I’ve had the good fortune to work with many authors and small business people using my (somewhat) technical knowledge about websites. I’ve also experienced hosts — good and bad — and the way that those companies and individuals impacted on my website. For the most part, I’d have to say that my hosting experience has been good. However, having experienced the bad, I’d like to help others avoid it.

The good news is that for most authors who want a simple website, perhaps just a WordPress blog, the majority of the hosting out there is more than sufficient. If your blog receives a lot of traffic, or you have extensive content, you may want to make sure your host can handle it. But what do you really need to know?

First, you need a host you can contact. Ask a pre-sales question or two, even if you know the answer. Better yet, if the answer is on their website — ask anyway. The speed of the reply, as well as the tone, can tell you a lot about the host. Tech support people get asked a lot of routine, obvious (to us) questions on a daily basis. Does the reply sound like the person is professional? Or does it have a “look on the website, you moron” tone to it?

If the host offers a list of their clients, ask for referrals. Is the host there when people have questions? Can you reach the person and do they respond within twenty-four hours or less? If the host appears to be a large company (like GoDaddy, Hostgator, or 1and1), google their name plus the word reviews. (i.e. Hostgator reviews). Understand that no one company can please everyone, but are the majority of the posts negative? Does the company reasonably refute any bad reviews? Is everything glowing?

You can check forums such as webhostingtalk.com to see if there are any posts about a particular host.

Once you’ve checked out their business and customer service skills, THEN see what kind of space you will receive. In the majority of cases, most plans will be suitable for a blog-type website. Again, if you have special needs, anticipate a lot of traffic, or will be running other applications such as an online store or lots of videos, you may want to look for extra space, storage, or bandwidth.

Finally, check the price. I’ll be honest, you really do get what you pay for. I was with a lovely company that had excellent prices and super reviews. They were sold and the whole thing went downhill. I went with another host who had excellent prices, but she was a single person operation and when she didn’t pay her bills ALL our sites were down (I communicated with several of her clients.) (Luckily in that scenario I was easily able to find out who she hosted with and went with that company directly instead of through her.)

That said, for most blog-type sites, you should be able to find a pretty good deal for $5 a month or less, and you’ll probably be perfectly happy with them.

If you do have special needs, such as an online store, then you’ll probably need a few more things. Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.marywinter.com/?page_id=728

Click on the link above, or the shiny new “paperbacks” link in the upper right-hand corner, and you’ll be taken to my paperback sale. I have several author’s copies here that I would love to get into the hands of readers. I also have some EC card decks, so if you order, I might just toss one in.

Thanks!!!!!

When the Russian figure skater, Yevgeny Plushenko, said that you can’t be a skating champion if you don’t have the quad, he reminded me so much of the people who say that you can’t write (fill in the genre) because you’re not (fill in the blank). Writing, like figure skating is a subjective sport, and the people who say this are trying to make it into a timed event.

It’s easy in a timed event, say long track speed skating, to figure out who wins. The person who skates around the oval the fastest does, and the clock doesn’t lie. There isn’t any subjectivity to it. The time is either there, or it isn’t.

Really, you could extrapolate my first statement to be anyone who puts any sort of qualifiers on writing. For example, to the person who replied to a very nice personalized rejection letter with a two page manifesto on how I was killing creativity and asking for conformity. I am not asking everyone to wear a similar outfit (except the color may vary) and skate around the same oval in exactly the same fashion (or as close to it as possible) so that the fastest person wins. No, I’m asking for the beauty and artistry of a long program combined with the endurance that it takes to skate such a program. You can choose your costume, your music, even your moves, though I’d like to see some things (like good active writing, proper grammar, etc.). Which is what the judges say when they establish points for various elements. And the person with the most points receives the contract, the good review, and the career.

In the end, whether it’s on the ice or on the computer screen, it’s not a timed event with it’s inherent conformity that we want to see. It’s grace and talent, and something that compells us to watch again and again. That’s what writing is about.

So don’t make judgements about who should write what. Don’t hurl accusations or cry foul unless you have a solid basis to do so. Because Evan Lysacek crafted an exquisite long program that reminded us what skating truly is. An art form of grace and beauty that can never be judged as if one were watching a timed event. It’s the entire performance, the entire package that counts. That’s the same thing that happens in writing. It’s the whole story, the execution, the form, the creativity, and the discipline that make it work. And that, my friends, means that it is going to be subjective.

Bring your writing questions, your publishing questions, and questions about Pink Petal Books. We’re going to chat for three hours, so bring lots of questions. I can’t wait to be there.

Thanks so much to AWH for having me. If you are serious about writing, this group is one classy bunch of people.

Most authors want to hunt pirates but are also aware that many of the torrent sites these people frequent are full of viruses and spyware/malware. Those aren’t the sort of things you’d want to infect your writing computer, so most settle for sending DMCA notices and not bothering to download the files to see what’s there. That’s a shame, because many publishers code their review copy files (or author release files) and that helps track down pirates.

There’s an answer, and it’s one that I’ve recently implemented myself–a linux computer.

Linux is an operating system, like Windows or Macintosh. It is, however, open source, which means that it’s free. It comes in several flavors (like ice cream), and I use ubuntu, because after research that seems to be one of the easier ones to use.

The best thing about linux is it has a lot fewer vulnerabilities to viruses and nasty software than anything Windows-based.

So, how do you build a ubuntu desktop?

Read the rest of this entry »