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HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN WEBSITE (or two) Tips from our January workshop DO... Have an author website. Why?
Hire a professional if you can afford it. (See sidebar) Use it as a marketing tool:
Keep a blog. Strictly speaking, blog is short for "web log," or a journal that is open to the public. Today a blog can also be your entire site, with photos and files you want to share. Think of it as a place to share your thoughts on the art and craft of writing, writers and books you like, news about what you're working on or public appearances, brags about publications and awards. Use it to let your readers know what you're about and how you work, and to keep them coming back to your site. Update regularly. Change or add something at least once a month, and make sure the change is visible from your homepage. A blog makes it easy to post something new, however short, and keep things fresh. Put the new stuff on the homepage. New title or public appearance? Blog update? Put it right on your first page. Don't just stick a link to "what's new" out there and hope people check it every time. Make it the first thing they see. Offer web-exclusive material. Think of these as your DVD extras, such as:
Spread the word. Include your website in your email signature, on business cards, in your bio. DON'T... Be complicated. Keep your style and your navigation simple. Some major design don'ts:
Be long-winded. No matter how spectacular of a writer you are, visitors to your website want it short and sweet. We read differently online than we do in print, and short chunks of text are much easier to digest online than long gray paragraphs. Look at the format of this page as an example. We have a lot of info to convey but try to keep it "bite-size" and still informative. Save your lengthy prose for your book! Violate copyrights. Most pictures and graphics you see on the Web are copyrighted. Educate yourself about what qualifies as public domain material. Do the right thing and pay for images you really want to use. When in doubt, ask for permission to use something. This includes text of articles or reviews of your material. In general, you may use a snippet of the text and then link to the complete article on another site. Get too personal. Whatever you put online is there for all to see. Don't give away any information you wouldn't want a stranger to have. This includes photos of loved ones. Consider this story from our panel member, Sheri L. McGathy: An author friend of mine said he used to post family pictures and such, little insights of his life/family outside of his writing, to make his site more "personal" for the reader. Used to. He discovered that the better known you become, the more strangers you have visiting your site. He took down all personal family references when a reader wrote to say that his 6-year-old daughter was "HOT!" Let your domain name expire. If you register your own domain, keep up with your renewals or someone else could snatch it up. Just imagine when you're wildly famous and people would give anything to have your name for their own website! |
GET STARTED Here are some of the resources mentioned at the workshop for starting your own website. FILL IN THE BLANKS Many sites give you a free, ready-made template to fill with your own content. There are many available, but here are some of the most popular: BUY A DOMAIN This means having a web address that you pick and pay for, such as www.janewriter.com -- as opposed to janewriter.blogger.com. You pay an annual fee to retain the rights to your domain (aka your URL), and you also must pay a service to host your site. Some companies offer both services in a package deal. Check with your Internet provider; most accounts already come with web space available. Or try sites such as: You choose whether to build the site yourself or to have someone do it for you. Cost: Hosting usually costs $10 or less a month. Domain registration starts as low as $4 a month. But prices can vary greatly. Look for a package that offers both at a discount. Around $90/year is reasonable. HIRE IT OUT A good designer can give you a polished, professional look, and often will take care of the domain registration and hosting setup for you. Make sure you get the username and password to access your files. Once the site is built, a designer's work is done, and it's your job to keep things updated. This option is best for those who have some experience maintaining a website. On the plus side, you have total control. Where do I find a designer? Word of mouth is best. Get recommendations from people with websites you admire, talk to friends and family, even contact local colleges for web and graphic design students who would love the extra income (ask professors to recommend someone reliable). Cost: Expect to pay at least $300 to get a simple site off the ground. Most designers will charge by the page and the complexity of programming required. |