Start Here
There's a lot of information on this site, so I imagine you're a little overwhelmed right now. Don’t worry, it isn’t as hard as it looks.
This post will guide you through the basics of what I’m trying to achieve here, and highlight the key areas you want to focus on. You can pretty much jump in anywhere and get going, but here I can go into depth on the idea behind this website.
My Goals
I’m not going to go into the art and craft of writing — there are more books, websites and courses about that than I can count — rather I’m looking at the tech side of things. I plan to cover everything from building an author website to growing a mailing list, plus anything else you might want me to explain.
So grab a tea or coffee and start your journey towards being a confident, internet-savvy author today.
How to use this website
The front page consists of the numerous ‘areas’ we are going to cover. For example, ‘Website’ is one, as is ‘Security’, and ‘Mailing List’. You can drop into any one of them at any time by just clicking on the heading (or the ‘Show More’ link). Each area has a number of articles within it, and you’re usually best to follow them through in order. At the end of each article is a link to the next, or just hop back to the list again and select it from there.
The first article in each area will be a ‘TL;DR’ (Too Long; Didn’t Read’) article for the impatient ones among us. It’ll give you the bare-bones steps to follow, and usually a video link to show you the process, so you can be up and running in no time. The rest of the articles will explain in much more detail, and also justify what I’m telling you so you can have a deeper understanding of my rationale. For example, the ‘Website’ area has a ten minute video that runs you through buying a domain name, linking it to a hosting service and putting it online. If you want to know more about any of those steps, there are articles on each of them.
At the top of every page is the menu bar. This contains a link back to the home page, an explanation of who I am and what makes me an expert in these matters. Also included are links to my privacy policy, review / recommendation policy and a handy jargon buster.
And finally there’s a ‘Subscribe’ option. If you want to get an email each time I publish a new article, you can sign up there for free and I’ll let you know the instant anything new goes live.
Where do I start?
You can do any of the areas in any order, really. But for a new author without any existing web presence, I’d suggest the following order. Dig as deep into each area as you like, and feel free to move on when you think you’ve got enough information.
- Building Your Author Website
- Growing Your Mailing List
- Security
And if any of this seems too overwhelming, drop me a line! I’d love to know what you think, good or bad, and am more than happy to make changes when something isn’t clear.