Your web page on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads

Laer Carroll

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You don't have to have a dedicated web page on WordPress or whatever. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Goodreads all provide a way to let your possible readers know about your books.

As soon as you have even one book published, you should sign up for Amazon's Author Page. It lets you add a photo and a bio of yourself, although you COULD post any image and text. More importantly, there's a button a reader can click so they can add an email address. This way every new book added to Amazon automatically triggers a notice to your followers about the addition. East peasy. You don't have to have any site which you maintain.

Goodreads is similar. Also it lets you add a link to your web site, if you have one. You can also link to your social networking sites such as Facebook. I don't really see the utility of that, but maybe I just don't understand its signigicance.

B&N author page is just a bare bones listing of all your books, but useful still. For one, like the other two it lets a reader new to you find your other books and preview them, then buy them if they like the preview.

Here are my links to Amazon, B&N, and Goodreads so you can see what you might get if you use their services.


https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Laer Carroll"
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6490844.Laer_Carroll
 
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Marissa D

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No one says you have to have anything. But I still wouldn't be without a website because I control it, and can add whatever I want to it--freebies for readers, pages of background into for my stories, cute pictures of my rabbit, a blog or news updates--whatever. It's the same reason why many authors consider their best promotional tool to be a newsletter--it's under their control and not at the mercy of a corporation that doesn't necessarily have your best interests at heart.
 

Sheryl Nantus

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Get a website. You can write it off for taxes, and it allows you to put up links to ALL the places your work is available - along with free short stories and the like, if you wish.

Nothing screams "amateur" more than handing a business card to a contact and having the link be to your Amazon page, IMO.

And I agree about the newsletter - MailChimp is good, free at the basic level, and allows you to do what you need to do to advertise. Highly recommend it!
 

MaeZe

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Domain names can be had for $10/year. I use NameSilo. I have domains for my pen name and my book title but haven't made web pages yet.
 

AW Admin

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Get a website.

Even a free Blogger site with a domain you own.

You want to be able to control your namespace. Always. You want to know that your website is the hub for all traffic.

Yes, you should consider having an author page on LibraryThing, GoodReads, and Amazon, in part to make sure that they all point towards your site.
 

williemeikle

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Yep, always have a website. Those of us old enough to know, know that pages in other people's spaces can come and go ( hello, MySpace) but your own site stays with you. I've had mine over 20 years now in its various incarnations.
 

LARRYD

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I agree with everyone about the necessity of a website. Something important I learned about too late is how important it is to build an email list and you have to have a website to get one started. I'm playing catch up with that now wishing I had started years ago. Amazon and Goodreads profiles are great, but it doesn't allow you to connect with your readers the way you can with your own website and email list. While having your own domain name is best, you could start with a free site from someplace like WIX. There are a couple of different companies that offer free websites and hosting, but of course their name is part of the url for your site. Still, I think that's a better option than the free blogging platforms because you can create a more professional looking site using drag and drop technology.
 

Laer Carroll

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The author pages on Amazon etc. can only be used if you have at least one book published. And as others have pointed out you also need your own web site as well. You probably should create one as soon as you get serious about becoming a pro writer.

A site can be created in just a few minutes. You can fill out a few basic parts in just a few hours, such as a brief bio or the background for a series you're planning, maybe in just a very vague way. But one that reflects you and your writing in just the way you want, your "brand," takes both artistic and technical expertise. It takes time to develop this expertise. This is why you should start very early in your career - before you need your site.

This doesn't mean you need to slave away at the job. It's best to START SLOW. TAKE BABY STEPS. STAY SIMPLE; an elegantly beautiful and usable site is much more compelling than a hugely complex ugly one.

Many people (it seems from posts in this forum) think a web site must be a blog. It doesn't have to be. Luckily, if you want a blog for your professional site, WordPress lets you incorporate one. On mine I label it NEWS and it’s the front page of my site. Every week or two I post a short message about some new book or movie or TV show, or some interesting event - something I believe fans of my work might find interesting. It's not a lot of work; like most of us I'm always coming across things like this.

Then when I'm ready to query agents for a book I've already got a web site to show how serious I am about my career. And it looks good and has some followers.