should I make a website?

[PinkAmy]

I had one for 10 years and it was a drag, but now that my memoir, proposal and query letter are finished (in that order LOL), should I get a start a website for my book or is that too presumptuous?

[Angkor]

I also wrestle with this question. And I think it all devolves onto how much time one has to devote to it, because a good webpage, as you know from your own experience, requires constant attention, not to mention recurrent costs. In my own case, I've decided to put it off. For a web presence I rely on my Amazon author page, my publisher's page, Facebook and a blog. These all take up more than enough time to maintain. I figure that if my next couple of manuscripts take off in the form of published books and I actually attract a loyal readership, I'll take the plunge and get a personal web page. Obviously, it's an individual call depending on one's own circumstances. But presumptuous? No.

[Captcha]

I just checked mine - it's gotten over 3 000 hits since I put it up (June-ish). That's not a lot, but I'm just e-published, so I don't have a huge readership, and it only costs, what, $30 or so a year? So if I get 20 or 30 more sales out of it than I would have before, I'm happy.

But if you don't have anything to sell, yet, maybe it's a bit premature.

[benbradley]

A dot-com domain is only about ten dollars a year - that's without hosting (or only free hosting which will have one or more ads you can't control), but it insures you have that domain name for when you really want or need it.

For a domain that's the title of an unpublished book, it's a little presumptuous, mainly because publishers often change the title before they publish a book, so the domain name with your old title won't do you any good.

But for an "author" website, no, I don't think it's presumptuous, but you might look on the blogging (?) forum for hints on making "The Author's Website" look professional so when a prospective agent finds it he/she won't be turned off by it.

[PinkAmy]

Thanks for the input. My old website was a TON of tedious, unfulfilling work. I think I'll hold off until I can at least garner some enthusiasm.

[Gillhoughly]

Sell something first. Use the advance to pay for a fresh new website using your pen name and focus on book promotion. Less is more.

Save the old website stuff to a memory stick.

Took a look at my website and though cleaned up, it's still a mess. I need to follow my own advice, but it's hard to find the time.

And no, I do not want to hire anyone to fix it. My publishers don't pay me enough.

[brainstorm77]

Mmm yeah, what's that web addy again?:D:evil

[AlterEgox5]

I've thought about it, but decided not to bother until I'm actually published. Otherwise, what's the point? People are going to go there - for what? What would I put on it? Might as well wait until you've got something in print and people have a reason for visiting.

[PinkAmy]

Save the old website stuff to a memory stick.

.
Unfortunately, it's too late. My hard drive on my old computer died and the info wasn't retrievable. I screwed up loading the back up to my new computer by rewriting the jump drive after I thought I had loaded :(. Most of the info was outdated, but I lost a lot of really important data that no one could retrieve (I tried 2 different services)

[Angkor]

I have fully developed Amazon author page, replete with my books, bio and blog. I'm very pleased with it. Amazon keeps making improvements. It costs nothing. You just need to have a book published and listed with them. I get pretty good traffic to this site; I include it in my email signatures and my business card. At this point, I don't feel the need to set up my own personal website and I may never do so.

[ianh]

I've done it and you have nothing to loose with regards making yourself know out there. Also could do the social media bit that I am currently trying too get noticed...
Just a thought.
Good Luck.

[Stephanys]

I decided to create a website just after I finished my first draft. I have a graphic and web design background. It just seemed like the logical next step for me as well as a small victory having finally finished a first draft. I'm also using social media to get my name and what I write out there as well as online only content and my trusty blog. Ideally, I'll have a mailing list full of people waiting for my book when it's published. Who knows? It could happen.

[PinkAmy]

Do you have a fan page for your book, Stephanie?

[Stephanys]

PinkAmy - I don't have a fan page. The only people who have read it are friends and family.

Also, I completely redesigned my site this weekend. My gut was telling me from the beginning that it was wrong. Nothing about the site said UF and had nothing to do with the feel of the book or the characters. I think I fell into the trap of wanting to appear strictly professional and came out lacking personality.

Hopefully that bit of rambling above will help someone out.

[RAIMAZ]

I'm biased (cause I can make and host my own projects) but have always felt a website is almost a given now. As a new author who will be looking for publishing I felt if I had most of my marketing stuff done it would make the whole package look more enticing to a potential publisher. I know ultimately it will be how good the book is etc, but also figured it wouldn't hurt to go into a meeting and be like "Yes I also have over 10,000 fans on my facebook, with over 25,000 unique visitors to my website, etc..."

Additionally, I don't know how much marketing publishers actually do, but if it's related at all to the music industry then anything we as the authors can do can't hurt right?

Again, I'm spoiled cause I can do my own art, hosting and development...

~ Rob

[jmascia]

I don't know why everyone is giving such long winded responses to this. It can be answered in one single word - YES!

With publishing today, you very much need a website. I have seen agents turn people down simply because they DIDN'T have one.

[Royal Mercury]

I'm working on a website, but since the book isn't quite finished what do you put on the site to get people interested?

So far, I'm planning a page about the book itself, a page about the author, a contact page, a couple of pages about things relevant to the book but not included in the book, and a google earth tour of the places visited in the book. Are there more things I should do to collect email addresses, and to get people interested in the book and get them to return to the website to keep up on the progress?

Thanks.

[Jettica]

This is why a blog is a good idea because you can talk about the writing process, post snippets of work and generally give people in idea of your writing style/interests etc. But you can also add in pages for past work, contact details etc.