Writers' websites

A clean design. No flashing things. Useful information. I don't mind a pleasant blog.

Neil Gaiman has a good site to go by. Stephen King's isn't bad. George R. R. Martin's is less than impressive, but it does the job.

I like to read about the author or to have a FAQ about how they write, where they get their ideas from, etc. I don't like something that takes 10 minutes to load. Also, anything along the lines of, "PLEASE BUY MY BOOK!" is unprofessional and annoying.

Agreed, no Read my book please! crap. A tasteful store, or a tasteful page of links where the book can be bought. Odds are if they've stumbled across and spent time on the author page, then your books aren't in danger of not being bought. Or at least, there's less danger than if you have a weird and garbled site.

maddythemad said:

I like to read about the author or to have a FAQ about how they write, where they get their ideas from, etc. I don't like something that takes 10 minutes to load. Also, anything along the lines of, "PLEASE BY MY BOOK!" is unprofessional and annoying.

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I've been wondering what to put on the FAQ page I set up on my site. I like these ideas. What other questions should be answered, at least as a start?

Thanks!

Melanie

Melanie Nilles said:

I've been wondering what to put on the FAQ page I set up on my site. I like these ideas. What other questions should be answered, at least as a start?

Thanks!

Melanie

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I don't know. Who you are, how you got there, what you write, why you write it, when the book's coming out, who it's coming out through, what you'll be doing to promote it, stuff like that.

My FAQ page would probably be sarcastic and completely made up, so I'm not the best person to get advice from...

I've just added a FAQ page to my site with no FAQs on it.

I've got photos of me and a friend getting drunk - is that good?

Anything that fits the freaking screen no matter which computer I am on and does NOT have a flash intro.

If bios are insisted upon, I would prefer they be on their own page.

Simon Woodhouse said:

Also, cheesy photos of the author – these come in two forms, the deep and meaningful 'thinker' pose, or the happy, smiley face.

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Or the Stephen King 'spooked' look.

Or the Alan Moore 'I have just feasted on your first born' look.

I don't get it, if broody is out, and smiley, what' left? Kind of bemused?

Annoying things:

Lots of moving graphics/ugly graphics: If an author designs the site themselves, the site often ends up with some truly hideous graphics and/or moving gifs. I think many people go immediately for the first graphic they see and figure it'll be okay--it's a graphic, after all--missing that some graphics are really inappropriate, and then take it two steps more ... if one like that is good, ten is better, and if it moves, it's even better. Moving graphics are for teenager sites, not for professional writer sites.

Flash: I really hate having to go an extra step to get into the site. Flash adds nothing for me. Unfortunately, a lot of the best selling authors have flash on their sites.

Bad photo of the author: One in particular should have never been posted. She wore a cheap looking t-shirt, had stringy hair and was frowning (thankfully, it's been changed). On another site, the picture of the author is on the main page, and it's enormous! I have a 20 inch monitor and it fills my screen.

Any kind of spamming: One POD author had gotten herself banned for having her Web site link in her signature line. Why? When you went to her site, there was a really big picture of her book on the main page, saying "buy me." If that wasn't enough, every link on the site was either "Buy the book" or "represent me" and "by the way, I do screenplays, too" and "Did I mention I have a book?"

Good things:

Easy to use navigation: This is always, always a plus. If people have to stop and figure out how to use the site, they'll leave.

Theme: A nice theme the author has the site built around. I ran across one for a writer who wrote Hawaiian mysteries, and the site has a Hawaiian feel to it.

Good color scheme: A good color scheme that stays professional looking but doesn't look quite like everyone else's.

Graphics: Well chosen and thought out graphics that add to the site and enhance the content, not distract from it.

Toothpaste said:

I don't get it, if broody is out, and smiley, what' left? Kind of bemused?

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Gleefully evil, that's what.

Linda's right.

One of the first things you learn in web and graphic design is to use fewer graphics and simpler site designs. The fancier stuff is generally done by amateurs. It always amused me.

(It's mostly the same with writing too, if you think about it.)

Melanie Nilles said:

I've been wondering what to put on the FAQ page I set up on my site. I like these ideas. What other questions should be answered, at least as a start?

Thanks!

Melanie

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Try the basics:

Where do you get your ideas?
Do you have any advice for new writers?
How did you get started writing?
Can you look at my story, novel, idea?
How do you get published?

Melanie Nilles said:

I've been wondering what to put on the FAQ page I set up on my site. I like these ideas. What other questions should be answered, at least as a start?

Thanks!

Melanie

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Well, a lot of my favorite authors' websites answer things like:

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

How long do you write every day?

Who reads your drafts first?

How do you find character names?

Do you have any advice for new writers?

Who are your favorite authors?

How do you choose a subject to write about?

Are any of your characters based on anyone you know?

Etc, etc, etc. Hope this helped.

Woopsie, double-posted (is this the word I mean?) with Linda Adams.

Check out mine (I know, shameless plug). I think it's simple, and no obnoxious "BUY my book NOW!!!" It has some news (although I don't update it frequent enough), book links, some samples, and a BIO/Q&A section. I try not to put too much "How to write" stuff in it because I think that's preachy -- who gives me the authority anyway? However, there is a link to my blog in which I do talk about writing stuff.

I think good web design requires:

- easy navigation. Shouldn't have to click more than 3 or 4 times to get to something.
- ample information to keep your readers informed and entertained, but it shouldn't be a maze.
- easy on the eye. There's so much you can do about themes, colors, etc. but do go easy.
- uniform look and feel. It looks professional and also doesn't confuse people: Are they still on your site or not?
- no blinking graphics, huge pictures, auto-play music, big ugly fonts, contrasting colors.
- Flash is okay, but it can be annoying to those who don't like Flash animations.
- contact info, or at least a guest book. It shows that the author is willing to connect to the readers.
- bio or personal stories, anecdotes, etc make the site friendly.
- use a smaller (800x600) screen size and everything should fit in the screen horizontally. It's a hassle to have to scroll right to read something for every line. Vertical scroll is fine but if you can fit everything in a single screen, it's better.
- limit the size of your graphics -- there are software to downscale the resolution. Under 100K is generally acceptable. If you have video or music files, try to stream it.


I see a writer's site as a billboard and also a "portal" for other stuff, such as blogs. I don't update my site all the time because I don't treat it as a content-rich e-Zine, but it does link to my blogs which I update more frequently. I think if you make your site more user-friendly and multilayered, it will stand out.

I am loving this thread. Taking many a note. And then I shall discard them all and do whatever I bloody well want!

No seriously, this is awesome advice.

And for heaven's sake, don't have a black background with itty bitty white text. Completely unreadable.

I like black background with black text. It adds mystery to any site.

Carrie in PA said:

And for heaven's sake, don't have a black background with itty bitty white text. Completely unreadable.

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Hey, I resemble that remark!

Yeah but you get away with it 'cause you're nearly as hawt as Joaquin.

maestrowork said:

Hey, I resemble that remark!

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Sorry.