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Widget Websites

This page features websites and other services devoted to making and hosting widgets. Please note that this is a work in progress. If you'd like to nominate a site for this page, email John Kremer. I know that I have missed some sites I truly would like to add to this list. Your site might be one of those. Thanks for your support. — John Kremer, author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books

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Making and Adding Widgets
to Your Website or Blog

ClearSpring: http://www.clearspring.com — Motto: Widgets made simple.

Desktop Widgets: http://www.desktopwidgets.org — NY Design, 553 Central Avenue #19A, Cedarhurst NY 11516; 516-569-8888; Fax: 516-569-0404. Email: info@desktopwidgest.org. They can custom program a widget for you that website visitors can download. The widget can feature any function: audio feeds, RSS, podcasts, video, images, or flash. They also offer advertising opportunities. Costs are very high for design: $13,500 to $23,500 plus maintenance and hosting costs. But you might want to look into the advertising opportunities to reach targeted customers.

Free Sticky: http://www.freesticky.com — Offers free content for your website: cartoons, jokes, day in history, entertainment, and more.

Gizmoz: http://www.gizmoz.com — Create an avatar of yourself using a headshot photo. Check it out below. Not exactly gorgeous, but interesting. Not too many options yet.

Microsoft Gadgets: http://www.microsoftgadgets.com.

Orchestr8: http://grid.orch8.net/clippings/gram — A website where you can create a widget that features content from any website.

Pay Per Widget: http://www.payperwidget.com — This website features a marketplace for distributing widgets. Bloggers and website owners can discover cool widgets and get paid for displaying them. Widget owners and producers can get their widgets distributed around the web (and set their own rates and distribution rewards).

Picture Trail: http://www.picturetrail.com — Photo slideshows, photo sharing, and more.

Rock You: http://www.rockyou.com — Slideshows, photo upload, photofx, funNotes, glitter text, countdown, avatars, horoscope, shoutouts, games, voicemail, and corkboard widgets

Sexy Widget: http://www.sexywidget.com — A blog devoted to reviewing and testing widgets, badges, and blog bling of all types.

Slide: http://www.slide.com — 117 million unique viewers. Features slide slows, guestbooks, funpix, image hosting, skinflix, and screensavers.

Snipperoo: http://www.snipperoo.com — Allows you to collect and add widgets to your blog or website easily. Features more than 2,000 widgets. Also hosts Pay Per Widget listed above.

Spring Widgets: http://www.springwidgets.com — HarperCollins Publishers featured a new book release widget on this website.

Sticki Widgets: http://www.stickiwidgets.com — A blog featuring reviews, services, and widgets for MySpace, Stickam, Friendster, WordPress, etc.

Widgetbox: http://www.widgetbox.com — “Widgetbox is a directory and syndication platform for web widgets for blogs and other web pages. Our widgets work with TypePad, WordPress, Blogger, MySpace as well as most other blogs, sidebars or websites. No plug-ins are needed, and they're free!” They feature one widget called Blidget that turns your blog instantly into a widget. Here's the blidget I created for my blog:

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1001 Ways to Market Your Books, 6th Edition describes more than 1,000 ideas, tips, and suggestions for marketing books — all illustrated with real-life examples showing how other publishers and authors have marketed their books.

“Without glitzy idealism or funky hopelessness, Kremer does a sound job of talking about marketing, telling stories from his own and others' experiences. He knows his subject, imparting important information in a fast-paced, very open way. Extremely good stuff here.” — The Book Reader

May, 2006. 704-page softcover. $27.95. ISBN: 0-912411-49-X.

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