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Give us your input as to what is important to you in an author's web site.

How much information do you want to know about the book?

Do you want to read preview chapters?

Do you want to be able to purchase or pre-order the book from the author's web site, instead of being directed to a seller site (like Amazon.com).

What kind of information do you want to know about the author? Do you want to know all the details of an author's personal life, or would you rather read about the author's writing process?

Does the author's web site design and layout make you want to linger or leave? If so, why?

Bottom line, what content and design makes an author's web site memorable?

Dee,
I hope it is ok to add a bit of my thoughts into this topic as well.
Personally, I believe there are many aspects to creating a sound website. Hopefully, writers at some point did create their marketing plan. I bring this to attention because of the information that it should contain. Before you sent query letters to agents or publishers, you should have started to collect what would become your selling points.
As you should have been asked by everyone, why is this book amazing? Is there something about the author that gives a different or special angle? What genre does you work fit into and exactly who is your targeted audience? The answers to the questions should lay out what kind of a website you should be aiming toward.
Dee brought a great point with determining what do you want to offer your readers. Do you want to offer them a link to purchase?

Bottom line, this is what I believe you really must tell them:
1. Your name silly. Be clear about it (you would think i would not have to say that huh lol)
2. Title (s)
3. ISBN!!!
4. Information about the titles
5. Depending on background, people might know about you
6. Optional link to purchase
7. Contact information - give them an email (most websites will include at least 1 free email I would never use your personal)
8. Color is good, not too much, you do not want to take away from your books.
9. If you have a good review, use it!
10. If you are appearing at signings, event, radio, tv, or even a scout meeting (kidding) let people know.

Ok again sorry this is long huh:) Well in my defense I am a writer, we do go on. I hope this helps. Any questions please drop a line!

KB

Outstanding tips, they would be exceptionally helpful for authors just starting out, or for many of us with established author sites. Thank you so much Kristin for taking time out of your writing schedule to post this valuable information.

Here's some more food for thought...what do you think about adding a chapter or two to your site? How much is too much?

Dee Marie

Actually you need to be very very careful posting too much. When you get into copyrights, there are so many thoughts about what is covered and what is not. I would tell an author to not post an entire chapter, people will have access to preview in other places (amazon, google book search). If your book is listed with a preview available, I would create a link instead.
Unfortunately, too many have no clue how the actual copyright law reads. Also, you might need to have the rights to add the chapters. Some publisher will receive all rights, this may mean you would violate your contract. Some will allow you to for publicity.
I hope this helps. I just wanted to throw in what I know lol, see not much;) ok I am off, I never watch tv...until now,I have found Ramsey!!! Oh how I love to watch that man cook lol.

Best to you!!

KB

Thanks for your input KB, I agree with you totally, you need to be sure to check with your publisher to make sure you are not in violation of your contract.

Hey when you mentioned that you Found Ramsey...I thought you were talking Mummies :]

Dee Marie

Information on ones website should prallel the content of the book. It's true that we use websites to advertise ourselves and our books, but people soon tire of this. I feel that providing them information that complements the story, will bring the reader back to ones site.
I'm not above providing links that take readers away from my site, or mentioning other author's books. If they like what they find there, they'll come back.

I think that what makes an author's web site successful or not depends on the book(s) and type of author it's representing. For example, as my book is about an 18th century artist, I have to demonstrate somewhere on my site that I have the experience and knowledge necessary to write it. Every time someone visits my site for the first time, it's like I'm attending an interview to get a job... there's a test to pass. If I get my facts mixed up, I've blown it.

To keep people coming back, I think a site needs fresh information... information that can't be picked up elsewhere. That's where I think blogs are important. I use to pass on bits of information about me and the book, but also to share info that I didn't include in the book. I post about the artist I've written about in the book, about other artists, and eventually I want to include info about exhibitions, buying art, etc. I want it to move on from being an author's blog to being a blog that happens to be written by an author. I think that if you're Stephen King, it's being Stephen King that keeps people coming back... if you're not then it's the quality and unique nature of the information you impart that does... not that Mr King isn't jolly well informative too... if he's watching ;o)

I do think that when we put up a web site we put ourselves under the microscope. Spelling and grammatical mistakes are bound to put people off. I don't think anybody wants to be sold to over and over. And who is going to believe the author when he/she tells you his/her book is the bee's knees?

I do think that sample pages or chapters are a good idea. I think they enable a reader to make up his/her mind about whether or not he/she likes you, likes your writing style, etc. Try before you buy... let them take you out for a test drive.

Oh Gina, I like your advice, especially treating your web site as a job interview. Also, keeping the content fresh. I know I am guilty of not adding new content on a regular basis.

Thanks for the excellent input and outstanding suggestions.

Dee Marie

I also love that - website as job interview. Keep the pages simple so as not to overwhelm with too much clutter or detail. No distracting bling bling. Website must be easy to navigate. Buy buttons or buy links should be obvious. You have about 30 seconds to grab hold of interest thru your home page, so better make it succinct and to the point...state your case about what's in it for the reader. Keep updating it so search engines find it easier. Sample pages are a necessity these days because you gotta show, not just tell.

Linda

Hi All! I've been getting--and enjoying--your messages for a while, but haven't had a break to chime in. Now I have a teeny bit of breathing room between books, so here I am--although I'm not exactly sure how to post, so bear with me. My name's Diane Chamberlain and I'm starting my 19th novel. I have a trailer on my website for my latest book, BEFORE THE STORM. I have to say, I'm not sure how much help it's been as a sales tool, but it was a lot of fun to make (I did it through Circle of Seven). I find my blog to be more of a draw, since I keep statistics on which pages of my website are visited most frequently. By far it's the blog, although it's murder to update a few times a week.

Anyhow, just wanted to say "hi." I wish those of you just starting out all the best!

Diane

That's a thought... statistics. Have you all got counters on your pages so you can track which pages are getting the attention? I use .

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for joining in the discussion, please keep your excellent ideas coming in :]

Dee Marie

Dee wrote: "Give us your input as to what is important to you in an author's web site.

How much information do you want to know about the book?

Do you want to read preview chapters?

Do you want to be ..."

PROOFREAD the dang thing. Too many times I see rampant misuse of apostrophes to denote plurals, there/their/they're and to/too/two misused, etc. I'm not talking one or two typos, I'm human and I don't begrudge that especially if it's an issue that could have been caused by formatting problems. (Some special characters don't render well.) It's when it's obvious the writer either didn't care, or worse, that's how they REALLY write, that turns me off. I won't buy a book by an author whose website is atrocious like that.

Kristin wrote: "Actually you need to be very very careful posting too much. When you get into copyrights, there are so many thoughts about what is covered and what is not. I would tell an author to not post an e..."

My contracts so far have always specified what percentage of the work can be posted and in which way.

So before an author posts an excerpt, they need to read their contract.

Thanks for the input Tymber. Great advice, especially about posting excerpts. Always read the fine print.

It boggles my mind how many people don't read their contract. Someone will ask a question, and I'll ask, "Well, what does your contract say?"

Then the blank stare. "Idunno." *LOL*

Um, don't you think you SHOULD know? *LOL* I mean, you READ it before signing it, right? Not expecting you to memorize it, but dang. *LOL*

I think that every author should not only read his or her contract, but also take the contract to a lawyer. The fine print can kill your book sales...literally.

True. I'm fortunate that my dh was an attorney in a "former life." *LOL* Now, thirteen contracts later, unless there's something I don't understand, I don't have to have him look them over. I'm dealing with three houses at this time, and I do check to make sure they haven't changed terms, but after seeing one contract from a house and understanding it, it's easy to go through them.

Some writers I've found are even shocked to learn that their refusal to make edits can kill their book. I'm thinking, "Hellooooo...contract." *LOL*

I guess if someone can't afford a lawyer, the biggies are length of contract, rights given over, bankruptcy/insolvency clause (do you get your rights back immediately or do you have to wait for an adjudication of insolvency), "kill" clause (for both the publisher and how the writer can get out of the contract), amount of royalties, terms of payment, third party sales terms...

I'm sure there's more, but those are always my biggies I hit first. *LOL*

Especially when dealing with smaller presses, the bankruptcy/insolvency is a HUGE one. (Not just small presses, obviously, in today's financial state.) There's been cases in the past couple of years of small presses going belly-up and the writers were left hanging without rights to their own stories, unable to get them back. To me, frankly, that's THE most important one for me. Because I don't want to spend that much time and effort and sweat on a project to lose it without chance of getting it back. (Obviously, royalties are important too. *LOL*)

Excellent advice Tymber...I have heard so many horror stories from authors being so excited that a contract was offered, that they signed anything the publisher put in front of them. Sigh.

Oh, man. *LOL* The first contract I ever signed was with Amira Press, God bless 'em, they were SOOOO patient with me, answered all of my questions about everything when I wanted clarifications, they were fantastic. *LOL* They answered everything for me.

That's another point -- if you get a publisher who doesn't want to answer your questions about a contract, don't sign it. The three I'm dealing with right now are FANTASTIC in terms of answering questions, Amira Press, Siren-BookStrand, and Lyrical Press. I've been very fortunate that I found three great publishers. (Not just saying that to pimp them either, I'm saying that because I did my research before I signed with them, talked with other writers, etc.)

Do you have an agent Tymber?

Nope. Frankly, at this point in the game, I'm sort of glad I don't have one. *LOL* My first book released with Siren-BookStrand put me at PAN eligibility a month after release. *LOL* I know a goodly chunk of what I would consider "real-world successful" writers who don't have agents. Yeah, eventually I'd love to be as big as Stephen King, but as long as I can have fun at what I do and pay my mortgage, I'm happy. *LOL*

In addition to all the great advice, I like to offer boatloads of free resources that are in the same genre as my books. I want to give to people, not just be one large commercial asking people to give to me (by buying my books).

As far as a web site itself, I think two things are keys:

1. Blog: Post blots related to the genre of your books and do so daily if possible.

2. Branding: People often try to market their books. I prefer to encourage people to market their brand. Even if you only have one book, what is the central message and theme? And even if you have just one book, if you speak, what it the purpose of your speaking. So everything I say, I try to keep my brand in mind: comprehensive, compassionate, culturally-informed biblical counseling and spiritual formation. That's a tight niche, but it is my unique niche and I want people aware of it.

Bob ()

Grand advice Robert...I especially like the "branding" part. Great food for thought.

I think that the Authors website should be Media friendly.

A media kit is important. The website should be setup were it is easy to navigate. The information that the audience desires can be found quickly.
The book on the home page

The information about the book and about the author should be short. Press releases, books excerpt, reviews, questions and answers, contact information, about the publisher should all be there.

Virtual book tours are a great way to reach a broad audience.

Conducting Audience Research should be done before you publish your book. Finding out about your competition and determining how to target your niche.

Regards,

YvonneW
Author Assistant






Dee wrote: "Give us your input as to what is important to you in an author's web site.

How much information do you want to know about the book?

Do you want to read preview chapters?

Do you want to be ..."

Ahhh, yes, the Media Kit, an important and often overlooked part of the Author's site.

Thanks for you input Micha :]

Author's websites - hmmm...

Technical first.

Like any other website, an author's website should be:

1/ Easy to read (and by that I mean not dark backgrounds and white tesxt - sorry, I know that describes many author websites, but it does present challenges to the visually impaired).
2/ Easy to navigate - identical links at top and bottom of the page, or at the side - not both.
3/ Each page should stick to the consistent theme (background, colour, style)
4/ Quick to load - don't forget that many people still don't have access to Broadband/DSL/cable
5/ Which means no big images on the pages. Use thumbnails and click to see a larger image
6/ No page should require horizontal scrolling; few pages should require vertical scrolling, so kep the text concise.
7/ Every page should be tested in a variety of browsers and at a variety of resolutions. If your website looks fine in Internet Explorer 6 and 7, Firefox 2 and 3, later versions of Opera and Safari, then you have covered 99 percent of the browsing audience. It should also be tested at resolutions of 800x600, 1024x768 and 1200x1024.
8/ Use CSS and JavaScript includes for ease of maintenance and to address the resolution issues.
9/ Validate every page using the W3C tools such as Bobby and Lint
10/ When using JavaScript includes, always include a no-script option. Why? Because most search engine spiders can't follow page links that are held somewhere off the static page. The more other pages your page is linked to, even other pages on your site, the higher it features in search engine rankings. Use a text-only browser like Lynx to make sure that you can see lots of links on each page.
11/ Don't embed music or sound on your pages. By all means put a clickable link to listen to something, but the last thing you want is for a potential buyer to wake the baby at 2 in the morning because they've surfed to your site and suddenly Celine Dion is blasting out loud enough to wake the dead!
12/ Never use scrolling or blinking text.
13/ Don't have a Flash intro page with that hugely irritating 'click here to enter the site...' link. Why? Why not just enter the site straight away?

Now the marketing bits:

1/ I think that if you intend to have many books published, have one author site , not individual ones for each book. You are the brand!
2/ Yes, by all means have a blog. If you want people to post comments, you need to have some sort of membership and file locking system, which probably means you would need to be able to run and configure PHP or Perl Scripts and have a MySQL database system running on your web-server.
3/ Include a preview of your work(s) (but yes, check the contract with your publisher first.
4/ MOST IMPORTANT Include a link so people can purchase your book via Amazon, B & N etc. That is why you have the site in the first place, isn't it?
5/ Do have book preview videos available on your site, also on You-tube, MySpace, Facebook, Bebo (depending on your target audience).
6/ Email - yes, [email protected] is much more professional than [email protected] - so own your own domain and have email re-directs to your private email address.
7/ Optimise your pages for search engines - use Google webmaster tools and create XML indexing pages.

I've probably missed out lots more advice, but if anything else comes to me, I'll let you know.

Hey Paul,

Wow, that was excellent. Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule of writing to post your very impressive list.

Well what's important. At first I thought that it was just having your stuff up thre and easy to find. But I found after a few months that didn't work very well, so I completely redid and I personally think more people going to it now because it's more interesting, and I'm having tons of guestbooks signatures saying that my website is fun.

So I have to say is make you website as colorful, inventive and as fun as possible, but still advertise the material at the same time with easy access. I guess create a website that people will remember. That's kind of what I learned.

check out my website at

Hey Samie,

The bottom line is that you have to gear your website to your readers :)

I like websites that give me information about an author's books--all of the author's books. The other day I saw a book on Amazon that is scheduled to be released in the fall. The only information available on Amazon was the book's title, so I went to the author's website to find out more--and the book wasn't even mentioned there. How frustrating! At least a two-line description would have been helpful.

I also like seeing excerpts, especially if a book isn't readily available in brick-and-mortar bookstores.

What I really hate are sites that aren't updated. It's irritating to see a list of signings, only to realize that they all took place in 2005. At the very least, the author should take down the out-of-date material.

If it's historical fiction, which is what I mostly read, I'd also like to know a little about the book's historical background, and perhaps some suggestions for further reading.

Hi Everyone!

What about picture sharing. What is too, much?
Not just of yourself. But pictures of you and family, e.g, hubby, wifey, children, aunts, uncles, and pets. You on vacation, you at the park, ect ect. I think you got my point.

I also write stage productions, so I featured some of my cast members on my sites and blog.

Do you think this allow readers to connect with you?


Vanessa

I like it when author's inside items and back stories about thier books. Perhaps you might want to do another page with your personal info and link it to your author page :]

Thanks Jo-Anne, your articles are always very helpful :]

What do you guys think about having small blurbs on a character page? I currently have a synopsis, reviews, and contact page. I'm looking to expand.

Also, besides search engines what do you all think is the best way to drive traffic up outside the web?

Sean: Have some extracts on your site (only small ones). Obviously links to where it can be bought (Ammazon, B & N, Lulu, wherever. Full details including ISBN number. After that, have a trailer or preview video on your website. Also have a forum or guest book where people who have read it can leave their comments - but check this often so you can remove spammers, obscenities and so on.

Load the book preview video on You-tube. Have a blog (same contents in each case) on Blogspot, MySpace, Facebook, possibly Bebo - depends on target audience. Also upload the video to MySpace and Facebook. Mention the book in every blog post, perhaps as part of a permanent signature - Blog by Fred Smith, author of <>

Then, put website address on all correspondence - have headed paper for this. Make up your own using Word templates, print as required.

Have a few T-shirts made that have the front cover on the front, and the back cover on the back (of the shirt). Put a transfer on the car advertising the book. These last bits might sound surprising, but hey - T-shirts and cars were around before the internet.

Send free (sorry, I mean complementary) copies to influential literary reviewers - once they have agreed to review the book. If your budget expands to ads in papers, local radio then go for that as well.

You might go for an email distribution list - sort of monthly newsletter - but make sure that it's opt-in rather than opt-out.

If anything else occurs to me, I'll let you know.

As Always...wonderful advice Paul :)

Dee wrote: "Give us your input as to what is important to you in an author's web site.

How much information do you want to know about the book?

Do you want to read preview chapters?

Do you want to be ..."
Oh, oh oh oh. I've been hoping someone would start this thread. I want to create a website. Dee, I hope you don't mind if I lurk in the background and learn and maybe ask a few stupid questions now and then? I think we're in good hands everyone on here, especially the awesome Paul Oracle:D

Hey Jo-Anne,

You brought up an excellent point about search engines and your site's links. That does make a huge difference in traffic!

Hey Andy,

Yes, I agree, with Paul's wonderful insight we shall all be on the fast track to getting our author sites to perfection.

Be sure to post a link to your site when you get it up and running :]

Hey Jo-Anne,

Over the past few days, Twitter has been hit by massive Hacker attacks...this has resulted in tons of deactivated accounts and of Twitter being more down than up.

I can fully understand your frustration.

Biz Stone is one of the co-creators of Twitter. I am not sure of his email.

However, if you are a member of Linkedin (professional business organization)



You can send Biz an “inmail� through Linkedin and inquire about your account’s status. (Just type in Biz Stone within the Linkedin "people search")

If this does not work, let me know and I can see what else I can do to help.

Let us know how it goes.

Great news Jo-Anne,

Please keep us posted.

Looking forward to having you back on Twitter right away :]

Any new ideas on web sites? Writers Digest had a section on the best author web sites that were constructed without professional help. They all work.

Robert Mykle

Hi Robert,

Depending upon your level of technical proficiency you can create your own - or if you would like an easier approach - please stop by my EverPub.com site. You can grab a very robust webpage with connections to your social media sites and all of the rest of your important information.

Good luck with your book!

Neil

thanks, Dee. I'll certainly post it up when ready. Just something that happened in my yahoo account. I started getting a bogus email from UPS requiring to open the dummy invoice (zip file) I informed UPS and deleted. Now I'm getting the same thing alledgedly from Facebook. Delete.
Just though folks might like to know.

Robert, my husband used "DreamWeaver" and "Flash" to put together my website



I guess it depends upon how proficient you are with graphics programs.

There are hosting sites which offer help with website production and provide templates - GoDaddy does.

Give us your input as to what is important to you in an author's web site.

Start by not making it bad. Many author websites, especially among the self-published, look like they've been put together within half an hour on Frontpage. They don't follow any design principles or conventions, with disastrous results! Then most designed by professionals look more like graphical demos than websites, with slow Flash contained within a very small viewport, way too much glitter, and very little content buried in a plethora of sections! A good author website is first a good website.

How much information do you want to know about the book?

I'd rather find out about the books than the authors, thank you. Please, show me the books.

Do you want to read preview chapters?

Of course!

Do you want to be able to purchase or pre-order the book from the author's web site, instead of being directed to a seller site (like Amazon.com).

I have no preference. But if the author's website is to process sales itself, it better do it properly. I found many such websites frustrating, with poorly integrated shopping carts and the like.

What kind of information do you want to know about the author? Do you want to know all the details of an author's personal life, or would you rather read about the author's writing process?

Once again, please show me the books. The truth is, author interviews are much less popular than some seem to believe, which means readers care little whether their authors wear boxers of briefs. They care about the merchandise.

Does the author's web site design and layout make you want to linger or leave? If so, why?

More often than not it makes me want to leave, either because it's underdesigned or because it's overdesigned (see above).

Bottom line, what content and design makes an author's web site memorable?

Simplicity, good design, a good concept, easy to browse... Once again, making it not bad is already a step in the right direction! Too bad too few author websites qualify.

Wow, Muriel, between this and your post on "How Do you Use Your Website" saying those of use who use are websites for promotions are 'delusional unless we're Stephen King', sounds really harsh.

I can't speak for everyone, but A LOT OF WORK went into my website with Character artwork, Flash animation, interactive aspects, excepts, etc.. And my husband is a professional.

In fact, we'll be revamping my site in prep for book 2 release this fall with more expanded character pages, videos, perhaps games and contests for the kids.

saying those of use who use are websites for promotions are 'delusional unless we're Stephen King', sounds really harsh.

I'm afraid you misread my comment. Give it one more try please.

I can't speak for everyone, but A LOT OF WORK went into my website with Character artwork, Flash animation, interactive aspects, excepts, etc.. And my husband is a professional.

A lot of professionals indeed overdo it, which is precisely the point. Care to provide an address? If your Flash megasite didn't turn me off from the sheer load time and flickery animation, that would be a first. And I know I'm not the only one making that statement. But I can't say before I actually see it, now can I?

Also, please don't presume my posts are confrontational in nature, however blunt they might be. I value honesty above all else.