Friday, October 27, 2017

Hope Springs Eternal . . And Then Slowly Fades


During the last week of September, just as I was gearing up to do a major blitz campaign about my new book, Henrietta's Journal,  the blog site attached to my company website went into a major revolt. The website still works. It is possible to go back and read old blog posts. I can tweak the website as a whole. (I just made some more changes today.) But I still cannot post anything new on the "Roundheads and Ramblings" blog site.

Why? No one seems to know! I developed a lengthy history of e-mail correspondence with Vistaprint's technical support team. We were on a first-name basis. They were comforting and "supportive." At first, they said, "We'll fix it immediately." Then they said, "Have found the problem. Give us 24 hours." Then it was  "48 hours." And then they said, "It's still being worked on, and it looks like it may be resolved in the next couple of weeks." That was on September 29th.

And here we are, a whole month later, and they no longer even take my calls. Talk about a bad break-up! By now I'm facing two dilemmas. First is the logistical problem of maintaining the blog.  Over on the Katzenhaus site, I have postings that go back to 2010 -- hundreds of them--many too many to consider moving them. But if I drop the blog function over there, thus avoiding the monthly charge, I will lose all those postings.

I can continue to post on Blogger, although I find that most of my readers have not followed me here, preferring to wait for a solution, I suppose. And Blogger does not charge, which is a definite plus. I've been holding off on postings in the forlorn hope that the problem will be solved. However, starting Monday, I will be doing some regular postings here as a lead-in to the release of The Second Mouse Goes Digital: Self-Publishing Comes of Age. 

Ah, but therein lies the bigger dilemma.  In the new book, I have sections on building a website and using a blog to promote interest in a new book. Elsewhere, I discuss other promotional ideas, including business cards, rack cards, flyers, posters--even magnetic signs for the side of a car. And in each case, my recommendation has been to use Vistaprint, since all those items can be coordinated with the same logo illustrations that appear in your website pages and your blog.

Now, in fairness to those who will purchase the new book looking for guidance about how to succeed in self-publishing, what do I tell them? I can't very well excoriate the whole company in print without risking a lawsuit. But I can no longer recommend them, either. I have about ten days to make final changes in the text. What do I do? I welcome suggestions for a diplomatic solution.

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