After attending that writing conference that I clearly can't shut up about, I came to a very scary conclusion....I want my own website. This little deal you are reading now has worked out for the most part, but I have been getting a lot of feedback from other writers and bloggers that if I am to be taken seriously (people will take me seriously?) I should contemplate a dot com. There were huge obstacles in actually pursuing that option including cost, learning Wordpress, figuring out what dot com I should buy, and cost. Did I mention cost? Yeah, it's a bit of an obstacle to convince my husband to shell out thousands of dollars on a website when there isn't even ten dollars coming in. He's a business guy, he wants to know when he will see a return on investment. Even I know that throwing money at something that may or may not make money in two years is a shitty business model. What I needed to know was how to get from where I am now to where I want to be and whether or not I would need to sell my car to get there. I surveyed a lot of people about where I should go with this project because I am a writer, not a website designer or professional blogger. There were free options; learn Wordpress and build it yourself or stay with what you have and keep adding material. There were really fucking expensive options; I received a proposal from one company with a projected cost of $4,795. I nearly fainted, fell down a flight of stairs and broke my collar bone.
After my heart began beating again, I made some decisions that I am really excited about sharing. I have hired someone I know to build my site, I chose a dot com that I thought would fit my needs for the long haul, and I am meeting with a very talented photographer this weekend to whip up some ideas for website pics. For a long time, I didn't have a vision for my writing, honestly I didn't believe I was a writer. Now I feel inspired to create a place for my writing that represents who I am, where I am headed and something that I hope people are excited to check out. Obviously, there is a cost associated with it, but it feels manageable and I didn't want anything for Christmas or my birthday or Mother's Day or any other holiday for the next two years anyway.
What does this all mean? I don't have a fucking clue. It will be a new place to read my writing, a place where people can find out about other writers, and hopefully one day, a place to buy or download or check out a published book by me. That is weird to think about. I'll keep you posted on how the building of my website is progressing. I am interested in what you like to see on websites? What keeps you coming back for more? Free bacon? Mind blowing photography? Book reviews? Let me know in the comments. I can't promise anything, but you know how I like a good survey.
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