Authors Websites

Glen

Glen

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What are the pros and cons of having an author website?

I feel I should have one as there are plenty of places where I could link to it, and it might help with marketing my ebook. On the other hand, I feel like I'm pulling myself up with my bootstraps, in that I just have one ebook out there, so not much relevant content to put on a site.

All thoughts, and examples of good author websites welcome.

Apologies in advance if I've dropped this thread in the wrong place: it didn't seem to fit with publishing or workshop...so here it is.
 
One advantage - and I admit to be a bit biased** on this matter - is that an author can allow his or her reader access to far better maps than could be printed on paper, or appear on current electronic ink-based ereaders.







** - Not just because I love maps; I draw mine (10 so far) on a PC (using PowerPoint :eek:).
 
I suppose one use of an author's website might be to give a taster of their work. You could put the first few pages up of your novel to tempt potential buyers, with a link to where it's being sold.

As Ursa suggested, you can also put up appendices (such as detailed maps, family trees, histories) not included in the book.
 
Well, I've created the site. A decent afternoon's work, but it still plenty of room for improvement.

I like the idea of a map...hm, I wonder if I know anyone who's good at maps...

And excerpts too. Maybe I could throw up a bit of the WIP as a taster...
 
Author's websites are always cool. If you are at a loss for the sort of content to put up then just be a little bit creative and try to think what your fans might want to see. Maps are a great place to start, as are excerpts and tasters like you said.

Perhaps also put up articles about lore/science in your work (I'm not sure what it is exactly that you write.) Interviews and reviews are also interesting if such things exist yet, and if not, they can go up when they do.

Maybe even short articles about how you write, techniques and problems and just general insight so that fans get some sort of idea how the work is produced. Concept art is also a cool thing to include if you have any.

Just ideas, good luck!
 
If you want to slap together a quick website with minimal effort that doesn't look like complete crap, you can make a Wordpress site. No programming/previous HTML knowledge need for the most part.

My only caution is that the support and community for Wordpress is pretty lackluster...
 
I've had a website for a long time, but am going to revise it to start blogging.

While I post resources and discussions to chronicles, I want to be able to archive some of these so it's easier for me to reference them. This is especially the case with blogs I find personally interesting and want to revisit, but wouldn't really justify new discussions each time on chronicles.

In terms of being an aspiring writer, so far as I understand it, having a marketing platform already can be helpful with the submission process. If you get a publishing contract without one, it would be pretty much expected that you would develop a blog at the very least.
 
Author's sites can be useful for providing a lot more information about a story, both background and production notes, for visitors to browse through. Including excerpts is also a valuable commodity, especially as you can choose exactly what to present... something not all other sites offer. It's a good place to provide links taking people to your books at sales sites, to blogs, and to social media accounts either devoted to your books or to your subject. It also provides a way to keep closer track of your visitors and stats, and keep in contact with fans, better than you can through other sales sites

And finally, if you can set it up, you can sell your books directly from your site, again giving you more control over the final format of your book, as well as maximizing your profit by eliminating the middlemen.

I do all of this on my site; it's my marketing clearinghouse. Admittedly, it can be a lot of work, so you might want to consider a comprehensive blog experience that will allow you to do about as much as a full website can do, but with less production effort on your part (most of them provide designs and templates, so you can just plug in your content). Services like Wordpress can provide all the tools you need to do everything through a blog site.
 
Two words: Extra content.

With an author site, your readers can have the feeling of getting deeper into the stories by the content you provide there. They can invest greater time and greater enjoyment in your world by visiting the site and seeing what stuff you have on offer, be it maps, artwork, or even bonus writing. Also it gives them a chance to get to know the author. That is not you as a person, but you as a product, an author brand. I know that is very groan worthy, but it is not without merit. You present a professional personality, and this can help your readers connect with your books more.

That said, I still need more on my site!
 
An author's website can be a fantastic resource and a great insight into the world they are writing about and who they are as people. That being said, there is nothing worse than going to an author's website and finding it hasn't been updated since it was launched. This doesn't matter too much if it's up there as a repository but if it is there to connect with readers, even if it's just a monthly update on what they are working on at the moment, it looks lazy if the information on there is stale. Maybe an old website says the author is too busy to update it but it usually looks like they don't care about their readers as long as their books are selling.

So if you are going to do it - brilliant. Just don't stick it up on the web and forget all about it.
 
Surely it depends on the content. I'd be rather annoyed if an author updated a map other than to improve its appearance (and even then I may not be that happy about it where the so-called improvements are no such thing).

If you mean that the author has a blog, I'm still not sure. Certain authors receive a lot of criticism for updating their blog at the expense (in some readers' eyes) of getting on with the next, long-awaited book in an ongoing series.

But perhaps the author who doesn't want to spend their time updating their website ought to explain from the get go that they will add significant content only as and when appropriate. (I would agree, though, that this is no excuse for adding nothing much at all, particularly if the site is meant to be garnering new readers, or existing readers to new stuff.)
 
There's the advantage of plugging (http://thaddeuswhite.weebly.com/index.html :p ) but, as well as extra content/short stories you can post lore about the world. Not sure how others feel, but I quite like world-building both from a reading and writing perspective.

You can also have a blog or just updates about forthcoming work so that people who like your stuff get a heads up and are likelier to buy.
 
Other than the time and money it might take to run a website, I don't think there is much of a downside.

Content wise you can use your writers brain ;) Little short stories about the main characters perhaps? something that might not be relevant except for those who have read the full book.

If you're a science fiction buff you could put up information about your universe. Stories of heroic space battles; people or technology that made that giant leap forward. In a sci-fi series I'm thinking about I was looking to put up a website for the fictional company that exists behind the scenes.
 
thaddeus6th said:
You can also have a blog or just updates about forthcoming work so that people who like your stuff get a heads up and are likelier to buy.
Click to expand...

Hi Thaddeus - visited your site, and particularly like the idea of the Blog which as others have said, will hopefully bring in followers of your work etc. Continued good luck with it, and will certainly consider a Blog now on my own site, as I haven't got one. And I'm sure I'll get at least

a double spaced

problem when I add one :D
 
You could post a few short stories set in the same universe to give the reader a better feel. Unless of course you are in it for the cash ;) (I for one, am not. I'll soon be studying to be an engineer, so writing is mainly a hobby, though I plan on getting published one day)
 
You can get a free one from blogspot if you just want a blog, or Weebly offers a bit more (and it's free. There is a paying option for increased swankiness if you want it).

There's a thread on it here: http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/533865-weebly-web-design.html

Billhafan: that double-spacing confounded me. Originally I was going to try resolving it, but when someone (Mouse?) said she laughed out loud I decided to keep it for comedy value.
 
Thaddeus, it works, and brought a big smile to my face -:)

Writing a novel brings it's own tribulations (let alone the countless re-writes and editing etc.), but learning how to build up a website is a whole new world and had me ripping my hair out at times :eek: Think I got there in the end, but not perfect in every respect, but what site is? Need to keep it fresh now, as suggested by others, and I understand it also helps to keep a site up in the search rankings - if people are actually looking for it, of course!

Please feel free to let me know what you think of it, and anything it may be missing - but go gently on me - as its my first attempt at a website. ;) williamggee.com
 
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