Tag: online platform

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The Importance of Whitelisting

Most of us don't think about whitelisting at all, myself included. An email has found our inbox, so we think that everything is all hunky-dory. And in an ideal world, that would be a fair assumption. However, the moment anything changes, communications that have been finding the inbox can suddenly be moved to spam… or some other folder that removes it from view.

And that's exactly what happened with the move of my email list to a different email management system in 2026.

I always knew that I would need to rebuild my "trust" with the delivery systems. This would have happened regardless of the system I moved to, simply because the email header information would have changed, and systems like Gmail need to reassess it. And this is where whitelisting plays a role.

In today's post, let's talk about the importance of whitelisting and why it's important to advise subscribers to your newsletter to whitelist your email address or domain even if they are getting your emails direct into their inbox.

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Why I’m not on Substack

Substack has become a popular site among writers. It's a combination of a blogging engine mixed with a social media community. But it's because of the email list concept and monetization that the site has gained favor.

It's provided a way for newer writers to build a mailing list without laying out the expense of having a custom domain. And it's provided a way for writers to make money off their content as they write it.

I have to admit that I can see why it's gained popularity among both new and established writers. But despite its popularity, it's one site that I'm unlikely to adopt within my own platform.

Let's take a look at the functionality of the site and why I've chosen to use other systems for the same functionality.

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Don’t respond to reviews

Reviews are a necessary part of the business. Without good reviews, a book never sees the positive side of the algorithms that promote your books for you. Without reviews, many readers will turn away from your book, particularly if it is an old book. And reviews help to build SEO traction on a book.

However, as important as reviews are, reviews can also be a dangerous area for writers.

Writers have lost their publishing contracts because they badmouthed a review on social media. Writers have been review bombed because of such deplorable behavior. But writers have also been attacked because they left a negative review on a competitor's book. In some cases, those attacks were warranted. In other cases, they weren't.

The most important aspect with reviews is to remember that reviews are NOT for the benefit of the writer. They are for the benefit of the reader. It's readers telling prospective readers what they thought of the book.

And when it comes to reviews, it is a very bad idea to respond to any reviews (or comments on those reviews) regardless of what you think of the review.

If you want to share those reviews with others, then cross-post it on your feeds. Acknowledge the good reviews that way, but DON'T RESPOND.

It's time to take a closer look at how responding to reviews, good or bad, could land you in hot water.

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A free website is still a website

If you’re not sure exactly what you want to achieve with your website, start with a free one. There is nothing wrong with a free website. Using providers like WordPress.com, you can create professional sites with little effort, without it costing you the earth.

Free websites from providers like WordPress.com, Weebly, and Wix all have a few things in common.

All of them have no contracts or fees when starting out. They will allow you to choose a domain name, but they will give you a subdomain URL in the form of chosenname.provider.com This is not a bad thing, because at least you are building your brand recognition with your chosen name.

They often use user-friendly page builder tools, though some are more user-friendly than others. And there are often a number of themes that you can choose from for your websites. No technical skills are required to get your website up and going—you just need the content.

However, the free options also possess similar cons too.

The options and resources available for your websites will be limited. For example, Wix and Weebly don’t allow you to embed signup forms on your website to external providers. On WordPress.com, you might not be able to have an embedded form, but you can use a popup signup form to common email list providers.

The free sites also tend to offer limited technical support, and they might require you to pay for add-ons or upgrades to become fully usable sites. They will restrict how much customization you have access to, limiting how much of your branding you can incorporate into your site.

And the biggest con: the cost of a free website is the advertising that providers put on your website. Sometimes, you can influence what ads are shown, but more often than not, you can’t.

I know I’m sounding a little negative about free sites here, but seriously, they are a good option for newer and emerging writers. I started out on a free website from WordPress.com with a custom domain mapped onto it. If it wasn’t for business decisions that I made years ago, I would likely still be using that free website, nearly a decade after it was first created.

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Three monitors display cascading blue binary code against a glowing digital overlay above a nighttime city skyline, creating a futuristic scene of data flow and technology.

Building a Basic Author Website

There are so many things that a writer needs to think about as they navigate the publishing industry, and the internet has added a whole other layer of complexity to the equation. There’s social media and the headaches about building a fan base there. There’s the email list and the management of a newsletter.

But if there is only one thing that you do on the internet for your online platform, create a website.

All writers seeking publication, traditionally or self-published, NEED a website. No exception. Your website is your online home. It’s the place where readers will go to get the latest information about your various projects, both old and new. You will likely have a list of all your published books, links to where they can be purchased, and links to interviews and other goodies. Yes, your social media will likely have information about the latest happenings too; however, any older material is quickly buried.

Seriously, folks, the moment you decide that you ultimately want to be published, start thinking about that website. And you don’t need to spend an arm and a leg on fancy website designs either. No need to stress yourself about learning HTML or CSS. Just focus on the page content and get it out there.

In today’s post, we’re going to explore the bare-minimum website for writers.

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