Category Archives: Author website

My website: Sharon C. Williams

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Coming up with content for a blog comes and goes. How often does one post? On what? How long should it be? How do you set up your site so it is pleasing to the reader? So many things to consider when creating and maintaining a website. I’ve been keeping a small notebook on topics I can write on during any given week. It is getting a little lengthy, but that’s okay. I probably won’t use all the ideas but it is nice to have backups.

What photos do you use? Are you sure they are not copyrighted? The videos can be also include in this. I try to use photos of my own, and I do recycle pictures. I try to be careful on what I place up here. When I use videos, the majority are created by me.

What do you decide to reveal? What is to much and what is to little? What sidebars do you use? What menus can you create that makes you shine? It all depends on what you are willing to share with the world. It took me a while to feel comfortable in having myself out there. But once my book was picked up, for it to do well, I had to make a big leap of faith.

I try to mix it up a bit between:

-My books and journey as a writer

-Talk about things that just interest me

-Cross promote with other writers

-And just recently, place book reviews on the site. I do have another website strictly for book reviews.

I been telling a few of my writer friends in town they need to get a blog and any other social media that they are comfortable with. They really aren’t listening. I been working on my social platform for a few years now, it took a lot of time. Oh my gosh it took a lot of time and energy to pull it up to where now it is just maintenance. Well until the next new big thing in social media comes out. I will decide then whether to learn it or not. But once you have it a working copy that you are happy with, the maintenance is minimal, at least for me it has been. It is worth the effort. It gives you a voice regardless of how many members you have.

This is my place and I welcome people in with a smile as they pull up a chair to chat.

Changes:How do we handle them?

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I’m fortunate that there are free websites for me to use for my author’s page. I use WordPress. It gives me enough widgets and space to profile myself and my brand. I do like to change it up a bit with the color, pictures and format of the page.

However, last Friday it was changed for me. I released a post in the early morning. Going back around 11:30 to check on something I saw my page was different. The reason being the theme had been deactivated by the site. Not only that but my side bars went with it.

Yes I went ballistic. I was in the process of wrapping up edits for my book, “Squirrel Mafia”, so I could send it off to my editor. But this stopped me cold. I’ve been working on my social platform for at least three years, maybe four, now and every sites revolves around the other sites I go to. It had to be fixed, pronto. In my mind, there was no other thought. For the next three hours I tried different themes trying to get one I’d be happy with. I posted on FB my displeasure. I reached for a Pepsi as I fussed, complained and talked to the computer about my frustration. What I have now I like to call a WIP. I’m not quite happy with it, though people have told me it looks fine. Maybe it will grow on me.

Change. How do we handle change, whether they be small or big? Does this depend on our age or our environment or perhaps how we were raised? Things that use to bother me in the past rarely is a blimp on my radar now while others will get me stalled for a bit. How we choose to handle each situation varies from each situation and hopefully we learn from each experience as we move along in life.

Yes this was a small bleep for me. It showed me a bit of myself in how I interact with the big and little. But it also showed me that I would keep at it until it was solved or to do the best I can.

I was told by a friend, “Sharon you are grace under fire – I like that about you LOL!” I like that, even if it means having to go through trials to get to this point.