I just stumbled on wix.com and squarespace.com. Does anyone know about them, pros, cons, etc?

--edited by Mimi Speike on 4/30/2014, 12:15 PM--

Hi Mimi--I don't know much about either service. Were these recommended to you?

I'm seeing a string of text and characters after all your posts . . .  I wonder what is going on? Let me know if you are experiencing anything strange as you use Book Country.

Lucy

This post is sent from Chrome on my big Mac.

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OK, the problem is Chrome on my iMac. I will have to download a new one. This still doesn't explain why it affects BC and no other site. 

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--edited by Mimi Speike on 4/30/2014, 3:43 PM--

Hi Mimi,

They look like website building tools, fairly standard fare but I generally shy away from them.  If you're building a website for yourself as an author I would consider sticking with Wordpress.  So many templates that will give you the look and feel these free builders do but without you having to sign up and give them your information.  The catch is they require you to host your site with them (I believe, based on what I scanned through their FAQs).  It's never good to tie yourself to a host like that, you need to be flexible as your demands change.  If/when your book(s) are successful your site will get hammered and you want to be able to change hosts without losing your design.

Consider checking out my site, http://dan.croutch.ca, and see if that sort of thing works for you.  It's wordpress using an out-of-the-box template.

+ One that for Mr DClabs. 

I'd shy away from such sites too. There are a few wordpress hosting services out there that are reasonable and easy enough to manage once setup. I've used Bluehost and Hosting gang and can vouch for an easy setup and (relatively) trouble free experience. 

Of course when it come to anything Tech/Web there are alway issues. Mostly Id10T user errors but wordpress is pretty dam solid these days. 

Have a play with wordpress.com - you can make a site for free here. Play with it and run it till you outgrow it. It shouldn't be too difficult to migrate if you stay with an out of the box solution (and there are 1000's to choose from https://theme.wordpress.com). 

Cheers

Al

I used wix.com for an early portfolio site, but the problem is that I like the Flash programming, and it doesn't like to play nice with some mobile devices (and let's face it, a lot of people are viewing things on mobile devices nowadays). Otherwise, it was fairly easy to use--just not really good for me as I was trying to showcase a lot of artwork. I've since moved to Wordpress for my site. The templates allow for enough customization that it doesn't *look* like a bazillion other sites. 

Here are both of mine, both in Wordpress:

http://www.noellepierce.com

http://www.selestieledesigns.com

x♥x

Noelle

Literary agent Mary C. Moore is on the BC blog today, and one thing she mentioned was how a good website can tip the scales for her when she is deciding whether or not she wants to represent a writer. She pointed to the example of her author Rati Mehrotra, who very clearly lists her published short stories in a very "findable" place on her author site. Something worthwhile to consider as you are planning content for your own website!