Is This Thing On?

You've probably seen/heard me raving about Podiobooks.com. It's a great website where authors can present podcast versions of their works. The podcasts are free to download and/or subscribe to, but they do take donations. At least 50% of the donations go to the authors. I am working on making a version of my self-published novel, LILITH'S LOVE, available as a podiobook. Why would anybody give away an audio version of their book? Promotion. I do intend to make a hi-fi CD quality MP3 CD version of the audiobook as well and sell it on Lulu.com. But podiobooks are a great way for people to discover your novel, for free, a chapter at a time. Hopefully, the listener will like what they hear and donate towards it. How do I know the system works? I'm listening to eight books and have already donated for three of them. Yes, I plan to donate to the rest, because they have all been excellent. Which in turn puts a great deal of perceived pressure on me to make sure my podiobook is as good. Keep your eyes peeled here to see how our progress goes. Yes. Our progress. I've enlisted some friends to help provide voices for the characters, as well as some technical and moral support. ;-D More to come.

Hello, and welcome to another episode of "Is This Thing On?" (Download MP3 or listen to the stream) * My name is Dan Shaurette, welcome to my podcast. Those of you new to the insanity, thank you for checking it out. - I'm a software developer and self-published author. I'm a fan of almost all genres of music, books, movies, and games. I'm also a vampire aficionado and freak geek. I'm a separated father of four, living with my girlfriend, Michelle, who joins me on the podcast. We welcome other guests and have interviews from time to time. In short, this podcast tends to be as ecclectic as I am. - Why the schpiel? Well, besides being a landmark podcast number -- the big twenty! -- I'm moving the journal and podcast to my personal writing site at http://danshaurette.com. I'm consoldating most of my work here for one big showcase of all things moi. - If you subscribe to http://www.is-this-thing-on.net or to http://feeds.feedburner.com/Shaurettenet, you should notice no disruption of the feed. Though it might burp up all of the old episodes/entries. * I play different types of music on the show, but they are all podsafe, meaning the artists have generously made the playing of them free and clear provided I give them a shout out. Which of course I always do. - This week, we're being invaded by monkeys! First up, the new theme song for all software developers like me with a warm fuzzy heart -- "Code Monkey" by Jonathan Coulton. * Last week I blathered on about the current Immigration brouhaha that has taken over the airwaves. - It was a friend of ours, May in Miami, who brought up how the demonstrations there have affected her. - You can read her two cents in someone's LiveJournal discussing a janitors strike at the University of Miami on March 28th, where she attends classes. - She herself is a legal immigrant from Cuba, who works hard to better her own life in America. - P.S. As of April 13th, May is a naturalized citizen of the United States! Congratulations again, May! - We invited her to the podcast to talk about what's going on still at the University of Miami. * We talked some more about our planning for the Ball. (Expect this to be a popular topic as we gear up for Halloween.) - May will visit us on her summer vacation in June, too. - May was very excited to hear that we will be serving dessert and not a dinner! * Evo Terra (from the Dragon Page podcasts) pinged me on Skype and wanted to know if I could help him with a test call for an interview he was going to do. - So I ran off to help with that and the girl' kept chatting away. * Then after that, Michelle again laid praise on my feet simply because I was on the Dragon Page podcast -- with people who interviewed Grant from SciFi's Ghost Hunters TV show. *sigh - Then we talked about our other favorite TV shows for a bit. * Michelle told May about Phoenix, and how big it is. - I'm personally amazed that Michelle is impressed by Phoenix. * May invited us to Florida to go to DisneyWorld. She loves Beauty and the Beast. - Then Michelle went on a tirade about the giant Floridian insects. * Speaking of big insects and beauty and the beast, we just rented Peter Jackson's "King Kong". - It was very well done, with a lot of heart. * We talked a little about own respective Households on VampireRave.com. - May aka DarknessBound, is the Master of La Bella Oscuridad. - We have fun running our Households, but it can be very hard work, in addition to our Administrative work on VR. * Finally, we ended the show with another primate song, "Strange Little Monkey" by Serpent of Eve. That wraps up another episode of Is This Thing On? Thanks for listening. This Blog and PodCast are © Copyright 2006 by Dan Shaurette, under the Creative Commons "Attribution with No Derivatives" License. Some Rights Reserved. If you want to join us on the podcast, send a message to me on Skype at IsThisThingOnPodcast. If you have any comments about this podcast, feel free to drop a note at shaurette.net/podmail. Or, if you'd rather leave us some voice mail, you can call us at 1-206-350-7638 that's (206) 350-SNET. Music for this podcast was provided by the PodShow Podsafe Music Network. The theme music came from the royalty-free collection at http://www.musicloops.com..Technorati Tags:Podcast, Podsafe Music, Jonathan Coulton, Serpent of Eve

Hello, and welcome to another episode of "Is This Thing On?" (Download MP3 or listen to the stream) * Breaking slightly for what little format I have for this show, I'm not opening with a song. It's gamer geek wisdom in the form of a parody of Baz Luhrmann's "Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen". I died laughing when I heard it and wanted to share it with you all. - The piece is called "Play Games" by Doug Rapson from the Geek Acres Podcast, over at GeekAcres.net. Check them out sometime. * First, Happy Passover, and Happy Easter everyone! * La Bal Masqué Nocturne is nearly a reality! - We have a place, date and time now! - The Grand Ballroom of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Phoenix, AZ - Saturday October 28, 2006 - 8PM to Midnight - Tickets go on sale soon, on the website that will be announced. - 18 and Over * Michelle is on a doctor-imposed diet now, and I'm going on the diet as well to help her stick to it. - No fat, no oils, no sugar, low carb, high protein diet. She cannot exceed 1700 calories a day. - Tofu, turkey, and salads are our new friends. - So, we need help with recipe ideas for keeping to this diet. - Call us on our voice mail number and give us your suggestions! Please! 1-206-350-7638 that's (206) 350-SNET. - We are using a FREE website for counting calories called NutraWatch.com. It lets us list what we ate, and see how much of each type of calorie we've had and when we have to stop. * In the Geek Corner - My PDA needs a new case. This hinge on this one is broken. It's been well used. - UPDATE: I just found one online and have already ordered it. * Don't forget: International Podcast Expo - April 21-23, 2006 - This is a virtual online expo for and by podcasters! - There will be a 24-hour-a-day Live Podcasting Marathon for 48 hours. - Tickets are $11, and that lets you in to the website for the expo. - http://www.internationalpodcastingexpo.com * In the News: - Coinstar turns loose change into iTunes songs. - SKEPTICAL CHYMIST Irish Restaurant and Pub in Scottsdale. * In sadder news: - I just heard that Bradley Stanfield, 22, passed away last weekend in a drowning accident. - I didn't know Bradley, but I enjoyed his stage performances in the local Rocky Horror Picture Show shadow cast from 2002-2005. He was fun to watch, and he should have had a long life ahead of him. - Please visit http://www.azrocky.com/bradleymemorium2006.html for more about Bradley and his life. * In other news: - 'South Park' Creators Skewer Own Network -- Banned by Comedy Central from showing an image of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the creators of "South Park" skewered their own network for hypocrisy in the cartoon's most recent episode. * Want to read more of the stories we discuss on the show? - There's a new feed you can subscribe to called The Shaurette Gazette. - Just point your news reader (our web browser) to http://feeds.feedburner.com/ShauretteGazette. * In the blogosphere: Check out Kevin Smith's Blog, "My Boring Ass Life". - One recent set of entries in particular from Kevin Smith's blog :: Me and My Shadow - This is a story about how he and Jason Mewes (Jay) met and why they are friends. - It is in response to some hot water Mewes has gotten himself into lately, and Kevin Smith is explaining why Jason is who he is. - Stories like this should help anyone understand why I totally dig this man and his craft. - I really admire Kevin Smith and would love to interview him sometime. I am definitely going to see Clerks II when it comes out. - Snoogans! * Talking about people we admire, Grant Wilson from the Sci-Fi Channel's show "Ghost Hunters" was recently on Michael and Evo's Slice of Sci-Fi. - Michelle and I love the show, but she was absolutely crazy as she realized *I* was a guest on one of their podcasts. - I was on a podcast in the same studio where Michael and Evo (later) interviewed him on the phone. I think it's cool. She thinks I'm a god. - Thank you Michael and Evo! * Then I got a little political about the current Immigration brouhaha that has taken over the airwaves. I chipped in my own two cents. - Basically, it was a friend of ours, May, who brought up how the demonstrations have affected her. - You can read her two cents in someone's LiveJournal discussing a janitors strike at the University of Miami on March 28th, where she attends classes. - She herself is a legal immigrant from Cuba, who works hard to better her own life in America. * Finally, we ended the show with a cool song entitled, "Broken" by Buddahead. That wraps up another episode of Is This Thing On? Thanks for listening. This Blog and PodCast are © Copyright 2006 by Dan Shaurette, under the Creative Commons "Attribution with No Derivatives" License. Some Rights Reserved. If you want to join us on the podcast, send a message to me on Skype at IsThisThingOnPodcast. If you have any comments about this podcast, feel free to drop a note at shaurette.net/podmail. Or, if you'd rather leave us some voice mail, you can call us at 1-206-350-7638 that's (206) 350-SNET. Music for this podcast was provided by the PodShow Podsafe Music Network. The theme music came from the royalty-free collection at http://www.musicloops.com. Technorati Tags:Podcast, Podsafe Music, Buddahead

Publishing Guidelines: My articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License.You may publish this article in its entirety, electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as you include my full signature below. Please let me know you are republishing the article with an email to Dan@Shaurette.net.
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What Do You Mean You Don’t Have A Blog?
By Dan Shaurette

Last year, in the newsletter for SelfPublishedAuthors.com, we featured an article by Judy Cullins entitled “Should Authors Have A Blog?” I’m looking around the internet a year later and my resounding answer is not only “Yes” but also I have to ask a few authors, “What do you mean you don’t have a blog?” I mean, surely, you have a website. You understand that in today’s world, everyone has a website, and an author without one should just go bury their books in their backyard.

O.K., so, all sarcasm aside, I know that making a website isn’t easy. A large section of the internet exists however to make this easier. Some are free, many are cheap, and some are downright expensive. Even in this arena the adage of you get what you pay for is valid, but finding the best balance of features for your money is important.

A subsection of the publicity juggernaut that is the internet is made up of those sites that let you create a blog. Short for “web log”, a blog is a dynamic website that exists for you to post your thoughts, news, ideas, answer feedback, etc. You can write anything from a simple random thought to a diatribe, list your upcoming book signings, or share your latest article. In many ways, the simplest and most effective website an author could have is a blog.

A blog is generally organized in reverse chronological order, with your newest posts at the top of the webpage. You can usually have other pages that do not change, thus being static. These can be dedicated to your book, with links to places where readers can buy your book. Such a static page could be your main homepage with the blog as a side feature.

More than just a place for you to share your writing with the world — which for any author makes a great way for people to become familiar with you — readers of your blog can respond with comments to your posts. This makes a blog a combination of something between a forum and a guestbook. You as the author write, but readers can still interact with you.

There are a number of website host providers who provide space for a website than can include a blog. Others just host a blog but one that is flexible enough to be your entire website. If you have your own server and want complete control over layout, there are many free or commercial programs that you (or your server administrator) can install for you.

Almost all blogs can be created in minutes and customized within an hour to present to the world. (For some though, customization never really ends.) If you have a website already, some will integrate well, others may just have to be linked, but can still look like part of the whole. But for those few of you out there considering a new website, or don’t have one at all, take a serious look at creating a blog.

Even more important however, and I cannot stress this enough, is to find a blog provider that will generate RSS or Atom feeds. RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication, and is a type of file that is made up of excerpts from your blog with links to the full entries. An Atom feed is just a different standard than RSS, but most blogs support both.

Readers of your blog can visit your website and then subscribe to your RSS feed. They would need a newsreader (like Newsgator.com, Google Reader, My Yahoo, and more) in which they will receive your updates. This is quickly taking over a publishing niche that email mailing lists once held.

It means people no longer have to visit your website directly to know what’s going on with you. Some of you may think this is a bad thing, but think about this. If people want to know what’s new with you, they are not likely to hit your website on a regular basis unless they can expect new things to read.

With an RSS feed from your blog, they’ll be automatically updated whenever you write anything there — and if that news piques their interest, they’ll be hitting your blog to read the whole message… and other messages… and clicking links, etc. It drives people back to your website after the initial visit.

News websites have really capitalized on this new syndication medium. For example, people don’t have to visit CNN.com every day for their news fix. Headlines are sent to them. Now imagine your website being part of that new medium.

Are there websites that don’t fit this model? Sure. Websites that never change and only give details about your book. One step above that, are ezines like this one that just don’t come out on a regular enough basis. But an ezine that has weekly or even more frequently updated content should definitely consider a blog over a mailing list.

In the publishing world, now more than ever, activity means success because that will keep your readers interested. It also catches the interest of search engines. RSS feeds are constantly slurped up by search engines and that means more hits.

Finally, if you don’t have a blog with an RSS feed, you won’t be able to have a podcast. Should you have a podcast? Well, that’ll be my topic next time.

So enough evangelizing, right? What’s the best blog for you? Well, there are quite a few to choose from. I personally have tested a large spectrum of them, but my votes go to a handful of options.

YAHOO 360 - Free social network with blog (3 out of 5 stars)
- Free but you need a Yahoo account (also free).
- Probably the best profile/social networking page on the net, and is part of the Yahoo.com.
- As it truly is a Profile page, its strength is that you give many details about yourself. This makes it weak for giving details about your book. (Though you can devote your “About Me” section to this.
- The blog is quite simple but does the job. This is one of those sites where the blog is part of the overall profile you create.
- This is only a recommendation of you want more than a blog and want something that is part of a social website. I don’t recommend a service like MySpace for such plans.
- This makes it a weak choice for a professional site. But if you want to connect on a more personal level with readers, this has its merits.
http://360.yahoo.com/

BLOGGER - Free remotely hosted blog (4 out of 5 stars)
- Very fast setup, easily customizable by templates and CSS, and it offers most of the desired features.
- If you want a blog that looks almost any way you want, is easy but powerful, and free, this is the one.
- Plus the fact that it is owned by Google means it is that much closer to the blog search feature of Google.
- The only feature that is really missing is static pages, which means a Blogger page makes a good fit into other websites, rather than hosting everything on one server.
http://www.blogger.com/

WORDPRESS - Download to your own server (5 out of 5 stars)
- Free software which you can download and install yourself on your own web server or hosting provider.
- Your server must have PHP version 4.1+ and MySQL version 3.23.23+.
- Offers everything Blogger does plus it has the ability to have static pages.
- There are many extension plug-ins available for further tweaking your page.
- This is the best choice if you have your own server and want complete control over your blog.
- If you don’t have your own server, you can start one on theirs at http://wordpress.com/. Not all features are there, but for the most part this is an amazing solution.
http://www.wordpress.org/

SQUARESPACE.COM — Pay service hosted blog (5 out of 5 stars)
- This is the only pay service I recommend because of the sheer number of features they provide at even the least expensive tier. Going up the rungs they boost the limits and add only a few extras. Most everything is available from the start.
- Personal tiers: $7, $12, or $17 per month.
- Business tiers: $20, $25, or $30 per month.
- They do offer a free 30 day trial that does NOT require a credit card to sign up for.
- You can try all of the options from all levels so you can find the right plan that will fit your needs.
- They offer much more than just blogs. Not only can you have static pages you can even have forums and guestbooks.
- Finally, my biggest praise: it is modular. Truly as simple as dragging the feature you want onto your page.
- Ultimately, if you are paying for a website right now, take a look at SquareSpace.com and see if you can do the same thing there. I bet you can and probably for a smaller monthly fee.
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Copyright © 2006 Dan Shaurette.
Besides being the editor of the newsletter for http://selfpublishedauthors.com/, Dan is the author of LILITH’S LOVE, a modern vampire romance novel, which you can learn more about at http://liliths-love.com/. He also hosts “Is This Thing On?”, an eclectic podcast featuring chat, interviews, and independent music at http://is-this-thing-on.net/. You can find out more on his blog at http://danshaurette.com/.