Design by Amber of Shelf Notes
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Day 3 is about Characters and Blogging.
Characters
Sorry my dear readers, no time to come up with something decent on characters. I actually think I’m often more interested in how a book is written than the characters themselves. But my favorite literary character EVER, I believe, is Lee in Steinbeck’s East of Eden. I would need to really pinpoint why one day…
I also enjoy very much the characters in books by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. This name may not ring a bell, but you may actually have seen the movies made from his books (originally written in French): Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Qu’ran and Oscar and The Lady in Pink. They are so deeply human, warm, simple, and the dialogs between them are so real. By the way, they are written in a very easy French.
Well, I guess I ended up talking a bit about characters!
Blogging Q&A
Here is the prompt:
Blogging 101. All kinds of tips and tricks to get you started or keep you going. Talk about ARCs, reviewing in general, web design, etc. What blogging platform do you use? How do you network? What are some of your favorite web designs? Or maybe you want to talk about your own blogging journey, and how you got to where you are now. Either way, we want you to share your knowledge with the rest of the community!
This is going to be a Q without the A!!
- I use wordpress.com. I keep debating with myself for the possible switch to wordpress.org. I have read enough horror stories with security issues and hacking of wordpress.org sites that I don’t feel ready to jump into self -hosting.
Have YOU made the jump? For how long? Any issue? Why do you find it better, if you do indeed?
Am I wrong to assume that wordpress.com is indeed safer than wordpress.org as for security issues? - I assume you can’t ask someone to do a special web design for you if you use wordpress.com. Or am I wrong? Do you know someone who could do that?
- I like a template with two right columns, but would love to use another one (wordpress.com so far). So far, I have not found one that really grabbed me. Do you know one? Or why do you use the template you use? Be sure to give the url of your blog if you comment.
Be honest with me: is there too much stuff in my right sidebars? What would you get rid of? - For France Book Tours, I launched a Newsletter some time ago, and then stopped sending it after a few editions, not too sure about the content to insert, apart form an exclusive giveaway reserved to the subscribers to my Newsletter. Have you decided on a Newsletter to complement your book blog? Why? What do you insert in there that is not already in your posts?
- Next week, I am going to review an awesome book about starting a book by starting a blog, or turning your blog into a book. Have you done either, as a book blogger? Why did you decide to do it? How did it go? Any special advice?
- Let me know if YOU have any question for me, I’ll answer you in the comment section here below.
Words And Peace 
I too hesitate to jump into the wordpress.org experience, nor have I found the perfect theme yet. There always seems to be something missing. For instance, although I like the clean, simple look of my latest incarnation of the blog, I’ve just discovered the Pages are not visible. So if you find a better theme, let me know too…
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wow, seriously? do they allow you to create a new menu, tons of templates do, and then add Pages to it?
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Thank you so much – just tried that and it worked! T’es chouette!
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which site? I can’t see your pages on https://findingtimetowrite.wordpress.com/
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They’ve appeared there now on the top left, just above the search box.
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excellent! glad I was helpful to someone during this ArmachairBEA!
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I have no answers to your questions I’m afraid… I wish you luck figuring it all out though 🙂 And those French book recommendations sound really great…! I shall have to check them out.
Rachel
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No problem, thanks for stopping by.
Yes they are really good
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You’re right…wordpress.com blogs can’t really be customized. If you would like a design more custom fit to your blog I would make the switch to wordpress.org or blogger 🙂
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thanks. I used to have blogger, didn’t like it
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I felt the same you did today about writing about characters— no time. I also have no answers for you. Sorry.
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no problem, but thanks for taking time to stop by and drop a comment anyway
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I switched to self-hosted website and it’s been great so far (almost two years now). I use one plugin for security and so far no hackers manage to break into it.
It’s geea tsince you can use a lot of themes and plugins. For example UBB plugin was of great help. 🙂
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thnaks, good to hear some positive feedback about self-hosting
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I jumped all the way from Blogger to WordPress.org and self-hosting. I have had absolutely no problems with hackers or the move. I hired a designer to design my website and help me with the transfer, which saved me a ton of hours and frustration. Bluehost is my hosting service, and I adore them. They have been amazing. There are a few plugins that protect my website from hacking or other issues. I didn’t think the switch would be easy, but honestly, it was so easy it made me question why I waited so long to do it. I’ve recommended my designer to others, and all have come back raving about her services if you ever want a name!
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thanks Michelle, this is quite encouraging indeed. I can see the link to your designer at the bottom of your site, thanks
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