How you you like my new business card?

Did you know that Blog4Writers offers much more than a weekly message? It’s intended to be a source of information and inspiration for writers on a variety of topics including writing, blogging, marketing, social networking, and more.

When you read the weekly e-mail, did you know that you can click through from the article title to the Blog4Writers page on www.emilyakin.com? Once you arrive on the site, you can navigate this treasure trove of information in several ways. Try one or more of these methods.

• Take the grand tour. For an organized approach, click on the Home tab and follow the listed steps to explore resources lists and other articles not included in the blog.
• Browse the categories list. The Blog4Writers archive contains almost 200 posts on writing, blogging, marketing, social networking, and computer software—just to name a few topics. On every page of the site, the right sidebar contains a drop-down menu containing the categories list. Click on any category or sub-category to see all articles on in that category. Follow this link to see what you get when you click on the Get Organized category.
• Use the site’s navigation bars. Hover your mouse over each tab in the gray horizontal navigation bar. You’ll see dropdown menus listing additional pages under each label. Just drag down and click on any title you want to see. You can also browse categories by using the new black navigation bar at the very top of each page.
• Take advantage of the search box. Also in the sidebar near the top is the Search feature. Type in keywords for whatever you want to know. For example, when you type “self-publishing” in the box, you get a list of articles on that topic. See the list here.
• Try the Tags cloud in the sidebar. Each post has tags attached to attract search engines. Scroll down the sidebar until you see the label, Tags. Underneath, you can click on any tag that you find interesting. Here’s a sample of what you get when you click the Time Management tag.

Please let me know what you think of Blog4Writers and the way the information is organized. Since it’s a site for writers, it needs to be easy for writers to find what they’re looking for.

I welcome your comments. Please feel free to suggest topics for future articles. I do accept submissions for guest posts on topics that fit the established categories. Please see the submission guidelines here.

Last week, I posted links to several sites featuring writer helps. Together, the writers featured in that post have published hundreds of books and articles. Who better to help you figure out how to get your work published than somebody who has traveled that road ahead of you?

This week, I want to point out the resources available on my site. First, you might want to know more about me before you check out the advice I’m passing out. See a partial listing of my published work here and visit my bio page here.

I’ll now take you on the grand tour.

• Start with the Resources page, where you’ll find a list of books I recommend for beginning writers, especially those interested in the Christian market.
• Next, go to the Resources Links page for a listing of online resources.
• Visit Blog4writers at this link. The Search box is the fastest way to find articles of interest to you. You can also browse Categories from the drop-down menu in the sidebar, or, if you can browse the Tags list further down on the sidebar.
• If you need marketing ideas, go to the Marketing page.
• Don’t miss my how-to article on writing devotionals.
• If you need editorial assistance, go to my Editorial Services page.
• See my for-sale items in the Store.
• I invite you to read some of my work while you’re visiting. You can follow think links to specific articles on the About page. Read some of my devotionals here.

If you like the blog content, subscribe to updates by e-mail on the sidebar. If you prefer to subscribe by RSS feed, click on the orange RSS icon at top of any page. Or, you can go to the bottom of any page and click on RSS Feeds. For more on how to follow blogs using RSS feeds, see this how-to article.

Now that I’ve tooted my own horn, I’m offering to let you toot yours on Blog4writers. If you are a current subscriber and if you specialize in any topic related to writing for publication. I’m open to guest posts (no pay) of no more than 500 words on any topic in my category list. See that list by going here. and checking out the category drop-down menu. Please query first by e-mailing me at akinemily@gmail.com. Please provide a proposed title and your qualifications for writing on your subject. If your post fits the “editorial needs at this particular time,” I will post on the blog at my discretion. Plus, I will post announcements on Facebook and Twitter to draw attention to your post.

Post-script: Last week, I should have listed Donna Goodrich’s site, The Writer’s Friend. Visit her tips page for a myriad of helps, all easily printable, and check out her books page, too.

To do your own site, you need hosting and you need software to design your site. I have been designing and updating my own site for several years using Microsoft Front Page 2000. My initial cost for the software was substantial at the time, but I have not updated it since…well…2000, and it still does what I need. I use http://www.ezchristianhosting.com/ at $4.95 a month, and I have never had a problem with the site being down or with their support. Most of the time, support gets my problem solved within a couple of hours. The only times that it has taken longer than that were when there was a wait time for the servers to update certain processes.

I’ve been envious of some other writers, though, who have their sites professionally designed. Examples: Mary Yerkes, Ginny Smith, Cecil Murphey.

So, I decided to check out the website builder offered by EZ Christian Hosting. They offer a 10- day free trial, so I took them up on the offer. The designs they offer are awesome, just what I thought I wanted, but I had trouble finding a theme I thought would be good for a writer-editor. Also, I realized I wouldn’t have as much flexibility with my layout with the site-builder. If I chose to convert my site to their web-builder plan, I would be paying $17 a month rather than $4.95. I do highly recommend taking a free trial, though. And, if you don’t have design software on your computer, you will have to use a web-builder or buy software.

I also tried the new website service offered by Vistaprint. Here’s what my trial site looks like:

http://www.emilyakin.vpweb.com/

With Vistaprint, you can start out at $4.95 a month for a 3-page site and upgrade to higher-priced plans depending on your needs.

My trial at Vistaprint is good for 30 days, so I’ll have to take it down by September 10th, because I’ve decided to stick with my current arrangement and learn how to better utilize my software. I’ve redesigned my site from the ground up. It’s not finished, but take a look: http://www.emilyakin.com/.

Next post: I’ll list the free website services that I tried and provide a short evaluation of each. Subscribe so you won’t miss it.

Steve Laube’s “Links” page is a wonderful gateway to a wealth of information for Christian writers. Be sure to check it out.

http://www.stevelaube.com/links.htm

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