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Someone else's thread about wondering if they needed a website got me wondering too, but as our situations sound different, and I did not want to hijack that thread, I thought I should start my own discussion.

I have a blog where I post illustrations, fanfiction and short stories, and long-form posts such as in-depth discussions on my writing process and general updates on the state of my latest projects. I also have a professional Facebook author page where I announce book promotions and other book-related news, make an effort to post at least once a weekday, and engage with followers.

If I am putting effort into maintaining both of those Internet presences, how big of an impact would it make if I also had a centralized author website? Am I crippling my career by not having an author website?

My reservations about creating and maintaining an author website are as follows:

- I don't feel that I have the time to set up and maintain a third website. Writing is not my only job, and I also have a family and other duties to take care of. As far as time and energy goes, a blog and a FB page feel like about all I can squeeze in to my schedule.

- As a reader, I don't find author websites particularly useful. I find them especially extraneous if an author has an online presence elsewhere, such as a blog or a social media page, or even just an author page on Amazon. Whenever I think about making a website, I just find myself thinking "yes, but all of this information is already on my Amazon author page or Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ page".

Thoughts?

Well, personally, I have a blog and the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ page. I post different things on each page and I also have the author page offered by amazon/kindle.
Maybe the question is: what would an author page add to the two you already have? What are you looking for with an author page that you don't have already? For what I've seen, some authors just have a blog page so... I don't know. I am interested in the answers you'll get though, as I am wondering if another platform (FB for example) would change something.

It’s all about what you need and where your readers/audience can find you. I pay a company to handle my author’s website which contains, my blog, podcast uploads, challenges and soon youTube Bible studies and connects to my Instagram & FB page. I’m learning how to spend my 3 days wisely and make everything interconnect but focus back to the podcast.

It’s all about where your readers are. If you have a following now, stay there and branch out only when you feel a need to increase your readership.

IN this day and age I would ask why anyone who works does NOT have a website. It doesn't have to be a complex one - it might only be a single landing page with links on. It's easy to set something up which your social media feeds to automatically.

But owning your own domain name, which is directly linked to your social media accounts, is potentially powerful. Several years ago, when I came up with my "Brand" name "In As Many Words" I made the choice to buy the .com and .co.uk domains. I also have @inasmanywords for Facebook, Twitter, and various other places. My ISBN are all registered under INAS...

Now, I am not a HUGE publisher in any way. I am a quiet little self-publishing author who does formatting and design work. But if, for some crazy reason, I suddenly landed a big contract or opportunity, I already have the brand basics and foundations in place.

Social media is vastly overrated, in my opinion. It is an atrocious mess where the majority of traffic is useless, abusive, self-opinionated and misdirected. Everyone is out to be the "next big thing" or try to "go viral" and so on. They are also slaves to the algorithms and fashion waves which change by the day.

You also get swamped in by politics and all that nonsense. Have your own site gets to slow that world down - communicate your way, with YOUR pace, design and so on. With a little bit of work, you can drive more traffic, more sales, and so much more. You could simply make it a "shop window" for your work.

Thanks for the input, everybody! I've decided to fiddle with my blog and try to hybridize it into also serving as my website. Up top I have "essential" pages such as an author biography, a list of books, and links to my Amazon author profile and Facebook page, and below that, the blog content I usually produce.

Could I get some opinions on how well that setup might work? I want to make sure this is a good idea before I commit to buying the domain name (which isn't expensive, but I'd hate for it to be a waste of any of my money).

Also, parts of my blog and biography are a little tongue-in-cheek. Is that okay? I don't really take my writing entirely seriously.

For your setup, maybe try to look at other authors' blog and website, see how they arrange they blog/information links?

As for your tone, I suppose that those who follow you knows that already, and like it?

Good points! Thank you.

Most definitely. A webpage enables you to share more of yourself than other medias.

A must I think. It is part of your branding efforts. It lets those who do not use FB and do not follow your blog to find you.

The biggest and main reason for a website/blog is that you own that info/platform. Twitter, FB, etc change the rules constantly and you don't own it and they can take it down anytime.

The very best thing is to have a mailing list that you own and use to update your followers/fans.