The Best Laid Plans...

So last month I outlined my goal for 2010: one story published a month.

Here we are at the end of February, and my goal is already blown.

I thought I had February in the bag. I had one anthology scheduled and one ezine story submitted. But the ezine is having issues and the anthology got pushed back.

Such is life, I guess. Especially in the publishing industry.

I suppose I really can't complain. I had one story published in January, I'm expecting a contract next week for a story to be published in a March anthology, the anthology originally scheduled for February is now scheduled for April, and May is the scheduled release for the Please, Sir anthology.

So I'm four out of five for Jan to May 2010. (Barring further rescheduling.)

I've got my eye on a number of anthologies closing in the next couple months, as well as finishing the requested revision for 1794, and I'm also taking notes for a non-fiction project. Plus there's another mid-length fiction project I want to do before I start in on my next novel-length fiction project.

Oh, and I got my novel revision done last month, which is always a load off, at least until the rejection letters start piling up again.

All in all I'm still feeling good about 2010, writing-wise. But boy, I'm tired.

100 Words About: Spring

It's nearly March, and as far as the forecast can see it's supposed to be mostly sunny and highs above freezing.

I love spring. I waffle between whether spring or fall is my favorite season. I love the smell of spring, the wet earth, the growing green things. The sounds of the birds returning. The moist air, which makes everything seem warmer than it actually is.

I can't wait for the ice to melt away and make walking the dog less hazardous. And for the mornings to be light enough that we might actually get our butts out of bed in time to do a morning walk before work.

What are your 100 words about spring?

Image: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tuesday Tip: Website: Web Hosting and Services

Web hosting is the big selling point for a lot of domain name registrars. Any one of them can sell you your domain name, for roughly the same price as any other. It's the web hosting and other features that distinguish the various companies from one another, and these features are what you want research before you make a choice.

Hosting

Web hosting basically means storing your data on a server. If your webpage is a house where all your data lives, the server is the street your house is on. The server connects your data to the internet and handles all of the traffic to and from your website.

You can do your own hosting if you have a server, but a small server can only handle a certain amount of traffic before it starts to see a performance hit. For those of you who are not familiar with the technology, imagine this as too many cars driving down a small street: eventually, traffic backs up and the cars go slower. That's more or less what happens to your website: the pages load slower, and eventually can just stop allowing connections altogether. Odds are that a small server would work just fine for you at first, but if your website takes off unexpectedly, the last thing you want is for people not to be able to get there. The advantage of using a web hosting service is that they have big fast servers with big fast internet connections. They make their money by making sure your website is always online.

That means that the biggest thing you want to look for as far as web hosting goes is reliability. Try to find user reviews of the service and see how many times people complain about the hosting not working right, or bandwidth issues.

Customer Service

If you're like me, you don't know a heck of a lot about computers. (And yet, I write advice articles. Keep this in mind, folks…) When things go wrong or you have a question, you need your web host's customer service staff to answer the phone. Customer service is probably going to be one of the largest differences between hosting providers. Again, look for customer reviews. If you have friends who have websites, ask what provider they use and what their experiences have been.

(My provider is so customer service oriented, they have a real live person call every once in awhile just to make sure I'm still happy with their service and to ask if I have any questions. Mucho brownie points. I know lots of other companies used to do that back in the olden days, but I can't think of another business I work with that does that now without trying to sell me something.)

Other Services

This is where you need to be careful.

To get started, all you really need from your provider is a domain name and web hosting. Most providers will try to sell you all sorts of add-ons when you buy your web hosting. No matter how big of a group discount you get initially, think hard before you click "yes." It all adds up, and discounts may not last.

If you don't fully understand what the option is, research it before you agree to anything.

There is one service that you may want to consider. Many providers now offer help in creating the actual website, either in templates or programs or even working with a web developer. I say you may want to consider this, because if you really truly don't want to learn how to do it yourself, some of these options are very good and can cost as low as $5 to $10 a month.

Personally, I think if you're going to have a website, you should learn how to maintain it yourself. Yes, it's a lot of work, but do you really want to have to pay extra every month when you may only need to update your website twice a year? Or if you update your website regularly, if you're working with a web development service they will probably charge a fee every time you want to change something. Read the fine print and take your time before deciding how you want to do the actual website.

We'll talk more about building your site next week.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

100 Words About: Overtime

I worked overtime at my day job the last two weeks, doing nine hour days. That meant I didn't have my usual after-work writing time, and I was also more tired when I got home and didn't do any writing there either, except one Wednesday when I pounded out a new 1200-word story. The first two weeks in March will be the same.

I know lots of strategies for making writing time, but when you get home and still have to walk the dog and feed the animals and do the dishes or the laundry or the checkbook, how do you find the energy to wrestle with your manuscript? Any of you have tips or thoughts to share?

Image: vegadsl / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tuesday Tip: Website: Web Address

You've decided that you want to have a website of your very own. Great! Now what?

First, you're going to need a web address. That's the address that people type into their web browser to get to your site. That address can either be a subpage on someone else's domain (ie: www.facebook.com/mercyloomis or www.myisp.com/bobsauthorpage), or else you can have your own domain name (ie: www.mercyloomis.com).

The nice thing about a subpage is you can probably get one for free or very cheap through the company you get your internet through. However, it's not quite as professional (or satisfying) as having your own name in that address.

You can't own a domain name, you just rent it. (Yes, this costs money.) All internet domain names are handled by domain name registrars which are overseen by ICANN. Examples of domain name registrars are GoDaddy.com and Network Solutions. Since you're getting the same domain name (the one you picked, if it's available) regardless of which registrar you go through, the main difference between them is in the packages offered, customer service/support, and the pricing. Do your homework. For myself, I got recommendations from my IT buddies as to what service they liked.

Choose a web address that will work for you: either your name/pseudonym, or the name of your book if the website is to promote a particular release. Personally, I think you get the most bang for your buck by starting with your name/pseudonym. You can always add pages later for your books.

If the www.yourname.com that you want is already taken, you can always try www.yournameauthor.com or www.yournamewrites.com, or another similar variation. If too many of those are taken, you may want to consider using a pseudonym that's a little less common.