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VoyageToRuin.com 
28th-Jan-2008 08:15 pm
maija's drake
A grand, glorious, and comprehensive website for my book, The Voyage to Ruin, has been one of the many casualties to the extreme lack of a.) time and b.) funds that has plagued my life since ... (well, honestly, since graduating from animation school, but more specifically in this case) since last summer when I first took the step to self-publishing.  It's been on the "Take baby steps towards someday maybe possibly getting it done" list for months, and every now and then I look heavenward and sigh, "O, if only I had the a.) time and b.) funds for a grand and glorious website for my book!"  (I say "O" like a Victorian maiden, because that is more fun.  Sometimes I say "La" instead, just for variety.)

This weekend I got the following from My Friend The Web Designer (MFTWD?  Not very catchy as an acronym):

Today as I finished your book, and slid it back into its lovely dust jacket, I noticed something new on the back.  "www.VoyageToRuin.com", it read!

Well, it seems that there is no website up, and that the domain expiration has expired (or was never registered).

Yes, too true, too true, alas, I sighed, but what can be done about it?  I cited the perennial problem, and he said in reply, in effect, "Fear not!  For I have a brilliant plan!  Please accept the registration of the domain as an early birthday present; I shall, for the nonce, hook the URL up to your existing Lulu page, and voila, your website woes will be no more!"

And verily, behold!  Type www.VoyageToRuin.com into your browser, or click on a link to the same, and it takes you direct to my storefront!

Hurrah!

(A grand and glorious website is still in the works, but for now, this will certainly do!)

Comments 
29th-Jan-2008 07:37 am (UTC)
you have a book? ::sideways slide to new browser window::

ooOOOOooooooo

ps: love the Aubrey icon... someday I'll send you pics of me at the helm of the Surprise, currently docked by my usual hotel in San Diego...



29th-Jan-2008 03:48 pm (UTC)
wow, the book looks cool! I've never used Lulu, though. I wonder if they're a better alternative than the pricey iUniverse. I'm not looking forward to that expense again :-/ and I'd love to have access to a hardcover version to my books! I just need better cover art... rats...

As for website costs, don't know what your budget is, but mine is very reasonable. I use Godaddy for a host. I have oodles of space (for the art gallery attached) and it's $8 a year for the domain registration, and about the same (if memory serves) for the space... and I added on the extra expense of having a private domain registration so people can't get my personal info on whois. You might want to check them out.
29th-Jan-2008 04:14 pm (UTC)
I did look at GoDaddy initially, but they struck me as a bunch of crooks, and I backed out before handing the keys to my credit card. Maybe I'm just paranoid, though...
30th-Jan-2008 04:31 pm (UTC)
well, their Superbowl commercials are skanky but their customer service is top notch and it's the best of the 5 hosts my page has had over the past ten years. Hasn't folded, hasn't sold my domain to another company and extorted money from me, hasn't jacked up my rates when I stopped being friends with their relatives... I don't have to think much about it at all.
31st-Jan-2008 03:16 am (UTC)
BTW, I've found Lulu pretty okay, although its FAQ is sometimes ... opaque to me. But I believe they've revamped the site, so it might be more user-friendly now. The quality of the books seems to be good, too.

And if you're ever in the market for cover art, I know any number of artists with very reasonable rates... ;)
29th-Jan-2008 04:14 pm (UTC)
Ooooooohhhhh, I am so jealous~! I've never even set foot aboard a ship!
30th-Jan-2008 04:29 pm (UTC)
heh... well it's not like it was sailing or anything, but the Surprise is now docked in San Diego and being refurbished to make it seaworthy again (they had to do a lot of unhappy things to it to make it useable in the film) and it's also a mini museum for the film. I'll see if I can send the pics to you, they're still in my camera phone.

That movie (and the first two books) helped me get out of a massive jam in my own book, where I had to fake knowing enough about the age of sail to write about it :-D
30th-Jan-2008 04:34 pm (UTC)
I'm sure they did. *winces*

Ahhh, the books are just brilliant; they're (indirectly) the reason for the massive shelf of nautical reference books I have amassed over the years! XD

I would love to see the photos!
30th-Jan-2008 06:19 pm (UTC)
I posted them on my lj, with descriptions. They've been sitting in my cell phone for years.

I started working on my books before I found the Aubrey/Maturin series but they've been extremely useful for reference work...
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