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Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Author Websites
Honestly this is something I've kind of avoided blogging about simply because I don't know if there's yet a consensus on what exactly author websites should entail, how much energy authors should devote to them, and whether original work should be posted therein. So please pretend that there's a big warning label affixed to this blog post: publishing professional opinion may vary.
My own personal feeling is that every author out there is doing themselves a disservice if they don't have some sort of a Google-able web presence with an e-mail address. Often I'll come across a short story or an article that strikes me (ouch!), and I'll try and track down the author, sometimes to no avail. Avail, authors, avail! You know what they say, opportunity can't knock if opportunity can't find one's Myspace page.
The website does not have to be a web miracle. Something simple and professional is totally fine, although if you are an aspiring author, definitely don't forget that professional part, and that goes for every single thing you post online, whether it's a blog, blog comment, or Twitter.
On the all-important matter of how much work to post online -- I think it's fine to post some work. However, I would be very, very, very careful about posting excerpts from a novel you want to publish. If you can control the material and the amount you are posting is limited to a chapter or two and you can pull the work from the Internet at any time, I don't think there's necessarily a problem (but again, there are varying opinions about this).
But be exceedingly, ridiculously, copiously careful when you allow excerpts of your novel to be published in journals and/or elsewhere -- not necessarily because of the risk someone stealing your work (that's extremely rare) but rather because you might be tying up the rights. As always, know what you sign!
In query letters, yes, absolutely include a link to your website if you have one, although if you want me to see something, put it in the query -- I can't tell you how frustrated agents get at the "please click here for my query" e-mails. If we have to click on a link or an attachment to see something that could just as easily be written into the e-mail if the author had taken the time..... anger, folks. Anger. We don't have the time and we don't want the viruses. If you do have a website just put a link beneath your name. Simple as that. It's like dessert -- a nice bonus if we're still hungry.
Lastly, how much time you devote to a website is up to you, although I think the jury is out (or rather, will convene in tomorrow's You Tell Me) about how much it pays off to have a blog, expansive web presence, and whether that time is well-spent. So please stay tuned for that discussion.
98 comments:
- Erik said...
I think the big question is content.
Should it be rated PG-13 or better?
Should you avoid politics?
Does it matter if it looks like all Hell (as mine does)?
I can't answer these questions. I do know that when I query someone with a finished work I'll try to mention I have a following online.
- August 12, 2008 at 1:32 PM
So are you saying you encourage your clients to create a personal website if they don't have one? Or do you leave it up to them?
- August 12, 2008 at 1:40 PM
- Conduit said...
If I may blow my own trumpet, I think my own tale is very relavent here. I owe my recent good fortune absolutely, entirely, 100% to the Internet, and my presence thereon.
It's through blogging that I got my earliest work critiqued. I built up a network of writing friends who helped me enormously, and went on to sell some short stories to online zines.
When a certain uber-agent saw one such story online, he followed the trail to my website, and emailed to ask if he could see my novel. Said agent took me on.
First thing I did was make another website for the novel itself. The website then became part of my agent's submission strategy. We've already got deals in the UK and Japan, and I know for a fact the website played at least some part in that.
Obviously, a stinky bad book isn't going to be helped by a zippy website, but if the book's up to it, the website can help it stand apart. Plus, if you know what you're doing, there are all sorts of secret-squirrel things that can be done to help your cause. But those secrets will remain mine ... bwah-ha-ha-haaa!
Seriously, website = good.
- August 12, 2008 at 1:42 PM
- Nathan Bransford said...
I would definitely encourage my clients to have some sort of a website up by the time their first book comes out, but whether they choose to and how much time they want to devote to it is up to them.
- August 12, 2008 at 1:43 PM
- April said...
Thanks! A friend and I were just discussing this yesterday. What you said basically echoed my own thoughts.
- August 12, 2008 at 1:44 PM
- Marion said...
Given the difficulty of finding a publisher or an agent to represent my work, competition aside, I have toyed with the idea of publishing my own books on-line as E-books. When I began to research how to do that and make money at the same time, I discovered that a lot of money has to go into setting something like that up if I want to go into business for myself. I am presently trying to teach myself how to construct my own commercial website to deliver PDF books that can be bought and downloaded into an E-Book reader of choice. Anyone with any advice would be greatly appreciated.
- August 12, 2008 at 1:57 PM
- Dan said...
In my upcoming book, EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT PUBLISHING I LEARNED FROM SPORTS, I devote a chapter to the seminal movie, Field of Dreams.
"If you build it, they will come."
But seriously, what Conduit said is on point. We talk about this stuff at work all the time (I work for an Internet consulting company) and there are plenty of [not so] secret things you can do to make your site work for you.
- August 12, 2008 at 1:59 PM
- Maris Bosquet said...
Thanks for the insight, Mr. B. I recently explained in my Embee Thinks! blog why I put my WIPs online. In my case, it's more convenient than email, and it certainly beats running into cross-platform issues. (I'm Mac; everyone else is PC.)
- August 12, 2008 at 2:06 PM
- Kylie said...
Having a web presense definitely helps a writer. I know that as a reader I have heard of authors and subsequently gone and read their books because I stumbled upon their websites or blogs (usually refered by some other writer's website, so networking online is a big help). I never would have glanced at the books in the store before I had heard of the authors online.
- August 12, 2008 at 2:11 PM
- A Paperback Writer said...
I know that as a reader I like authors' websites. When someone recommends a book or an author for me, I usually check the website before buying anything. If it is a current author (like Ian Rankin, as opposed to Sir Walter Scott), I get suspicious if that author doesn't have a website.
- August 12, 2008 at 2:18 PM
- Laura K. Curtis said...
If anyone's interested, I did put up a brief presentation on web presences for authors after our Sisters in Crime chapter did a meeting on it.
Marketing/promotion is a major part of my "real" job, so it's always on my mind.
- August 12, 2008 at 2:24 PM
- Laura K. Curtis said...
Eric - your content should ABSOLUTELY be PG-13. Let's say you write erotica, however. In that case, keep the sexual content off the main page. Preferably, get a secondary domain for it that you can *link to* from the main page. Why? Because if you have anything R+ on your main page, or sometimes even on the domain, public libraries will block access. You don't want to do that to readers who don't have home computers!
As to politics - are they a huge part of your writing? Because if not, I'd keep them off the website. Back when I was selling my house, my real estate agent made me take down a poster that said "Somewhere in Texas a village is missing its idiot." She said, "what if the one person who might buy your house decides he doesn't want to give you money because he's a Bush supporter?"
Chances are, your politics won't turn off the people you plan to submit your work to...but what if they do?
- August 12, 2008 at 2:27 PM
- Precie said...
Conduit's fairy-tale-come-true was the first thing I thought of when I read today's post. And someone else recently pointed out that, assuming you have a web site or blog, you can see from your web site stats that you're getting more hits when you start querying. So people do take the time to look. It's worth the effort, I suspect, to have something worthwhile for them to find.
- August 12, 2008 at 2:32 PM
- michael said...
Nathan, perhaps you would be so kind as to distinguish between the uses/benefits of blogs versus websites.
At a conference devoted to publicity for authors, all the speakers agreed on three points:
1. There should be a website;
2. There should be something of consequence on the website;
3. There should be frequent additions or changes in the contents to encourage re-visiting.
- August 12, 2008 at 2:34 PM
- Nathan Bransford said...
That's what we're going to talk about tomorrow, so please make sure to come back for that!
- August 12, 2008 at 2:36 PM
I've been fighting it for a long time, and I know I should be doing something. My agent has hinted politely. But she isn't pushing too hard either.
Would an author web site, simply devoted to work that is published, with links mainly devoted to selling books the author has written, be acceptable? In other words, I don't want people going to the web site for any reason other than obtaining info on where to buy my books or get basic information about the books.
I'd rather not get into anything that's not professional, and I'm not a fan of "homespun" web sites of any kind...for me...I love other web sites like this...but it's not my thing.
- August 12, 2008 at 2:45 PM
- L.C.McCabe said...
I have a success story to share with you and your readers about an author who did "avail" herself on the web.
Joan Price was a published author of health and fitness books with a professionally made website. An editor at Seal Press read and liked an article by Joan in the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine and did a quick search on the web. She called Joan out of the blue, told her that she liked Joan's voice and asked if there were any book projects that she wanted to pitch that might work in their publishing line.
That led to her book Better than I Ever Expected: straight talk about sex after sixty being published.
Joan then created a blog to promote that book, which was later discovered by producers from ABC's "Nightline" when they wanted to do a segment about seniors and sexuality.
For more details check out my post on Joan Price's talk in front of my writers club here:
- August 12, 2008 at 2:53 PM
- Vieva said...
I wish you'd answered this two weeks or so ago.
I spent HOURS agonizing over whether or not to include my webnovel links!
(do webnovels count in this, or just hi I'm an author type sites?)
- August 12, 2008 at 2:53 PM
- Erik said...
I'm good with the PG-13 (which means you can swear, but it better have serious context and brevity) - but a LOT of writers don't hold to that.
As for politics, well, I do get work and may get more for political writing. I'd call it "social commentary", but to be fair most people would call it politics. If you do political writing it seems you are forever in that file drawer, which seems grossly unfair.
Is there an acceptable level? Depends a lot on the person. I'm rather sure I lost a gig because I was perceived as just another lefty.
I believe that a thinking person will have "social commentary" and related views based on events. I can't imagine not doing that, frankly. But not everyone agrees.
Now, to the novel and memoir writing world, this may all be different. I dunno.
- August 12, 2008 at 2:54 PM
- beth said...
I'm for the blog. It's easy to make and update.
My blog: bethrevis.blogspot.com
It's focused entirely on writing. Not necessarily MY writing, but writing and publishing. Sometimes I put my stuff up, but I think the key is to have focus--writing. I NEVER post about my husband or my dog or OMG what an awesome weekend I had! That's hugely important.
- August 12, 2008 at 2:56 PM
- Wanda B. Ontheshelves said...
May I Confess
I hate (passionately) building websites. Just recently I learned of a new nightmare - "scalability" - that is, when people adjust the size of the text appearing on their screen, the graphics DON'T automatically adjust also (only in Safari I think, but not IE, Firefox, etc...) - I looked at my websites after adjusting the text, just to check it out - THEY ARE A MESS!!!!
So after much searching on line, I learned that in your "code" you have to list the measurements of jpg's and other graphics in a relative unit called an "em," rather than pixels. Don't even get me started on "cascading style sheets."
My advice: Stick to blogs to save yourself the headaches (unless you can afford to hire someone else). Or else save your graphic files in the "em" units (I haven't figured out how to do this yet myself).
- August 12, 2008 at 2:59 PM
- Elyssa Papa said...
I think it's so important to have an internet presence as an aspiring author and a published one. I know that when I research agents for querying, I look and see what their website looks like and if they have a blog or not. The more "accessible" the agent seems to me, it gives me a better vibe about the agent. You can tell a lot about a person in how he/she blogs, etc.
I'd recommend it to anyone who's waffling---to get a website or a blog (blogs are free, so there's no excuse for not having one imo).
- August 12, 2008 at 3:01 PM
- Wanda B. Ontheshelves said...
Yeah, politics!
Congratulations also to conduit for his story of success.
- August 12, 2008 at 3:05 PM
- Sue said...
Sometimes I think about giving up blogging, but I stay in it because editors at the small, niche publishing firms I'm going to begin targeting continually talk about platform. Platform, platform, platform.
I only have about a thousand blog readers right now, so it's not as though it will make a gargantuan difference, but it will make SOME difference.
I think whether or not a blog or site is important partly depends upon your niche and market.
- August 12, 2008 at 3:05 PM
- Conduit said...
Wanda B. Ontheshelves said...
So after much searching on line, I learned that in your "code" you have to list the measurements of jpg's and other graphics in a relative unit called an "em," rather than pixels. Don't even get me started on "cascading style sheets."
That's partly right - "em" measurements keep things sized in relation to each other, but they only apply to font sizes, margins, padding and so on. Images will always have pixel dimensions. The important thing to remember is that web pages are fluid by nature, and how they appear on your screen are only your particular browser's interpretation of them. The trick is never to rely on graphics for layout or putting across information. These are also questions of accessibility, which is a big legal issue at the minute.
But I'm getting off topic, sorry!
- August 12, 2008 at 3:15 PM
- Ashley said...
Okay, so, I'm slightly confused. If someone could help clarify, that would be great! I see talk of websites (like full blown websites featuring published works, etc.) and I see talk of blogs.
Is one preferred over the other? I would assume a nice website would be better than a blog but...
Take, me, for instance. I am a young aspiring writer who is only just now working on a manuscript. It seems that it would be silly for me to pay for a website when I would have nothing to add to it other than "Hi, I'm Ashley. I want to be a published author some day. Here are a few excerpts from my YA Fantasy." A website would be more beneficial for someone who actually has some experience and has actually had things published, right?
So, would a blog be beneficial for me to include when I start querying agents? Obviously not a personal blog but something that is devoted to my writing?
I hate to be a nuisance - just trying to get a feel for how all this works :)
- August 12, 2008 at 3:23 PM
One piece of advice I would definitely give to all writers whether you have a contract or you are still circulating a novel, is to register your name dot com as a domain. You can do this through any website host, it is very inexpensive to book it and to renew it each year (the main cost comes when you build a website) but at least it's there when you need it and you won't find www.johnsmith.com or whatever has already been taken!
- August 12, 2008 at 3:26 PM
- Kristin Laughtin said...
At a conference devoted to publicity for authors, all the speakers agreed on three points:
1. There should be a website;
2. There should be something of consequence on the website;
3. There should be frequent additions or changes in the contents to encourage re-visiting.
Glad to see you're going to address this tomorrow, Nathan. The biggest reason I haven't made a website is because I haven't even tried to publish anything yet, and so there's nothing to put up there. If I started publishing short stories before querying my novel, I'd surely create a site, but I'd also like to read your thoughts on the above, especially in the cases of people who don't publish anything before their first novel.
- August 12, 2008 at 3:35 PM
- Lauren said...
I blogged for ten years before taking a hiatus to rework and finalize my novel. I've been trying to work on balancing fiction writing, blogging, and my day job writing. It's tough, and the risk of burnout is high. Cheers to anyone who can do it.
That said, many of the contemporary authors I read these days, I've come to through websites and blogs -- either the author's own website or blog, another author's blog who mentioned him/her, or through a book review site or blog. I spend FAR more money on books these days than I did in the pre-litblogosphere world. I keep up with many book-related blogs. I'd be afraid to count.
An author website content question: I've got a bunch of content related to my YA manuscript that I've thought of putting on a website. It's somewhat analogous to DVD extras -- there are blog entries written in the voices of my supporting characters, short research papers "written" by my main character relating to one of his offbeat interests, short character bios and histories... things like that. Much more geared to the YA reader than to agents and editors. I'm trying to decide whether to put this stuff on a website I create before the manuscript sells, or if it's best to stick with a basic bio / credits / synopsis website for now.
Any opinions? I'd hold off on this for You Tell Me, but I'll be traveling for the rest of this week.
- August 12, 2008 at 3:41 PM
- sbarret said...
As a reader, It's fun to find an author's website, but more important to me is finding a book excerpt. That's what gets me to buy a book, not a spiffy website.
If the excerpt is on their website, great. If it's linked from the publisher - also great. If it's nowhere (and if it's a new author) I won't buy the book unless I read part of it first, or have read something else by said author.
If I know the author, a list of her books in print (or coming out soon) is great info for a website.
- August 12, 2008 at 3:52 PM
- Tom Burchfield said...
I blog (actually "essay" or "column" . . . ewww!) once a week on this very service; I've taken, just now, to also posting it at www.redroom.com, the writers' networking site I think Nathan has mentioned; I don't post any excerpts of my WIP, though some of my columns discuss the process of its writing, which might make for a nice ancillary book someday.
It takes more time than I like and sometimes from the time I'd rather dedicate to my book, but I agree, it's important to get your "face" online these days.
My sense of individual Web sites is that you can become isolated, like a tiny island in a big sea; I think it's smarter to hook into a larger network like Blogger, Redroom, etc. As the a Wise Fortune Cookie once told me: "A wise man knows everything. A shrewd one everybody."
- August 12, 2008 at 3:57 PM
- Prince Balthazar said...
Ashley, I don't know if you'll see this, but I wanted to respond to your question. I was going to address this on your blog but when I clicked on your Blogger icon it said your profile was not visible. You might want to turn that on so people can visit your blog.
Anyway, I am an aspiring (and perspiring)writer and have had nothing published yet. I'm about to send out queries for my first book.
I set up a blog. But it was mostly to get a Blogger ID so I could respond on other blogs. I have a few things up there: one small passage from my book, posts on writing and publishing, tips I've read, links.
So, even if you don't have any published works, it doesn't hurt to have a blog or website. Blogger's free so it can't hurt. Hopefully, when the time comes, I would like to put my Road to Publication story on the blog as so many other writers have done before me.
I don't think it matters if it is a blog or a website. Obviously a blog is easier because you don't have to hire a designer. And it's free.
Right now my manuscript has my blog address right under all my contact info, just like Nathan suggested. Yay!
I don't get a lot of responses on the blog, but whatever, maybe in time.
Good luck.
- August 12, 2008 at 3:58 PM
- Marilynn Byerly said...
Marion, don't self-publish your novel as an ebook until you get all the facts.
I have an article on how to pick the right publishing medium for your novel that gives an overview of all your choices. You'll find it here
I've had an online presence for over ten years, and I've talked to hundreds of other professional writers on the subject. Here's some of the things I've learned.
The professional author website, done right, is the most costly ongoing expense an author has so keep that in mind as you make your decision.
Until you put up your official domain site, a blog or social networking site is a good placeholder on the web as long as it looks professional.
As to content, free stories usually bring traffic but not much click through to even look at an author's books. Freebie readers are cheapskates.
The only online readers who are worse are wannabe writers looking at writing articles.
I use the writing articles on my site to promote the writing courses I teach. The click through with this is much better.
And, never, ever put more than a chapter or two of your unpublished novel on your site unless you want to kiss the rights good-bye.
For most of us who are published, our contracts stipulate how much of our published work we can post online for promotion so keep that in mind as well.
- August 12, 2008 at 4:02 PM
- Wanda B. Ontheshelves said...
Re: "Images will always have pixel dimensions."
Jon Tangerine explains pixels-to-ems on his site and also has a sample "elastic" page - Tangerine writes:
From http://jontangerine.com/log/
"Formula to Convert Pixels to ems
When first creating elastic pages, you will find yourself doing calculations a lot. Keep a calculator handy.
I am no maths wizard, so I needed a simple formula to remember. As a designer, I know pixels intimately, so that's where I start. I calculate what 1px is in ems and multiple by the pixel size I need. That gives me the equivalent em value. We know that 1em is always equal to the font size of the parent element, therefore:
1 ÷ parent font-size × required pixel value = em value
Don't let my talk of forumla put you off. Elastic interfaces are a joy [sic] to build so let's get practical and create some page elements."
- August 12, 2008 at 4:04 PM
To answer your question. Both.
If you use something like Wordpress, you can create a blog/website hybrid. You can have static, information pages that are changed rarely and the blog itself which is updated whenever you like. Blogger is not the place to do this. You cannot have static pages with Blogger, easily anyway. I recommend Wordpress or if you have more advanced skills, Drupal. You can also extend these content management systems to have forums, directories, etc.
It's also key to get your name as a domain as soon as possible.
- August 12, 2008 at 4:08 PM
- Margaret Yang said...
I didn't make my first website until I had three short fiction sales. I figured that until then, I wouldn't have anything to link to.
Try googlepages. It's super easy. I know ZERO html but I made my site in thirty minutes. It's all point and click.
- August 12, 2008 at 4:09 PM
- Just_Me said...
I have a blog. I'm not sure if it's professional but I keep the content strictly on my writing, my characters, and my frustrations with writing/editing/characters.
No bashing agents, editors, or other authors. No political rants. No detailed personal sobs about how my dinner got burnt because the house flooded (it didn't but it could!).
At this point the blog is a testing ground for ideas and a way to keep my beta-readers posted on what's going on with my writing. Once I get published I'll probably fine tune what I post so that I post less on WIP's and more on what's going on with published material.
- August 12, 2008 at 4:17 PM
- Thomma Lyn said...
Nathan, I look forward to your post about blogs vs. websites! Though I don't have a website, I've blogged for over two years, and in addition to the benefits of building a web presence, I've found the networking aspect of blogging to be great, too. Writers helping and supporting writers -- what could be nicer. :)
What I've had to learn, however, is how to strike the right balance between fiction writing and blogging. Blogging can easily sneak up on a writer as a big time suck, and the fiction writing must always come first.
I'm doing well at that these days, I'm happy to say!
- August 12, 2008 at 4:19 PM
- sex scenes at starbucks said...
But be exceedingly, ridiculously, copiously careful when you allow excerpts of your novel to be published in journals and/or elsewhere -- not necessarily because of the risk someone stealing your work (that's extremely rare) but rather because you might be tying up the rights. As always, know what you sign!
Thank you! We've run up against this at ElectricSpec, where we state plainly we buy FIRST world electronic rights. Our attorney does not take kindly to stepping on the toes of rights-holders, even if the work appeared on blogs, ezines--even dufunct, tiny anthologies, etc--especially when we're not told up front in the cover letter. Make sure you own the rights before you sell.
- August 12, 2008 at 4:33 PM
- Ashley said...
Thanks for all the responses! I apparently do have a blog on Blogger. (I only noticed this when I went to make my first post on this site earlier this morning and realized I already had a posting name). I think I set it up to read/reply to a friend's blog and then never did anything else with it. So, thanks, Prince for pointing out to me that it is not accessible at the moment - I will go try to fix that.
Jonathon - thanks for the reply! I will probably stick to blogger for now because even though I'm young and supposed to be tech-savy, I'm not really. Guess I really should have taken that website building class in college, dang it. But I do see that my mac has some program for creating websites so that may be something I should look into soon.
Thanks again, everyone!
- August 12, 2008 at 4:45 PM
- sleary said...
One of the best and easiest ways to start a professional-looking website is to sign up at wordpress.com. The site itself is free; for an extra $15 they'll register your domain for you as well. (You could always register it on your own; this is just the easy route.)
Wordpress.com is touted as a blogging community, but the software lets you create pages as well as blog posts. If you don't want to blog, you don't have to: just create a page and set it as your home page in the preferences. If you do, you have both blog and regular site in one handy package.
- August 12, 2008 at 4:45 PM
- Elyssa Papa said...
I didn't want to junk up your inbox with a nothing e-mail but one of my friends sent me this link. It's a funny skit about the different fonts: http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1823766
- August 12, 2008 at 4:52 PM
- Eileen Wiedbrauk, aka "Speak Coffee" said...
As someone who just launched her own website (in addition to an already existing blog) I'm happy to hear you come down on the side of "go get that website!"
BTW there is something so exciting (geeky) about getting to put "dot com" behind your name.
- August 12, 2008 at 4:55 PM
Hmmm.. after looking at wordpress.com, I think I might give it a try! Thanks to those of you who mentioned that site.
- August 12, 2008 at 4:58 PM
- learningtoread said...
I'm with Conduit and others like him. I was glad I had a solid, up-to-date Web presence when:
1- An acquisitions editor at a major house wanted to find me after a short story contest, and asked to read my ms when it was completed (it wasn't quite right for his house, but he's interested in later work)
2- An agent from a Big Important Agency was starting her own agency, and found an excerpt of my WIP on my blog, and asked for the full (still waiting to hear back on that, as it was recent)
3- An assistant editor from a Freaking Big House's new imprint found my blog, saw that we had similar interests and that I was working on a YA, which is what the imprint publishes, and asked to see the completed ms as well as the WIP, when it was done. (still waiting to hear back on that, too, as it was also extremely recent)
Yes, I'm very happy to have an updated-daily Web presence. I have a site, too, with minimum stuff, and it points to my LiveJournal.
As far as content is concerned, I'd say:
Showcase your work.
Be yourself, but as you're doing it, exercise self-control and some wisdom, i.e., don't let your blog become an angry-at-the-world, i-hate-every-one-of-you spot, 'cause few people can maintain one of those AND readers at the same time
Keep soapboxing to a minimum--if you feel strongly about certain issues or causes, talk about that as much as you like, but keep it from being preachy. Appeal to readers, don't cram stuff down their throats.
Fly your fandom flags high. Even if some people don't "get it", you're still going to connect with others, be it via sports or subculture.
Make friends with other bloggers by commenting on blogs, adding them to your RSS reader, and pimping them on your journal, even just in quick shout-outs. Networking doesn't just happen at conferences. And I've become pretty darn good friends with a few of my LJ buds. Comment back to people, too, until the topic fizzles naturally.
Make your contact info front-and-center. And be sure you keep up with the other side of that, too. Check that email address/MySpace account/whatever on a regular basis. AND REPLY TO ALL APPROPRIATE PERSONAL EMAILS. Dudes. Srsly.
Finally, don't take yourself too seriously. Fat birds don't fly, as my buds the Fun Lovin' Criminals will remind you. You're going to make mistakes, you're going to accidentally offend people, you're going to get responses you don't understand. You're a writer. Get used to it, and learn to handle these occurrences with grace and compassion.
- August 12, 2008 at 5:35 PM
- Josephine Damian said...
Today, a big-name author contacted me, asking me to do a promotion event for his book on my blog.
That (1)a big-name author even heard of my blog, let alone read it was a shocker, (2) that he'd become aware of my blog's ability as a promotional tool was an indicator of the level of name recognition/online presence I've reached, (3) that an author would consider my blog as a viable platform for promotion - these are all validation for the time and effort I've put into my blog.
On MySpace, I've posted a bit about my own "platform" as a forensics grad student/criminal profiler-in-training, and that alone has brought about some agent interest as well as the synopsis of my WIP that I've posted there.
So, yeah, I'm with Conduit, having at least some kind on online promotional vehicle is a plus, and can and will attract some preliminary agent interest.
But I've also seen some -do-it-yourself author websites that were so God-awful/badly designed that those writers (published and unpublished) really shot themselves in the foot - unless your a talented as well as technically skilled web designer like Conduit, I say save up for a professionally designed website (I've already started saving money for my website and have a designer already picked out).
- August 12, 2008 at 5:37 PM
- Conduit said...
Wanda B. Ontheshelves said...
Re: "Images will always have pixel dimensions."
Jon Tangerine explains pixels-to-ems on his site and also has a sample "elastic" page - Tangerine writes:
Ah, I see what you're getting at. Yes, em's can be used to stretch an image on a page, but the image file itself will retain the same dimensions. Unlike a font or margin, which the computer will render afresh at any size with em's, an image is the size it is, but it will be stretched to fit the expanded space. I'd experiment carefully with that, though, as it will pixelate as you increase its size. So, if your purpose is the image's aesthetic quality, that quality may be lost as the image is distorted by stretching.
Also bear in mind, Internet Explorer and other browsers handle sizing in different ways - for instance IE7 zooms a page as if under a magnifying glass, thus ignoring all the relational em stuff anyway. I'll repeat the point that a web page is fluid by nature. If you approach it as being fixed, like a design on paper, the vagaries of browser compatibility will catch you out. If you design it from the outset as being the slippery beast it is, you'll better prepared for when someone tries to view it on a fifteen-year-old PC running Windows 3.1 and Netscape, and thinks your website's broken.
Anyway, sorry for diverting the discussion again!
- August 12, 2008 at 6:07 PM
- Conduit said...
Sorry, the above post is me, not quoted from Jon Tangerin - clumsy copying and pasting on my part!
- August 12, 2008 at 6:08 PM
Nathan, would a badly designed author Web site keep you from asking more from an otherwise appealing query?
- August 12, 2008 at 6:11 PM
- Adaora A. said...
Blogging is amazing. You develop a following, you can blog about whatever it is you want to talk about, and if - by the stroke of luck and your talent - you get published, you've got an automatic (hopefully)audience who will read and spread the word. But bloggers sometimes (and namely myself), don't always talk about 'the writing process.' So I don't really know if it makes any sense to bother including the URL in your query. Unless, the agent wants to get a taste of the aspiring writer's personality....otherwise I just don't know.
- August 12, 2008 at 6:51 PM
- Lynne said...
I have a website. I do not post anything x-rated. I will post a scene and stop part way through, so no one knows what happens. This sort of thing earns shrill rebukes from people who want to know what happens next. I will also post an excerpt that I've written but will not make it past an agent, since it's not about the main character. I'll post a bit of info about what things cost, as in dowry, or a scene I have no intention of using. I like posting on the web. It forces me to look closely at scenes and pare them down. It's quite useful.
- August 12, 2008 at 6:53 PM
Oh wow, I think I've missed something important here. It's okay to submit query letters by e-mail? This is the letter that includes a few chapters of a novel you've written, right? Does this mean I can save some trees or have I got this letter confused with another?
- August 12, 2008 at 7:21 PM
- Katie Alender said...
I'm an author with a website/blog. I get a fair amount of traffic, and it's allowed me to connect with old friends, new friends, authors (including many fellow Nathanites), and a lot of hilarious Google search strings.
I use Blogger to publish my blog to my personal domain name and use iWeb for everything else... (technical inquiries from fellow tinkerers are welcome). The blog functions as a home page but has the same basic layout as the rest of the site. This way, my website content is kept fresh, but the majority of my site is fairly static and low-maintenance.
Especially with YA, I think it's important to have a web presence. Even a blog where you post entries and tag them "news" or "appearances" or "advice" gives you a way to provide fresh content without too much outlay of time.
It's also very worth it to figure out how to create a Sitemap that Google's search tools will use to index your page more thoroughly.
I wouldn't say it's the best marketing tool in the world, but I know I have some pre-orders already made by my regulars. And a book sold is a book sold! Plus I enjoy doing it.
To Lauren, with the related content--I'm planning similar content, and I personally would keep that stuff closer to the vest until you have a sale, or are at least on submission with an agent. You'll want it fresh at that point to create "buzz" closer to your release date. But that's just my take. Others may think differently.
- August 12, 2008 at 7:42 PM
- Marva said...
I keep up my website and I have pages for everything I've written, excerpts (changed periodically) and the front page giving new events and echoing my blog.
I hope some agents or publishers are taking a peek.
I do not include any political material on my blog or website. I do give opinions on 'off' sites, like LiveJournal. My webs are professional and directed to my writing.
Does it help? Who knows? I guess it doesn't hurt.
- August 12, 2008 at 7:47 PM
- Wanda B. Ontheshelves said...
Hi Conduit,
You wrote: "If you design it from the outset as being the slippery beast it is, you'll better prepared..."
I think cascading style sheets in and of themselves are "slippery beasts." XHTML, em's, pixels, I can't stand any of it! I don't understand why there aren't STANDARDS that ALL BROWSERS have to comply with. As far as display of web pages. My mind rebels - the bureaucratic complexity of browser standards. I mean srsly.
**end of rant, thank you for your patience**
- August 12, 2008 at 7:58 PM
- Nancy D'Inzillo said...
Anonymous said "Would an author web site, simply devoted to work that is published, with links mainly devoted to selling books the author has written, be acceptable? In other words, I don't want people going to the web site for any reason other than obtaining info on where to buy my books or get basic information about the books."
I was just working on an assignment for class where I assessed author websites and one of my major complaints was when authors only had that much information posted. That said, it's not as if a website has to have a bunch of personal information about the author, but a plain website is boring. It's best if the author can add something else aside from ordering info, book synopsis, and contact info.
A great example would be something Lauren was proposing earlier: "I've got a bunch of content related to my YA manuscript that I've thought of putting on a website. It's somewhat analogous to DVD extras -- there are blog entries written in the voices of my supporting characters, short research papers "written" by my main character relating to one of his offbeat interests, short character bios and histories... things like that. Much more geared to the YA reader than to agents and editors."
Readers eat things like that up, and I would disagree with anyone that would argue that such things only interest the YA audience. Such materials get people more interested in your writing because they can see a bit of what you are writing about. Author synopsis cannot achieve the same effect. If you're going to bother with a website or even a blog, it's important to be creative.
As for whether or not a blog or website is better. . . I'd say it's beneficial to have both.
The website is fundamental once you've published, because it works as a promotional tool. That said, don't EVER bother posting a bad website just for the sake of having one. A bad website will discourage readers (be they agents, publishers, or just people interested in your book), because why would you ever want to post bad work to represent yourself to the virtual world?
The blog is perhaps not as important as the website once you've established yourself, but I've heard often how blogs have been used to establish web presence.
I'm no pro, but as someone who frequents the internet and works in the publishing world, websites and blogs seem to be the trend, and if you can't supply, you'll be in less demand.
- August 12, 2008 at 9:06 PM
- Linnea said...
I prefer a website over a blog. Blogging takes too much time away from writing. My website is fairly static and works well for my situation. When my novel was nominated for a young readers choice award I got piles of email from students doing book reports. I figured the novel would only be in schools for that year but it continues to be on high school reading programs. A website was the best thing I ever did. The kids can acess it for personal information, an excerpt and miscl. trivia about the medieval period. I also answered the most asked questions and only update it if a student comes up with something I haven't answered.
- August 12, 2008 at 9:06 PM
- Kara said...
I think a web site is an essential tool. It's like a networking event that's always going on. If you feed it content on a regular basis, it can begin to draw interest that continues to build.
The comment I'm leaving is a perfect example. I'd never visited this site before today. But as I read through my RSS feeds, Google Reader suggested the site as one I might enjoy based on my other subscriptions. So you gained a new subscriber without any added work. I find that pretty powerful.
- August 12, 2008 at 9:10 PM
- Adam Heine said...
WRT blogs vs. static websites, I think the first thing to think about is what information is a random searcher looking for? What does an agent want to see when they Google my name? (I don't know the answer to that: Nathan?). What do prospective readers want to know?
And I think you do need a blog, or some other kind of updated content. It doesn't have to update frequently, but it should update relatively consistently. If your website is completely static, people will look at it once for what they want then never come back. Especially when you're published, you want your fans to always be on your website all the time.
- August 12, 2008 at 9:10 PM
- Adam Heine said...
I have another question though. I've had a web presence for some time because of my other work and things I've done in past lives. Because these pages have been around longer, they're ranked much higher in Google than my writing website.
What would an agent or editor think if they searched my name and came up with websites that were mine, but had nothing to do with novel writing? Or if they were political or religious? In fact, it's very hard to find my authoring website by Googling my name, simply because it has so few incoming links. Is that a potential problem?
- August 12, 2008 at 9:18 PM
- Betty Atkins Dominguez said...
I have a blog. I thought I'd write about the process of finding an agent, etc., then, after I got started I realized that I needed to make some changes. The first chapter (working) is listed. Once I have the entire MS to my liking, then I will continue to do what I set out to do... which is include aspiring writers in my quest. Anyone is welcome to leave comments, crits -bad or good, or just look. I'm easy.
My Efforts Getting Published
I am embarking on a perilous journey. I thought I'd best have witnesses if I get lost.
- August 12, 2008 at 9:40 PM
What is a google alert?
And what, or how, does google rate whatever it is they rate?
What are you talking about as regards the above?
And if you've posted excerpts from an unpublished book, what damage have you done as regards rights and hence agents avoiding you because you did?
- August 12, 2008 at 10:00 PM
- intotheforest said...
Thanks for talking about this. Personally I have no intention of getting a regular website right now because I don't know what I'd put on it. I'm not a published author yet. On the other hand, I do have a blog that's a hundred percent dedicated to writing.
- August 12, 2008 at 10:04 PM
- L.C.McCabe said...
In answering what is a Google Alert:
It is an automated program to update you on any string of words that you designate.
Go to www.google.com/alerts and plug in whatever you choose. If you are interested in say "space monkeys" you could type that phrase in and decide if you want a comprehensive alert which includes news items, websites, and blogs and how often you wish to be notified. this can be daily or "as it happens."
One suggestion for everyone is to create a Google alert on your name. That way you'll be made aware if someone is writing about you. That is until you become soooo famous that it you can hire a publicist to follow such things.
- August 12, 2008 at 10:14 PM
- Polenth said...
Lots of weird stuff comes up for my name when I Google search. That's the trouble with wandering the internet. Still, one of my blog posts did come up on the first page of my name search. A pity it was the post titled 'Aliens Love Underpants', but you can't have everything.
This is a good reason for starting an author site early. It takes time to get incoming links and rise up the search engine rankings. If you start your site two days before you need it, you won't be there.
- August 12, 2008 at 10:33 PM
- Adam Heine said...
"And what, or how, does google rate whatever it is they rate?"
In general, the more incoming links a page has, the higher it will be ranked in the results. So time is a factor, but not a direct one. That's another reason to keep a blog, because new content encourages new links.
l.c.mccabe: I'd never heard about that Google alerts thing. That's pretty cool.
- August 12, 2008 at 11:35 PM
- superwench83 said...
Polenth: Aliens Love Underpants? LOL. I don't think it's a shame at all. If I googled someone and that post came up, I would totally click on it.
Conduit and a few others have shared success stories about having an online presence via a website or blog. But I think there are more reasons for unpublished writers to have one or both of those things. Writing well takes practice, as we all know--but not just any practice. You can be the best novelist in the world and still write crappy nonfiction articles. So when an author gets published and is suddenly expected to write content for a blog or webpage, how can they be confident about writing that content well? It does take practice to write good blog posts. It's an entirely different skill than writing a good novel.
As for what an unpublished author should include on a website, I'll agree that this is a tricky question. Something that's helped me has been hunting down websites by other authors who are either unpublished or have only had one short piece published before. It helps not only to see what's a good idea to include, but to see what's a bad idea as well. If it will help anybody...I feel like such a dork posting a link here, but what the heck? My site is www.katie-lovett.com . Maybe someone will find a good idea. Maybe someone will find a bad one, too (but I hope not).
And even if an author plans to hire a site designer, I think it's a good idea for everyone to know at least a few basics about HTML, so that you don't have to contact the designer every time you want to make a minor update to your site. I learned the basics just from what came up in a Google search. I've learned more since then, but a basic understanding is surprisingly easy to aquire.
- August 13, 2008 at 12:10 AM
- Betty Atkins Dominguez said...
I had a writers website for years, where I put down everything I had learned about writing and getting published. Several authors, agents and editors linked to it. Back in those days I was ebydesigns (it had started out as an Architect site). It was much more successful than I was. I got free books from the authors and the editor of Writer's digest and from 2 agents who had written books on how to get an agent. Of course I pimped their books... for free. So, a personal website is actually a good thing. At the moment I just have the blog. I just don't have the time to take care of another website.
I have a genealogy site that is way too popular and takes up a lot of my time answering e-mails, etc. Then I have my personal website to pimp other artisans who handcraft (or handmake) everything they sell. You know there is an arts and crafts revolution going on. Then I have my shop to keep stocked. My writing takes up the rest of my time.
The internet is an amazing place.
- August 13, 2008 at 12:34 AM
- RED STICK WRITER said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- August 13, 2008 at 12:59 AM
- RED STICK WRITER said...
Laura K.Curtis has spoken as a bonafide day-job marketing professional. Presence is important.
James Patterson was a marketing and advertising pro first and an author next. He has websites and blogs and has had movies and television shows. It seems that the writing biz follows that location, location, location thing in a sense. The more locations you have, the better off your are.
Michael is on the money with his three points. It is especially true that websites and blogs do get more action if readers can rely on new content on a regular basis.
I have a presense in Blogger and at Publishers Marketplace, but I really need to post more often on my Red Stick Writer page. I recently created crosslinks between them and have already seen increased traffic.
I have one blog page listed at my Blogger home. It will take you to my daughter's blog page about her art faster than Scotty could have beamed you there. I've watched her connect her Blogger, My Space, Etsy, and other pages to get visitors, create buzz, and sell paintings. It has impressed me and has me looking for ways to do the same for myself and my writing.
Of course, it also helps if you include enlightening information about monkey stuff. I've seen at least one agent use that ploy.
- August 13, 2008 at 1:02 AM
- Shruti said...
I think it's essential for a writer to have a personal website. It can help with marketing and promotion after you've written a book that can sell itself.
- August 13, 2008 at 1:35 AM
I read this thread with great interest, as for me the topic is extremely relevant. On September 1st, I'll begin broadcasting chapters of my novel, Servicing the Pole, onwww.laurishaw.com as serials. The website is currently being redesigned to suit the project. I'm very interested to see what drives traffic to different parts of my site. If anyone else here is considering doing something similar with their own work, please feel free to contact me once in awhile to see how it's going. I'm happy to share what I learn with you.
Note: I'm doing this in order to make my work available to the people who want to read it. I am not doing it to make money and so I'm not planning to charge for it. That said, it's important to me that my work be presented as professionally as possible. That's my name on it.
- August 13, 2008 at 4:54 AM
Great topic.
I have found that websites are good for static information. They should be kept updated though. AND SIMPLE.
In my humble opinion, too many websites are too complicated and a hassle to sift through. If it's a big site, I think it is worthwhile to spend a lot of time on the overview and map it out.
But a blog is great! It can be linked to a website or stand alone.
I regularly read blogs that are of interest to me. And it informs my writing to do so. But it is specific reading, like daily or weekly specific research, and like reading the newspaper.
A writer friend (in fact, several) recently got me to subscribe to facebook and live journal and I had to get away. Too much, too many, distracting, dizzy. And those friends are always complaining about how they have no time to write their own work and how this helps their presence, but I don't really think so.
I think Nathan's blog connects me with more serious or pro writers than those places. I get to hear very helpful opinions and be in helpful discussion HERE.
I like a simple website for a book.
And, I'd rather follow a writer directly to their blog (if they are open to having and hosting one) then be part of the (too often flamable) masses in "catch all" sites.
- August 13, 2008 at 6:15 AM
I think a perfect example of a great web presence that is fun and positive and helpful is Rebecca Ramsey! I love her blog and her website.
- August 13, 2008 at 6:39 AM
- Maris Bosquet said...
The odd drawback about putting a book in blog form? The chapters appear in reverse order. Yes, one must include instructions on the site. Readers do get the hang of it, especially if the chapters are numbered, so they know right away if they're going from 13 to 14 instead of from 14 to 13.
- August 13, 2008 at 6:56 AM
- Maris Bosquet said...
Huge congrats! It's great to see how well the 'Net can work as a PR/marketing tool.
- August 13, 2008 at 7:00 AM
- Tracey S. Rosenberg said...
My prime rule as a blogger (or, more generally, as a person with an online presence) is: I don't post anything [under my own name] that I wouldn't want my employer, my agent, or my mom to read.
There is a place for bitchery, mockery, airing of dirty laundry, personal feuds, and explicit (in all senses of the word) personal discussions. The web is not that place.
Now, I'm not going to say I eschew all snarkery or dampen my opinion until my blog is the equivalent of tapioca, but some things *do not* need to be public. They will make you look bad, they may turn clients away, and they may come back to haunt you.
Basically, the internet is not high school.
- August 13, 2008 at 9:16 AM
An editor recently contacted me because she is a regular reader of my blog.
As soon as I finish revising, she will be the first to read my novel.
PS. She's with Harper Collins.
- August 13, 2008 at 9:55 AM
- Kimberly Lynn said...
Speaking of websites . . .
When is Curtis Brown, LTD. going to have one?
I mean finish this one:
I'm being held in suspense!
- August 13, 2008 at 10:48 AM
some things *do not* need to be public. They will make you look bad, they may turn clients away, and they may come back to haunt you.
Tracey: I agree 100% but I know that on my deathbed I will not look back on my life and say, "Gee, I wish I'd spent more time being careful . . ."
Mortality is one huge ass wake-up call. It's the reason I began writing in the first place.
- August 13, 2008 at 11:38 AM
- Rebecca said...
I second (third?) the idea of using Wordpress to integrate a traditional website and blog -- it's what I do and I think works very well. At risk of plugging myself, rebecca-allen.net: you've got organized, easy-to-find pages with my resume, contact info, clips, etc; you've also got a blog so people can see I'm there and update frequently, get a feel for my personality, whatever. It was fairly easy to set up (the lovely people at Dreamhost go out of their way to make it easy to set it up, actually) and the template was free -- there's a footer that credits the designer, but it's not too obtrusive. If (hopefully when!) I sell a novel, I'll be able to replace some of my old pages with new stuff on the book, and at that point would certainly look into getting a professionally-designed template.
- August 13, 2008 at 12:25 PM
- Chris said...
Definitely a blog, if just to keep you in the habit of writing. The fresh content of a blog, assuming you keep it up, translates into more opportunities to be found on Google. Google indexes pages not websites.
- August 13, 2008 at 12:48 PM
- Margaret Yang said...
katie alendar called us "Nathanites." But I thought we were "Bran Fans?"
Nathan, we need a ruling!
Miss Snark had snarklings. And you have...?
- August 13, 2008 at 1:12 PM
- Laura K. Curtis said...
red stick writier: I should say that I do a lot of marketing in my day job, but I am not a marketing professional except in the way that anyone who owns their own business is a marketing professional!
erik: I do think fiction is different. If you write politics/social commentary, that's what your audience expects. And that's what you should give them!
- August 13, 2008 at 5:11 PM
- Cloudscudding said...
Thank you so much for answering my question! Now I can sleep easily, knowing that I can take down my short excerpt at any time, and I haven't signed away any rights. Now I just have to finish linking up my various RSS feeds to my website and add in the market listings I've compiled.
Step 1. Make website shiny.
Step 2. ?
Step 3. Profit, right?
- August 13, 2008 at 11:07 PM
I lost an agent because I sent her my website/blog. This was after several exchanged e-mails and right before a scheduled phone call (which ended up not happening). I had other writers look at my website and blog to see if it was "unprofessional" because I do have non-writing related posts on my blog (at the time: a post about New Kids on the Block returning and a few American Idol posts), but they didn't find anything objectionable. Still, I am never, ever again sending out my website/blog to an agent. Ever. I think this agent's rejection of me (it was a rejection of me as a person being "young" "unprofessional" and something about my character) was a blessing in disguise, though. We would not have meshed. (So I keep telling myself. It still hurt.)
- August 14, 2008 at 2:31 PM
- Judith Coughlin said...
I go back and forth with this issue all the time. Blogging can be a little like surfing the web in that you grab a cup of coffee and sign on, intending to read a few postings, twitter, digg, blog, and the next thing you know it's 3:00 you're still in your pjs, the kids are coming in the door, and you haven't touched your book.
But, it's a great way to connect with other pj wearing lay-abouts, I mean, writers.
- March 16, 2009 at 7:58 AM
- Victoria Mixon said...
I don't publish any of my fiction on my blog. I send that to the literary magazines the old-fashioned way.
I blog exclusively on the subject of creating fiction. That neatly avoids all the subjects an editor or agent doesn't want to see, while showing them that I do know how to write and that the story they may be considering is not just a flash in the pan.
I write full essays, rather than blurbs, and try to address those issues that I've seen writers struggle with the most over the years that I've been a fiction editor and teacher. You would not believe how many writers just need to know how to punctuate dialog.
Having been in this field for almost 30 years, I can tell you I've been through nearly all the phases of learning to write fiction. I started blogging to supplement my work with my fiction clients and to teach myself to write essays, but now I do it because I think passing on my knowledge of the art of fiction is good karma. I love fiction, and I want to see writers with good ideas and real dedication produce quality stuff. Otherwise, I've got precious little to read!
- March 31, 2009 at 5:32 PM
- Star-Dreamer said...
I guess I agree with one of the first comments on here... the big question is about content. I have a book I'm getting ready for publishing, and I'm trying to build a website for it, but I'm really unsure of what the website could have on it. Especially since the book isn't really published yet so I can't really promise anything about it just yet... What do you do in a situation like that? What do you want to put on a website for your book? I guess this question goes for both published and yet to be published books, but I'm talking more of the "yet to be published" types. What do you do?
- April 11, 2009 at 3:49 AM
- The Writer said...
A publisher advised me to get a website as it shows a publisher the writer is proactive - so am doing this now. Well, someone else is as my brain is tech-dunce. I've written a book and only recently 'come out of the closet' and told people I write (God, did that sound gay?!). I'm doing a course with Britain's Writers' Bureau and the only thing I've had printed are Fillers (haven't submitted anything else yet) - is it good to add these very small credits to my web?
Lesley (England)
: 0 )
- April 29, 2009 at 8:36 AM
- Terry said...
Thanks Nathan. I missed this somehow and it helps answer some questions for me.
- September 14, 2009 at 1:12 PM
- Jenny said...
I simply adore your way of writing this article. There is never a dull moment while going through your post
- March 10, 2010 at 1:32 AM
- Clara Rose said...
I have a website, a blog, business cards, brochures and letterhead... after all I am in business.
Treat your writing like a business not a hobby!
- April 13, 2010 at 4:40 PM
- mvs said...
Also, it's a good idea for authors to buy their own domain as it looks way more professional than a wordpress or blogger extension.
- June 15, 2010 at 2:56 AM
- Mould Remover said...
Many sites try to be too artsy and leave the user behind. However, designers today are attending to this need already which is a good sign.
- September 21, 2011 at 10:49 PM
- Dance Teaching Degree said...
For years now, I've done freelance writing for newspapers and magazines as a way to make side income, supplementing my full-time job. But this year, I've made the conscious move to freelancing for blogs instead of print publications, to the point where I now make about $2,000 a month as a blog writer (not including my own blog's income or my full-time salary).
- September 22, 2011 at 12:02 AM
- running your smsf said...
I would definitely encourage my clients to have some sort of a website up by the time their first book comes out, but whether they choose to and how much time they want to devote to it is up to them.
- November 25, 2011 at 8:08 AM
- JustSarah said...
Does it generally matter, if the website your using is a yahoo mail, or regular old deviant art? I hear some places don't like Yahoo because of spam.
- October 28, 2012 at 8:46 PM


text:
Washington : Government Printing Office
|Public Law 86-70
|Alaska Omnibus Act.
|Sec. 2
|48 U. S. C. note prec. 21.
|Sec. 2
|72 Stat. 340.
48 U. S. C. note prec. 21.
Page 877
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Alaska Omnibus Act".
(a) Section 4 of the Act of July 7, 1958 (72 Stat. 339), providing for the admission of the State of Alaska into the Union, is amended by striking out the words "all such lands or other property, belonging to the United States or which may belong to said natives", and inserting in lieu thereof the words "all such lands or other property (including fishing rights), the right or title to which may be held by said natives or is held by the United States in trust for said natives".
(b) Section 6(e) of said Act is amended by striking out the word "legislative" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "calendar".
Approved, June 25, 1959.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
'"I've been having a lot of fun in Buffalo. And I'm just hoping to stay the whole year…they've been pretty quiet about it. They'll give me feedback after games. My goal was to make the team and stay the whole. At to this point I've done everything that I can do."'
The Sabres Report - October 15, 2009


text:
Limbaugh on ANWR: "The wildlife that lives there wishes it didn't, but it's too stupid to figure out how to move anywhere"
Syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh lampooned criticism of the Bush administration's plans to drill for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, claiming that the ANWR region is "nothing but snow and rock" and asserting that the wildlife living there "wishes it didn't, but it's too stupid to figure out how to move anywhere."
Limbaugh also claimed that the caribou population in Alaska has "quadrupled" as a result of the installation of the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline, suggesting that concerns that drilling will negatively affect caribou are unfounded. In fact, the Los Angeles Times reported [1] in 2002 that a U.S. Geological Survey report warned that "oil development would 'most likely' restrict the area available for caribou calving, leading to impaired reproduction and calf survival for the 123,000 caribou" in the coastal regions of ANWR. Similarly, the Anchorage Daily News reported [2] on March 6 that the area where drilling would occur is a plain that "slims to a relatively narrow stretch in the so-called '1002 Area,' leading some biologists to worry that oil development would have a much greater impact there on caribou and other wildlife." Media Matters for America has noted other conservative media figures, including Fox News co-host Sean Hannity [3] and Fox News reporter William La Jeunesse [4], making the same misleading claim about caribou in ANWR.
From the March 16 edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: The Alaska National Wildlife Refuge is being portrayed as this beautiful, pristine place on the planet that we cannot disturb because it will terribly upset the balance of nature and all this other garbage. It's just like they opposed the Alaska pipeline. They said, "If we put in the Alaska pipeline, we will destroy the caribou herd up there."
Well, they put in the Alaska pipeline. And, you know what happened? The caribou herd quadrupled. And you know why? Because the pipeline produces heat. And the caribou, even though they're wintertime beasts, enjoy a little warmth now and then. Particularly during, uh -- uh -- uh -- shall we say, "procreation." And the whackos are wrong.
If you put together a video of ANWR, you would see nothing but snow and rock. It is no place anybody's ever going to go. The wildlife that lives there wishes it didn't, but it's too stupid to figure out how to move anywhere. They don't have moving vans sent to their places like people in Philadelphia do when they want to get out of someplace. This is absolutely absurd.
- Posted In
- Environment & Science [5], Drilling [6]


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Sirena Models Los Angeles Newest Models & from Background to Lead Role!Posted by admin in Home
Model Sherina M: from background to lead role in Vitamin Water Campaign!
I want to share with you, what can happen when you make yourself available, even on very short notice. Friday we called our long time model, Sherina M., shortly before 7:00am for a last minute background role in a major print campaign. She picks up the phone, is available and able to be on set at 10:00am the same morning! She shows up to the shoot looking amazing and stands out among the extras. The client loves her unique look and asks her on the spot to shoot one of the lead roles instead, thereby bumping her pay by 5 times as much! Needless to say, Sherina was very happy, and so are we, that she picked up her phone early in the morning. Congratulations, Sherina, on the job! Let me take this opportunity to again remind all Sirena models of the importance of being available: taking the calls, answering your emails, in short being a professional model! It does pay off.
UPDATE! May 2010
Sherina's job for Vitamin Water is now out on billboards and magazines nationwide. Just got back from Vegas and saw this monster sized ad displayed on the biggest TV Billboard on Las Vegas Blvd.
One of the samples the client sent us is shown below.
Here are a few shots of our three Newest Models, Selina, 5'8″, Julianna 5'10″, and Kelli, 5'11.
Beautiful Model – Beautiful Colors
Studio photo shots of model Selina
Composite photos of Selina
Miami Magazine editorial shoot
Julianna – 5'10″
Julianna modeling swimwear
Black and white photo of Julianna
Red fashion Mola light
Julianna looking stunning on location
Kelli – 5'11″
Kelli in nice Beauty photo
Model Kelli on the run
Bikini in the studio
Gorgeous face for this 5'11″ model
Snow bunny or beach bunny?


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Washington : Government Printing Office
|Chap. 574
|Crow Indians. Changes in classification.
|Sec. 2
|Adult unenrolled Indians.
Page 446
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all Crow Indians born to parent or parents who were or are competent members of the Crow Tribe, shall automatically become competent members of the Crow Tribe on attaining majority (except any such Indian who is declared incompetent by a court of competent jurisdiction or who is incompetent under the laws of the State within which he resides), and shall be entitled to all rights and privileges accruing to members of the tribe classified as competent, including all rights and privileges accorded to such competent members by any other Act.
The Act of March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1495), is hereby amended to read as follows: "The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, to classify adult unenrolled Crow Indians and add their names to the competent or incompetent rolls established pursuant to the Act of June 4, 1920 (41 Stat. 751), and to reclassify those persons whose names now or hereafter appear on said rolls from incompetent to competent."
Approved, September 8, 1949.


text:
David Beckham's Abs Star in Commercial [WATCH]
Oh you know… it's just a normal ab-tastic day for David Beckham, 38. He's taking it off in his new commercial for men's fragrance Classic.
Will people actually buy his scent because it smells divine or will they buy it because they're mesmerized with the British 'football' player's washboard torso?
In the commercial, Beckham portrays a secret agent, complete with a tailored suit.
He recently commented, "My new fragrance, Classic, is an expression of my style… modern, elegant, masculine… I love it. And hope everyone will love it as much as I do." He continued, "I wear it on the same occasions as most men: after training, after a shower, when I'm going out…"
Also in the works for David is a UK children's TV program, titled Game Changers, which will get kids interested sports.
Rock on David Beckham, we will forever be your #1 fan!


text:
Buy an Axon, Axon II, or Axon Mote and build a great robot, while helping to support SoR.
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
[...] or if I hook these batteries together if they are just going to explode and blow my robot to a pile of smoldering ash?
[...] do I really need all that power someone told me to get as much as the board could safely handle which is 12v but the only thing that I am running off of the UNO itself are the transistors for 2 h-briges (although I'm thinking about replacing the steering mechanism with a servo) and 2 IR proximity sensors and maybe an IR module on top to make it act out preset commands via remote. The whole project is going to be very light 3-4lbs max. and the drive motor is pretty small I am using the 5V plug off of the UNO to power it but the original system was 4.5V. Thanks again for the info and saving my house I'm not sure how my roommate would have handled that
[...] Had to explain that not only was I not making drugs but it was not going to blow the house up either.


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do you mean the AR9285? if not ill be testing it as soon as i get backtrack downloaded.
ive tested bt4f and to my demise my AR9285 card in my toshiba NB200 still shows alot of unreadable corrupted data when in monitor mode, injection works perfectly but when trying to capture the data things like client probes and such give untrustable data. ive read this is due to the card itself not throwing away corrupted packets. if anybody has any fixes for this please tell me where to find them or atleast point me in the right direction.


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Dang, I still had an ounce of doubt that that would happen. Looks like I'm saving my credits for the free shipping. It kills me.
Dang, I still had an ounce of doubt that that would happen. Looks like I'm saving my credits for the free shipping. It kills me.
everything but the shipping is retarded, because you still have to pay shipping for it
No doubt dude. I got a free molotow marker once, and the shipping was like $7. It was crazy. I had a sick dream last night though. I was with a group riding the freights, and the cars were stashed with tons of paint and mops and markers. We would ride the car to the stop, load our bags up with cans and markers then hop on to another train and do it again. In the mean time, in between departures, we'd paint like mad, it lasted all night long. At times evading the freight yard workers and security, it was so awesome. The funniest part was when we hopped on the car and the train started rolling out, a bigger kid who was in the group just came out of the bathroom so he was trying to catch up but winded up 4 cars back hahah. It was so sweet.
okay im confused with the credits how do they work ??
nah never gives up
Got bomb ass seats to a Minnesota Wild game tonight. Beat the Lightning 3-1 so now we're tied with Chi for conference leader.
thats tight, havent made it to any sharks game this season. Gonna try and make it to the game when dallas is in town, last time they playd they ended with a brawl
Dallas blowsssss. Sharks would dominate them.
speakin of sports how bout them raiders rib
Only Fuck Fat Bitches Crew !!
This has nothing to do with the Raiders but Tim Tebow is a cock smoker and sucks at qb.
.... but wins some way some how
Only Fuck Fat Bitches Crew !!
o yup, go raiders. I didnt see the last 3 minutes of the game, I thought it was a done deal and had to catch a bus to bart to go see a buddy. My old man texts me from the game, and was like "that was terrible fucking defense". Then calls me when its over all happy. Every fucking week they make it waaay to close. They cant finish a team off worth a fuck, theyre like a 5 dollar hooker.
Tebow sucks dicks, the reason why denver keeps winning is because of its defense. They got a damn fine defense. Oak aint gotta play them again, but I wish we could.
Dallas is actually half decent, theyre leading the division, one game ahead of the sharks, but they have played 3 more... Idk if yall caught any of the sharks game tonight, but it was horrific, SJ went 0-5 on the power play, and got shutout
lol why post your full names in the newspaper
Phat that's fucking awesome. Obviously putting in work.
Toy forums.... So dead...
ChadWarden is watching


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LONG BEACH — An investigation was under way Sunday into the death of a man who was found unresponsive near a jetty in Long Beach Harbor on Saturday.
Police officers responded to a call of a man down by the 600 block of East Shoreline Drive around 8:40 a.m. Saturday.
When officers arrived, they found a fullly clothed man lying in the sand, said Will Nash, spokesman for the Long Beach Fire Department.
"He had no pulse when he was found," Nash said. "Paramedics began CPR and transported him to a hospital."
The victim, who Nash said was in his 50s, was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Nash said the man had a small cut over his nose and could have fallen.
The coroner's office has yet to determine an exact cause of death, and the victim's identity has not been released pending notification of kin.


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H.R. 1849, Oklahoma City National Memorial
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
My name is John Pouland, Regional Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) for the Greater Southwest Region which includes Oklahoma. I am pleased to appear before you today in support of House bill H.R. 1849, and its Senate counterpart S. 871, bills to establish the Oklahoma City National Memorial and to designate the Oklahoma City National Memorial Trust. The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was part of the GSA inventory and the legislation directs GSA to transfer the building site to the Oklahoma City National Memorial Trust.
On April 19, 1995, a vicious attack on the Government killed 168 people, including 19 children, and destroyed the Murrah Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Nobody who has heard about this senseless act of terrorism, seen the horrifying pictures of human suffering and total destruction, or was in any other way personally affected by this tragedy will ever forget that day. We will always remember where we were when the news shocked the nation and the world. Recent events such as the McVeigh trial and the sentencing caused us all to relive those tragic moments and listen to the heartwrenching stories of the survivors and the victims' families. Who will ever be able to erase the pictures of the small child in the arms of the firefighter etched into our minds and hearts forever?
I am here today, to support an effort which will help the people of Oklahoma and the rest of the Nation to continue the healing process. As the President stated during the Ceremony on behalf of the Oklahoma City Memorial Foundation last month, "The Memorial design is elegant. It is symbolic. It manages to focus on this act of unconscionable violence and still honor the valor of the people of the community and the lives of the victims in a setting of reflection and peace that should leave people, when they go through it, feeling stronger rather than weaker."
The people of the General Services Administration were personally affected by the suffering, involved in the rescue and emergency management efforts and assisted in the re-establishment of operational capabilities. Now we are proud to help with the healing process. The Murrah Federal Building was part of the GSA-owned Federal inventory and the child care center was part of a nation-wide effort to create childcare for Federal workers. Tragically, two of our employees died in the attack, and 20 others were injured. Our regional employees were particularly distraught since they knew many of the tenants from the various agencies housed in the building.
Immediately following the bombing, GSA employees assisted emergency teams with the evacuation of the building while Federal Protective Officers established a security perimeter around the building for safety precautions and to expedite aid. Within hours of the explosion, GSA established a command center in Oklahoma City and located space for an Oklahoma City Disaster Field Office for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Justice. By the next morning, approximately 50 GSA personnel were on-site assisting in critical areas. At the same time, surrounding buildings like the Federal Building and Courthouse, one block south of the Murrah Building, and the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, two blocks south, also sustained damage and received immediate assistance to maximize safety and restore normal operations.
GSA was able to respond immediately in various ways to the Oklahoma City disaster. We either provided services directly or coordinated with other agencies and response groups. These circumstances were a true test of GSA's preparedness, systems and procedures.
Since this tragedy, the site of the destroyed Murrah Building was cleared and stands ready to be transformed from a site of pain and sorrow to a site of remembrance and healing. GSA fully supports the establishment of the Memorial and is prepared to transfer the site to an appropriate Federal agency or local entity if that is deemed appropriate. At the same time, GSA is planning to construct a new Federal building in Oklahoma City, as authorized by the Administration and Congress and in cooperation with the city.
The establishment of a National Memorial is the right thing to do. GSA supports the establishment of the Memorial and would like to work with the Oklahoma delegation, the National Park Service, and other agencies and entities to find the appropriate way to manage the Memorial.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my remarks. I would be happy to answer any questions that you and the Committee Members may have. Thank you.


text:
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text:
Hi, Another one from me...
Can anyone tell me if you can replace some of the default xTV icons, specifically the "Apple TV" image that appears during startup and also in the Settings screen? Don't get me wrong here, these are excellent icons, I'm just running my XBMC on a Mac Mini and want to go the whole 9-yards to skin perfection by replacing them with Mac Mini images!
Is this only possible by replacing the original icons in xTV/media/Default (e.g. background-startup.png) then rebuilding the skin? Or can you do it after its been compiled?
Thanks in advance for any help.
OSX Version: 10.5.7
Platform: MacBook Pro
XBMC SVN Revision: XBMC 9.04.1 r20677
Skin: xTV revision 2269
[Mac] How to change default xTV icons/images
Senior Member
Posts: 213
Joined: Aug 2009
Reputation: 0
2009-08-11 10:40 [Mac] How to change default xTV icons/images Post: #1
|find quote
Team-XBMC Developer
Posts: 26,216
Joined: Oct 2003
Reputation: 185
2009-08-11 10:55 Post: #2
You can replace them by changing the images and then rebuilding textures.xpr, or by adding a new image outside of the Textures.xpr and altering the references to point to that image in the skins XML files.
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.
|find quote
Senior Member
Posts: 213
Joined: Aug 2009
Reputation: 0
2009-08-11 20:05 Post: #3
Changing the xml files to point to the new images in /media worked great for me! Thanks for the advice, its much appreciated.
|find quote


text:
Triple-A roundup: Trout extends streak
Angels outfield prospect continues hot start to 2012 season
April 16, 2012 10:44 PM ET
Designated hitter Max Ramirez hit two home runs and tallied six RBIs in Omaha's 12-10 win at Albuquerque. Second baseman Johnny Giavotella went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs of his own for the Storm Chasers. Isotopes shortstop Luis Cruz went 3-for-4 with three RBIs for his third consecutive multi-hit game. Neither starting pitcher lasted longer than four innings in the offensive onslaught.
Designated hitter Andrew Brown hit a seventh-inning walk-off home run to give Colorado Springs a 2-1 win in Game 1 of its doubleheader with Las Vegas. Rockies' No. 14 prospect Christian Friedrich lasted the full seven frames and allowed just four hits while striking out six. Las Vegas starter Jesse Chavez allowed two runs on just four hits in his six frames of work.
Late-inning heroics were not necessary in Game 2, but it was again Brown leading the way for Colorado Springs with a double, triple, two runs scored and an RBI in the Sky Sox's 3-2 win. Las Vegas left fielder Danny Perales and infielder Chris Woodward added RBIs to make it close for the 51s, but Colorado Springs' Zach Putnam shut the door with 1 2/3 scoreless innings for his second save.
Round Rock was done in by four defensive errors and two unearned runs in its 3-2 loss to Iowa. Express starter and No. 2 Rangers prospect Martin Perez gave up three runs -- one earned -- on three hits and three walks while striking out four over 5 2/3 innings. But it was No. 19 Cubs prospect Dave Sappelt's RBI triple in the top of the sixth that pushed the I-Cubs to the win.
Miami's No. 2 prospect Matt Dominguez doubled three times and drove in two while left fielder Bryan Petersen went 4-for-6 with three RBIs to lead New Orleans to its 11-5 win over Nashville. The Zephyrs totaled nine runs in the game's first four innings. Center fielder Logan Schafer and right fielder Caleb Gindl had a home run and two RBIs apiece for the Sounds.
Brian Broderick scattered five hits and struck out six over six shutout innings for Memphis in its 2-0 victory at home over Oklahoma City. Cardinals' No. 9 prospect Matt Adams went 3-for-4 for the Redbirds and improved his early-season average to .419. Third baseman Zack Cox added a solo home run. Second baseman Jimmy Paredes went 2-for-3 and was the only RedHawk with more than one hit on the day.
A's top prospect Jarrod Parker earned his first Triple-A win after allowing only one run over six innings for Sacramento in the River Cats' 2-1 win over Reno. Aces starter Chris Jakubauskas also allowed only one earned in his seven innings, but was saddled with the loss because a third-inning error allowed MLB.com's No. 94 prospect Grant Green to score. Reno third baseman Ryan Wheeler had the game's only homer.
First baseman Todd Linden scored on an error in the ninth inning to give Fresno a 3-2 walk-off win over Tacoma. Grizzlies center fielder Justin Christian went 2-for-4 with two RBIs to improve his average to a PCL-leading .548. Neither Tacoma's Jeff Marquez (6 IP, 1 ER) nor Fresno's Brian Burres (7 IP, 2 R, 0 ER) figured in the decision despite solid starts.
In the International League, Columbus' Lonnie Chisenhall continued his torrid start to the season, going 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and a pair of doubles in the Clippers' 7-4 loss. Todd Frazier had two hits and three RBIs while veteran catcher Dioner Navarro was 3-for-4 with two runs scored for Louisville. Trevor Crowe finished a homer shy of the cycle for Columbus.
Derrick Mitchell had two hits, including a double, and drove in four runs as Lehigh Valley beat Bufallo, 8-2. Austin Hyatt improved to 2-0 after allowing an unearned run on four hits while fanning four over 5 2/3 innings and Scott Podsednik reached base three times and scored twice for the IronPigs. Zach Lutz raised his average to .341 with a three-hit performance for the Bisons.
Veteran Dallas McPherson drove in three runs, scored three times and finished a triple shy of the cycle as Charlotte cruised to a 14-2 win over Durham. Dan Johnson had four RBIs and Charles Shirek earned his second win after allowing six hits over six shutout innings. Leslie Anderson was 3-for-4 with a run scored for the Bulls and is now batting .432.
Drew Sutton delivered a walk-off RBI double to give Gwinnett a 4-3 win over Norfolk in 12 innings. J.C. Boscan had two hits and drove in two runs while Joey Terdoslavich was 3-for-5 with a stolen base for the Braves. Xavier Avery had two hits and walked twice for the Tides.
Ryan Strieby led the way for Toledo with a three-run homer in the club's 9-2 win. Brad Eldred, Danny Worth and Jared Head all slugged solo homers for the Mud Hens, while Thad Weber struck out seven over six innings to earn the win. A rehabbing A.J. Burnett was tagged with the loss for Indianapolis after allowing five runs over four innings.
Matt Rizzotti had two hits and three RBIs to pace Rochester to a 5-3 win over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Matt Carson was 2-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base while Scott Diamond became the first International League pitcher to reach three wins, allowing three runs over six innings. Ramiro Pena hit a two-run homer for the Yankees, his first homer of the season.
Tony Thomas homered twice and drove in three runs to give Pawtucket a 4-3 win over Syracuse. Ryan Lavarnway slugged a solo homer and Ross Ohlendorf allowed three runs -- two earned -- on five hits over six innings to earn the win for the Red Sox. Top prospect Bryce Harper was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored for the Chiefs and is now batting .244.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.View More


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Washington : Government Printing Office
|Chap. 87
|Charles Kills the Enemy.
Page 430
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, upon application in writing, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to issue to Charles Kills the Enemy, of Winner, South Dakota, a patent in fee to the following-described lands allotted to him in the State of South Dakota: The northwest quarter of section 21, township 36 north, range 29 west, sixth principal meridian.
Approved, February 28, 1948.


text:
Monterey Bay Kayaks has 2 amazing wildlife locations for paddling - Monterey and Elkhorn Slough! We are a locally owned and operated small business that pioneered eco-tourism in 1985 and has been a leader in kayak recreation and education ever since!
We have introduced over 300,000 people to our unique and beautiful area with naturalist led tours, comprehensive rental packages and classes with ACA trained instructors.
Our mission is to provide a wonderful and exceptional experience for everyone while fostering stewardship of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Reserve.
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Reservation Policy & Weather Links
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Elkhorn Slough
Ranked #3 of 19 Boat Tours & Water Sports in Monterey
209 Reviews


text:
LONG BEACH - The Second+PCH development that the City Council voted down in December is still making waves along the southeast Long Beach coast.
On Tuesday, 4th District Councilman Patrick O'Donnell will present legislation to expedite the process of revising the planning document that governs zoning standards in the area. O'Donnell said he wants to set clear new parameters about the type of development that is allowed there and prevent exceptions, or spot zoning, like would have been required for Second+PCH.
The zoning document, called the Southeast Area Development Improvement Plan, or SEADIP, would have needed to be changed to allow greater building heights if the council had approved the proposed $320 million retail, condominium and boutique hotel complex at Second Street and Pacific Coast Highway.
Notably, O'Donnell's item urges the council not to approve any new or pending requests for amendments to SEADIP.
While not lawfully binding, if followed, the suggestion would preclude a revival of Second+PCH.
That possibility was broached last month, when 3rd District Councilman Gary DeLong said there may be enough support on the council to reconsider a 3-5 vote against the plan if it didn't feature a 12-story residential building that was at odds with existing standards.
DeLong, who represents the land where the project was proposed, said he wasn't consulted on writing O'Donnell's motion.
"I was surprised and disappointed," said DeLong. "I'm sure we could have worked together, because I think at the end of the day we want the same thing, to move forward and revise SEADIP."
O'Donnell said his intent is to speed up a redrafting of SEADIP, something the council ordered Dec. 20 immediately after it rejected Second+PCH. The council asked staff to return within 60 days with a plan to revamp the coastal planning document.
"I want (the filing process) done in under six months," O'Donnell said.
The environmental review process and public meetings would then be completed within 12 months of filing the plan, according to O'Donnell.
That's considerably faster than the several years predicted by staff. They also said the effort could cost up to $1 million.
Under O'Donnell's blueprint, Lyon Communities has lined up to front the money for the study. The funds would be repaid later by the city or local stakeholders.
O'Donnell said that Lyon Communities offered to finance a study when Second+PCH was rejected in December. He also noted that other entities, such as the Los Cerritos Wetlands Trust, expressed interest in lending resources to the effort.
"The goal would be that there be a variety of participants paying for the planning process," O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell talked about feeling a sense of obligation to clear up zoning issues around the land after voting no on Second+PCH.
"I want this council to show it's serious about finding a solution," he said. "There needs to be some predictability for property owners and the community."
The SEADIP review would also add the Long Beach Marina.
"If you include that, you wouldn't have to go out and plan that area later," O'Donnell said.
While criticizing O'Donnell's timeline as unrealistic, DeLong said in spite of whatever differences the council may have on the issue, he expects his colleagues to come together to do the right thing for the area.
"I'm anxious to get this started as quickly as possible," DeLong said.
Separately on Tuesday, Amy Bodek, the city's director of development services, will ask for the council's approval to apply for a $1 million grant from the state's Sustainable Communities Planning Grant and Incentive Program.
The program is funded by Proposition 84, passed in 2006, and is designed to help governments develop and institute plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The deadline for the application is Feb. 15.
Bodek said an award date for the grant hasn't been determined.


text:
First Signs of Sprin - Ruth Andre
painting by artist Ruth Andre
4.5 in X 4.5 in (11.4 cm X 11.4 cm)
Oil and Mixed Media on Paper
This painting is available directly from the artist.
More Paintings by Ruth Andre
More art in Today's New Paintings
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© 2017 Daily Painters Gallery. All artwork is copyrighted by the individual artists.
Images may not be reproduced without the permission of the artist.


text:
We offer three different discount groups, Churches & Clergy, Church Bookstores (2 categories; read qualifications below) and Retail Stores. Explanation of each, qualification criteria and terms are specified below.A Virtual Store (Web-based business) does not receive any discount but can qualify for the Affiliate Sales program.For each group two types of discounts apply: normal and limited. A normal, or full, discount applies only to most Icons. A limited discount is one-half your group discount rate. It applies to all products marked as "Limited Discount" (visible under the title of relevant products after you log in). This includes some of the more special or custom Icons, as well as most of the Gifts and Devotional Items. Custom enlargements (as opposed to custom mounting) are also Limited Discount. Books, CDs, cassettes, and video tapes are not discounted at all.
Discounts are not applied if you come to our site via an affiliate link. The site will state if the discount is not being applied because of this. If you wish to receive your regular group discount, close all open browser windows (not just the browser open to our site) and then come back to the site via our main Web address (www.skete.com). Shutting down all browser instances deletes your shopping session and removes an associated affiliate account so that your discount will apply.
You must request membership in a discount group when you create a new account. If you already have an account with us that receives a discount, please also apply for this discount group here with your online account. This is a separate system and you will need to be registered here to receive your discount while you are shopping online. We kindly ask you to allow approximately one business day for us to process your request.
After reviewing the information below, if you have any further questions please feel free to contact us.
Churches and clergy receive a sliding 10-40% discount on normal discount items, 5-20% on "Limited Discount" items.
Church bookstores receive a 40% discount on normal discount items, 20% on "Limited Discount" items.
To qualify as a church bookstore your store must have a physical location and keep inventory in stock. Your store must have its own stationery and a separate business checking account. (The only exception is if your store does $25,000 in total gross sales per year or more. Smaller church bookstores and kiosks can still apply for membership in the Churches and Clergy discount group.
The initial order should be accompanied with 50% down, with the balance due 30 days after the invoice date. A credit application must be completed and returned prior to your first order.
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Our prices are low in part because we make every effort to spend as little time as possible collecting on our accounts. Please help us keep our prices low by paying promptly.
Retail stores receive a 50% discount on normal discount items, 25% on "Limited Discount" items.
General terms: 1) Your store must have a physical location and keep our inventory in stock. 2) Your store must have regular business hours and telephone service. 3) Your store must be self-owned or pay rent and other normal business expenses. 4) Your store must have its own stationery and a separate business checking account.