Come to Me, My Pretties (Part I)
An author’s website: should you get one, do you need one? The pat answer to this would be, “Yes, of course! A website can only help bring more attention to you, which is obviously what you want.” Ehh… yes and no; bear with me on this. In previous blogs I’ve been alluding to the importance of knowing oneself, but I think some direct discussion is now in order.
First of all, let’s go over some of the good things a professional website can do for an author:
1) Gives you street cred as a serious writer
2) Provides your audience with access to you and your work
3) Facilitates information gathering by the media, et al
4) Enables fans to easily purchase your work directly
5) Promotes personal events and appearances
6) Generates a distribution list
(Only the basics are being discussed here- the more creatively inclined can certainly take this further)
1) For unpublished authors, street cred is essential. The publishing world has absolutely no idea who you are up to this point and no reason to care. Investing in a website can show that you’re serious and committed to your craft. If you are published, but still “unknown,” hey, here’s a chance to get some recognition.
2) People like that feeling of community. Bounce story ideas off your fans. Answer their questions. Impress them with your literary stylings and ability so they can’t help but care about your success.
3) The easier it is for people to access your information (Bio, Contact Info, Head Shot, minimum) the easier it will be for you to get publicity. By having your information readily available at all times that people can view and download on their own, you are making it easier for the media, bookstores and business groups to extend an invitation for your appearance rather than you potentially having to beg for one. There are exceptions of course, but busy people will usually prefer to try you out behind the scenes before committing to an actual conversation. Help them, and they may in turn, help you.
4) Authors get to buy their own books at a discounted rate from their publisher. If you can figure out how to manage PayPal and don’t mind the extra administrative work, why not enable fans to buy your books directly from your own website? It’s convenient for them because they’re already visiting your site and it’s a higher profit margin for you. Worth a pondering…?
5) Again, make life simple by telling people exactly where you’ll be and when. If you’re going to the trouble of making an appearance, wouldn’t you want everyone who may be interested in attendance? Why would you play hard to get with your audience? You love your fans; don’t be a tease.
6) This ties in with the previous topic. A distribution list can be beneficial if you have announcements you’d like to share with a select group (like your book hitting the shelves) or a product to offer (such as a newsletter). If you’re already on top of #5, then generating a distribution list probably isn’t necessary, but as many marketing gurus swear by them, we’ll let that be a judgment call.
Now, that we’ve gone over the happy, happy, joy, joy potential of a website, let’s talk reality. Anyone can have a website these days: some ISPs will even throw them in for free with a subscription. They’re basic, sure, but a free website’s better than none at all, right? Right?
Yeah, about that….
Coming soon: Part II
