Archive for January, 2010

Michael Thomas Barry, author of Final Resting Places: Orange County’s Dead and Famous – and SmartAuthorSites.com client – has been ranking well this week (even broke the top 10!) in Amazon ratings for new releases on the west coast!

Follow the action on his Facebook page. And, of course, don’t forget to check out his website! Obviously, he’s doing something right.

Congrats, Mike!

Just a quick tip today for authors who still haven’t built their websites yet …

It may be tempting to have your author web site be flashy and dramatic with music and moving words and such. But avoid the temptation!

The problems with sites like that are many. Here are just a few of the reasons why a functional website is better for an author than a flashy website:

1. Animated effects can be unnecessary or distracting, keeping people from doing what you want them to do on your website … learn about you and your book!
2. The more graphics on a page, the slower the page is to load. Some people (especially younger ones) have no patience for slow-loading pages.
3. All the bells and whistles can make it harder for people to understand what’s on your site or how to find what they’re looking for. Lisa Firke, a website designer specializing in children’s author sites, has this to say: ” Think of it this way: as a writer you work hard to make your meanings clear and valuable. Your website should reflect the same kind of care.”
4. Some people have strong feelings about music playing  when they get to a site. For instance, I am blogging right now with a sleeping baby next to me. If I were to be surfing the net right now, and ended up on a site where music started blaring as soon as I arrived, what do you think I would do? That’s right — leave the site and not go back. Even if it’s a small percentage of people that would have such a strong reaction, do you really want to risk losing anyone?
5. Don’t forget about Search Engine Optimization! That’s probably the way you’ll get the most visitors to your website, and yet a site that’s full of flashy images will not be ranked highly by Google, Yahoo, etc… All they can read is text, and if your site has very little text, your placement on the search engines will suffer.

Obviously, authors want their site to look fresh and interesting. But there are ways to do that while still having a functional website that doesn’t turn people away.

Thanks to Bookseller Jolie at DearAuthor.com, we now have the Top 10 Peeves from Booksellers and Readers About Author Websites. Here’s what they are and, of course, my two cents on each of them.

#1 – Series links are not easily identifiable.  This should be its own special link on the home page!
When readers find a book they like, they want everything they can get their hands on!!! Whether it’s more in that series or another series you may have!

Booksellers want to stock your series, have all the books on hand. 9 times out of 10 a reader will buy all the books in the series, if a bookstore has them. While booksellers are a smart bunch, we can’t know ALL the books that are interconnected! Like the reader, we’ll go to the author’s website for the information.

My take: An author should definitely have all the books in a series interconnected. If the entire website is based on the series, then it should be fairly obvious at the outset. If the website focuses on the author, the series should be linked together through the navigation. A good example of this is http://www.eliotpattison.com, where author Eliot Pattison has a tab in his navigation for each of his two series of books, with the individual books within each series being dropdowns from those tabs.
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# 2  Printable booklist – This makes it so easy for the reader to print and take to the bookstore! And makes it even easier for the bookseller!
The list should have all your books listed on one page, series in chronological order and separated, ISBNs, dates!! Prices and publishers optional but it can’t hurt to have that information too!!
I say printable because, when you print it, all the information should be there and not cut off the page. Everyone’s computer is different so making the list simple and easy is best!

My take: I can honestly say I’ve never seen this on an author website. Is it common to go to the bookstore and want to buy every book by one author at the same time? Wouldn’t you want to buy one, see if you like it, and then buy others?
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#3 A contact the author link should be visible on the home page - it’s the easiest way for us to tell you how great your books are!
Romance readers love to tell you how much they liked your book! They love that connection to a book and its author as well! So do booksellers for that matter. I’m often telling authors how wonderful they are! Psst, here’s another secret–I may even tell you special tid-bits! Like how you book is doing in our stores or if we’ve got your book placed in special locations, or your book is selected for our promotions!

My take: I agree with this. Personally, I always recommend that we put the contact link in the site navigation. And I also like to tie a newsletter sign-up into the contact page. But that’s another story …
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#4 The most recent book should be featured on front page with sequel links, etc.
Again, it’s all about a reader getting the most out of your website! If we know the information is at our fingertips – that’s the first place we’ll go!

My take: The most recent book should definitely be featured most prominently on the homepage (who calls it “front page” anyway?). That doesn’t mean you can’t feature your other books below it, though.
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#5 – Everywhere there is a book mentioned, there should be a 13 digit ISBN . . .
The easiest way to locate a book online and in a bookstore is through this handy number. When used, it’s THAT specific book found very quick and easy!! Readers would rather be reading the book than spending too much time looking for it!

My take: I agree with the concept here, but do they really mean “everywhere” the book is mentioned? That’s a little much, don’t you think? If you look at any of the author websites I’ve worked on, you’ll see just how many times a book is mentioned on an author’s website. You couldn’t possibly list the ISBN everywhere. But I do recommend that you include the ISBN and pub details on the “The Book” page of the site. That’s where it’s appropriate. And another note on this … if you have proper “Buy the Book” links on your website, people won’t need an ISBN, because you’ll be linking directly to the book’s page on Amazon, B&N, etc… For people who plan to go to the bookstore and buy the book, the ISBN is helpful. But I’m not sure it should be as prominent as they recommend here.
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#6 – Coming soon should be on the first page as well. And update it often . . . it’s what keeps us coming back!!!
We’ve just finished your latest book and already we’re looking for more! And we want to go directly to the source – YOU! So what’s next???

My take: I’ll ignore the “first page” reference again here. Other than that, I totally agree. Keeping your site new and fresh and highlighting upcoming books is a great way to keep people coming back and giving them the information they want as soon as they arrive.
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#7 – Don’t make us work to buy/sell your books! Keep things simple . . .
The easier it is, the quicker it is, the more time we have to read and sell more!! Make the links easy, don’t hyphenate ISBNs, etc.

My take: I referenced this above. You should definitely have a “Buy the Book” link on every page of the site. If you want to include an ISBN with it, fine. But it should be one click to the page where you can actually purchase the book.
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#8 – Who would you compare your stories to?
Ex: If you like sexy historicals by Sabrina Jeffries, you’ll love my new book. . .
Or compare it to another medium, if you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you’ll love my new paranormal series. . . We may not always agree, but in the end, it gives us a direction and a place of reference to start.

My take: Interesting… I often recommend that an author have a “welcome” box on their homepage where they briefly discuss who would benefit from/enjoy their books and their website. It’s sort of the same idea. But I’ve never thought of comparing yourself to similar authors. Good idea!
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#9 – Let me know future books in a series . . . dates if you have them or general concepts and plans are great too!
Again, when we readers and booksellers find something we love – we want more!!! And if we have to wait for another book, that’s okay, but give us the lowdown about who, what, when, where – please any information!!!

My take: This was sort of covered before, as well. Even before all the books in a series are published, they should at least be touted. Here’s an example of one of the author sites I built where we do just that:
http://www.thelossofcertainty.com
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#10 – Toot your horn — let us know of all the awards you’ve won, etc.
I know there was recent debate on this site about this, but what it comes down to is – you’ve been chosen, over others. Readers and booksellers are interested, especially when we’re looking for a new author, new book. And let’s face it, we ALWAYS are!!

This is more importantly the case when sending out promos to booksellers, if we haven’t had the chance to read your book – at least we know SOMEONE did – and LIKED it enough to give it an award!!!

My take: I couldn’t agree more. If you have won awards and the like, don’t be afraid to promote it on your homepage. After all, your website is a marketing tool, so don’t be afraid to market yourself!
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Interested in speaking with us about building you the perfect author website? Contact us today!

I came across an author website that organizes its content in a really interesting way! Sarah Susanka, author of “The Not So Big Life” has a secondary navigation on her website which runs down the right hand side. It breaks down her book by chapter.

For each individual chapter, she has an audio bit, in which she discusses the chapter, a group discussion forum about the chapter, and an exercise or worksheet having to do with that chapter. What an interesting idea!

I wonder, though, if that’s giving out too much information to people who haven’t read the book. After all, it’s a fine line between offering enough information about a book to whet people’s appetite and giving away the farm. Not to mention a third goal which many authors have — to provide additional information for people who have already read the book.

So what do you think about the chapter-by-chapter breakdown? Let me know what you think.

Thanks to a blog entry from a graduate assistant at the Masters in Fine Arts – Literary Fiction & Nonfiction program at Southern New Hampshire University (Writing in the SNHU-MFA), I came across the website of an author who really is using social networking to her advantage … even before her book is published!

Maria Finn is a dancer and her upcoming book is a memoir of her life experiences. The book title is Hold Me Tight and Tango Me Home and her website is at http://tangomehome.com/.

Here are just a few of the things she’s doing with her website (at little to no cost) to really get the buzz out there prior to her pub date.

• She’s got a  YouTube video that sends people to her website
• She’s running a Heartbreak Competition (she was drawn to dance after her own heartbreak)
• She has a Facebook Fan Page and she links to it from her author website

And do you know how the blogger found her?

“I bumped into her on Facebook when a tango dancer I know posted the YouTube video in her status. That’s how this stuff works — viral marketing.”

That’s viral marketing indeed! Someone who is interested in tango dancing came across her YouTube video thanks to a link from a friend. That video sent them to her website, where they could learn about her book, her upcoming events, her contest, etc…

And now all of us know about her and her book as well. Now that’s good work!

No two author websites are the same. But there are certain things that should be on every site. Notice I say “should be” … Search the web and you’ll find some authors’ websites that are missing some crucial information! While I’m a big supporter of making every author’s website unique, here are the no-brainers for author websites:

1. A domain name that supports your book. Even if you go with your name as the domain name of your site, you should also reserve your book title (if possible) and have it redirect to your author site. You don’t want people typing the name of your book into their browser and winding up elsewhere!

2. A “Buy the book” link on every page. The goal of your website is to sell books. So you need to make it as easy as possible for someone to buy your book or books throughout the site. A potential reader may be somewhere totally unexpected (i.e. a page focused on your other writings) when they decide to take the plunge, so the link to buy it should still be right in front of them.

3. Tie-ins to your social media profiles. What good is having a profile on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn if you don’t send people there? Have small buttons on your homepage that allow site visitors to follow you elsewhere.

4. An author bio. Even if you’re a private person who doesn’t want to share your life with the world, some sort of bio page is a must. Ideally, it should contain a photo of you and a description of your living situation, your career, and why you write.

5. A newsletter sign-up box. Don’t think you will send e-newsletters? Collect this information anyway. Getting the contact information for people who have shown interest in your writing is invaluable. You may not know it now, but you sure will appreciate having that list when your next book comes out and you want to tell people about it.

6. Book excerpts. How do you expect to get people to buy your book without whetting their appetite a little? You can choose to have one long excerpt from the book, or a bunch of shorter ones that give a taste of the different chapters in the book. When you go to the movies, there’s a reason they show trailers of future movies. Think of your excerpt(s) as a trailer of your book.

7. Contact information. A website is an interactive tool. So you don’t want to use it only as a way for you to talk to your readers. You want to let your readers talk to you, too. Whether you offer an email address or a simple contact form, make sure there’s a way for people visiting your site to communicate with you.

Anything I’m missing here? What do you think needs to be on an author website? Share your thoughts!

Look at a dozen author websites — and websites in general — and you’ll find vastly different types of homepages. Some are flashy and exciting … some are informational … some are promotional. So what’s the best type of homepage for you? And what should the ideal homepage accomplish? Here are some ideas:

The Flashy Homepage
Who it’s for: This type of homepage — one that’s heavy in images or Flash — can work for an author whose writing style is dramatic fiction.

Benefits and drawbacks: An author who writes dramatic books should have a website that visually conveys the same feeling as the text in the book. If done correctly, it will certainly entice visitors to delve into the site to learn more. However, these types of homepages carry several risks. One is that the lack of text can seriously hurt you in terms of search engine optimization. The other potential drawback is losing people … someone who winds up on your site through a link or search engine result may or may not be interested enough in delving further into your site to learn more about you or your book.

Examples: We haven’t built too many sites like this, but here are a few:
http://www.llanosfigueroa.com/

http://www.farrelltrading.com/

The Informational Homepage
Who it’s for: A homepage that provides a lot of information — about the book, the author and/or the subject matter — is perfect for a nonfiction author who has an expertise in the subject or wants the site to serve as a resource for people who may have already read the book and want to learn more.

Benefits and drawbacks: An informational homepage can serve as an index of sorts, providing a taste of the various pieces of the site and what people can find if they delve deeper. It can include the beginning of an author bio, the most recent blog entry, links to resources, book excerpts, etc… Almost everyone who visits a site like this will find something on the homepage that they want to click on. And the drawbacks? Well, some authors would find homepages like these “boring.” If you’re the type of author who wants something dramatic, this type of homepage may seem a little too much like an online newspaper to you.

Examples:
http://www.watereddowntruth.com/
http://www.unbecominganurse.org/
http://www.quangxpham.com/

The Book Promotion Homepage
Who it’s for: A homepage like this is for an author who isn’t afraid to really be a blatant marketer of their books. Everything on a promotional homepage is with the purpose of selling the book. The text and pictures are promotional and site visitors aren’t really encouraged to click around the site. Instead they’re directed to buy the book NOW!

Benefits and drawbacks: Well, the benefits are obvious. If done properly, a promotional homepage makes someone more likely to buy the book immediately, rather than delve deeper into the site. But some site visitors could be turned off by the promotional tone and decide that they’d rather visit a website that provides them more information before asking them to pay.

Examples:
http://www.financialstrategyfordivorce.com/
http://www.richardzwolinski.com
http://www.danwald.com/

The Author Promotion Homepage
Who it’s for: This is similar to a book promotion homepage, but its goal is to “sell” the author. Whether that be to publishers, agents or readers.

Benefits and drawbacks: Much like the book promotion homepage, the benefits of this type of homepage are obvious. For authors who already are established, it can get site visitors to join the email list or pre-order a future book. For those who are looking to get published, it immediately gives publishers or agents a chance to get to know you and your writings. The drawbacks are similar as well, in that some people could be turned off by self-promotion.

Examples:
http://www.joycechapmanlebra.com/
http://www.julieschumacher.com/
http://www.authorsherryjones.com/
http://www.cherylwilsonharris.com/

So which type of homepage best suits your needs? We’ll be happy to help. Contact us today for a free consultation about building you the right website.