Given the fact that I make a living building author websites, it’s not surprising that I firmly believe in their importance. You hear a lot of people today shunning websites for social networking and/or apps, but I think they’re missing the boat. Thankfully, I was reminded this morning that I’m not alone in feeling this way. In fact, a large majority of the author market agrees with me.

I stumbled upon a conversation on a message board this morning. The subject line? “Are author websites really necessary?” Here are highlights from some of the responses:

“I use mine to post links to interviews on other sites, for articles I write, and for building an email list. Fans can see what I’m working on and what’s happening.”

…

“Extremely important to have one. You need a place to build interest and a platform while you write the book. It’s amazing how many authors start their marketing after the book is done. Wrong!”

…

“It’s funny, in the Internet marketing world they’re always selling… here authors hate to sell. But if you want to be successful, you have to market yourself/book and a website is crucial.”

…

“I believe author websites are necessary, if for nothing else but to give people a starting place on how to find your work and how to contact you. It’s great to have all that information in one handy place.”

…

“Necessary? No. But a good cover isn’t necessary, because I’ve seen books with terrible covers sell. A good editor isn’t necessary, because I’ve seen poorly edited books sell. But I think everyone here would say that it’s important to have a good cover and good editing. So necessary? No. A very good idea, especially if done well? Yes.”

…

“People who’ve read and liked my stuff may do a web search to learn more about me and whether I’ve got any other upcoming works, so it’s nice to have that info readily available for them in one place. I wouldn’t want to rely on Amazon and some random bloggers who may or may not ever mention me as my sole way of reaching readers.”

…

“You want to set up the website early on so that you get all the search affiliations built up before you start selling. You’re going to want to redirect those readers somewhere. You’re going to want to get them signed up for new releases emails / mailing lists. That sort of stuff needs to be built out before you publish. If a new fan runs a Google search and can’t find you? That’s what I would classify as a disaster.”

…

“The cost is minimal and the reward is outstanding. I use my website to connect with readers, to let them know what I’m working on (and when it’ll be out). I get feedback on cover ideas and answer their questions in the forums (which were free to install on my site). And I sell signed books through my website (30-40 this week, so it makes financial sense as well).”

…

“Nowadays, the Internet is likely the very first place readers are going to look when they want to find out more about you and your books.  You want them to be able to find that information quickly and easily.”

…

“I use mine as sort of a gathering place for all my online endeavors — books, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc. It gets a decent amount of traffic and I have a number of fans who refuse to use social media. Plus the URL is my name (KathleenValentine.com) so, if nothing else, it makes it easy to tell people how to find me.”

…

“I’m new to this, but I track the traffic and it helps to show me which promotions are working. I’d say for me, it’s definately necessary. For Nora Roberts, maybe not so much. People are going to buy her books no matter what.”

…

Convinced yet? If you’re ready to get started on an author website, contact us today for a free consultation!

We build all of our author sites on WordPress. And if you’re familiar with WordPress, you know that it’s all about plug-ins. They’re what turn a flat site into a dynamic one. They’re how you integrate SEO and social networking into static text. Here is the list of plug-ins that we’ve found to be most effective for authors. Best of all, these are all free!

If you have other plug-ins you’d like to recommend, share them in the comments box below!

1. All-In One SEO Pack: This plug-in automatically submits your website to all the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc…). It also allows you to write unique metadata for each site page and each blog post. That information is then submitted to the search engines and can help your placement on results pages.
2. G-Lock Double Opt-In Manager: Want to start collecting email addresses? Of course you do. This easy plug-in allows you to have a sign-up box anywhere on your site. You can customize the text to offer promotions, etc… for people who sign up. All the email addresses collected are then stored in a database and you can use them as you wish.
3. WP-DB Backup: We’ve all done it. We’ve made a mistake that we wish we could undo. That’s the beauty of this backup plug-in. It backs up all of your work so that you can go back in time and undo any screw-ups that may have arisen.
4. Simply Sociable: You want people to be able to share your site and/or blog post on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, etc… right? That’s what this plug-in does. It automatically adds those sharing options to every page and every post.
5. Ultimate Google Analytics: What good is a website if you’re not keeping track of how many people are visiting it, what they’re doing there, etc…? Set up a free Google Analytics account and use this plug-in to implement it on your site. Just enter your account information and you will automatically have access to a wealth of information about your site traffic.
6. Akismet: If you’ve ever had a blog before, you know the biggest pain in the neck that can accompany it: SPAM comments. Akismet can block a HUGE percentage of that SPAM before it even comes into your mailbox. It doesn’t work 100% of the time, but even 90% can make an enormous difference.

What plug-ins can’t you live without? Share them with us!

I have written more posts than I can count on author blogging: how to do it, when to do it, and why to do it.

It seems that I’m not alone. A blogger with Infinity Publishing — a self-publishing company with which we have a partnership — thinks the same way. Today, I present you with Sherrie Wilkolaski’s Blogging Is a Goldmine for Self-Published Authors.

Here are the highlights of her top 7 secrets to blogging success … with which I whole-heartedly agree.

1. Select the key words for your website. Do you your research and find the right keywords that make the most sense for your title.  … Tag your content with those key words with every article.
2. Write on the subject matter associated with your key words. It really is as simple as that.  It may take you some time, but find your voice.
3. Fresh content. Write a new article every day, or at least 3-4 days a week and you’ll be a hit with the search engines.  Note:  Don’t just throw up anything on your blog.  Make sure it’s a value to your audience.
4. Blog on the weekends. You’ll be a rock star with the search engines.
5. Invite guest bloggers to the party. Blogging 356 days a year can become daunting, so why not invite some guest bloggers to join you in your effort to fill your blog with relevant content.  It also helps with cross-promotion, have your guest bloggers provide you with a link back to your site and ask that they let their audience know about their guest appearance.
6. Syndicate your blog. Distribution of your content is key.  Make sure you have an RSS feed and an email subscription option to your blog.  Use your social media outlets to help market your daily blog posts and your content will go viral.
7. Track your results with Google Analytics. Monitor the traffic on your site and see what content your visitors are most interested in…then write more of it.
   

Sherrie finishes her post by saying:

I’m living a bloggers dream.  Not only am I seeing the results in the website traffic.  It has rekindled my romance with writing.  It just doesn’t get any better than that.  Well, only if I was writing in Paris.  Cheers!

If more self-published authors took Sherrie’s advice, my job would be a whole lot easier!

It’s one of the greatest challenges of an author website: keeping it both active and interactive. It’s easy to just build a site with your bio, your book descriptions, etc…. But why would a reader continue to come back to a site like that? That’s where interaction comes in.

It’s important that an author continue to keep their site updated with news, events, and commentary (enter the blog). But it’s equally important that an author allow a reader to also feel involved in the site. It’s only those readers — the ones who really feel like they’re interacting with the author — that turn into your loyal fans for years to come.

So how can an author make their site interactive? Here are some ideas:

1. Encourage reader reviews. Allow people who have read your book(s) to submit their own comments on it. Approve anything that’s appropriate to appear on the site … even if it’s somewhat critical.
2. Ask and answer questions. Pose questions to your readers. Ask them what they thought of certain parts of the book. Encourage them to submit questions to you, too … and answer them. Create a conversation.
3. Hold contests. If you write for kids or teens, then allow children to submit their own short stories for possible inclusion on the site. Ditto for adults. Come up with a creative way to tie a contest in to your book and your genre, and offer a sweet reward (like an autographed copy of the book) for the winners.
4. Let readers contribute to your next book. Working on another book? Ask your readers to submit ideas for character names, locations, etc… Not only does this excite readers, but it may help you come up with new and interesting ideas, too.

Have you done other things to make your author website interactive? Share them with us in the comments box below!

And if you’re ready to get started on your author website, contact us today for a free consultation!

I read another great piece in Internet and Marketing Report today. This article focused on the most common mistakes people make using — or not using — social media. I’m going to relay some of this information, putting an author slant on it, of course.

Mistake #1: Waiting too long to get started

Are you on the fence about whether or not to build profiles on Facebook and Twitter? Well, stop thinking and act now. There are many problems that you can avoid by getting started sooner rather than later. First, it’s important to grab your profile name before someone else does it for you. Also, you should be aware that other people are already discussing you and your book somewhere in the internet universe. If you don’t start talking about it too, you’re letting others dictate the conversation.

Mistake #2: Only talking about yourself

Much like what I’ve discussed in terms of website content, the posts/tweets on social media sites must have some value to the people you want following them. Your friends may be interested in your family or your trip to the store, but potential readers are not. Write posts that ask for comments and opinions. Offer insight into topics of interest. Keep this in mind as you write your next post: Fill-in-the-blank questions generate nine times more comments than regular posts.

Mistake #3: Posting infrequently or without a strategy

To answer your question before you even ask it … No. Posting once a month on Facebook or Twitter is not enough. Nor is posting randomly about things unrelated to one another. Create a strategy for your social media page. Decide how often you’re going to post (ideally, at least once a day), who your posts are targeting, and what they’re offering people. For example, if you’re an author of a nonfiction book, you might want to decide to post once a day — say, after you read the morning paper — with links to interesting news articles on the subject matter of your book.

Mistake #4: Writing posts that are too long

Don’t confuse your social networking profile with your blog. If you want to write a few paragraphs about something that’s going on in the world, your opinion on the political scene, etc… do it in a blog post. Then use your Facebook and Twitter accounts to write an exciting blurb about your post and include a link to it. Posts with 80 characters or more receive 40% less engagements (likes, comments, and shares). So keep it brief!

Mistake #5: Outsourcing social media

Take classes in social media. Ask for advice from experts. But don’t ask someone else to actually do your social media work for you. While it may be tempting to have an intern (or your teenage daughter) manage it for you, the only way to really get the most out of it is to do the work yourself. Social media may be free, but it does require that you invest something just as precious as money: your time.

Are you ready to start talking with us about building an author profile on the web? Contact us today for a free consultation.

Just last week, I posted a blog entry about the various options you have for selling your book online. One of those options was PayPal.

Well, sure enough, news broke late last week that may change things a bit … at least if your book is a little bit racy.

According to msnbc.com’s Technolog, “In recent weeks, the company has been letting e-book publishers know that PayPal will no longer handle transactions for e-books its considers to be obscene.”

Smashwords founder Mark Coker reports that on Feb. 18, PayPal’s enforcement division “contacted Smashwords with an ultimatum. As with the other e-book retailers affected by this enforcement, PayPal gave us only a few days to achieve compliance otherwise they threatened to deactivate our PayPal services. I’ve had multiple conversations with PayPal over the last several days to better understand their requirements.”

As a result, Smashwords sent out an email to all their authors, and posted the letter on their website. You can read it here.

According to reports, PayPal’s hot-button issues (i.e. the things that they consider too obscene to be in the books they sell) are bestiality, rape-for-titillation, incest and underage erotica.

True, the large majority of authors don’t write books that cover these subjects. So you probably don’t need to worry … yet.

But just the fact that PayPal is getting into the business of censoring books means that by selling your books through them, you’re essentially letting them dictate what can and can’t be in your writing. What’s to say that they won’t expand their restrictions to include violence, graphic sex, or anti-American sentiment?

At this point in time, there’s really no harm in selling your book through PayPal. But keep this news in the back of your mind … because I wouldn’t be surprised if the battle between “the artist” and “the censor” rears its ugly head again in the future.

Let me start this post by saying that I just read one of the best blog posts ever! It was written by an author, Roni Loren, and I highly recommend that every author read it. The subject? How make an author website unique and interesting.

Some of these ideas are ones that I’ve been pitching to clients for a long time. Others are new and interesting ideas. Here’s an excerpt from the article on the important things to think about as you build a site (and how to accomplish each of these goals):

1) Give deeper insight into your books

A few Ideas:

• Inspiration photos for your characters, setting, scenes, time period, etc.
• Character Interviews
• Soundtracks
• Deleted chapters
• Bonus epilogues, prologues, or short stories
• Tell where you got your story idea from
• Genealogy charts for your characters or series
• Photos of the pets of your characters
• Fun facts about the writing of the book
• Quizzes or contests
• Recipes
• Book lists with books listed in order and by series
• Book trailers

2) Give deeper insight into you, the author

This is not about navel-gazing and me, me, me all the time, but share yourself with your readers in an interesting and engaging way. A few ideas:

• A non-boring FAQ
• The story of how you got published
• A blog where you show your voice and personality
• Picture of your pets (would advise you not to put your kids pics up)
• A widget that shows what you’re reading or what you’ve read
• Your recommendations for authors you enjoy or a list of your favorite books
• Interview your spouse for a post (I’ve done that a few times on here.)
• Vlog so we can actually see and hear you
• Info for aspiring writers
• Photos (not avatars) of yourself – at minimum a nice author photo, but also could be you with readers at signings, or doing something fun, that kind of thing.
• Share your hobby – What else do you enjoy besides writing? Into scrapbooking or sailing or cooking? Talk about it. For instance, I have a concert obsession so I blogged about that Monday, but also made a Pinterest board listing all the concerts I’ve been to.
• Have any big goals or challenges? – Maybe you’re trying to run a marathon by June or maybe you want to read 100 books this year or you want to learn how to bake bread. Talk about it and get readers involved. They might be trying to do the same kinds of things.

3) Encourage the reader to not just stick around but come back again.

You have to keep content fresh. If someone stops by and has their way with your website and clicks on everything, what is going to compel them to come back? Some ideas:

A fresh, interesting blog that is updated on a regular schedule (minimum once a week if you want some traction).
Contests that encourage interaction.
A newsletter that readers can sign up for. Helps if you offer an incentive for signing up–a free chapter or something.
An easy way to follow your blog or follow you on facebook, twitter, etc.
Reader forums where fans can interact with each other. (This only applies once you’re a “big deal”, but it seems these are pretty popular with the well-established authors.)

Roni, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

We build author websites all the time, and every one of them (at least for an author who already has a book published) includes one or more links to “buy the book.” After all, that’s one of the primary goals of an author website, right?

However, selling books online isn’t as cut and dry as you may thing. There are several very, very different ways of selling books, and many authors getting started haven’t really thought it out yet. So, I thought I would write this post to help clear things up a bit.

Here are the three main methods for actually selling books through the website … from the one that requires the least amount of work to the one that requires the most.

1. Link to Amazon, B&N, etc… About 90% of the clients we build sites for go with this option. It’s the simplest, cleanest and easiest way to do it. Simply include links to buy the book from your publisher and/or the major online vendors (Amazon, B&N, Indie Publishing and Powell’s). Those third-party sites will then take care of payment processing and distribution. It’s no fuss, no muss. However, there are a few downsides to this method, including the fact that your cut of the revenue is pretty small. Plus, there’s no official reporting on how many sales you get through the site, so it’s hard to measure your success.

2. Sell through PayPal. How did we ever live before PayPal? It’s an incredibly simple, easy, and affordable way to collect payment. You can set up a PayPal account for free, and then we can build a “Buy” button and embed it on your website (see an example here: http://www.dinkidiaussiebooks.com/store/). PayPal takes a small percentage of your sales price, but that’s nominal compared to selling through Amazon, etc… Be aware, however: if you’re selling the book yourself, you are completely responsible for distribution. Be prepared to be boxing and sending out books yourself.

3. Set up a full-blown shopping cart. I can count on one hand the number of authors who opted to go for this. The reasons for that are twofold: 1) it’s a lot of work to get it set up; 2) it’s a lot of money to get it set up. That said, having your own online shopping cart built into the website is quite a snazzy option. Doing so gives you lots of perks that you don’t get through PayPal, including the ability to charge tax by state/county, the freedom to sell multiple items at a time (a true shopping cart), and the consistency of your site design on all of the shopping cart pages (see http://thehealinghour.com/store/). Just like with PayPal, however, the distribution is still all on you … or whomever you hire to take care of it.

One of the first conversations I often have with authors is about these three very different selling options. Every author wants to make sure it’s easy to buy their book, but depending on how much time, effort and money they want to put into the selling process, only one of these options is usually the right fit for an individual author.

Ready to talk with us about getting started on your author website? Contact us today for a free consultation!

Someone started a conversation about this on LinkedIn a few days ago. The question was very simple:

How does one really get people to go to their web site so they can follow their blogs?

I thought it would be valuable to compile some of the responses. I will continue to add to this as I see more valuable recommendations posted…

• Write stuff people want to know. They will tend to find it.
  - Emily Veinglory
• Contact other bloggers and trade links. Participate in relevant forums and put the link in your sig line. (Not just forums for writers, but for readers, too.)
  -William Penrose
• It takes time and lots of it. But content and guest blogs work.
  -Derksen Barb
• If you build it, and search engines can find it, in my experience they do come. You can then add value with all these SEO and networking strategies.
  -Emily Veinglory
• When I post a new blog piece, I blurb it out on Facebook and Twitter and I find that if I do it repeatedly, two or three times a day for a few days, my web traffic increases commensurately – often at least 9 or 10 times the norm.
  -Linda Hales

If you have any words of advice, share them in the comments box below. Otherwise, I’ll keep adding other ideas shared on LinkedIn…

UPDATED 2/21

• So far, the only method I have found is to tweet like crazy, and tell people I have a website. I also have several people in my email contact list, and include my website URL with every email I send.
  -R Clint Peters

• One easy thing–you can set your social media profiles to automatically pull in your blog.
  -Shel Horowitz
• The first and most basic step, however, is quality content. We are all completely overwhelmed with information. Everyone is vying for our attention. The best way to stand out is the write something great that will create a strong emotional reaction or resonance with readers. Make them laugh, cry, scream, learn or think of something in a completely new way.
  -J Bennett
• There are some aggregator which promotes your blog/ sites address. You have to be register there your blog or site. Also whenever you write something you can share the link on facebook or other social networking sites, from where the people will come to your blog.
  -Grijesh Kumar
• Share your website on social media, share it with your friends, share your blog with other people who are using the same blog website. Link to other peoples blogs, post comments on other people blogs and websites so that they might take a look at yours in return.
  -Katherine Fish
• Generous unselfish comments on relevant blogs are a great way to build connections. Your name will be a link to your site.
  -Joel D Canfield

I just finished reading a great post by a woman named Sonia Marsh. It was titled A Successful Way to Build Your Author Platform. I’m going to take a few ideas from that article and give them a slightly different angle: how to build an author blog that can get your name and profile out there.

1. Remember what your readers are looking for. Nobody will follow your blog if you’re writing about your trip to the supermarket or what you ate for dinner. People want to get something of value out of your blog. If you’re a nonfiction writer, blog about the subject matter of your books. When possible, take stories in the news and give them your own spin. After all, you’re somewhat of an expert in the topic. If you’re a fiction writer, think about what readers and other writers would find most interesting. Would they enjoy following your characters’ lives after the book? Would they want to hear about what went into writing the book? Where you might have hit writers block? Find your niche and stick with it.

2. Be patient. I can’t tell you how many authors I’ve worked with who start to blog and then stop because they feel like no one is reading their blog. I have two things to say about that: one is that you always need to remember that the number of comments on your blog is not a reflection of how many people are reading it. One comment may be showing up on a particular post, but 100 people might have read it. The other thing I always remind authors is that a blog can take a long time to build a following. Give it 3-6 months before you make a decision about whether or not it’s worth the time.

3. Pose questions … and answer them. A blog is an interactive tool. That’s one of the wonderful things about the internet: you can use your blog to pose questions, encourage comments, etc… Make sure to end each blog post with a question for people to respond to. And then respond to the responses. By interacting with your readers, you’ll build a loyal blog following.

4. Don’t be afraid to give things away for free. You can never get something for nothing. A blog is very much an exchange: you provide your readers with helpful information and they, in return, follow your blog, recommend you to friends, and help get you the exposure you’re looking for. Give away your ideas, your advice and your words of wisdom. Readers will return the favor.

Sonia ends her blog post with the following paragraph:

The more you connect and help others, the more people will subscribe to your blog or website, and you will gradually build an authentic platform with loyal followers. It won’t happen overnight, but once people realize that you care about them, and are willing to share helpful information, all the pieces suddenly fit together. That’s when the magic happens, and you know you’ve accomplished something more than simply being an author who wants to sell her book.

I couldn’t agree more!

If you’re ready to start building your author blog or author website, contact us today for a free consultation!