Re: web site to promote book?

**"* <b*@prodigy.net>**

Well, here's one do-it-yourself website builder, me.

I have used Hostway as my website host for five or six years. My plan is 
$210 a year for a huge amount of space. In the beginning I used Hostway's 
free site-building wizard. This was fine for two years. Then Hostway decided 
that their wizard tool was outdated, so they took it down and provided a new 
one. The trouble was, there was no way to convert the old site and get it 
into new website building wizard. I had to start all over.

I did this once and then found that my old page names were floating in 
cyberspace in Google and other places, and people were going to empty pages 
because these links were broken.

But I kept going and all was well until last spring, when the same thing 
started all over and the site-making wizard was replaced again. They offered 
one that had no way to keep the page names the same (morons!).

I complained and asked for tech help and told them they were making my blood 
pressure spike. Why couldn't I just keep using the old wizard without new 
bells and whistles? No way (probably security flaws but they did not say). 
They suggested that I buy a website-making program and ftp the site to them. 
It seemed unfair but I could see that this would give me independence from 
their ever-changing wizard.

After looking into it I ended up buying Adobe CreativeSuite 2 (CS2) in June. 
It includes the full versions of AdobePhotoshop, AdobeGoLive (for websites), 
AdobeAcrobat, InDesign, and more. I need most of the programs in this 
package.

After spending five days in July locked in my office with the new software 
plus a copy of CS2 FOR DUMMIES, a training disk, and some other manuals, I 
emerged with a rebuilt website that I could control. (I will ignore CS3 for 
at least a year or two.)

Adobe's InDesign program is not that easy or obvious to use, but it works 
very well. Without the FOR DUMMIES book I was getting nowhere with it.

I have not used other website creation programs but I hear that the 
interface is easier with some of them.

I have not invested that much more time in learning the finer points in 
GoLive but my website works well enough and  I can make additions and 
updates in only a few minutes.

Take a look:  www.mackeybooks.com

For fun I even made a new website, www.mackeysolar.com which links to my 
Amazon "aStore" selling solar-powered garden fountains and other 
solar-powered goodies. This one is being hosted from www.1and1.com and costs 
only three dollars a month.

Rob, you could use a "wizard" for now from the website host of your choice 
and be ready to buy and learn a website making program eventually, to 
protect you from broken links in the future. You'll find that your knowledge 
of PhotoShop will help a lot.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Betty Mackey

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Robcardillo@aol.com>
To: <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 10:52 AM
Subject: [GWL] web site to promote book?

> Anyone here using a DIY web design service to promote their  books?
>
> Adam Levine and I have just finished A Guide to the Great Gardens of the
> Philadelphia Region and want to create a small companion website to post
> updates, list book signings and lectures, etc.
>
> One web designer quoted me $2400(!!)  However, there are some online  web
> site developers (Hometead and Yahoo Sitebuilder are two) that offer easy 
> setups
> with templates, domain names, hosting, etc. for a monthly fee of $10 to 
> $20.
> Anyone have any experiences with these or other vendors?
>
> Thanks and Happy Holidays to All,
>
> rob cardillo
>

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