For YEARS, I have been warning authors to NOT let their publishers “host” their websites. The reason being is that, if that publisher goes out of business, you could lose your entire website with one click of a button. Dog Ear Publishing hosted websites for authors and, when they went out of business, you know what happened to the websites their authors had spent years building. Poof! All gone! I received yet another complaint from a Dog Ear victim last week.
Today, I learned of something far more threatening…but not toward authors. This targets independent writers and journalists. Facebook is going to launch a “newsletter product” for those folks.
Based on the numerous articles posted online about it, all quoting “anonymous sources,” Facebook will host your “monetized” newsletter AND your website! Wow! What a great deal, huh? Or NOT!
You can bet that the minute you post something that Facebook (or any of your readers for that matter) doesn’t like, you’re going to lose your account with them. All of the weeks, or months, or YEARS you spent adding content to your Facebook platform will, poof, be GONE!
Why in the world would any real writer/journalist trust a big-tech company like Facebook to host their newsletter and website. They wouldn’t!
Don’t do it. While “monetized” might sound tempting, it’s doubtful you would make more than a few cents per month on the ads Facebook might sell around your content. You’d fair far better promoting your services on a website that YOU own, with YOUR OWN URL. And, nobody can take that away from you.
Never, ever, ever give ownership or control of your website or newsletter to anyone else. Period.
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- BOOK MARKETING ESERIAL PART 2 – Before Day 1: You MUST Have a Website that YOU Control
- Who REALLY Controls That ISBN You Bought? Probably Not You! By Angela Hoy
Got questions about Print On Demand and Self-publishing? Ask Angela Hoy.
About The Author
Angela Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the author of 19 books, and the co-owner of BookLocker.com (one of the original POD publishers that still gets books to market in less than a month), PubPreppers.com (print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish), and Abuzz Press (the publishing co-op that charges no setup fees).
Angela has lived and traveled across the U.S. with her kids in an RV, settled in a river-side home in Bradenton, FL, and lived on a 52 ft Irwin sailboat. Angela now resides on a mountaintop in Northwest Georgia, where she plans to spend the rest of her days bird watching, gardening, hiking, and taking in all of the amazing sunrises.
WritersWeekly.com - the free marketing ezine for writers, which features new paying markets and freelance job listings every Wednesday.
BookLocker.com - According to attorney Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print, BookLocker is: "As close to perfection as you're going to find in the world of ebook and POD publishing. The ebook royalties are the highest I've ever seen, and the print royalties are better than average. BookLocker understands what new authors experience, and have put together a package that is the best in the business. You can't go wrong here. Plus, they're selective and won't publish any manuscript just because it's accompanied by a check. Also, the web site is well trafficked. If you can find a POD or epublisher with as much integrity and dedication to selling authors' books, but with lower POD publishing fees, please let me know."
Abuzz Press offers FAST and FREE book publication, but only accepts a small percentage of submissions, and only works with U.S. authors.
PubPreppers.com - "We Prep, You Publish!" Print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish. Offers formatting and design services only, and then provides simple instructions for authors on where to sign up to have the print and ebook editions printed/listed/sold. Cut out the middle man. Keep 100% of what bookstores pay for your book!
Angela's POD Secrets Revealed Series can be found HERE.
Have a POD Book with another publisher? See if BookLocker can give you a better deal. (BookLocker offers "disgruntled author discounts" to those who want to move from other POD services.)
See BookLocker's publishing packages HERE.
ANGELA ON TWITTER https://twitter.com/AngelaHoy
BOOKLOCKER ON FACEBOOK - Provides links to free excerpts!
https://www.facebook.com/booklockerbooks
ANGELA ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/angela.hoy.750
ANGELA ON LINKEDIN
https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelahoy/
Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/
Read More Of Angela's Articles HERE
90+ DAYS OF PROMOTING YOUR BOOK ONLINE: Your Book's Daily Marketing Plan by Angela Hoy and Richard Hoy
Promoting your book online should be considered at least a part-time job. Highly successful authors spend more time promoting a book than they do writing it - a lot more.
We know what you're thinking. You're an author, not a marketer. Not to worry! We have more than a decade of successful online book selling experience under our belts and we're going to teach you how to promote your book effectively online...and almost all of our techniques are FREE!
Online book promotion is not only simple but, if you have a step-by-step, day-to-day marketing plan (this book!), it can also be a very artistic endeavor, which makes it fun for creative folks like you!
Yes, online book promoting can be EASY and FUN! Let us show you how, from Day 1 through Day 90...and beyond!
33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Blind Characters
I admire any writer who wants to tackle a blind character. But so many writers take up this challenge and FAIL. They research blindness by reading other fiction books, by observing their blind colleagues and acquaintances, and by tying on a blindfold and pretending to be blind themselves.
I understand the challenges your characters face, their triumphs, their hopes and their fears, because I've lived them. I work with people who have varying degrees of blindness every day, so I've seen every challenge, every situation you could imagine.
Let me share my knowledge to improve your writing. You can create blind characters that readers will fall in love with.
~Stephanie Green
As a faithful WritersWeekly reader, I am grateful every week to have BookLocker looking out for writer’s best interests.
Thank you!
You are so correct.
You need to own your domain name and get a professional web hosting company to host it for you.
Good, advise. Some companies gain profit around your ad without you knowing about it. Some go out of business without being notified. I am a victim of losing everything in one poof. They offer you the best but behind their thoughts are a profit for them, not you. Good luck and think before you join an ad to a different company. Do your owe and be happy.
Ángela you’re drunk. This is going on outside of Facebook. Your interpretation is white privilegio. Tell us more, boring white woman.
I thought we’d go ahead and allow this comment to appear, just to show that even WE get mindless, racist trolls lurking in our midst occasionally.