How to add blog pages with automatic forwarding or redirecting

 George J. Mitchell Field, formerly a US Navy Fuel Depot and now a public/dog park in Harpswell, Maine.

About once a year I give my blog a makeover.  My aim this time was to integrate my stand alone website (for my artwork and writing) with my blog.  I also wanted to reduce the clutter in my sidebar. On google blogger you can add up to 20 stand alone pages with tabs appearing under the banner (like mine) or in the sidebar. Thanks, Carol, for nudging me to add a homepage.

To add stand alone pages on Google Blogs:

Under the "Posting" tab click "Edit Pages"and then "New Pages." You create a new page like writing a blog post and then publish.

To create the automatic jump from the new page to my website, I added new code to my "Edit HTML" screen of the new page:

angelfire.com's instructions on adding automatic redirecting

This code would also work if you changed blog addresses and wanted to forward visitor to your new site. I changed the lag time from 1 to 5 seconds to accomodate search engines, but it jumps instantly due to the javascript. Don't worry, this is all much easier than it sounds.

More Posting Tips:

To improve your blog, read The Story Siren's Ten Things I Dislike About Your Blog. This is a must read post for all bloggers. The only point I disagreed with was word verification. I get bombarded with spam without it.

Here's my Advice for New Bloggers with your helpful comments.

Bookstore Watch: one of my favorite authors, Ann Patchett has opened a bookstore.

Shakespeare Watch: from the latest New Yorker, "Who Wrote Shakespeare," by Eric Idle. Hilarious!

Advice for New Bloggers 101

Skiing at the Brunswick Naval Air Station

My third anniversary seems the right time to share my experience of blogging, especially since my friend Maria Padian asked for advice as a newbie blogger. Do comment with more tips. As I said to Maria, the best part of blogging is the community.

My blog started as a place to gather material for my novels and to stay in touch with friends and family while living abroad. In 2007 my family was moving to England for a year. At lunch with my literary agent in NYC, she encouraged me to start blogging right away. She thought I’d enjoy it. I did, but it took months to build a following.

Back in 2007 the blogging community was barely connected. People were always asking, “What’s a blog?” This was in a time before “followers” and hyperlinked Blogger profiles. RSS feeds were brand new. Dial-up modems were common. Photos slow to load. WiFi rare. System crashes common. I typed in a shoebox in the middle of the road….

Nonetheless, my blog proved to be an invaluable writing tool and a storefront for my artwork. In England I was still working on my American novel S.A.D., and the Maine posts provided inspiration and material, like my lobstering jaunt. Now I revisit the Oxford posts to work on my English novel A MATCH FOR EVE (working title). I’ve sold paintings and photos as well, but the commercial side of blogging is secondary. I don’t sponsor advertisements, and I avoid commercial sites.

Most of all, it’s the community that makes blogging worthwhile. Writing and art are solitary occupations; you are my connection to the world. I look forward all week to my Wednesday blog days. There are true friendships in cyberspace. If you don’t believe that, then you aren’t a seasoned blogger.

 Now that I've broken the ice, let me share some blogging tips:

READ other blogs before you start to get ideas. Start commenting.

BLOGGER PROFILE: anyone can create a profile for free, even if your blog is hosted outside Google Blogger or you haven’t started. List all your interests; these are hyperlinks. Use them to find other bloggers who share your interests. Be sure to include an email so people can contact you. Enable share profile; it defaults to hide it.

BE YOURSELF: blogs are personal so get ready to share. Pick suitable content. Assume the last person you want to read it will. Be honest but don’t be snarky or mean. People may still identify you under a fake name.

DON’T SELL: a sales pitch is a big turn off. Many author blogs are boring because all they post are signings, fan mail, sales figures and reviews of their books. If you post good content, people will be interested in your books.

LENGTH: too short is better than too long. People read lots of blogs. Long paragraphs are hard to read, so are colorful fonts and backgrounds. Don’t post every photo from your vacation. Occasional longer posts, like an author interview, are fine. Revise and condense. I know; I’m guilty of long posts like this one!

FREQUENCY: post regularly or you’ll lose your following. An occasional vacation is fine, but let us know when you’ll be back. You can program your blog to publish while you are away in EDIT POSTS under POST OPTIONS. Pick a rhythm that works with your lifestyle, be it weekly or daily. The social side of blogging is time consuming (but rewarding.)

COMMENTING: respond to comments promptly either on your blog or on the commenter’s. Delete ads and abusive comments; don’t respond to them. Visit other blogs and leave comments about that post, but don’t push your blog. If you write thoughtful comments, they’ll come visit you too via your profile. Don't post the same comment every time and everywhere.  This is NOT a good comment: I love your blog, come visit mine - link.

FOLLOW: click on “follow this blog” in the sidebar, which will create an RSS feed in your blogger dashboard. Add a follow widget to your blog from LAYOUT. You can also add “blogs I follow” to your sidebar or reveal it on your profile. Don't wait for followers to find you; go find them.

LINK LOVE: to create a community, link to other blogs in your posts and sidebar. If you read a cool post, share it. Personally, I find awards that require the recipient to post and to pass them as irritating as chain letters. I have my own feature, “blog watch,” where I link to posts of interest with no strings attached. Feel free to use that meme but credit me. If you borrow a meme, always credit the source with a link.

ROUND UPS: to broaden your circle, join a regular blog round up. Visit and comment on all posts. I’m a regular contributor to the monthly Book Review Club hosted by Barrie Summy. You can even host your own.

PROTECT MINORS: do not post photos of children with their names and location. There are sick people out there. Also your kids, as they get older, will value privacy. If you swear or post unsuitable content, Google Blogger will ban you.

RESPECT COPYRIGHT: quote and cite written material.  Add a link if it came from another blog.  Get permission to repost from another blog.  Do not reproduce artwork or photos without permission from the artist or at very least cite the source with a link. Better yet, post your own photos. Add a watermark to discourage copyright infringement.

BOOK BLOGGERS: explain your review criteria and post it in your sidebar along with your contact email. FTC rules in the USA require that you state if you received a free product, like an ARC. Reveal personal connections. Don’t expect publishers to send you ARCs until you have a large following and stats to prove it. Visit your library or join online book swaps if you are short on cash.  Everyone knows that Jane Austen is good; review new authors, who need help getting their name out there. You don't need permission to post book jackets, short quotations (but check with publisher if an ARC), book trailers or links to authors. Story Siren posts helpful blogging advice and excellent YA reviews. She has become a hub of the YA blogging community by facilitating connections. Dovegreyreader scribbles blends personal life (Devon, England) with quality reading; I love her blog.

TRACKING STATISTICS: anyone with a Google account can use Google Analytics for free. There is a link to "Analytics" on your "My Account" page. Follow instructions to install the html code on your blog. Don't worry about low stats. It can take 6 months for search engines to find a new site.

HAVE FUN: blogging should not feel like a chore. If it does, take a vacation or stop. Forced posts or whiny ones are not fun to read. If you have nothing to say, you are spending too much time online. Get out there. Enjoy!

If you have more blogging tips, please add a comment.  So ends Blogger 101.

Note: shoebox line adapted from Monty Python.  I shot the photos at the Brunswick Naval Air Station last weekend.  My son took the photos of me and Stella in the fields.  Dogs aren't allowed on the groomed ski trails.  Maria Padian is a young adult author; check out her new blog, Teens, Writing and Randomness, and say hello.

The Confessions of Edward Day by Valerie Martin

I have been immersing myself in theater lately: auditing a Bowdoin class on Shakespeare, renting Shakespeare movies, watching the high school rehearse Much Ado About Nothing and reading books on acting.

The Confessions of Edward Day by Valerie Martin is a fictional memoir of an actor in the 1970s. Curtains open on a group of struggling young actors, who have escaped the heat of lower Manhattan to hang out at a beach house.

Our hero is a narcissistic actor, Edward Day, who owes his life to his doppelganger, Guy Margate. Literally owes his life. Edward almost drowned.

Guy expects something in return for his heroic rescue. His demands escalate. The stakes get raised whenever Madeleine Delavergne enters the picture. She’s a beautiful and talented actress but tainted by neurosis. Madeleine is attracted to both Edward and Guy, two handsome actors who resemble one another. They form a love triangle with a sharp apex.

Edward Day is a story about envy, jealousy and creative genius. It centers on the gap between artistic perfection and real life. Valerie Martin explored these subjects before in her brilliant short story collection, The Unfinished Novel. Now she turns her lens from authors and artists to focus on actors. Martin writes beautifully about the ugliness of human nature.

Despite the heavy psychological underpinnings, Edward Day moves at a good pace and is entertaining. Martin’s extensive research (down to high set costs vs. low actor wages) makes the off-off Broadway scene come to life. Being 20-something in 70’s NYC was good fun despite the hardships.

Fans of theater will appreciate the way Martin weaves the plays into the narrative. The actor-characters quote Shakespeare and discuss method acting. The themes of the plays echo in the characters’ lives offstage.

Sometimes the theater-narrative connection is overplayed. There is an obvious connection between Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya and our characters. Martin describes those links scene by scene to the point of interrupting the narrative flow. Trust the reader.

Still, I very much enjoyed The Confessions of Edward Day. If you haven’t sampled Valerie Martin yet, you are in for a treat:

“These lines drop from her lips without intonation, like a bag of chips falling into a vending machine when the correct code has been punched.”

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book review blogs
@Barrie Summy

Blog Watch: Barrie sent me 2 useful links that explain how the new Federal and Trade Commission (FTC) rules effective December 1, 2009 apply to bloggers who accept free products (like ARCs and books) and endorse them:

• Interview with the FTC's Richard Cleland @ Edward Champion's Reluctant Habits 
• Generate your own disclosure policy
  

For an example, see MY BOOK REVIEW POLICY in my sidebar.  My disclosure policy has actually been there since last May when I blogged about Blog Ethics.

Here are some NYT articles on it:

• "Soon, bloggers must give full disclosure" by Tim Arango (10/5/09)
  
• "New F.T.C. Rules Have Bloggers and Twitterers Mulling" by Kayleen Schaeffer (10/14/09)

Up a Mountain

Rainbow from my back door

I only just got home. We spent the long weekend through Tuesday hiking in the White Mountains of Maine, like we did last year.  Look for a leaf peeping post next week, once I weed through the photos.

Good news: my watercolor sold in the first minute of the 10X10 Art Show. There were long lines outside all 3 venues. Plenty more paintings are still up and available for purchase through the end of the month to benefit Arts Are Elementary.

Blog Watch:

• Check out the kitty fixing a printer @troutbirder.  I’ve been having computer problems, does she do house calls?

• On the funny animal theme, Cheffie Mom@Dishing with Debbie has frogs in her toilet.  Life just hopped up: Debbie also landed a newspaper column.  Congratulations, Debbie!

• Each Little World posted a link to a site, the Book Depository, that allows you to order a book printed in the UK and will ship to anyplace in the world for free.  I haven’t checked it out myself. 

• Bid a sad farewell and thank you to David@authorblog.  His “Post of the Day” was like my “Blog Watch.”  He shall be missed in the blogger community as he’s brought so many of us together.  David is quitting blogging to write more novels.  Good luck, David!

Google Blogger Posting Tip:

If you switch to the updated editor, as I recommended 2 weeks ago, you might also need to upgrade your template.  My “Minima” template was cropping my photos.  Switching to “Minima Stretch” kept a similar look but with full frame images.   The other cool feature is the reader can stretch or condense the post width.  You can preview a new template without changing your current settings:

1. Dashboard
2. Layout
3. Choose New Template
4. Minima Stretch
5. preview template

10X10 Art Show in Brunswick, Maine

Can you believe that tomorrow is October? It’s almost time for the10X10 Art Exhibit and Sale to benefit Arts Are Elementary. AAE  is a non-profit organization that brings artists to Brunswick public elementary schools. The show opens on Friday October 9th at 5pm and will be up until the end of the month. Poster art "Circles" embroidered by Kimberly Christensen at Spindleworks.

When my daughter was in 4th grade, visiting artists helped the kids create unique claymation movies.  My friend Charlotte Agell, an author-illustrator, works with first graders to make picture books and also contributes to the AAE show. There are many other artists participating. It’s a wonderful supplement to the curriculum.

I blogged about the first annual 10X10 Art Show last year. Despite opening in the wake of the stock market crash,  the townspeople showed strong support.  I sold a painting last year and have a new one in this year’s exhibit. All works are 10 by 10 inches, come framed and priced at $200.

Artists include a statement with their work. Here's mine for this year:

“Lookout Point, Harpswell” watercolor by Sarah Laurence

Rain made this a challenging summer to paint "en plein air." One evening in late August, the light was perfect. I drove to Harpswell because it was close to my home. I’d visited Lookout Point three years ago while researching lobstering for my novel S.A.D.. 

It was indeed a perfect spot to paint. The goldenrod was blooming and lobster pots were bobbing as the high tide reversed. I had to work quickly in the fading light. As the setting sun shot rays under thick clouds, my palette shifted to pinks, golds and purples. The colors truly were that amazing.  

A painting on location captures a protracted moment in time (eg. the full sunset) whereas a photo would only capture an instant. This is why I work from life.  

Above is my photo of the same island (to right) at a different angle and time of day. The camera sees differently than the eye.  The wide angle lens flattens out the coastal landscape. The water appears more stagnant. The light is flat.  Some images are better captured with watercolor, some with the camera. I prefer to keep them separate, as opposed to painting from a photograph.

Every artist has a unique vision, and the 10X10 captures this diversity so well. The aquatic theme on my blog is a coincidence - Brunswick is a coastal town. Here's a sneak preview from 2 more artists:

"Red Reflection" gouache on wood pannel by Will Wilkoff

"Red Drum" textile art by Catherine Worthington

10X10
Benefit Art Exhibit and Sale
Friday Oct. 9, 5pm-8pm
and Saturday Oct. 10, 10am-4pm
Brunswick, Maine
3 venues: 


1. Morrell Meeting Room at Curtis Memorial Library, 23 Pleasant St.
2. Points of View Gallery in Brunswick Business Center, 18 Pleasant St.
3. Gallery Framing, 12 Pleasant St

All artwork priced $200 and ready to hang to benefit AAE

There are 300 pieces by 130 Maine artists.  My art is in venue #1.

Press: 10X10 Art Show in the Times Record newspaper.
My painting is there too!

Blog Watch:

• Dreams can come true. Congratulations to Steph Bowe @ Hey! Teenager of the Year for landing a literary agent. Fifteen-year-old Steph is being home-schooled in Australia. She has a fun Young Adult book blog (in my sidebar) that is definitely worth checking out. Her novel is YA fiction too. Good luck, Steph!

• If you are a Google blogger, check out the updated post editor.  From your dashboard, select “settings” and then the “basics” tab.  Down at the bottom is “Global Settings.” If you have  “old editor,” try “updated editor.” It makes adding multiple photos to your blog much easier.  From the preview box, you can place the photo exactly where you want in the text, resize and change alignment easily.  It also gives a post preview that looks exactly like it will when published. Finally!

Note: images reproduced by permission of the artists and under copyright.