Author: Dan Bullen
Date:   09-03-09 12:07

Hi — 

In the absence of publisher interest, I'm looking to take my book project on the road, and give it as a talk on college campuses while I'm querying through the fall.

But I'm finally starting to think that I might need a web presence to help market the speaking program as well as the book. Does anyone know of a good free web hosting service where I can set up a basic website with a few tabs, a picture or two per page and an option that lets readers download a pdf sample chapter?

I'm not committed to free: I'll pay if it makes a difference in accessibility or ease of design. But I'm a writer, not a multimedia experience: I don't want to spend much time figuring out how to code a site myself, and I don't have the dough for a full-blown professional site.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Dan

Author: Frank Baron
Date:   09-03-09 13:23

Try Blogger at: http://www.blogger.com/

It's free, easy to work with and should do the things you described (though I wouldn't swear to the dl-ing of a pdf).

Author: Dan Bullen
Date:   09-03-09 17:01

Hi Frank — 

Thanks for your reply. I've got a blog through blogger, but I'm looking for an actual website, where I could devote a separate page to the book I've written, the lecturing program I'm developing, works in progress and a few other things. I don't want it all to show vertically on one page, I'm envisioning a page with a bar of tabs across the top, and separate pages for each of those tabs. Does blogger do that, or just the vertically-scrolling blog format?

Thanks again,
Dan

Author: Frank Baron
Date:   09-03-09 19:38

Hey Dan. Yeah, you'll need something other than Blogger for tabbed pages. My site's hosted by Doteasy and it's free (except that I have to buy and renew my domain name through them - about $25/year). I'm a total techno-dweeb though, and had a company build my site for me. (Although I understand Doteasy offers rudimentary web-building tools even to their $0/month clients.)

I have to withstand their periodic emailed offers for better (read "there's a monthly fee") hosting packages but that's not a big deal. If you're willing to learn to build a site, or have someone do it for you, they're an option worth considering. There are probably other no-, or low-cost hosting services out there too.

Good luck.

Author: Peggy Bechko
Date:   09-04-09 10:47

Hi Dan,

There's this one http://www.50megs.com/

I've had a basic website there for a while at www.PeggyBechko.50megs.com

The down side is the fact that you have to add the ".50megs." in your web address for a free site (I understand it's that way for most of them.

It certainly was easy to build with their templates, but the other downside is the advertising they add. (again, I believe most any 'free' website location would stick in advertising).

For my latest I've gotten a 'paid' site at http://www.hostgator.com. It costs around $10.00 a month to have the site hosted there (http://www.newwriterguide) but it's for an Ebook I'm selling and I figure it's worth it. Hostgator is worth checking out because they do allow more than one website for that cost so I'm thinking of creating my 'author website' to be hosted there as well and move from 50 megs.

Hope all this is some help.
Peggy Bechko

Author: Dan Bullen
Date:   09-04-09 11:03

Hi Frank, Hi Peggy — 

Thanks for your recommendations. Through a friend I found SnapPages, and built a site between last night and this morning. I did some cursing along the way, but I figured out what was holding me up, and put the site together. Once you get the logic of how the pages relate to each other, it comes together quickly enough.

The address still has 'me.snappages.com', but it looks like I'm just going to pay the $8 a month to host it there—I can always write it off, and I couldn't have listed all the pages I wanted to list with the free site alone. The upside to snappages is they don't put any ads on your site, even the free sites, as far as I understand it.

Anyway, thanks again, and good luck,
Dan

Author: Cathy C
Date:   09-05-09 17:56

I'm pretty happy with Blue Domino. It's $9 a month and you have your own domain name if you want (an extra cost, but well worth it!) If you upgrade for the first year, they give you all the web design software for FREE, which I did and it was well worth the price.

http://www.bluedomino.com

Worth a look, at least if you don't mind spending a few bucks a month.

Author: Bruno Vincent
Date:   09-07-09 01:39

Hi Dan,

For your site I recommend going Joomla CMS, it's free but making the site isn't...but if you choose a template I can set you up all installed, configured and ready to go in a day for pretty cheap, hosting is $10 a month.

After your site is up I can take an hour or 2 to show you how it works and you'll be fully independent from myself or any webmaster.

Please let me know if interested, can have this set up for you in less than 48 hours.

Bruno
Joomla Expert Developer
http://www.anonsolutions.com

Author: Jordan Spencer Cunningham
Date:   09-23-09 00:04

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned WordPress here.

WordPress is free, and you can have tabbed pages, a blog, or both. No ads. You can get a free WordPress account at WordPress.com, or you can host your own at a domain name somewhere. You'll have to buy a domain name and a server, but the WordPress software is free and easy to set up using instructions (download or learn more about self-hosting WordPress here). BlueHost actually has a tool that sets up WordPress for you-- I'd highly recommend BlueHost. They've have a deal for $3.95 per month with unlimited space, bandwidth, and a myriad of features (and I mean so many features that nobody could possibly use them all if they wanted) to utilize at your own discretion. You also get a free domain name. That deal is amazing-- you can't beat it. I don't know how long the deal will last, but it's apparently still going even after several months. Try this link: $3.95 hosting on BlueHost.

You can set up more than just WordPress using the easy BlueHost tools, too. I'd be willing to help you with this if you'd like.

Author: Frank Baron
Date:   09-23-09 01:48

Gee, call me a suspicious old fart but I wonder if Jordan might benefit financially somehow if folks flock to Bluehost?

Author: Jordan Spencer Cunningham
Date:   09-23-09 20:28

Actually, I won't. My state's economy will, I suppose, as they're situated in the same state as me, but that's about it. The only reason I know all of this is because I've just launched a website of the same caliber. WordPress is pretty easy to set up, it's really customizable, and I love it. I was highly considering BlueHost for weeks and was about to pay the $3.95 per month, but I got free hosting with where I work (a website called OSNews), and so I didn't need BlueHost. However, I kept it in mind to refer to others.

Author: Frank Baron
Date:   09-23-09 23:57

Fair enough. :)

Author: Brian Wolfe
Date:   09-28-09 14:11

A site I am part of is looking to setup exactly this type of service. We are currently developing the templates for almost exactly this type of site. We are not quite ready for prime time, but if you head over and shoot them (us) an e-mail details at www.writersplanet.net If you are patient and willing to work with us, you can get setup you may be looking for as part of our beta testers.

I am currently coding the auto signup feature (not working at the time of this writing), but someone will get back to your via e-mail in the meantime.


Brian
www.writersplanet.net

Author: sam albion
Date:   09-30-09 07:38

I use SERIF for web building. You can download an SE version for free. To upgrade, and be able to use web-commerce forms, etc, costs just 10GBP. A lot cheaper than Dreamweaver!

Most ISP's these days give you between 2-5 pages of space for "free" with your Broadband package. I am with TalkTalk, and I get 5 pages. You create your site, upload it to the server-that's it!

If you want msg boards, use PHP forums. You get space for nothing. You can link external sites to your own Home Page, and that way you cut down on paying for "server space".

If you want to add a chat widget to you site, then try- Chatango, a free use program.

If you want to add videos or photos, again, use external "hosts", like YouTube, or Flickr, and then add links via your site. If you add lots of vids or pics to your site your "server space" will quickly get eaten up... no need for that though if everything is link access.

Hope this doesn't patronise or confuse!
Sam