Marketing your book in the 21st Century is all about social media, social media, social media. It’s easy to forget that having a home base, so to speak, on the web is an important part of building your brand.
Unfortunately, you can’t just throw up a landing page anymore and call it a day—author websites need to be active and comprehensive. Let’s talk about what your author website should look like, and when it’s not going to work for you.
- · Aesthetics
The ultimate thing to remember here is that your website isn’t for you—it’s for your reader. It should be an easy-to-navigate place where they can creep on you in peace.
I don’t care if you write dark urban fantasy, it is NEVER a good idea to make your blog background black, or your text neon and in multiple sizes. And please, for the love of the Oxford Comma, don’t use Helvetica, Comic Sans, or Papyrus.
The goal is to appear as professional as possible while also inserting a little personality into your site. I’m a big fan of the little doodles on the side of John Green’s website.
- · Back-end Basics
HTML might have been all the rage in the ’90s, but a website that runs off an old system isn’t going to impress anyone.
Building a website from scratch can cost thousands, but luckily, a high-quality website that looks great from the front end can be had for little-to-nothing. Sites like WordPress and BlogSpot are customizable and have lots of great templates to choose from.
- · Content and Consistency
As a writer, it’s hard to know when to stop writing a lot of the time. How do you know what information to include on your site, and what to leave out?
An empty website will help no one. Nor will a site that displays literally everything you put online.
Wise Ink recommends including a few pages on your site:
o Landing page
o Books page
o “About the Author” page
o Contact page
o Calendar/News
o FAQ (optional early on, necessary when you grow your followers)
o Blog (optional)
The main thing to remember with a blog is that consistency is king above all. Even if you only post once a month, the important thing as that you’re CONSISTENT with it. If you’re not going to blog, don’t do it.
Readers, what other suggestions do you have for author websites? What websites are your favorite?
