 PM	#8
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,968 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	There are some serious gotchas with the new website. For one, the text is just too small. You cannot have the text be too small. On the my books page, the text on the covers is too small and because they are all bunched together, it's no possible to tell the type of book the way it is. You need to separate the different main categories from each other. The forum also has the text too small. The about me is too long. So get to work and fix it otherwise, you'll get people leaving pretty quick.

03-14-2018, 04:12 PM	#9
skb Evangelist Posts: 401 Karma: 1597305 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Ipod G4, MacOS 10.12, Calibre, Pocketbook Touch HD 3	I hadn't even noticed the christian books initially. I think you need categories (because I wouldn't want to stumble upon a christian book even by accident, sorry). To be brutally honest, I wouldn't read any of those books once I'd spotted the christian ones - so for people like me, it could be hard to come up with a solution. I thought you were going to separate the two interests... Also, this may be my OCD, but on the page with the book covers, the covers should all be the same size (I know, it's picky). You can do this easily enough in most graphic packages. The internet. Bringing people together so they can disagree about everything since...forever. You're never going to please everyone. You've certainly addressed (and fixed) some of the structural issue. But it's the content that's going to be an issue for so many (like me).