Wordsmith at Work: Major Changes

(Slightly) unrelated: an open gate like my open opportunities?

I have to say, I'm slightly nervous about the subject of today's blog post. So many things are still up in the air, and I keep wanting to cancel it altogether. I don't know if it's going to work and I don't know if you will support me in this endeavor.

But enough beating around the bushes (yes, those ones over there). The next step on my journey to creating a cohesive online web presence is this: change my website! Don't worry, I'm not going to make the switch tomorrow. I just wanted to announce it as I started the process so you know what I'm working on.

Let me break it down a bit. I'm still trying to figure everything out--maybe then it will make sense to both of us.

Wait, why are you changing? I don't understand!

Two reasons.

One, I have to get a new url. This blog's url is ridiculously long and complex. Honestly, wordsmith(dash)at(dash)play(dot)blogspot(dot)com? It's impossible to remember, impossible to say, and impossible to write down without people asking if those are hyphens or underscores. The new website is going to be much easier to remember, and hopefully that will make it far more shareable.

Two, I need more control. This blog is being hosted by Blogger, which is owned by Google, which may or may not be evil. That's unrelated. I'm switching to a Wordpress blog, which is much less likely to be evil than Google.

Regardless of the relative evilness of blog-hosting companies, Wordpress is giving me (theoretically) far more control than Blogger. I have a lot of things I wish to do to improve your reading experience, and I've found that I can't do many of them with Blogger. I wish I could tell you everything right now, but suffice it to say that I have a lot of exciting plans for this blog, and I can't do them with Blogger.

Maybe not quite this fast.

Okay, but why do you have to do it now?

Last week, I realized that if I want to make a business out of this, I have to be professional now. I also realized that if I wait until I have any more followers, it will be even harder to make the change because I won't want to leave you behind.

I will transfer all of my blog posts to the new site, so you can still find your favorite articles, but this task gets larger with each new post I make here. It's important to make the switch now that I have the resources to do so, rather than wait.

I don't want to leave you behind, so I'll try to make it as painless as possible. Let me know what I can do to help keep everyone up-to-date, and I'll see if I can do it. Wordsmith's honor.

Alright, I'm satisfied. Tell me all the important details, like when and how.

The switch is scheduled for May 30th, the last Wednesday in May. If we can, I'd like to make the switch sooner, but if that's not possible, I will be changing to the new site on May 30th at the absolute latest. Either way, it will definitely be a Wordsmith at Work Wednesday.

How is easy. I'm partnering with a close friend of mine, Relief Publishing, to help me create this new website. She has been wonderfully helpful so far, and although her website and Twitter feed aren't the most active, I've enjoyed working with her. For the next month, @ReliefPublish and I will be working together to create the best, most functional website we possibly can for you.

Can I help?

I'm actually looking for a photographer or a graphic arts designer who can create some awesome new visuals for my blog. I can do all of the words, but the visuals I'm not so great at. Do you know anyone who might be able to help? I'm looking for cheap-ish-but-still-awesome, since I am a starving college student, after all.

So, what do you think? Do you think this switch will be helpful? Will you follow me to my new site? I promise to keep creating killer content if you promise to keep reading it.

Wordsmith at Work: Hard at work shaking up your perceptions.