OK, I know it’s taken me a while to finish this… I blame winter germs! I’m now back on track and I managed to finish a PDF document that walks you through setting up a WordPress blog with a Weaver II theme so you have something that looks pretty much like a standard website. (And yes, you can control the ‘comments’ that you usually find on blogs.)
You’ll find it on the Resources page.
Conveniently, I was ready to set up a new website especially for people who were keen on learning more about publishing on Kindle – so I used that as my demo!
Now I look forward to seeing some of your results!
Hi Marg, I’ve already set up a blog site using a different theme. Your pdf uses the Weaver II theme. Is it possible to make changes without changing the theme or would you advise using Weaver II?
Hi Maureen,
I can’t answer that question without being able to see the control panel. You would have a bit of an idea from seeing which changes I made using just the WordPress admin panel (on the left) and which changes I made using the Weaver II Admin. Anything that I did with WordPress you should be able to do too.
Why don’t you give it a go and see what happens? You can always undo it and go back to what it was before. Um… I think….
Marg
Gee whizz Marg, what a busy 10 weeks you’ve had creating all those resourses. You leave me for dead. Congratulations.
You oughta talk Helen… you never stop working plus run a totally fantastic art gallery! AND do storytelling gigs!
Thanks Marg. I’ve always been someone who finds it hard to sit still unless I’ve got to or the book is fascinating. I still get butterflies in the stomach when I launch out on something new like Kindle. I’m still working through my current challenge – re-organizing my filing cabinet. Re your latest tip, I pictured stomach contents sloshing, when you described the gait we have when carrying coffee! Uggh. Your new website looks great.
Helen, I know exactly what you mean. I felt almost sick when I hit ‘publish’ for my first Kindle book. (What if I’ve done something wrong…????) But it’s like everything… you just have to bite the bullet and have a go. The first time I set up a website I was so nervous I could barely sit in the chair. Now I create a new website in minutes (it’s super easy no matter whether I use XSitePro or WordPress.) And I firmly believe that YOU can do anything, Helen. You’ve shown it time and time again.
Thanks so much for this Marg. This couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m taking a few days off next week and I’m hoping to be well into creating a website by the end of the week (oh, she of overwhelming naivety!). I’ll let you know how easy it is – or not. Glad to hear you’re feeling better.
Robyn
Great. Post your website here on the ‘websites’ post when you finish it!
PS How do you, and others, get the photo to go with your comments?
Photos are easy-peasy. I’ll do a post on it next week.
Thanks, Marg. I’ve just sent book number 2 off to an editor. Now to get to that website! I’m going to use WordPress (and your wisdom) and see what I can come up with. I’ve decided I’m not going to pursue non-fiction online at the moment. Fiction is my love and I’m going to stick with that until December, at least, and then when I get a holiday break I might look at non-fiction again. The 10 week challenge is wonderful, but just making this one decision has made it an overwhelming success for me.
Thank you.
Robyn
Know what you mean, Robyn… sometimes it takes something like this Challenge to firm up ideas. I know it has done that for me. I’m going to focus heavily on Kindle from now on. I think there is such potential there… I’m going to do books on writing and fiction. The buzz has it that fiction is where the big profits are to be made.
Hey Robyn!!!! Your Gravatar is showing up! Yay!
Marg, you’ve provided so much fantastic information in just eight weeks.
I’m plodding along with the challenges I set myself…many and varied small challenges but I’m getting there. I’m gradually reducing my amount of paper files and just looking into creating a blog. I’m interested in following up on all the Kindle information too. Meanwhile I’m having fun with my new iPad.
iPads are just wonderful. I use mine all the time – when I can wrest it away from my grandchildren!
Blogs are easy and fun to create, so go ahead with that one!
And definitely publish on Kindle – I’m reading a great new eBook (a Kindle naturally) that does a brilliant job of showing the differences between ‘legacy’ publishers (I was never sure what to call them, so I just called them ‘traditional’ publishers) and digital publishers. I’ll do a review of it soon.