posted
I've always heard that authors should have web sites, so I've started working on one. Now I'm wondering what kinds of things should be there, whether I'm even on the right track...
Obviously, I'm postong on a writer's web site (Card's), but he's written a few more books than I have and has a far more elaborate site than I was thinking of. I've visited a few new writer's sites and most of them aren't any good. Come to think of it, most old writer's sites aren't any good, either.
Anyway, here's a link, maybe you guys can tell me what you think should be there, whether this is a good start...
posted
You definately need a photo. Make it more personal - like we know you. And, maybe decide whether you're going to be called Christine Amsden or Christine Morgan.
Thanks.
[This message has been edited by benskia (edited March 21, 2006).]
posted
I thought I only used Amsden...where did you see the other? My husband's been helping me...might have got the wrong one somewhere.
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posted
The link in the banner is "http://www.christinemorganbooks.com/" which seems to be an alias for your website.
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posted
More personal, definitely. Hoptoad has a good point. Write more in the bio, include a picture. Right now the bio's not different from what you'd get on a novel blurb. If someone's coming to your website, they want to know more.
Do you have short fiction credits? I seem to recall so...You can also put them under a "publications" heading.
Favorite books/movies/hobbies?
When you're more involved in the editing process, you might want to post excerpts from the novel (with the editor's permission). But that's not for right now.
posted
Be sure to ALWAYS run your copy through a spell checker. I notice that you have a tendency toward misspelled words... not many, but always a few. (Easy to do here, as there is no "spellchecker" function as we type.) On your website the word "foreign" is incorrectly spelled as 'foriegn.' Once you move into the classification of "writer" the spelling is taken for more than face value; it's a commentary on whether you know what you are doing or not, so just be sure to increase your vigilance for typos.
The site is pretty. I agree, add your photo. I know you do some web design, so I assume you know that you need to lace key words and descriptions into the text so the search engines will pick you up. I personally like sites that include: scanned copies of the covers of published novels, links to purchase the books, a blog by the author, press release/book signing updates, a bio with photo. I like writing tips that go beyond the normal "write good"... for instance, if you are particularly knowledgeable about researching a topic, include your tips for that. Juliet McKenna (link below) has a terrific page about her experience going through the editing process. You might find the text interesting to read. She talks about the changes they asked of her, and what she was willing to do or not do.
Grrr...I hate spelling errors. I think I got them all but please let me know if I missed one.
Photo will come just as soon as I can accidentally take a good one. This could take a while...I've got a classically unphotogenic face...cast shadows in all the wrong places. But about 1 in 1000 comes out good on pure random chance.
As to the rest of it..I can definitely put more personal stuff up there. I guess I just didn't think people would care about my favorite books and movies. Obviously, I was wrong!
And of course the book info will come as soon as it does...editor said the cover art would take about two months. I'm looking forard to putting that up. Could probably put together a sort ot "back of the book blurb" right now.
posted
With your book coming out I think it is a great idea for you to have a website and your set up is attractive. Here is another link to an author's website. It is only moderately fancy, but maybe it will give you ideas. And it just happens to be my sister's. http://dramamama1.homestead.com/Home.htmlPosts: 397 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Christine if you need any help with photoshop to turn a standard photo into a headshot, I'd be happy to help.
I think your basic structure is good. The only thing I've got a question about is your tagline, "A New Voice in Speculative Fiction." While it's true it pops out at me for two reasons. It's sort of generic. This can be said of any emerging spec fiction writer. I'd rather see something more specifically related to you. It also sounds like something a critic would say in a review and so might come across as presumptuous.
posted
I've been in and out. I must have missed the page about your book being published. Congrats! How exciting!
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posted
I thought Mary made a good point about the tagline...it was really just off the cuff...but I'm not sure what my tagline should be. I'd like to say something about the type of stories I write, which I see as speculative fiction with real human sesitivity. That is, it's about people and for people, whether they usually read speculative fiction or not. Unfortunatley, titles and taglines are my downfall, so if anyone has any thoughts...
posted
The site looks nice. I like the color scheme and the banner you've selected. I also like that you've linked to your blog site and to your published stories.
Some things you could put in your bio:
What year were you born? What other hobbies do you enjoy? What is your favorite book? Author? Who was the biggest influence on your life? What trends in literature are you most interested in?
You might also include links to other author's sites. Especially if you know any of them and can get a reciprocal link back. When your book is out, you could add a link to the listing in Amazon.
I put this in originally but my husband said I shouldn't include too much personal information.
What other hobbies do you enjoy?
Good point.
What is your favorite book? Author?
I can list some favorites. I don't have a single favorite so it's difficult to work this list.
Who was the biggest influence on your life?
I'm not sure this querstion has much meaning for me. I don't have a "hero" in the sense that they make you write school essays about. I never have. I used to make up utter bull when they asked in school and now that I'm grown up I'm done pretending. The fact that my husband has been my biggest supporter is the most meaningful comment I have in this direction -- and I already made it.
What trends in literature are you most interested in?
I'm not really sure what this means.
I do have a link to hatrack on my links page. I intend to come up with a few more.
My two issues are: The tag line, and the flower image at the top. Along with the comments already made about the tagline, I had no idea what "speculative fiction" was. Due to that, combined with the image, I thought speculative fiction, and thus your site/genre, had to do with touchy-feely-introsppection, and writing of that nature.
Maybe using Science Fiction/Fantasy in some manner would be more useful to a wider audience, and using speculative fiction elsewhere on the site. Also, I don't recall having seen speculative fiction used in stores and libraries, so it might be something worth considering.
For my site, I would use a generic/basic tagline (e.g., Author of Science Fiction & Fantasy) until I found something that I knew was "right."
posted
pip: So what, exactly, is wrong with touchy-feely introspection?
Seriously, you gave me an idea. You see, the reason I didn't come right out and asy Fantasy and Science Fiction is that those words come with a bias. BUT...if I say those words but leave the flowery background, perhaps I can make people wonder if their bias is precisely correct.
You see, I do write stories that involve introspection. They are heavily character oriented. In my opinion, extrardinary events, by accident or design, magnify real world problems. It constantly amazes me when people manage to write stories that don't do that.
posted
Nothing is "wrong" with it, but if I'm looking for SF/F, and think I've stumbled upon another The Secret Life of Bees author, there's a good chance I'm not going to stay at that site. Granted, I'm stereotyping SF/F fans a little, but I think you get the idea.
I was mainly hoping you'd think about not losing readers just because they didn't realize what speculative fiction was. Could be important, especially early on. And, since it gave you an idea, it seems that worked out. Using SF/F with the flower sounds like a good idea (I didn't intend for the flower to be given a pink-slip).
To not lose out on the effort to fight the bias, you could add something about speculative fiction. As an example, below the Home/About/... menu, and above the "news" section (Coming soon…Touch of). Maybe even link it to a comment on the use of the term in comparison to SF/F.
Anyway, glad it was helpful.
[This message has been edited by pjp (edited April 05, 2006).]
posted
I respectfully disagree with PJP on one point. If I’m searching for your site or researching you as an author because I’ve read and enjoyed your stories, articles, novels, etc., I’m going to stay and learn more. For this reason, I think your site is interesting and good. I don’t believe the little details (flowery backgrounds, tag lines, etc.) should make a difference. Now, if I’m “surfing” and I access your site, the fact that it isn’t Sci-Fi enough for me may cause me to leave quickly, but then again, who just surfs random aspiring Sci-Fi authors?
Of course I may be ostracizing myself from everyone here because this is something I don’t do, but I do research and want to know more about a particular author if the content of his or her work interests me. What I would suggest is do something that you like because those who like your writing will see it. Just a thought.
[This message has been edited by Hygge (edited April 06, 2006).]
quote:Now, if I’m “surfing” and I access your site, the fact that it isn’t Sci-Fi enough for me may cause me to leave quickly, but then again, who just surfs random aspiring Sci-Fi authors?
Hygge: This is more along the lines of what I was referring to. Say, you found a list of author links on a forum, or something without much detail.
I think nearly anyone who has read an author's works, and has at least had their intrest piqued, would stay around (barring any garish and painful on the eyes designs).
I admit it may be a limted chance, but it was my first reaction when I saw the site, so thought I'd mention it.
posted
For my money, Robert J. Sawyer has the best author's web site I've ever seen. His layout is easy to us. His content is spectatular. And his color scheme, if not pleasing to the eye, at least isn't painful to look at.
My only real advice is this -- If you're going to have a web site, make it a good one. I've seen too many shoddy web sites, and they're worse than no web site at all.
posted
Garp: Is his site http://www.sfwriter.com/? If so, I think that makes a good example of "everyone has an opinion." Based on site alone, and not ever having heard of him before, I would not investigate his work further.
After search through quite a few author's websites, I've discovered that most are pretty bad. Here are two that are decent (though certainly not without flaws):
posted
Things I look for on an author's website (I only glanced at the other posts so I will probably be repeating):
News - default page - Should contain information regarding updates to the site, any little tidbit you want to talk about, announcements, etc.
Books/Bibliography - What you have published and what you have announced. This should include everything from short stories to novels, whether published in print or online. You can also setup a deal with Amazon.com or whoever is ePublishing your stories to get money from them every time someone uses your site to link to their store and buys your stuff. More money for your pockets.
I would advice two things regarding your current bibliography:
1) Make it a seperate from the "About" section. 2) Categorize your written works by type, i.e. Short Story, Novel, Non-Fiction, etc.
Biography - Every published author needs one. Make it short, sweet and simple. "About" is an okay title for the link, but I prefer Biliography or "About the Author".
Blog - I personally don't care for blogs, but it seems to be pretty popular these days. I see you arleady have one, so good.
Sample Chapters - I want to read a chapter or two of your work to decide if it's worth my hard earned money. Make sure you have a very good disclaimer on any sample chapter. Here is a good example: http://georgerrmartin.com/chapter.html
Appearances - You will need a list of apperances you will be making for book signs and cons you attend. Even if it's just a small one at Rainy Day Books (who you should contact, as they have an AWESOME author book signing program that gets some very big names in town) or Borders on 119th.
That covers the important stuff. Different authros do different stuff from there. Unless your husband is a web designer and know how to do lots of cool stuff, keep the site simple. You can also add a forum so people can ask you questions and talk about your book with other fans. Forums are easy and free to setup, and I think WordPress (the CMS you use for your site) has several forum plugins.
This all sounds very exciting. A sprouting talent starting off on her new journey as an author. Congratulations again, by the way!
Jammrock
[This message has been edited by Jammrock (edited April 07, 2006).]
posted
I'm going to agree with pjp about Sawyer's website...he did the one thing I can't abide: TOO BUSY.
In fact, while my husband and I both have the skill set to do it, (his more current than mine, admittedly),I don't want flashy or "cool" stuff there. I hate flash with a passion. It is distracting and also takes too long to load.
I like simple. I like the front page to be short, sweet, and to the point with descriptive links that take you to the meat of the content. A person surfing the web will decide in about 10 microseconds whether or not they're going to read your page. The important stuff needs to be big, bold, and uncluttered.
I already have plans for chapter excerpts and book covers, but they aren't ready yet and won't be for several months.
I like the idea of separating the bibliography into sections for novels, short stories, and non-fictoin/essays. I also like the idea of separating it out from the "About the Author" section.
I have heard about amazon.com paying a bit for click-throughs and that seems like a good thing to do. Never hurts to make a bit more money.
**************
By the way...THANK YOU to everyone who has helped with advice or comments. I'm taking them all seriously, even the ones I haven't implemented (but may in a bit). It's great to have the support of hatrackers. You guys are the best!
posted
Pjp -- so now we're judging books by their author's web sites?
The problem I have with Koontz web site is that it's too boring. I suppose I want an author's web site to connect me with the author. If I take the time to visit it, I'm doing so for a reason, and I think Sawyer's site is filled with wonderful information. (And his interpretation of Heinlein's Rules of Writing is gold!)
But here's something more concrete for you, Christine. When I go to a writer's web site, here's what I'm looking for:
Biography, but not too short. I want to know something about him or her, why he or she is a writer, what it took before he or she "broke through," and why he or she writes in his or her chosen genre. I don't care about a writer's family; if I ever get in your shoes, all I'm going to say is I have a wife and some children.
Favorite books and movies . . . with commentary. I want to know why he or she likes them.
List of published novels and short stories.
List of interviews, with links.
On-line essays about various subjects.
A blog or journal updated weekly.
Favorite links.
The story behind the stories . . . i.e., how a novel came to be from conception to final draft.
Pictures, of course, but not too many.
As a writer, I like essays on writing. But be careful here and make sure your essays are worthwhile. If you can't elaborate on, say, OSC's books, then recommend them but don't write your own material.
What I'm not big on are e-mail newsletters. O.K., I understand that's a good marketing ploy. You get someone to sign up for your newsletter, and it's a good way to keep them posted about new stories and novels.
Hope this helps. (And yes, I've have a document full of notes when I finally can get my own author web site up and running. Thank goodness my sister is a web site designer!)
Hope this helps, and good luck with it.
[This message has been edited by Garp (edited April 07, 2006).]
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