What's the best place for creating a blog?

[D.B. Harrop]

Hi, everyone!! I'm so grateful to be able to ask your advice, as I have no idea where to start and what site to go with. There are so many options out there, and I have never blogged so feel a little lost! I have been told by my publicist that I need to start a blog, as my book, Leather Apron, is coming out this month! :-D 

What site/sites would you suggest? There are so many expert bloggers on here and I could really benefit from your input and suggestions!

Thank you all so much! I greatly appreciate it!! 

[Grace]

It depends what you're looking for.

Blogger is good if you like doing fancy stuff, having widgets, and using Google Friend Connect.  Personally, I think a lot of Blogger blogs look like bad 90s Myspace pages.  Not all of them, of course, but unless you know a bit about design it's easy to make something garish.  It's one of the more popular platforms out there though and is very easy to use.

Wordpress.com is the platform that I use.  It has some nice features for following other blogs, and it's free.  It's also got pretty nice built-in SEO.  However, that being said, there's a limited selection of themes, and you can't use your own javascript.  This means that you've got a limited number of pre-made widgets to choose from.  That isn't a problem for me, but it might be something that's a turn-off.

Wordpress.org is a self-hosted platform.  It's got all the goodies of Wordpress.com, but more control over your content/script/themes/etc.  It's not quite as user-friendly, but it's good for putting out a professional appearance.  The down side is the learning curve and that you have to pay for your own domain/hosting/etc.

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Books Without Any Pictures

[D.B. Harrop]

Thanks so much, Grace!! Your reply was very helpful! I agree about the 90's look....not something I'm going for, ha! :-D The benefits and drawbacks you mentioned were very helpful for me! Thank you again!

[Alison M.]

I've messed around with Blogger and Wordpress. I greatly prefer Wordpress. It looks so much more professional and it's really easy to use and navigate. Not to mention if you choose to self-host in the future, it's a pretty easy transition (from what I've heard).

[D.B. Harrop]

Thank you, Alison! That's really good to know! I appreciate you taking the time to reply. :-)

[Nikki Leigh]

The transition is very easy from a free Wordpress.com site and I've transitioned a number of blogger blogs - to create a new Wordpress self hosted site. 

[D.B. Harrop]

Fantastic! Thank you so much, Jack, for the insightful reply! It was very helpful and I appreciate it. I like the content of your blog, by the way! It looks very interesting.  

[TheBookGazer.Blogspot.com]

Ahem... http://editorsarticle.blogspot.ca/ I do Know how to write code....

A Little....

I made this banner myself, code and all!

I am self-taught Its not that hard once you get the hang of it. Just observe , look for patterns and experiment.

I do Agree with jack though, blogger changes their templates without notice, and they never give the blogger the option to "decline" their latest bi-weekly update.

For example http://editorsarticle.blogspot.ca/2012/05/google-removes-follow-but...

[Penny Freeman]

I have to agree.  If you hit the 'inspect element' button,  you can learn a lot of tricks.  I like your blog, BTW, and your 'voice'.  I'm now following.  I have blogs on both Blogger and Wordpress.  You can compare the difference at http://amindwandering.blogspot.com and http://amormonjournal.wordpress.com. 

Iif you don't want to spring for your own domain and self-hosting, I suggest Blogger.  If you want to pay for a super fantastic looking blog, I'd use Wordpress.  Blogger makes it easier to add supplemental content which helps keep your readers on your site, keeps them engaged (hopefully) and coming back.  It also helps with your page ranking in search engines to have an appealing blog with a good primary/supplemental content ratio.

Penny Freeman

[Leona Olson]

Hi Jack, I looked at your site and  it looks good I will have to check on Weebly. Thank you.

[Jennifer Kitchens]

Well, I wanted to put in a plug for blogger.  :)  I've used it and personally I like it.  You have to put in some time to make it look nice and not just leave it cookie-cutter, but I think it's by far the easiest site to use.  It can look tacky if you just use plain colors and fill it in with some of the "lame" widgets, but play around with inserting your own pictures, a nice color palette, and good widgets.  Basic and easy to use - blogger is nice when you're not as comfortable or familiar with making websites.  You can learn as you go.  Take a couple simple and free online courses on writing code if you want, but it's not needed.  

I do a review blog, not an author blog (though I'm hoping to publish soon so I'm building one of those as we speak) and I think it looks nice.  You can decide for yourself.  Good luck with your blog.  :)

Clean Romance Reviews

[D.B. Harrop]

Wow, your blog is very tastefully done!! Thanks so much, Jennifer, for all the great tips and pointers! I hope I will be able to turn out something as aesthetically appealing as yours! :-) 

[Jennifer Kitchens]

Thank you.  I am pretty happy with it, though it's the third version I've gone through.  :)