To any writer in need of encouragement, it took 10 years, 2 unpublished novels and leaving an agent before my debut novel was published.
Carole Hailey
Author: Susan Uhlig
Building Your Own WordPress Website
If you read this post, you’ll see that WordPress website builder is my first go to, plus it has information on choosing a host.
After you’ve written and prepared content for your website (see this post if you need content ideas and this one for preparation info), then follow the steps below:
Chose a WordPress.org theme
- Finding a theme can be difficult. It’s not just a matter of layout or colors (much of that can be changed), but it’s also about what a theme provides: blogging, e-commerce, etc. I like what this article says: “Your goal should be to find a WordPress theme that has a design you like, is fast, and can be easily customized.” Read more of “Selecting the Perfect WordPress Theme – 9 Things to Consider” for more tips.
- It can be overwhelming as there are so many choices. Narrow those choices by using the search. Try “author,” or “illustrator” or “writer” or “art” or even a specific color. Remember the images will be yours (although some themes provide banner images that you may keep).
- Pick three to four themes that appeal to you, then examine each one closely.
For example, Context Blog is a theme aimed at blogging. There are two links on the page to check out, first a Preview. The Theme Homepage link takes you to a Demo. What do I like about this site? Clean, easy to use, good for multiple authors blogging together. I like that blog posts have a light-colored background. The font is easy to read. There are a variety of ways your home page can be set up.
Kidsi Pro offers a rainbow of colors. Besides checking out the above issues, make sure you read the text and the tags—these will tell you a lot. In the tags on this one, it shows blog, so that means it’s easy to set up a blog page. The Theme Homepage didn’t work. Uh oh! I’d steer away from this one then.
Green Wealth is one I discovered by clicking on Latest Themes. Green is my favorite color so it appeals to me. I like that the image is formatted as a circle and I like the soft green backgrounds. When I click on the Demo I see that it has animation. I like the floating dots, but I don’t like the way the picture moves. Animation can slow down a website too, so something else to keep in mind.
- If necessary, choose more until you can narrow it down to one or two.
Get opinions on your choices from others. For example, one writer I know picked a black background. When she showed it to her daughter-in-law, she felt it was too dark. We changed the background to a medium dark gray blue. But that wasn’t something built into the theme. I had to use CSS to customize it. (And unless you have programmer knowledge or help, I can’t recommend this.)
- Verify it has what you need as far as what you can build and how much flexibility it has.
Check for tags such as custom colors, custom background, custom menu, sidebar, columns.
- I also like looking at the ratings and active installations of a theme. If no one is using it, that would make me nervous.
Once you have your host, and have set up a domain name, add your theme.
- Go to your WordPress dashboard. There is usually access directly from your host. Also, you can access it by your url. Example: myauthorwebsite.com/wp-admin. Of course, a password is required.
- On the left column, you’ll see Appearance with a subcategory of Themes. This is where you add new themes.
- Easiest is click Add New Theme and use the search box by entering the name of the theme.
- Once you’ve added a theme, you must click Activate.
Customize your theme. This is where you make it uniquely yours. (Note: not all themes will have each of these options. Some will have more; others less.)
Under Appearance is a subcategory of Customize. Here you can change:
- Site Identity. For example, mine is set to Site Title: Susan Uhlig and Tagline: Children’s Author.
- Colors. Here’s where you change the Background color and Header Text color.
- Header Image. What image do you want to show on every page? These are usually a short and wide picture. Recommended is a 1000 × 250pixel image. Other size images can be cropped to fit.
- Background Image. Instead of a solid color background, you can have a background image. Be wary of getting too busy.
- You’ll probably ignore the Menu tab.
- Widgets. This is where you can add sidebars and footers. Some themes come with them already.
- Home page. It can be static or show most recent blog posts. The latter is my preference as there is always changing content on the home page.
All that and we still have not created a page or a blog post. But the groundwork has been laid. And can be changed. For example, I had a red-toned background for a while, then switched to green.
I’ll do a post on adding pages and blog posts next.
A Little More Beautiful
Perfect Picture Book Friday
A Little More Beautiful (Waxwing Books, 2023) by Sarah Mackenzie and illustrated by Breezy Brookshire is a sweet book not just for kids. Gardeners would enjoy it too.
An old lady named Lou Alice, who is as “sly as a fox and swift as a bird” decides “to leave each day more beautiful than she found it.” When she offers to plant a garden at the town hall, she’s told it’s too much work for her. So Lou Alice plants at night under the light of the moon. When the garden grows the town hall workers don’t know why but they feel happier than before. Then Lou Alice moves away. No one really notices, except for one little girl, who takes on Lou Alice’s mission of making the world more beautiful.
Author Sarah has created The Read-Aloud Revival encouraging homeschooling parents to read to their kids. There’s a bonus of a very popular bi-weekly podcast. See her other books here.
Read about illustrator Breezy here, see her books here, and check out her illustration shop too. She also has an Etsy shop.
A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.
Ayn Rand
A creative man is
How to Score Well in a Writing Contest
I’ve judged a number of writing contests and always find those who have wasted their time. (And possibly entry fee.)
BIG MISTAKES THAT TAKE YOU OUT OF THE RUNNING
- Wrong genre – don’t submit fantasy if they want mystery.
- Wrong category – don’t submit short story when they want nonfiction.
- Wrong audience age – don’t submit an article for preschoolers when the target age is 8 to 10-year-olds.
NOT FOLLOWING THE RULES – THE EASY
- Word count – if rules says under 800 words, don’t send 801. Tighten your manuscript by at least two words to be 799 or under. Often, when you tighten word count you end up with cleaner, clearer writing.
- Format – usually manuscripts are double-spaced. I’ve seen triple spaced, quadruple spaced, and even more blank lines. Don’t do this as it could cause an automatic rejection. And turn off spacing before and after paragraphs. Probably a judge will ignore this if it’s only 6 pt. But if they need a reason to decide between two close manuscripts, they’ll probably choose the one formatted correctly.
- Font – sometimes submission rules specify what kind and size of font. If this isn’t specified, use a standard font, size 12.
- File Naming Conventions – often what you name your document has a required format. It might be Last name dot story title. Or first and last name and the words contest entry. Whatever is requested, follow exactly.
NOT FOLLOWING SUBMISSION BASICS – ALSO EASY TO FIX
- Paragraphs should be indented – whether you use a tab or use the automatic indent on word, this is usually ½ inch.
- Paragraphing – it’s shocking how many manuscripts come with no paragraph breaks. Who wants to read a solid wall of text? When a new character talks start a new paragraph. Articles should also be broken into paragraphs.
- Basic Punctuation – if you don’t understand the basics, get a book and learn them. My favorite is Errors in English and Ways to Correct Them by Harry Shaw. Or take online tests. Googling “punctuation tests,” I found this one: https://www.grammarbook.com/grammar_quiz/punctuation_pretest.asp. At least run your text through a grammar checker such as https://writer.com/grammar-checker/.
STANDING OUT – IT TAKES WORK
- Fresh and original topic – avoid the obvious. For example, if it’s a holiday story, pick an unusual holiday. First day of school stories are common—would a last day of school story be more interesting? I can’t tell you how many new kid at a new school stories I’ve seen as a writing instructor. What would be different?
- New twist to a common topic – approach it in a unique way. I’ve read lots of stories about kids wanting pets. Two stand out because they were different: Tammi Sauer’s Me Want Pet and Kirsten Pendreigh’s Luna’s Green Pet.
- Make the reader feel – evoke emotions whether it’s a skin-crawling creepiness, a delight in some weird fact, or humor that causes a laugh out loud moment.
- Use the tools of good writing – strong active verbs, sensory details, showing, voice, etc. Will a metaphor or simile give a better picture? Use one.
- Revise to make it the best you can – even if it means starting your article over completely. Get feedback from other writers. Set it aside, then come back to it so you can see it afresh. Read your piece aloud and fix anything that doesn’t flow, is awkward, or confusing.
Before you submit, do a final run through of your manuscript looking for typos. An error free submission won’t guarantee a win, but will definitely give the judges less to mark down.