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Recently, one of our members, Daniel, brought up an important question.

Daniel wrote:
In terms of getting the interest of readers, I'm curious to know if people think a website is best used to specifically promote a book, or if its maybe more useful to use it as a blogging platform? I'm mainly going the blog route, but still trying to get the mixture right:
Also, if anyone wants to link to my site, I'll definitely link back!

As I am in the middle of having a young intern working with me to revamp my website this summer, I thought this would be the perfect time to pose that question to our group members.

How do you use your website�
1. Strictly for the promotion of your book(s).
2. As social media outlet (with blogs, etc.)
3. Or a combo of the two

We look forward to your input :]

Mine, when I get the chance to revamp the damn thing, will be mainly promotional. It will act as a sort of central point for the books, scripts, pilot films, the anthology and our other products, like the screen writing workshops.

It will also showcase the editing, preview video, proofreading and site design services we supply. It will have links to my blog (Blogspot), preview videos on YouTube, profiles and products on social networking sites, some biographical info about the major participants, and of course links to our products on Barnes and Noble, Amazon and Lulu. A few extracts, some reviews (favourable ones of course), and so on.

Since we intend to use the markting power of the internet to its fullest, a tight integration of all the social features with the products and services is crucial.

I am using my web site to promote my new novel CASE CLOSED. My strategy is to post content that will attract people who are interested in the subject matter of my book, which is the 2001 anthrax attacks and the FBI's failed investigation of same.

I am trying to create a "buzz" that will lead to sales of CASE CLOSED.

Before I started posting this kind of material, I was getting 5-20 hits/day; after, the # hits have averaged over 200/day with a peak of 500.

I have also linked a book video trailer on YouTube to my site and am using the various links to try to get radio interviews (1 so far)and op-ed placements.

Will any of this work to sell books? I don't know, but you can go to my site and see what's happening ... .

I would appreciate any feedback and thoughts that you have.

LEW WEINSTEIN

Hey Paul,

Thank you so much for your feedback, you know that I always value your input and expertise. I can hardly wait to see your site's new look!

I know that I need to revamp the SOA website, but it seems to always be put on the back burner. Sigh. There never seems to be enough hours in the day to spend between promotion of Sons of Avalon Merlin's Prophecy and writing SOA2.

I know how overly-busy your schedule is as well. Yet, you always seem to prioritize your time so well. You are my hero…in so many ways :]

Be sure to keep everyone updated as to your site’s design overhaul.

Hi Lew,

Wow, that is outstanding news about your hits. After all, a site is measured on its hits.

I am sure the new design will result in tons of book sales. Please keep us posted :]

Have you thought of running a poll on your website?
Maybe something like: Did viewing my new site design pique your interest in my book?

Thanks again for your input :]

Thanks Dee, glad my question could start as a jumping off point.

I guess I originally decided to go with a blog format because I figured my posts would expose people to my writing in a briefer, quicker format. And hopefully that would then lead them to follow the links and check out my books.

Thus far I haven't found the approach to be hugely successful -- although admittedly there's probably multiple reasons for that. But I've definitely begun thinking of changing my website to simply focus on book promotion (if anything, it would be easier than keeping a blog updated)

Anyways, I'm curious to hear what has/hasn't worked for others...

As of right now I just use my site as a promotional tool. I get regular traffic, which I'd say is not too bad for not having regular updates.

Right now my life is kind of chaotic, once things stable down I'd like to expand it to have exclusive material, features, ect ect.

Who knows when that will happen though! gah!

Hey Daniel and Sean,

Thanks so much for your input. This is grand fun!
Please keep everyone posted as you gather more data :]

I think it is possible to do both (socialize and promote a book) but not sure if it can be done "to perfection," exclusively on one website.

I know that on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and Twitter I do both...promote my book, and have just too much fun mingling with my favorite readers and authors.

However, I have devoted my website to my novel, and related subject matter.

Kind of like wearing an “Internet Mullet� Business in the front, party in the back :]

I recommend a book called NEW RULES of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott. The best discussion I have seen about how to use the web to promote your product. David argues rather persuasively that the indirect approach is the only approach that can succeed, i.e., you must provide content that brings people to your site before you can sell them your product.

That sort of content could of course include contests, promotions, give aways, forums, online workshops, helpful tips for e.g. finding an agent, POD versus mainstream publishing, how to write a screenplay - anything that people might need. Reviews of new books is always good - partial review on Amazon, fuller review on your site - and so on. Also have all friends and colleagues read and promote your works, especially an active community like this one ;)

Hi Lew,

I looked at your blog as well great work. Only a few things to consider I would move the book further up on the page. You have only a few seconds to get the persons attention. Some people are terrible at scrolling down. You could also put the Youtube video on your blog. The video itself is a great way to promote your book and was really good work. You want to keep them on your site not leave your site.

Regards,

YvonneW
Author Assistant

YVONNE ... Thanks for your suggestions. I have been reluctant to place the book as the most prominent item on too many posts, hoping rather to attract blog readers with content they are interested in. But on some posts, it is far more prominent than others... LEW

Sean wrote: "As of right now I just use my site as a promotional tool. I get regular traffic, which I'd say is not too bad for not having regular updates.

Right now my life is kind of chaotic, once things stab..."

I'm curious if the websites on any level relate to solid book sales. How many "hits" turn into sales. JLR

My solution to the question posed here is: two websites. I have one for my books, which is technically a publisher website, at:

and another, which is my "author" website at:


The tone of the two is very different. The publisher site is for promoting the books. The author site is much more personal. It includes a blog and some special offers, like free bookplates and a way to order autographed copies. The big draw for the author site, though, is my free ebook offer. I'm offering Book I of my trilogy as a free download, and I get quite a bit of traffic from it.

Catherine M. Wilson

I separate my web activity between my static web site and my blogs.

One of my blogs is about Japanese art... I rarely ever talk about Utamaro Revealed, but there's a link to more info.



My second blog is very personal, and I'll post about pretty much anything there (even Muppet videos).



My third blog is purely about The Wonderful Demise of Benjamin Arnold Guppy and the events that inspired it.



My web site is all about the books right now, but I'm hoping to expand on it soon. I've just given it a big make-over... about the on;y thing that's stayed from the old site is the font for my name. I'd be very grateful if any of you kind folks could take a look and let me know if any of my links fail:



If anyone needs a book preview widget then I highly recommend the one on my site. It's easy to make and you can customise the colours.

Oh My Gina!

I LOVE what you have done to your website! It is beautiful!

WOW! Love the pretty gold buttons.

Gina, and fellow authors,

I have seen the before, and then the subsequent changes to your web site. The first was great. However, now with the recent re-formatting (html et cetera) it is absolutely amazing! I have been (tweeting) about it, well worth a visit--more than once!

Great site, "What do you think?"

ciao, Stuart

Gina, you have out done yourself on the web sites new look!
kgc

Aw, you guys! :o)

I am very much happier with the new site. I am also very much happier now that it's finished! I had html blindness last night... I wasn't seeing spots before my eyes, I was seeing hyperlinks!

I have had 2nd thoughts and have placed my book info up front on some recent posts. I think it's better. For instance ...

I use my website for promoting my Books and use other networks such as twitter and myspace for Blogging. You can see how I do it at:

Whether it's super-effective or not, you simply must have a website, and you have to treat it like the most important thing in the world. An author's website is a lot like that book on the shelf. It might be days or weeks before anyone picks it up, but when they do, they will first judge it by its cover, and then skim the content to see if it's worth a further investment of time or money. That's why it's so important to make your website as professional as possible. It may be the thing that keeps people from buying your book.

A blog is useful for establishing a connection with readers and potential readers, but I personally like to see excerpts. I'm trying out giveaways and bonus content (short stories) and of course, it's useful to have links to retailers.

But I can't stress enough that the website must be ship-shape. If it's sloppy or just plain boring, it will probably mean that the person who dicovered you will probably never become one of your regular readers.

I'd welcome feedback on how well I've met that benchmark:

Sean, I had a look at your site. It's clean, easy to navigate, and seems to have everything it should have. So, I'd say you've met that benchmark. Just one thing though... the google ad slowed down the page loading. I don't know whether that's just a temporary google glitch though.

For anyone who is designing his or her website, I highly recommend you signing up for Adobe's BrowserLab.



It allows your to view your website design on three major browsers (as well as what you site looks like on a Mac and/or a PC).

I was shocked to see how my site appeared on Firefox.
(I just wrote a review for BrowserLab. I will post a link to the review when it is published next week.)

The program is currently free, and is in Beta testing. The downside is that the access is limited. If you are unable to register, keep checking back.

Of course, you could always install Firefox, and Safari to see what the site would look like. As a bonus, Firefox is IMO far better than IE7 or IE8. If you have Firefox and Safari, you needn't bother with Mozilla, Opera and so on - effectively they use the same browser engine. Also install Lynx - text only browser - to see your site as a search engine spider will see it - i.e. are links visible to the search engine.

Also check on different monitors - widescreen displays can do some strange things; use resolutions of 800x600, 1024x768 and 1200x1024 on a standard monitor to check display appearance, particularly far too much white space on the right or left hand sides.

Be aware that when using CSS to lay out a page, different browsers interpet the code in different ways - as Dee probably discovered with Firefox as opposed to IE.

I agree with you Paul, a designer can always install the PC version of Firefox to their compter. However the best thing about BrowserLab is that you can view how your site will appear on a Mac (if you have a PC) or on a PC (if you have a Mac).

I personally have never been a big advocate of installing several web browsers on one computer. Things just tend to go wonky. And the less wonk I have in my life, the better life is :]

I recently redesigned my author website. Originally it was a traditional group of web pages, but I've transitioned it to a wordpress site. It's a lot more flexible for me to configure on my own, allowing for easy daily updates.

I use pages for book excerpts and serialized fiction and the blog to alert subscribers when I update. Of course, the welcome post with links to my recently released book stays stickied at the top of the page!!

I also recently added two different webrings which have brought me additional traffic in just a few days (well worth while for the few minutes it took to sign up) In addition I actively cross-post on my Live Journal and several other sites.

I'd love any and all feedback from everyone here as I've only been writing for a year and I'm flying by the seat of my pants when it comes to all the business of writing.

If you'd like to visit my site it's at:
- just click the picture to get to the goodies!

Thanks!

Lew wrote: "I am using my web site to promote my new novel CASE CLOSED. My strategy is to post content that will attract people who are interested in the subject matter of my book, which is the 2001 anthrax at..."

That is amazing! I have been trying to create that sort of buzz for two years now and still average 20 hits a day if I'm lucky. What exactly did you do to get this buzz because I have tried at least a hundred different things with no luck. Please answer me if you you see this message. It would mean so much to me. Thank you.

I'm using the web host my self-publisher recommended. They allow me to control the content. I've put an excerpt from the latest novel on my home page but I'm thinking of changing it. However, the passage I want to use is a bit risque (nothing actually happens but there are two naked people and a doctor) and I'm wondering if I should put an age appropriate warning, something like 'the following passage is recommended for 13 and older.' Any thoughts?

The way I use my site has evolved over the past twelve months. I didn't know where I wanted to go with it when I started out. I set up a small site, then added a blogger blog, then another, then another. I've realised, as the months have passed, that I'm going to just go on adding content indefinitely... so a big shift was in order to centralise operations. I've just moved everything (well, almost... I'm still doing it) to TypePad, so it's all in one place.



Very pleased with TypePad at the moment... though I'm still trying to figure out why the comment font on the blog pages is so large. So much still to learn.

been clicking around the site for a while and thought i'd stop here and take a break for a bit. i've learned some things here but more importantly am happy to be someplace - even virtually - with others who write.

i plan on returning here and am signed up for updates. if you have a chance check out my website. i'd be happy to discuss it or hear your input.

I have 3 sites that have different purposes:

1.) - Premium Promotional Services - My business site where I advertise the services we provide for authors, a bookstore, and feature authors.

2.) - Journey to Publication - My personal site where I share my journey.

3.) - Conquer All Obstacles - My personal site where I submit free marketing tips or articles for writers.

All 3 sites have:

1.) Profile
2.) My books/covers ("Premium Promotional Tips for Writers" and "Conquer All Obstacles") - book blurb, purchase button.
3.) Continuous added valuable content the viewer can take.
4.) Links and lists of resources

Feel free to come visit and check it out.

Blessings;

Jo

I'm a food and travel writer so I definitely use my daily updated blog at for both social media and book promotion.

I'm a big fan of the blog format as it makes it easier for readers to stay as updated as they wish with RSS readers as well as the standard ways that people engage with non-blog websites (private and social bookmarking, search engine indexing, etc.).

I also find that the more frequently you update your blog, the more readers you get; especially if you add new posts earlier in the week when there tends to be more traffic.

--Doug

I use mine mostly for blogging, but I'm careful to not blog that often, therefore subscribers know that when they get a message of a new blog, it's something relative to social or philosophical importance. for example:

or


@Jo-Anne You may want to pass this last link on to your clients who are having trouble selling their novels. This could be the reason.

j

I have 3 sites, a website, blog and FaceBook group. The website is the main site with aspects geared toward YA audience complete with an interactive map and access to videos and photo events.



You can also access FaceBook and my blog from the home page.

I'm afraid anyone who believes their web site can be used solely for one of these two (promotion or blogging) is deluded. Unless they're Stephen King.

If you promote without attracting traffic to your website, you preach to an empty choir. While if you just blog and hardly mention your titles, how do you expect them to sell? It has to be a combination of both. I've yet to see successful authors that don't blog (especially those that self-publish ebooks!) or don't have a section dedicated to showcase their work.

My website has finally launched!



I am using it to showcase reviews, post teasers and book quotes. I'll have a store when my book is available. One of the tabs is a Q&A.

I'm a first time novelist and I'm discovering so many obstacles on my journey. I want to share as much of my triumph and struggles as possible. I encourage anyone to ask me questions through my website so I can help others who are new to this crazy world like I am.

Let me know what you think of my site!
Erin

Erin wrote: "My website has finally launched!



I am using it to showcase reviews, post teasers and book quotes. I'll have a store when my book is available. One of the tabs is a Q&A.

..."

I will check it out.