Creating a website as a writer

When I began writing I was asked two questions. Was I on Amazon's list and did I have a website?
I have the website. It features my book covers which are buttons that lead to excerpts, reviews, links to Amz, B&N online catalogs as well as where to buy from bookstores. I also have contact information. I had a bio posted but I took it off. No one seemed to read it.
C

Okay...go here and read this thread, don't worry it's not too long:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123767

zanizh said:

Thanks for the info. Actually, I've got design down pat, I've even got domain and hosting down pat. What I'm looking for is help and advice about content and how beneficial this is at this beginner's stage in my career.

Great advice for noobs on the web scene, though.

Click to expand...

Okay...what do you think is normally beneficial to a write early in their career (not web limited).

What kind of time are you will to put into it?

When I first created my website, I never thought about what I was going to put there...it was just a collection of writings and things I liked doing. Now I knew I wanted to be a write since the 8th grade which would have been 5-6 years before my first website.

I blog, mainly because I like too. But do I market myself well...no not at all.

If you are gearing your website towards something...how much data do you need? Bio, projects, news....google some of your favorite writers and see what they've done. Some have tons of pages, some are simple online brochures, others have the full on blog thing going.

Don't worry about attracting agents and publishers...that's not the best way to go at the moment. The most successful websites cater to fans of what you're trying to sell. If you aren't published, or don't have a gimick, then do what you like...you may be surprised.

Web sites are a huge time sink. If you want to be a novelist, work on that. Write, write, write. Don't spend time fine-tuning the web site until you have something to promote.

You don't need to put a great deal of time into the website if you don't want to. However, if you are using it as a way to promote yourself, you would need to put in a number of hours on your website every week.

I made my website to serve as sort of a digital business card, with some basic info about myself and my writing, and a couple sample stories. I made the agreement with myself that I wouldn't put out a website until I made 5 short story sales, otherwise I didn't feel as if there would be enough to merit having a page.

I figure if someone reads a short story out there of mine, maybe they'll want to know more about my work and see what else I've written. Eventually I hope to have a novel listed on there also. I guess a website could boost your reputation if you've got really good content on there, and it might make people more familiar with your work and more likely to buy your book. It certainly couldn't hurt. But you've got to get them to visit in the first place, which is the tricky part.

Nicole

I've found a website useful with short stories. I've not had much published, but it's already been handy (people have found my email and/or blog address from visiting the site).

For a pure novelist, I'm not so convinced. Will people be looking for you when there's nothing to make them look? I can't see it'd hurt though (as long as you don't get distracted from writing).

You should check out Patrick Rothfuss's website. He does have one book published, but what has made website popular is his blog. He talks about his book and his life and he interacts with his readers. Because of viral marketing, he was able to raise over 50k for a charity this Christmas.

So really, I guess I'm saying that if you blog and have something to say, then a website can be a great marketing tool. But if you're just doing a placeholder online, then its probably not going to help too much.

I should add that I had no idea who this writer was until I heard about his charity thing through different blogs and started reading his website. Now his book is on my wishlist.

I'm not sure that a website is any use at all until you're published and even then, not until people are actively seeking you out. After all, the web is awash with blogs, websites, facebook pages, my space fan pages and forums etc. It doesn't matter if your site sparkles in the sunlight, people won't go looking for it unless they know it’s there :0)

Saying that, once you're established a website is a great way to have your fans access information about you, or interact with you. I personally don't blog because I don't think I'm interesting enough ( and it's a huge distraction from writing) But my website has a newsletter and a link to my occasionally updated DA journal. Fans of the book and literary festival organisers etc have used both those things to contact me re readings or questions, or to send fan mail directly to me.

I know that my publisher established a separate website to promote the book itself and have made a lot of sales that way, but folk certainly wouldn't have looked for that site or known about the book without the usual old-fashioned advertising via reviews in print media, radio interviews and in-store publicity in large chain book shops etc. So, in my experience ( and that's all I can give, right?) the sites themselves have been a ( powerful) supplement to the traditional old-school methods of promoting a published work, but I doubt their effectiveness without the backing of those more traditional methods.

Just because you asked for links, my site is www.celinekiernan.com

and the official book site is www.moorehawketrilogy.com

Best of luck!