Creating your own blog is so much fun. You can create about anything you’d like. I am a freelance writer so my blog is geared towards helping other freelance writers get started in the field. There are literally thousands of blogs out there and the topics range from parenting to politics and everything in between. Whatever your passion is, you can create a blog about it.
So you may be asking yourself what a blog is. Basically a blog is a single page with entries on it. It doesn’t have all the complexity that a website has. A blog’s entries are listed in reverse chronological order, from most recent first to the oldest entry. So your viewers can see fresh information each time they view your blog. Blogs are done by a single author and a publically published online.
As previously stated, a blog has one main page and nothing else. On that main page, there are things called blog entries. These are where you enter whatever information you want. If you are doing a blog on gardening, your entries could be things like how to plant roses, when is the best time to plant tulips, etc. When you add a new entry, it automatically appears at the top of your blog. All blogs have something called a sidebar where it lists your entries by month. Think of a blog as a journal where you write your thoughts but instead of a binded journal, this one is done online.
As far as your topic, that is all up to you. Some blogs are general blogs that just talk about everything under the sun but these are rare since most blogs have a specific purpose. If you are a scrap booker, start a blog on scrapbooking; if you are pregnant, start a pregnancy blog; or if you are a computer expert, start a computer blog.
Before you start your own blog, take a look at some of the other blogs online so you can get a feel for how they are set up. Now keep in mind that everyone sets up their blog differently depending on their creativity and the blogging software they are using. But you can get a general idea of how they operate and look. One great place to create a blog if you are just starting is Live Journal or Blogger. I use Blogger because it is so simple to create and update. You can also try other popular sites like Xanga and Type Pad. These blogging sites are all free for you to create you won personal blog. If you want to add additional features to make your blog more attractive, you can do this for a price.
Creating a blog is a piece of cake. You normally have to register with the site you are using with basic info such as your name and email address. Then you can go and create your blog. You can set up the look of your blog with the many templates that these sites have to offer. Now you can add your first entry. All you have to do is type in your entry no matter how long or short it may be and click the post button. If you need to edit your entry, there is an edit button you can use to make any changes. After that, click publish and you have made your first entry available to the public.
Before the boom of the internet world, the traditional publishers are the kings of the publishing world but now, there the Cafepress, Lulu, Createspace and others that will help you to publish your book online. The main characteristic of the boom of Self Publishing industry like Lulu is because of the traditional publisher’s absence in the circulation. Some of the traditional publishers will answer you, that they don’t have enough budget to print your book, even if they had because of just a simple answer “manuscript rejection”. Compare to the self publishing that you are the editor of your own book.
There are different online publishers including the three companies mentioned earlier to produce your book as well as print them and ship them then distribute it, after that, they make profit from your writing. Self-publishers are not that the type of publishers that will actually paid the writings but the author himself will pay for the printing. Today, the successful self-publishers control the benefits of the services of print-on-demand. Self-publishing outlets such as Cafepress, Lulu, Createspace and others then will print-on-demand the more books that the customers will need and they will ship it as well as get the payments from the customers who order the books.
And as an author, you have anything to worry but waiting to collect your profits from the publishing outlets, and also you are the one to decide how much per book will out in the market. And as an additional input, Cafepress, Lulu, Createspace self-publishing services can accept from uploaded digital contents like Microsoft Word documents, PDFs, text files or even Rich Text Format files. The format, size and design of the publication will come from the desire of the book author. But the difference of online self publishing outlets to a typical self publishing in your neighborhood, the first one, they won’t charge upon submission until there’s an order coming in.
That’s the time they will charge for the service charge for the base price of the printing on demand but you have the control of the final price that they will be charging to the buyer before shipping. While the second type of self publishing in your neighborhood, will charge you upon submission to print them immediately. Another thing, the neighborhood self publishing will not helping you to the marketing of your own book, the author will be the marketer. They are the same in the matter of the control how much will each book will charge to the buyers.
There are additional charges that an online self publishing service for an additional services they will offer such as your cover design, they review and proofread your manuscript, as well as indexing, promoting and marketing your book. They will also offer you to manage your book to register to have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number).
As an end for this article, the main characteristic of Self Publishing is to win the competition against the traditional publishers. They will be available anywhere as long as you have the computer, an internet connection and valid email address to upload your manuscript. You don’t need to walk or take a drive to the publishing office just to submit your manuscript. No need to go out. Just sit back and relax in sending your manuscript.
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