Last post on Friday I mentioned how I plan to release a whole bunch of shit on Kindle in 2012. As part of that I said I need an author's website. The thing is, I don't visit author websites much. Some blogs, but not really websites. Maybe I should so I would know when authors are releasing new books (and stealing my ideas) but it never really occurs to me to do that.
So I don't really know what makes a good author's website. Do you need to have message boards, blogs, videos, games, what? Are there any particularly good author websites I could borrow ideas from? I did have some ideas at least for the Scarlet Knight stories on the old blog.
Of course the problem as always is when it comes to building said website, my skills are a bit lacking. My website knowledge stopped in about 2001. I think it was about the point when it stopped being relatively simple HTML and started including all this Java and Flash and whatnot that requires a lot more programming skills.
When I made a website for my novel Where You Belong, I knew I couldn't do a lot of bells and whistles. I did something I thought was pretty clever: I designed a fake Wikipedia page for the story's main character. I called it "Wukipedia" and made the graphics not look TOO much like a Wikipedia page so that if they ever found out they might not sue me. (Not like they were going to find out.)
Anyway, I probably need to do more with an author website. So any suggestions of good websites or what makes a good website if you go to author websites?
Man, I've never really thought about an author's website before. You aren't planning on half-assign this, are you? I have no thoughts on the topic at all.
ReplyDeleteWell, except that it seems like a lot of work. You sure you want to go down that road?
Half-assign. Stupid auto correct.
ReplyDeleteSidebars. I like sidebars. I want to see what the author is into. This helps me know them better. So check out sidebars and see what you can do with yours. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI like M Pax's author site: http://mpaxauthor.com/.
ReplyDeleteI don't go to author's websites except the first time I hear about it to check it out. I like Amanda Hocking's that got put together by St. Martin's Press.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I never plan on having an author website. I'll just use my blog. I'll never be a "big" enough author to warrant anyone outside of the five people that buy my book to actually "need" an author website. It sounds more like an ego thing. "Hey look, I have an author website". Honestly, what would I even put on it. The cover art of my book(s) and then some funny .gifs and .jpg's I find online? As you pointed out...I already do that on my blog.
Maybe I'll just be lazy and run everything off my Amazon author page. It'd be nice if they had a more compact link for it. This address isn't really memorable:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Patrick-Dilloway/e/B006TLOCJE/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_4?qid=1326128906&sr=1-4
That's hard. I have seen so many author websites that SUCK. Either that, or they have so much Flash Player graphics that you can't even find the content. In general, I think the cleaner the better.
ReplyDeleteAnd a video game would be awesome!
Ah ha, here's a better link to my Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/author/patrickdilloway
ReplyDeleteI'm no one special (yet) and only have a few books out. But I turned my Wordpress page into my author page and to be honest, I don't know what the hell I'm doing either. It's like a blog plus other crap. I just bought a domain of Go Daddy and went from there.
ReplyDeleteThat was extremely unhelpful, but good luck!
I bribed my husband to make mine. Yet I found a free template online that I really liked and it was pretty easy - in his opinion! - from there. Cruise around and see what catches your eye.
ReplyDeleteI think an author website is a good idea. I planned on doing one before I started the blog, and, for the moment, I let that be a substitute. I know that I can't put together a website myself (heck, I can't even figure out how to change the background on the blog to something custom), and I can't afford to pay someone to do it. With just one book at the moment, I figure it probably doesn't matter that much.
ReplyDelete