Author Websites...

[DrMclony]

I liked my site how I had it, but it was on a russian based free host, the sites were great, but a few times I had to get my technical hat on to fix the site because they'd randomly move servers and not tell you. Then recently, they began running enormous pornographic pop up adds on my sites! the same day, I purchased paid hosting from a reputable US based provider, and moved four sites over. I had to start from scratch because the free host had a template system they retain rights to, so you can't take the site when you go, but nothing beats the security of knowing you have complete control. I run all my sites with my own domains, so anybody trying to get there will go to the new version. I know another writer had the same issue with the same host, but had the hosts web address for their page, printed in all the books. Own your domain, you will never have to worry about changing the address in things.

for under 5$ a month, I have four websites hosted. Pretty cheap. then pay for the domains, still cheap. no adds, full access and control, you can still install things like wordpress (which I chose this time around) and its so easy, once you're set up its just a matter of design and content.

As for an unknown shouldnt have a site - rubbish. They have that totally backwards. An unknown MUST have a website. It shows a commitment to your work, a desire to succeed, and a location for interested parties to find and learn about your work. I haven't set up any stat tracking on my new host yet, but I KNOW I had a large traffic flow before, including publishing industry types. That CAN'T hurt, if the site is professional and your conduct is exemplary, its a sales tool, whatever publishing route you plan to take.

I say do it, and make sure it is accessible via your profiles on any site where you talk books. Don't spam it, just let the ones who want to find it be able to.

 

[Montero]

@ Dr McIrony - so how is it you can tell that some of the traffic to your site was from publishing industry types?

 

[HareBrain]

The scent of attar of roses that lingers after them.

 

[DrMclony]

@ Dr McIrony - so how is it you can tell that some of the traffic to your site was from publishing industry types?

They made contact, via brief encouraging email, via comments on the site, and via taking links through to my twitter account and following / messaging whatever. Not huge numbers, but enough to be nice!

 

[Erin99]

Well, I've been extremely busy since I first posted here. I created a website. I'm not gonna post the link, cos I don't like spamming the place, but I've put it in my profile, under the "Contact Info" tab. I cannot thank Gary Compton enough. His giving me the hosting let me create a site I'd never dreamed I could have. He is amazing, and so generous! He's also provided the hosting for Seph, too, although Seph is too busy with uni work to put anything on it right now.


Oh, and just a couple of days ago I got the most wonderful news. The second-ever short story I wrote has been accepted for publication! I am still amazed. It's the first short story I'd ever sent off...

I can't believe I wrote 10,000 words that someone liked!!! It won't be published for a year or more, but it's through a very good press that was shortlisted for an award at FCon this year. I suppose having a website will be handy for whenever the story DOES come out!

 

[The Judge]

Had a quick look at the site and... um... well, there's plenty there, Leisha! I do wonder if the site might come across as a little too unfocussed, though. If it was just a "Hi, folks, this is me" then it's fine in showing all your interests etc, but if it's part of a way of promoting yourself as a writer to fellow professionals, I'd be tempted to make it less busy. I'd also take out all the writing tips stuff for the moment, and drip feed that in on an occasional basis (perhaps in lieu of having a regular blog) -- that way you're providing new content for readers which is so important.

Anyway, well done on getting it done! (And a special mention to Gary for hosting it for you.) And mega-congratulations on selling the story!!

 

[Gary Compton]

It was a pleasure Leisha and as everyone knows I'm not that shy in promoting friends.

 

[Erin99]

LOL! That's fine, TJ. I wanted a site that had plenty on it so it didn't risk being empty (since I have no publishing credits), and I DO have a lot of interests. I figured: why hide them? They're part of me. I like to think the site's about "me" and not just my writing...

But my writing is still there if people like that sort of thing. And I don't want to do the tips page as separates, cos I'm not in it to keep people coming back for more info so they can get sucked in like I'm some kind of hidden-agenda promoter. I just want a page that hopefully people will find useful, which is there all the time as and when they need it, which I can add to as and when I feel I can. Does that sound silly?

But thank you for the suggestions - I'm up for hearing anyone's comments. And thanks for the congrats!


Gary!!! Hello! You are brilliant! And LOL! Thanks... I think. (I was embarrassed to put a link up, but it looks like I'm going to have to get used to it!)

 

[Hex]

It sure is pretty, Leisha. And congratulations on the story!! woo hoo!

A couple of mini technical points:
(1) the cat picture at the bottom of the menu is pretending to be a link but nothing happens when you click on it.
(2) when I'm on the homepage, the homepage link at the top is still active and I can click on it and reload the homepage -- which is a little circular (since I'm already there). Also, all the menu links remain active even when I'm on the pages they refer to -- e.g. when I'm on the stories page, the stories menu link is still active. It might be worth disabling the link for the specific page when you're *on* that page -- it helps the user.

 

[Erin99]

Thanks, Hex! I am VERY excited!

For anyone who wondered about the cat - you have to turn on your speakers. (It's just a little silly thing, cos I love cats so much. Most people may just find it daft, though!)

As for the title being clickable, I did that for site optimisation. One day, if I feel I want to add my site to search engines, little things like links all help to up your listing rank.

And I emailed you about the links at the side, Hex, if you got it(?). I'm still not sure whether I *should* make the page I'm on a different link colour. The more I think about it, the more I realise that if it helps people to navigate without problems, the better. I'll have to see if I can do something about that another day...


-----------------


Anyway, I was wondering if anyone still wanted a post about optimising web sites for search engine rankings. I remember TJ asking about it a long while back and, since I owe her, I could put something together that might help - it might be more useful than a crit.

It would take me a few days to write, but if it would help anyone...?

 

[Hex]

As for the title being clickable, I did that for site optimisation. One day, if I feel I want to add my site to search engines, little things like links all help to up your listing rank.

And I emailed you about the links at the side, Hex, if you got it(?). I'm still not sure whether I *should* make the page I'm on a different link colour. The more I think about it, the more I realise that if it helps people to navigate without problems, the better. I'll have to see if I can do something about that another day...

I tried to explain what I meant and failed miserably, so lemme quote the illustrious usability guru, Jakob Nielsen who said, as long ago as 2002:


"... a guideline that applies to all website and intranet pages: [FONT=&quot]never have a link that points to the current page[/FONT]... [because:]

• [FONT=&quot]If they click it, a link leading to the current page is an utter waste of users' time. [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Worse, such links cause users to doubt whether they're really at the location they think they're at. [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Worst of all, if users do follow these no-op links they'll be confused as to their new location, particularly if the page is scrolled back to the top."[/FONT]

(http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20031110.html No.10 -- "Don't include an active link to the homepage on the homepage")


The page that's from is a list of the stuff that some big companies are doing wrong (or were in 2002, but I doubt things have changed so much that all companies are now obeying usability best practice), so you're in good company (boom boom!) but since your pages are quite complicated and full of interesting stuff, it might be worth considering.

 

[Erin99]

Okay, I have followed your orders to the letter, Sir! *salutes*

While I haven't disabled the link of the page the viewer is on, I've given it a strikethrough. And I've completely disabled the home page title.

Thanks for you help!

 

[Gary Compton]

The "Powered by," bit when clicked seems to take you to a page that links with the ramblings of a Broadmoor nutcase.

Can you disable him?

 

[Erin99]

Never! Besides, nutcases are the best type of cases.





I hope lots of people click to you from me.

 

[nightdreamer]

I've been following this thread for a little while and only just got around to looking at your site. I was wondering if you coded it yourself; it from a standard template. I coded our original site (http://www.duane-n-lisa.net) years ago before there was Wordpress or Serendipity or even phpbb, but for my new blog/promotional site I went with Wordpress. It takes so much less time to generate something effective, and in the rare instances where it won't do what you need, I still have the programming skills.

I'm glad you got your own domain name. It might be just me, but anything that looks like "boneheadbooks.blogspot.com" seems so unprofessional. My blog site is at a subdomain of my main site, and even that seems a trifle tacky. I plan to fix that soon if I can my host to play the DNS game I want them to. It can be done; I just don't know if they're set up to do it. If anyone is interested, my host is the Canadian company Tera-Byte, which explains why browsers think I'm Canadian. I picked them a long, long time ago before there was godaddy or any of the other "mass market" hosting providers, and although they're not the cheapest, their reliability and service is top-notch. Downtime is virtually nonexistent.

Your excerpt from "The Creator" strangely reminds me of my own "Taytar: A Love Story", though I'm sure they are quite different. I'd almost forgotten about that one, but since you reminded me, I might throw it into the collection of short stories I'm putting together.

But at last, to the point.

There was a comment, which I didn't find again skimming through the posts, that someone wouldn't know what to write on a blog. That's a problem I don't have: I have a backlog of topics. My problem is finding the time to write them. I've only recently jumped into the online-presence mode of thinking, and it alone takes an incredible amount of time. In addition to the Chrons, I at least have an ID on KindleBoards, MobileRead, LibraryThing ... and I can't even remember if I signed up on GoodReads or not. Aside from the Chrons, which I actually like, it seems a drudgery to maintain any kind of presence on them. It's time away from reading and writing. Also, I've been spending a lot of time doing graphics for book covers and trailers, which is also turning to drudgery, and I still have to do the science thing during the day (physical chemistry: 2D IR spectroscopy). Being a writer is a full-time job even if you never sell anything. But back to the topic of blog topics, I also blog about general science items, and perhaps being a scientist gives me a wider field to play.

I do all this because I believe that an online presence is absolutely essential in today's market. Basically, if I can't find information about something online, it gets scratched off the list, and I imagine that applies to a lot of people. That said, I get hardly any traffic, and what I have gotten is mostly from the Chrons, but I keep plugging away at it anyway. One feature I like about some author's web sites is ancillary information: background stories, histories, detailed maps, and the like, all a great way to keep world builders busy and happy. I haven't touched that area yet, and haven't decided on the best way to incorporate that into what I already have.

Which reminds me ... I still have to make those maps. Busy, busy, busy.

Also, thanks to this thread, I am re-evaluating the idea of book reviews. I had decided early on that it would not be a review site, as their are a blue million of them out there already. But doing some reviews might have some value. I'll think about it some more.

Anyway, keep up the good work.

 

[Erin99]

Hello, nightdreamer (nice name!). Don't think we've met on here before.


Thanks for looking at my site. Yep, I coded it myself. I learned a lot of stuff in the proces, too (I knew a lot about html before, from ten years ago, but it's all changing all the time). This was the first site I've made without using a table layout, in fact (I never understood how CSS worked, before). It was a lot of time and effort, but that's what you have to do if you want to get things up to standard.

And I'd NEVER consider getting a site that didn't have its own domain name. Years ago I'd done that, but I wouldn't now. I agree with you completely. IM(very!)HO, it doesn't look professional - sort of like, "Hey, people, buy my stories. Yes, I know I didn't even fork out money for a domain that is easy to remember (AKA, "my name") for you, dear reader, but spend money on me anyway!"

If I've got to be online to be an author, I will try best best in every way possible, because maybe one day I'll have fans, and having a nice site for them is my way of returning the favour for them supporting me (JK Rowling's old site really understood this - it was an experience in itself, that rewarded fans and repeat-visitors).

Anyway, my story, The Creator, isn't an excerpt. It was just a mini story I wrote for a very old 75-word challenge here. There was a little more to the tale, but I had to chop it. And yay! If it's reminded you of another of your stories to include in your antho, great! You'll have to let us all know if the antho ever gets sold.

Good luck with your writing and site, too. And it's worth all the hassle of coding if you do it (or parts of it) manually - you've made something very personal, piece-by-piece, with all the frustrations and upset it entails, which you'll love so much more than a standard template. And it speaks volumes about you, because there's no other site like it.



Just my 2p.

(A belated welcome to the Chrons!)

 

[Glen]

You have a good site -well done on coding it yourself. Its eye-catching.

I put together a site for myself v recently (just standard WP template), and, going back to your original question/post, I think its the right thing to do. Unpublished authors may not get a lot of traffic, but its a marketing tool all the same.

Good luck with it.

 

[Erin99]

Thank you, Glen.

I'm not really seeing it as a marketing tool, though (and I know that's odd). I'm not trying to turn myself into a "brand" or hook people into coming back (if they like me, they can come back in their own time; otherwise, as long as they've enjoyed their initial visit, I'm happy! But I've got RSS features and whatnot in case some visitors DO want to know my news and stuff). Rather, I see my site as a place people can go to find out more about me and, one day in the future, perhaps a place that will link to all my published stories...

...if I can get published, that is. And we all know how hard that is!

 

[nightdreamer]

Leisha: Yeah, doing layout without tables is sort of the Holy Grail of web development, but frankly getting CSS columns to work with every browser is a serious bitch. (Easier if you leave Internet Explorer out. MS is only now starting to understand that there are Web standards that they didn't write.) I get to cursing and I've been doing web development for about 20 years. CSS3 is supposed to fix a lot of the headaches, but I confess to not having paid much attention lately.

The Creator wasn't an excerpt? Wow!

That anthology will be a while coming; there is so much more urgent stuff to be done. But when history reaches its zenith and that time at last arrives, I figure I'll post links to epub and mobi formats for Chrons visitors to grab for free. It's the least I can do.

 

[Erin99]

Tell me about it! I haven't even tested my site in old IEs, so I dread to think how it will look... But you can only cater for so many when you're designing things yourself (well, that's my reasoning and I'm sticking to it ).

Glad you're liking this place, anyway. It's home to the best bunch of people you'll find on the net. Always feels like coming home, coming back here and seeing everyone! And quite a few of us are on FB, too, as one big Chronner family (Chronners regularly comment on my stuff; they're the nicest people!).