Sunday, February 05, 2006

About the book, and the new look.

What do you think of my new custom template?

I wanted something professional, and flexible. In the next few weeks I'll be filling out the rest of my site (www.markpettus.com, www.markpettus.net, and www.markpettus.org), I wanted a unified look, and I didn't want to use Blogger's template. I knew the look I wanted, but it's been three years since I designed a website (three years on the web is a very long time), so I searched until I found a designer that had the basic look - then I modified her design to match my vision. Each page of the site will be similar, with the navigation pane possibly shifting sides on a few pages, and with a different image on each page. See my new home page - here.

I'm taking Transit Gloria on the road again (figuratively). I've given the two agents who are reading as much time as I feel I can afford, and now I'm going to increase my exposure a bit by querying a new batch of agents. If your agent represents "character driven" stories (literary with commercial appeal), and you think I just might have a smidge of talent, please feel free to recommend me. I plan to privately ask a couple of you for recomendations because I like what your agents have to say on their websites, but, you know your agents better than I. If you think they'd like me, let me AND your agent know. I promise not to pick my nose, spit on the carpet, or talk bad about Oprah in their presence - at least not until after they sell my book.

p.s. While I worked on the site today, I received emails notifying me of comments from Shesawriter and SpicyCauldron. I replied, but all three comments have disappeared. I'm going to add your comments to mine and repost them at the end of my last post. Confused? Me too.

Mark Pettus,
Sunday, February 05, 2006


12 comments so far. Thank you, Blogger Jeff, Blogger uniquematerial, Blogger Erik Ivan James, Blogger Mark Pettus, Blogger ohdawno, Blogger anne frasier, Blogger Mark Pettus, Blogger anne frasier, Blogger ohdawno, Blogger Shesawriter, Anonymous Anonymous, Blogger Mark Pettus,


Let me know what you think

Leave a comment

12 Comments

at 9:05 AM Blogger Jeff said...

I like your new site design, Mark. To me, the photo blends the past with the present. Very nice. :)

 
at 10:10 AM Blogger uniquematerial said...

Oh! My eyes!
Yes, I noticed the new template. I'll be back as soon as I find my sunglasses.

 
at 11:08 AM Blogger Erik Ivan James said...

Looks good--clean. I notice the keys to the cell doors. Where's the gun rack, pot-bellied stove and coffee pot?

 
at 12:03 PM Blogger Mark Pettus said...

Jeff - thanks for the comment.

Unique - if Blogger will cooperate with me, I may experiment with a pale grey background. Is the white really that hard to look at?

erik - Lunch comes on a china plate, wrapped in a hand-embroidered dish towel.

 
at 12:28 PM Blogger ohdawno said...

Unfortunately the new template doesn't work well in Firefox. :-( I have to open IE just for you - not that I wouldn't, but I thought you'd like to know.

 
at 6:43 PM Blogger anne frasier said...

damn, dawno. i use safari and some areas are overlapping the text. thought i needed to open firefox!!

 
at 7:34 PM Blogger Mark Pettus said...

Thank you Dawno, and ditto Anne. I downloaded Firefox and have now adjusted the css. Looks good in Firefox to me - how is it to anyone else using anything else.

When I did this every day, I always had a half dozen browsers, and a mac - just for testing. I remember now why I quit doing this...

 
at 8:04 PM Blogger anne frasier said...

mark, it looks fine now. :)

 
at 8:20 PM Blogger ohdawno said...

Beautious! Thanks, Mark.

 
at 11:55 PM Blogger Shesawriter said...

Mark,

I don't know what happened with the comments. Maybe the blog trolls ate them. (g)

Tanya

 
at 6:56 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Mark, I use Firefox and the new design looks great and works just fine. Just one quibble - the typewriter/courier-like font looks a little jagged around the edges, was wondering if there was anything could be done? From where I am, it's a tad hard on the eyes because of it being so.

That image of the desk is gorgeous. Is that your desk? Your home? If so, I envy you that kind of environment. Or maybe it isn't.... maybe you envy whoever's desk and home that is as much as I do, haha!

In other news, I had a literary landmark myself this past week. For all my work experience as an editor and copywriter, paid significantly in my time, I can tell you I've never had a buzz like the one I got when I found out I am going to get paid for a poem! Yep, paid! I've had news two literary magazines are publishing my work over the next month or so. Spurred on by that, I've started sending poems to various journals in the UK. The way it works with poetry, you get a sufficient critical mass published individually, you then contact editors at publishing houses directly with a view to getting a collection into print. That's my game plan. Best of luck trying to find some new agents to contact! x

 
at 10:43 AM Blogger Mark Pettus said...

Thanks, Anne and Dawno, welcome to the fraternal order: Gotta luvva beta.

'Ola Tanya.

Spicy, my pagan pal, rockin' good news on your poem. I'm with you on that buzz thing. Of course, anytime I want that buzz, I just go off my meds and wait the manic phase to kick in... (just kidding)

That font is just good old fashioned courier. I could make it smaller, which would make it look smoother, but probably not any easier to read.

 

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