Creating a site and a mailing list

First of all, I would like to say that I am one of those who think that having a website and a mailing list is something mandatory when you want to be an indie author.

And yes I know that there are a plethora of sites that talk about how to create a site and its mailing list.

What I want to talk to you about is what no one is telling you. When I decided to make my site, (the one on which you are reading this post) and create a mailing list, I skimmed author sites, mainly in English, because, I do not know why, English speakers are much more generous when it comes to giving advice without counter-part.

I read, and I read, until I realized, that in fact, I wasn’t looking for someone who would tell me how to do it. No, I was looking for someone who would tell me how to do it effortlessly. Needless to say, I didn’t find it.

So that’s the hard truth to hear. Creating a site and setting up a series of emails to invite people to join your mailing list, takes time. It’s made of trial, of mistakes, of hours of pulling your hair out, of not understanding why it doesn’t work, whereas five minutes earlier, you did the exact same thing and it worked very well. In short, it’s hard. And neither you nor I can escape that.

But if I succeeded, there is no reason why you should not succeed. You just have to be a bit patient (which I am not) and have tenacity (which I have in store). So, take courage, you can do it. And if you need help, check out David Gaughran’s site. He has a free course on how to set up your site and especially your mailing list. I followed to the letter what he said to do. And I think I didn’t do too badly.

For my part, I chose wordpress, I tested several theme and installed plugins to make the page I wanted. And as a mailing list host I took, on the advice of the said David Gaughran, Mailerlite. I am very pleased about that.

On the other hand, if by chance you manage to set up your site in less than a day, tell me how you did it!