WebforAuthors.com Blog

I'm not a good blogger!

2008-02-01T11:19:00.002-05:00

As you can see from the infrequent postings, I'm not a good blogger! So I'll apologize right now if you're here and there is nothing fresh to read. Actual, the blog is pretty much inactive as WebforAuthors and other clients keep me very busy.

We keep a page of super sites we have completed, please drop by for a visit.
Best wishes,
Marshall

WriteStuff Writers Conference

2007-04-28T13:28:00.000-04:00

Hello from Indianapolis, IN where Tom Britt is presenting the atFishers Young Writers Short Story winners. Three 9 to 10 year olds were the winners and you can find more about them at. Www.atFishers.com.

I will be on one of the panels this afternoon.

Marshall

WebforAuthors - January 2007 Newsletter

2007-01-07T18:43:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year and best wishes for a prosperous and successful 2007 from WebforAuthors!

The WebforAuthors Team is busy making plans for new features to add during 2007. On our agenda is adding a Guestbook, Press Kit and Clips pages to your websites. These features were planned for 2006, but our new Domain Registration (register domains without a WFA website subscription) feature has taken longer than expected. But they will definitely be out later this year. As always, these features will be added at no additional cost to you.

In addition, based on your input, we are working towards providing more flexibility to our system so that you can add additional pages, change page layouts and more. We’re calling this “WebforAuthors 2.0” and it will be a major upgrade to our system. This effort is still in the planning phase, so there is still a lot of work to do before our plans are finalized.

On The Air – January 9
I will be the guest on “Book Marketing with Fran” on Achiever Radio on Tuesday, January 9. Achiever Radio is a Web Talk Radio Station. You can find out more about Fran’s broadcasts at http://achieveradio.com/~fran/. The show is at 2PM EST, if you miss it you can listen to previous broadcasts by visiting her website.

Conferences and Sponsorships
We have not finalized conferences or sponsorships for 2007. If you would like for me to speak or if you would like WebforAuthors to be a sponsor of an event, please contact me.

Advertising
We run advertising in selected magazines and websites. We appreciate you telling writers and authors about our service and offer referral credit if you help bring additional subscribers on board. If you have ideas on how we can reach more authors, please tell us!

2006 Recap

New Features That Were Added in 2006

Processing and Handling Fees:
For those using our optional Shopping Cart, we added the ability for you to control additional fees (processing and handling) for orders.

Order Tracking:
For those using our optional Shopping Cart, we added the ability for you to easily send a shipping notice and tracking number to your customer.

New Designs:
We added five new website designs for you to choose from.

Domain Registration:
This was our major effort in 2006 – to add domain registration to our list of services. This allows authors (actually anyone) to buy a domain name without a website subscription. It also allows you to purchase additional domains that you may want. We launched the “front end” last fall – which allows you to purchase domains. We are finishing up the “back end” – i.e. the domain management tools – this month. Until then we handle changes via a support request (email or call). Our charge for one year domain registration is only $9.95!

Sponsorships, Conferences and Other Things of Note for WebforAuthors in 2006:
WriteStuff Writers Conference – Speaker
Yosemite Writers Conference – Speaker and Sponsor
San Francisco Writers Conference – Sponsor
Whidbey Island Writers Conference – Sponsor
Indianapolis Book Fest – Sponsor
Backspace Writers Conference – Sponsor
South Carolina Writers Workshop Writers Conference – Speaker and Sponsor
Book Expo America, African American Pavilion – Sponsor
Backspace – the writer’s place – Article published (http://www.bksp.org/secondarypages/articles/authors/MTurner.htm)

I wish to thank all of you for using and supporting WebforAuthors. If we may be of assistance in any way, please contact me.

Note: As always, this newsletter is sent using the WebforAuthors Newsletter feature that is included in your WFA Account Manager. Use it to keep in touch with your fans and readers!

Best wishes,
Marshall

Coast Trip Story

2006-11-24T09:28:00.000-05:00

I heard a funny story. Second hand, of course.

Three guys went on a trip to the coast. On the way, one carried a giant cooler. When asked why the cooler, he replied “I’m bringing back some shrimp.” “How much?” they asked. “One hundred pounds.” was his answer.

They planned to kayak and camp for four days, but a cold front brought off shore winds that shortened their trip. Having an extra day in town, they arranged to stay overnight aboard a local friend’s boat. Moored at the city marina, the 40 foot sail boat was nice accommodations for the three.

On the way to pick up the shrimp, the other two were curious and asked questions about where the shrimp came from, how much they cost and such. “Well,” he said, “they still have their heads and they were $1.50 a pound.”

Great price, but they still have their heads? “Who’s going to de-head them?” one asked. “Oh, it won’t take long to pop their heads, it’s real easy” … Shades of Tom Sawyer, they had been had.

After hours of shrimp head popping, made even more fun by the biting of "no-see-ums", they returned to the sail boat. “Let’s make coffee in the morning.” said the shrimp buyer. They decided to get the coffee making setup that night so it would be easier in the morning. Although they had camp stoves, they noticed the boat had a galley and a stove.

The first tried the stove and said it didn’t look like it was used much and that there were problems lighting it. The shrimp buyer took a second look and caused some liquid to run from the burners, but couldn’t get it lit. They discovered it was an alcohol stove and that’s what had run out. They messed around and found the pressure tank, pumped and it and tried again. More liquid came out but would not burn. “Never mind.” said the shrimp buyer. “Let me try.” said the third.

Trying harder, more liquid came out, he tried to light it and finally it did. But not the burner, the stove! The liquid had pooled around the burners and had finally caught fire. The fire was catching and starting to flame up through the four burners of the stove top. They had caught the boat on fire!

The first guy, standing nearby, had picked up the fire extinguisher mounted above the stove. The fire flickered, almost going out but caught back up and promised to grow bigger. He gave a small squirt of the extinguisher, hoping to put the fire out without causing a big mess. But the fire roared back, encouraged by a blast of air and little actual extinguishing. The other two started scrambling for safety, the shrimp buyer being pushed up the ladder by the third.

Whoosh! He hit the fire with a full blast of the extinguisher. The interior of the boat suddenly turned into a white cloud, all vision obscured. Quickly the cloud thinned enough to see, the fire was out but a snowy landscape covered everything in sight. It was particularly thick in the galley of course, but the whole cabin was filled. Remembering to breath, their breath was caught by the thick powder that hung in the air. Scrambling up the ladder to the stern, they were relieved that they were safe and the fire was out. They sat there, under a starry night in the harbor, staring alternately at each other and the smoke filled cabin, in disbelief that they had nearly burned up a boat!

Fortunately, they had extinguished the fire before any damage was done. After a long night and next day of cleaning everything, no sign of the fire remained. Well, except for the empty fire extinguisher.

Domain Registration Now Available

2006-10-20T09:47:00.000-04:00

WebforAuthors launched our new Domain Registration feature last week. While we have always had the ability to register your domain as a part of our website subscription plan, we now have the ability for you to register domains by themselves.

To register a domain or purchase additional domains, visit www.webforauthors.com, click the Sign Up Now! button and select Domain Registration.

For a low cost you can now register your domain name using our system.

Our domain account management tools are under development. Until we launch these tools, please contact WebforAuthors Support for help and assistance in updating your domains.

Yosemite Writers Conference

2006-09-05T22:02:00.000-04:00

I was fortunate to participate in a web marketing panel at the Yosemite Writers Conference on August 26. The 2006 Yosemite Writers Conference was held August 24-27, 2006 at Tenaya Lodge near the south entrance to Yosemite National Park. It was a great conference and rather than try to tell you about it, please read about it on the blogs of two terrific writers I met there. While I may call this a blog, it's more of a journal of things related to WebforAuthors or things I find interesting. However, these writers have real blogs!

www.matildakay.com

http://www.nlbelardes.com
Click on "pods and blogs" at the top and then look for links to Yosemite.

Read and enjoy, it was a great conference.

Elberton Star - Friday March 6, 1936

2006-09-04T20:54:00.000-04:00

While looking through an old hometown newspaper I noticed this ad, which struck me as quaint and a bit creepy. Think about it, would you accept ambulance service from a funeral director? Just where do you think they want to take you? And it's a department store too? Sounds like the plot from a scary movie!

Actually this was not unusual. In 1936, and up until the 1960-70's, ambulance service was often offered by funeral homes. At least this was true in small town America....

Ad from March 6, 1936 newspaper:

Free Ambulance Service
Day or Night
Funeral Directors - Embalmers
Phones: Day 39; Night 133 and 198
Elberton Dept. Store
T M Maxwell, CP Furcon, JH Sayer

Eating the Peachtree

2006-08-19T10:52:00.000-04:00

July 4th was my fifth running of the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta. The PRR is a 10k race billed as the world's largest with over 55,000 runners. The first thousand or so are elite runners who care about their time. The rest of us are there for the fun of it. Starting at Lenox Mall in Buckhead and ending in Piedmont Park in Midtown, the run goes straight down Peachtree Street until turning towards that park on 10th. The route is lined the entire way with cheering spectators, bands, musicians and more.

My niece Jamie and I run this every year (this was her sixth year) and after this race we were comparing what we noticed on the race course. There is a surprising amount of food offered the runners along the way so we have called this "Eating the Peachtree!" Here's what we found.

Peachtree Tavern offers free beer on their front porch. Who can pass this up at 8AM?

Publix in Buckhead offers up donuts every year, trays and trays offered up by bakers from the store.

Moe's in Buckhead, I swear they were handing out burrito's….

Smoothie - Jamie found someone with great smoothies.

Watermelon - I passed someone handing out slices of watermelon.

Powerade - The race provides water stops, unfortunately they are usually getting the water from fire hydrants. I found someone giving out cups of Powerade.

Ice cream - near Mile 5 I found a Cold Slab Creamery table with cups of ice cream.

And I know there was more, these are just the ones we noticed or stopped at. Next year we plan to run even slower and carry a camera to capture a better shot of “Eating the Peachtree.”

Pictures of the 2004 race can be seen at http://www.marshallturner.com/adv/ptree2004/index.htm

History Lost and Found

2006-06-20T08:43:00.000-04:00

Last year my hometown newspaper carried an article highlighting a local man whose hobby was uncovering old burial sites lost in the dusk of time. The article told the story of his “discovery” of William Ward and his wife and how he carried a new marker to the site as the words on the old stones were fading away. My mother was a Ward and we knew the family had been in the county for many generations. Plus her grandfather was named William – not the same William, but a descendant it turns out. He gave two ways to get there – one by land and another by water as the area had become adjacent to a Corps of Engineers lake built in the early 1980’s.

The location of the graves is about five miles from where I grew up, but we did not know of their existence or of this ancestor. The story of William included his service during the Revolutionary War and at Valley Forge and his subsequent move to Elbert County, Georgia where he became a farmer. He lived a long life of approximately 90 years before he died in 1850.

Last Saturday I carried four kayaks to Lake Russell and met my brother and his two daughters. We paddled the 3-4 miles up Coldwater Creek to the site. We found the two graves, plus old stone walls and other signs of a long habitation of the site, now long wooded and overlooking Lake Russell. The site is on Corps land, and was marked when they surveyed the lake in the 1980’s.

So here is history lost but found, an ancestor who fought to create a new country and set down roots in northeast Georgia nearly 200 years ago. It serves to remind me that history is all around us and that we only have to look to find great stories.

Article on Backspace - the writer's place

2006-06-02T22:38:00.000-04:00

Backspace - the writer's place has just posted an article I wrote for them. Here is a link to "Ten Secrets to a Successful Website."

http://www.bksp.org/secondarypages/articles/authors/MTurner.htm

I hope you enjoy and find it useful!

Yosemite Writers Conference 2006 Invitation

2006-05-24T14:16:00.000-04:00

I am pleased to announce that I have been invited to participate in the "Web
Marketing for Writers" panel at the Yosemite Writers Conference.

The 2006 Yosemite Writers Conference will be held August 25-27, 2006 at Tenaya Lodge in Fish Camp, CA.

For more information, visit http://www.yosemitewriters.com
"WRITE. LEARN. CONNECT. SELL.
Learn about the publishing world from the top editors and agents in the industry. Whether you're a beginner or a writer with a manuscript ready to sell, you'll get the help you need in an inspiring, writer-friendly environment."

Overheard at a drive through

2006-04-25T08:51:00.000-04:00

Returning from a trip recently, I stopped by a fast food restaurant and waited as someone gave their order in the car ahead of me. Here’s what I overhead.

“Do you have regular chicken strips?”

“That’s one order of chicken strips, please drive ahead.”

“No, I didn’t order, I asked a question. Do you have chicken strips, just chicken strips, by themselves, nothing else?”

“Yes we do.”

“How much are they”

“They’re $1.79.”

“Does anything come with them?”

I was dumbstruck by the last question. The answer was no. After all, the driver had asked for just chicken strips, with nothing else. I will spare you from the rest of the conversation!

WebforAuthors Subscriber Newsletter - April 13, 2006

2006-04-17T08:21:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!

Here is a brief newsletter from WebforAuthors.

New Designs:
Five new designs are available in your Account Manager. Two were added a month ago, three today. One more is on the way. Look for Designs 7-11 in Website Manager, Select Site Designs. These have a different 'separate home page' layout than our original designs and automatically include 'Upcoming Events' from your calendar. Select the design first and then go to the 'separate home page' setup page to see available options. Our system lets you change designs without redoing any of your work, so give them a try!

Advertising:
We have taken out our first print ads. Look for a small classified ad in the next issue of Writers Digest, The Writer and Poet & Writers. These will run till end of the year.

Special Offer:
Refer three new subscribers to WebforAuthors and we will extend your subscription for one year free of charge. Either they or you must email and tell us you referred them.

Conferences:
WebforAuthors is a sponsor for the San Francisco Writers Conference, the Whidbey Island Writers Conference and the Indianapolis Book Fest in the first half of 2006.

I was a speaker at the WriteStuff conference in Bloomington, IN and will present a marketing workshop at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference in June. My presentations cover websites and how to use the internet to market and promote.

If you know of conferences we can sponsor or those who need a speaker please contact me.

New Features:
We will soon start work on new features for your site. The first will be a Guest Book which should be available by summer.

Thank you for your support of WebforAuthors. We are available to help and support you, so if you have questions, please contact us.

Best wishes,
Marshall

E. Marshall Turner, Jr.
President
Turner Technology, Inc.
Creator of WebforAuthors.com

The Ultimate Virtual Carwash

2006-04-07T10:02:00.000-04:00

On the drive back to Indianapolis from the WriteStuff Writers Conference in Bloomington, IN, I passed a carwash whose sign advertised the "Ultimate Virtual Carwash." I wished I had a camera with me!

It looked like a new, automatic type carwash, and I did not stop to find out what was "virtual" about it.

But it made me wonder, "virtual" means simulated or an artificial attempt to make something seem like the real thing. So it seemed to say that you would experience getting a car wash without actually getting one! Think about it.

How to Make a Disastrous Booksigning Event a Success

2006-04-01T08:59:00.000-05:00

I found a great article on how to make a booksigning event into a success. Find "How to Make a Disastrous Booksigning Event a Success" by J.A. Konrath on Backspace.org at this link: http://www.bksp.org/secondarypages/articles/authors/JAKonrath3.htm.

Shellman Bluff

2006-03-23T09:17:00.000-05:00

On a recent trip to the Georgia coast I visited the old fishing village of Shellman Bluff. Overlooking the Broro and Julienton rivers on a high bluff, this village is composed of a few blocks of small homes on dirt roads. The “main” street is a dirt road along the bluff itself which offers one of the best coastal views in Georgia. But don’t worry, it’s all paved roads until you get there!

Nearby are a few new development offering home sites and golf courses, but the area is still at the end of the road, so it retains it’s original character.

More info can be found at http://sherpaguides.com/georgia/coast/central_coast/shellman_bluff.html.

Shellman Bluff is located between Savannah and Brunswick, Georgia and is only a short drive from I-95.

If you are going near Shellman Bluff, be sure to stop by Speed’s Kitchen – where you will find some of the best seafood on the coast! The link above will tell you more about this place.

WriteStuff Writers Conference - April 6, 2006

2006-03-14T21:22:00.000-05:00

Here's a great one day conference coming up April 6 in Bloomington, IN. I attended two of these last year and can attest to the quality of the conference. Plus I will be a presenter this year, discussing websites and authors. Join us in Bloomington!

Marshall

From the WriteStuffWriters.com website:

AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN FROM THE BEST!

The 2006 WriteStuff Conference schedule will launch in Bloomington, Indiana at Indiana University on April 6th in the Whittenberger Auditorium, 900 E. 7th Street, Bloomington, Indiana. Auditorium is located in the Indiana Memorial Union Building located within the heart of Indiana University's beautiful campus.

This one-day event will also feature authors from across the Midwest along with, editors, publishers and other celebrities from the entertainment and arts community. This fun, full day event starts at 8:30 a.m. with insightful interviews of special guests conducted in the "Writer's Studio" followed by an interactive audience question and answer period. Afternoon workshops are presented by successful professionals who will instruct and motivate you with an inside look at the real world of writing and publishing.

Seating will be limited to the first 350 registrants and we expect this conference to sell-out quickly. Call 1-800-352-6091 to register or request more information.

More at http://www.writestuffwriters.com

Blogging neglect... and San Francisco Writers Conference

2006-03-13T21:50:00.000-05:00

My poor neglected blog! It's been a while since I posted and I resolve to do better. At the San Francisco Writers Conference last month, one speaker said if you did not post to your blog every day, it wasn't a blog, it was a diary!

Well, I don't intend to post every day, but I have decided to broaden the subject matter I post here. More on this in later posts.

The SFWC (http://www.sfwriters.org) was very well organized and presented a wealth of talented speakers. I was impressed with a few things I had not seen at other conferences.

One, each session had a volunteer who was a timekeeper. They would hold up signs showing the presenter that there was 15, 5, 2 minutes left. This kept every session on time!

Second, they recorded each session and had CD's for sale shortly after the session was over. Very fast turnaround! They offered individual session CD's as well as the whole conference as a package. Since they had many session running concurrently, this allowed you to attend one and then listen to another. Nice touch.

That's it for today, see you soon.

Ready for a new notebook computer?

2006-01-28T08:50:00.000-05:00

Lately I have been considering purchasing a new notebook computer. My old HP Omnibook 4150 is now a lowly Pentium II, and although I've upgraded memory, hard drive and added a wireless card, it's a bit slow compared to newer notebooks. Plus at about 6lbs and a 14" screen, I've wished for lighter and smaller for traveling (especially when flying). Not that I really want a smaller screen, but I'm willing to consider one to save weight and space.

I've watched the notebook market and I'm very curious about the new tablet notebooks (aka convertibles) since I'm not ready to take the leap to a true tablet (no keyboard - not that you can't get a docking station with a keyboard). I've played with the tablets at a few stores and they are generally priced just a bit more than a regular notebook of the same caliber. I think it would be really cool to surf the web at home, at the office or on the road with the smaller form factor when you rotate the keyboard out of the way and just use the screen. Plus I'm willing to give a try to writing directly on the screen when taking notes or brainstorming at meetings.

But there are compromises with all. The best notebook (PC Magazine Editor's Choice - at least for now) is the Lenovo ThinkPad X41 Tables (formerly the IBM ThinkPad). At about 4lbs and with a 12" screen, it's small, light and sturdy. Although not extremely fast (a trade off - longer battery life, lighter and cooler), it excels in the little things - excellent paper feel when writing on the screen, a latch to keep the keyboard folded, etc. One thing that you are giving up is an internal CD/DVD drive (and no diskette either, but that's getting to be the norm). Cost is approximately $2,000. Go to http://www.lenovo.com/us/en/ for more. Numerous other companies are offer convertibles too, including HP, Toshiba, etc.

Another notebook I'm considering (this one is not a tablet) is one of the Sony VAIO series - they have several different models. One has a 13.3" screen, built-in CD/DVD and weighs only 4.2lbs. So bigger screen, about the same weight as the X41, built in CD/DVD but not a tablet. It's also about $2,000. Now if this was a tablet, it would be great, but Sony does not currently offer a tablet. More at http://www.sony.com.

If you are looking for a true tablet (aka slates), I've read great reviews about the Sahara. More info at http://www.tabletkiosk.com.

I know some of you will say that you can buy a notebook for less than $1,000 - and you are right. But, you do get what you pay for. The lighter and smaller, the higher the price. And considering my Omnibook has lasted a good five years, paying a bit more to get what fits you best is worth considering.

Another factor that simply confuses the issue is the Microsoft plans to release a new version of Windows towards the end of this year. Named Vista, it will replace Windows XP. But as I've advised many people, you buy what you need when you need it and not worry that it's obsolete tomorrow. Face it, anything you buy will be obsolete tomorrow. That really does not matter, unless you need something special and are willing to wait until the product or feature is offered. Most of us simply get to a point where we need a new computer - again, my point is you buy what you need when you need it (and can afford it, of course).

My HP Omnibook is still functional, and although very slow to boot up, once it's running it's fast enough when surfing the web and doing email, word processing, etc. It does drag butt when it comes to graphics - i.e. Using Dreamweaver, Fireworks or the Adobe Creative Suite. But I can usually avoid these when I'm traveling.

So I'm still undecided about when to buy. And I keep looking for hints about who might come out with something even better. Some days I'm ready to order the X41, but I haven't yet. Still thinking about it!

The Fine Art of Spamming - Email Form Spam

2005-11-28T22:55:00.000-05:00

Even I’m surprised occasionally. Having worked with technology for many years, I’ve seen just about everything – or so I thought. Over the Thanksgiving holiday one of our authors reported spam that he thought came from his domain, which is hosted on our system. Since access to our servers is tightly restricted, I suspected someone was using the Contact page on his site to send spam. Upon investigation I discovered I was correct but also found something new, or at least it was to me.

One of the optional features than an author can activate on a site built with our system is an email form on their Contact page. An email form is one of those fill-in-the-boxes-and-click-to-send forms that you’ve seen on many other sites. We offer this feature in order to hide your address but still allow visitors to contact you by email. Some people don’t like these, but they serve their purpose in hiding email addresses.

What I discovered was that some spammers target email forms – not personally on a type-and-click-to-send basis, but with automated software tools (often called ‘bots’) that roam the net looking and trying any form they can find. The intent is not so much to spam the person receiving email from the form but rather to exploit any vulnerability that the form may have.

For example some forms will mail the sender a copy or allow you to enter additional “cc:” or “bcc:” addresses. If your form has these or other vulnerabilities you become an unwitting ally in spamming other people. Unfortunately, the people receiving the spam will think you sent the spam and blame you. Not good because once you get on a ‘sends spam’ list it’s difficult to get off.

Fortunately our development team custom developed our contact form, and it does not allow sending email to other addresses. However, our author was receiving annoying email when the spam bot was trying to hack his Contact form – and it was trying about once a day with a blast of between 6 and 24 email attempts at a time!

So we took a look at different strategies and came up with several ways to thwart the attacks. I won’t go into details here, since this is a matter of security. However, even though we have repelled the attacker, we know they and others will try again. So we are hard at work on a human validation feature. You have probably seen these on other sites where a graphic with letters and/or numbers are shown that you must enter. Since the graphic is only readable by a human, this prevents automated systems from sending you email though your contact form.

The point I would like to emphasize is that we implement these changes as part of our continued system improvements and feature enhancements. There is no additional charge to our subscribers. We support our authors and when we find problems we work quickly to correct and improve our system.

On a side note, we are nearing the completion of WebforAuthors Release 2 enhancements and I will post a summary when we finish. And we have defined Release 3 and are finalizing the delivery schedule for these new features. 2006 promises to be an exciting year for WebforAuthors and our subscribers!

Designs – Shared and Custom

2005-11-09T12:07:00.000-05:00

One method we use to simply the author’s experience on WebforAuthors.com is to eliminate the complexity of web page design and layout. We chose to provide pre-built designs (sometimes called templates) that an author would select when creating their web site.

There are two major advantages, one I have already mentioned – it eliminates the complexity of page design and layout, something that many people would struggle with. I believe it takes real design talent to put together a great web page – you need to have a good sense of color, design, and layout plus understand what makes good navigation on a web page. By using professional designers, our designs incorporate best practices and solid design to give you a great looking web site.

Second, our system lets you choose another design any time. You are not locked into a specific design. This means that as we add new designs you can freely choose to try one out. By simply clicking to select a new design, your web site is instantly changed. If you don’t like it, you can change it back with a click.

Some authors want a unique design, one that is not shared by others. We understand this desire and will create a special design just for you that no one else will have. Fees for custom design start at $750 and we work with you to finalize the price before we begin work. And like our subscriptions, we guarantee your satisfaction.

The great thing is that these custom designs work with our system. For our low annual subscription price your web site will have all our powerful and extensive features. So you are able to get a custom designed, full featured, powerful web site for substantially less than if you had the site developed.

Another benefit to joining WebforAuthors is that you can start using our system now and add a custom design as your needs and success grows. Get started for a low cost but have the option to get a custom design later.

If you have a designer, we will work with them to create your custom site. For example, they could produce the graphical elements and our developers would put them into a layout that works with our system.

The WebforAuthors system is a powerful platform designed specifically for authors and writers. We invest in advanced features that all can use but that cost you much less than if you developed them yourself. With the ability to change your design and to have a custom designed web site, we offer flexibility, power and affordability.

Working with Authors

2005-10-29T07:36:00.000-04:00

One of the most enjoyable aspects of WebforAuthors is being able to respond to someone’s need. When Jeff Gibson wanted an attachment emailed to everyone who signed up for Dr. Nell’s (http://www.drnell.com/maillist_01.php) mailing list, we were able to add that feature a few weeks later. Nell wanted to offer a chapter of her book as an enticement to join her mailing list and having the system automatically send it as an attachment with the confirmation email made sense.

Recently Jeff emailed me and said “… I would like to comment on … how responsive you are. I have been impressed since day one with how quickly and professionally you have addressed any issue that has come up. Also, your taking into serious consideration and acting on suggestions for improvement.”

Several authors had commented on needing a calendar on which to put their activities such as appearances, signings, etc. We did not include this on our original feature list, thinking erroneously that this would be kept under a particular book on the Updates page. But we saw the error of our ways and developed the new “Events” page and calendar maintenance system. This new feature was just installed.

Although wee have not officially announced the new calendar feature, Bertha Davis (http://www.berthabooks.com) has already found it. She wrote “The calendar is what I really need so badly. I like the way it's set-up. I'm going to work on my site today to see if I can add some of my signings ….”

The uniqueness and power of the WFA system is when we add new features, they become available to all our subscribers. So when Nell and Bertha got their wish, everyone else benefits too.

Our next new feature is a Links page on which an author could maintain links to other websites. We pre-built navigation when we added ‘Events’ by adding a ‘Resources’ button too. ‘Resources’ will include the new Links page, plus we are discussing a download page and the ability to link to a blog.

I’m excited about these and other new features we are working on. Plus we have several new designs being prepared that are excellent. As we get a larger variety of designs, I plan to emphasis our ability to do custom designs for an author.

Think about it. By using the WFA system as the ‘backend’ of the web site, there is no need to spend bucks when we have it all for a low annual cost. Put a few dollars into a unique design (‘frontend’ or ‘facing’ side), and presto, you have a web site like no other with features you didn’t know you needed for a cost you could not have imagined.

That’s a few of the ideas anyway. Gee, I’d better get to work!

The Drive to Myrtle

2005-10-27T10:58:00.000-04:00

On the drive to Myrtle Beach I looked forward to running on the beach. The SCWW conference started the next day and Athens to Myrtle is a six hour drive. It was late afternoon, ebbing high tide when I was ready to run, but warm, especially for mid-October. There wasn't much beach above the high tide before the tiny dunes started. Many people were out enjoying the beach.

I loved the conference, despite the hotel. The hotel is being renovated. Sandra and Frances, the conference co-chairs, did a wonderful job at keeping the event running smoothly. For more on the conference, Joshilyn Jackson blogged her ramblings here http://www.joshilynjackson.com/mt/archives/000374.html.

I taught a session on "How to Use the Web to Promote Your Book" Saturday morning. It was well attended and we covered why to, how to and what to, regarding websites, blogs, strategies and effectiveness. I kept it informal and solicited topics from the audience before I began. Then I covered what they wanted, but organized, I hope, so it made sense, as a whole.

Being at a beach front hotel was a treat and sets this conference apart from many others. Few can offer the ocean at your doorstep.

Speaking of great places, I will be sponsoring and attending the San Francisco Writers Conference. The date is February 17 - 19, 2006 and more can be found http://www.sfwriters.org. Obviously SF is wonderful, but to ‘top’ that, the conference will be at the Mark Hopkins Hotel on Nob Hill. The Mark is one of the grand dame hotels in the city and one of my favorite hotels anywhere. On the top floor is the famous Top of the Mark http://www.bestofsanfrancisco.net/topofthemark.htm.

South Carolina Writers Workshop - Conference 2005

2005-10-07T07:48:00.000-04:00

Established in 1990, the South Carolina Writers Workshop is a literary arts organization serving both new and established writers. Nearly every type of writing is represented, from poetry to mainstream novels to short stories to non-fiction. SCWW offers a supportive environment for people to become better writers. Their website is http://www.scwriters.com.

SCWW membership is open to all writers, and provides a wide range of opportunities to improve one's writing, network with others, and gain practical "How To" information about getting published. There are numerous local chapters throughout the state.

The 2005 SCWW Writers Conference will be held October 14 - 16, 2005 at the Landmark Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC. Information on the conference can be found at http://www.scwriters.com/2005%20Conf.html.

WebforAuthors is a Silver Sponsor of the event

The WriteStuff Writers' Conference - St. Louis

2005-10-05T13:11:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago, on September 24, 2005, I was fortunate to attend The WriteStuff Writers’ Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. I attend several conferences each year promoting WebforAuthors, so I have a unique perspective from which to compare conferences. One thing that I think is great about the WriteStuff conferences is that they are one day conferences – a jam packed day, but only one day. Many other conferences are multi-day events, which require a bigger time commitment.

There were three WriteStuff conferences this year – Indianapolis, Cincinnati and St. Louis. St. Louis was the last one for the year, be sure to look for this conference next year. I will post their schedule once it is finalized.

Founder J. Andy Murphy pulls in great talent and impressive sponsors to these events. The “big” sponsors are Writers Digest (www.writersdigest.com), the leading magazine for writers and authorHouse (www.authorhouse.com), a leading self publishing company. In addition, Andy brings in regionally and nationally known authors and experts who share their experience and advice. WebforAuthors is also a sponsor, providing subscriptions to our service as door prizes.

The WriteStuff is presented in partnership with Ambassadors for Children. AFC is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that seeks to better the lives of children around the world who live, study, and play in impoverished communities, while offering volunteers a life-changing experience. All proceeds from the conferences directly benefit Ambassadors for Children.

Here a link to the WriteStuff page at AFC: http://www.ambassadorsforchildren.org/writeStuff.html.

Why was WebforAuthors created?

2005-09-30T17:06:00.000-04:00

In the beginning . . . .

The company that created WebforAuthors is Turner Technology, Inc., which I started in 1997. TTI provides Project Management and other Information Technology services primarily to mid-sized companies - typically distribution or manufacturing companies. More specifically, I focus on implementation and refinement of ERP systems. ERP is a funny term - it means Enterprise Resource Planning - but these systems entail little planning and don't really deal with 'resources.' ERP systems are the 'back office' of a business - they handle the transactions: order entry, purchasing, inventory, payables, receivable, general ledger, manufacturing, etc. For more on ERP, go to http://www.cio.com/research/erp/edit/erpbasics.html.

The packages I have implemented include Enterprise 21 ERP from Technology Group International (http://www.tgiltd.com) and Oracle ERP from Oracle Corporation (http://www.oracle.com).

These packages are typically web enabled, and some are web based. Also, I have developed web sites and managed web site projects clients.

About a year and a half ago, I was visiting my good friend Dale. His wife Robbie is an aspiring author. She also owns a marketing consulting company (http://www.gring.com). Robbie's approach to writing included gathering information, attending classes and seminars and joining a writing group. While sitting around the breakfast table she was telling me all the things an authors needs to do to be successful. I was amazed at all the things she talked about. After all, don't you just write, get published and write some more? Boy, was I uninformed.

In her list of things you need was the advice to 'get a web site.' I stopped and asked, how did this guru, this instructor who taught hundreds and thousands of aspiring writers, suggest you get a web site? "Oh," she said, "just go get one."

Knowing the difficulties of 'getting' a web site, I thought there has to be a better, easier way. I researched and found that there are few if any solutions focused on authors. Oh there are some generic solutions and some author focused sites, but none that provided what I envisioned.

Here's what I had in mind: first, an easy, non-technical system to create and maintain a web site. This would let you build a site and update it anytime you want. But why stop there? Why not build in features that are specific to authors, that would be expensive to build into individual web sites but if shared could be offered at a low cost. Features such as mailing lists, email newsletters, forums, a shopping cart to sell your book and more.

Essentially, that's what I do for businesses - discover their needs, develop a way to use technology to solve the problem or make a process more efficient and easier, and deliver the solution. So I took this approach and applied it to the needs of writers and authors. And just as importantly, I took the goal of providing support and to continually include their feedback and ideas into enhancing our services: Listen, support, respond, improve.

So that was the beginning. After about a year of work and development, WebforAuthors was launched in March of this year. For more information on what is offered, please click on the link to WebforAuthors under Links on the left.

Welcome to the WebforAuthors Blog

2005-09-29T10:57:00.000-04:00

Hello and welcome to the WebforAuthors.com blog. WebforAuthors.com was launched in March 2005 and provides an internet based service through which authors and writers can create and manage their own website. It is very easy to use and provide advanced tools designed especially for authors. Visit our site at http://www.webforauthors.com.

The purpose of this blog is to provide authors with information on various aspects of writing and how the internet can help them be successful. It is written and maintained by E. Marshall Turner, Jr., President/CEO of Turner Technology, Inc., creator of the WebforAuthors system.