Name domain

I would wait until you have a book or material that's ready for market. Until then, don't fret.

you don't have to do anything-- especially if it is not a common name that someone else might snag

The exception is if you are already publishing on a small scale. For example, I have my name domain and a really basic website, because I'm publishing short stories in lit mags. In that case, it's a good idea to have a website in case someone reads your story and wants to find more of your work. (A friend of mine actually got a contract for his novel with a small publisher, because the editor of the series read my friend's story in a lit mag, googled my friend, and contacted him through his website.)

Shea, I would definitely consider it. $10/year to hold a domain name at godaddy.com and I'm sure there are services that are even cheaper. Think of it this way, when your novel hits the bestseller list and some 50 year old living in his mom's basement registers sheadakota.com and then wants to charge you $10,000 to get the rights from him, won't you be kicking yourself in the ass?

Like Blondchen said, it's pretty cheap to register your domain, especially of your goal is to publish at pro level. It's expected now that authors have websites.

I didn't go through the process of registering and purchasing hosting until I sold my books, and now I'm working with someone to design the site. Since I had no prior publishing credits, I didn't need a site yet. And my name is rare enough that I didn't expect it to be snatched up before I could get it.

For a domain? You can register whatever you want! You need to put in a user/billing name but you can also check the privacy box to make sure no one can see who registered the site. You can also do it for the title of your books or series, although I'm assuming that publishers would do that once they decide to print your novel. Every time my husband sells a TV show, I buy the domain name, just in case.

I reserved my name in both .com and .net

Only $20 a year so why not?

sheadakota said:

I know actors have to do that- but writers?

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I'm not sure what you mean by "have to." There is no legal or moral requirement to have a domain name of any kind. It's entirely a marketing consideration. If you want a domain name, for whatever reason, buy it.

If you decide that you do want one or more domains, you can buy whatever domain name you like, as long as someone else doesn't already own it. As for what domain name to buy, that again is entirely a marketing consideration. You might want a domain for your name, or your pseudonym, the title of your book, the name of your series of books, something else entirely, or any combination of those. Your choice of domain names depends entirely on your approach marketing. There is no "have to" here.

If you're pretty sure you're going to want a domain name at some time in the future, it may be worth it to snag the name now. The only reason to do that is to prevent someone else from snapping it up before you do, to make sure it's available when you eventually decide you want to put content there. I'm holding resistance-as-a-resource.com for a non-fiction book that I may or may not ever finish (can you guess the topic?).

Dale