#author websites

[literaticat]

Hi Ms JL. You say someone needs a website when querying but what do they put on it? In my case, I have no social media and don't like info about myself online, so I don't want to put up cat/dog photos or my hobbies or whatever. I could put up a blurb of my book that I'm querying maybe? Can I add a sample chapter or 2? No idea what else. I figure most people would have photos/hobbies, articles, but I have no idea what to put up other than the book I'm querying. I don't want personal stuff up. TY.

Actually, I don’t care if you have a website when you’re querying. I think it’s a good idea, personally, to secure your domain name and at least have like, a bit about you as a placeholder with links to social media and whatnot if nothing else? It’s like, the equiv of what business cards used to be? But if you really don’t want to... don’t.

I DO care that you have a website when you are going to actually be a published author, ie, by the time your book is available for pre-order. That’s super important. It would probably be easier for you to do that if you already had the domain name etc, but whatever. Whatever. Honestly. WHATEVER. Just *Have a Website* when you have a book to sell! PLEASE!

[selfpublishingnews]

Mistakes Indie Authors Constantly Make – The Writing Cooperative

And then wonder why they’re not selling more books

Good article from The Writing Cooperative.

A couple of weeks back, I was on Skype with a potential client and as the conversation moved forward, I asked her about her website. And this is how that part of the conversation went.

Me: I’d love to check out your website to get an idea about your work. Do you have a link for me?

Client: Oh yes! My website designer did a great job of it, actually. Here…www.mywebsite.wordpress.com!

Me: Thanks! But is this a personal blog? What’s the link to your author website?

Client: Oh that’s it. That’s my website.

And there it was.

I noticed that she was probably the tenth client I’d consulted with, out of the twenty this year, who had a website link like that.

www.mywebsite.wordpress.com indeed.

Wordpress is one of my favorite platforms, and I’m glad my client chose to go with them, so let’s get that out of the way.

In my experience, most indie authors don’t want to examine what they’ve done to sell books, and don’t want to have a plan either. Which is baffling, considering the fact that they actually want to sell their books.

Their primary question is, “Why aren’t my books selling?”

I’m not going to harp on about hiring a professional editor for your work (which is a must) and starting to build your audience before your book comes out (I’ve said that a million times), because these are steps you, as an indie author should already be taking care of. I’ll be mentioning mistakes that may seem insignificant and yet, are not.

5 mistakes indie authors constantly make:

Click here to read the rest of this excellent piece. Even if you already know what you are doing, this advice should be useful.

[writingdotcoffee]

Unpublished Writers and Websites: Should You Have One and What Should It Say?

If you plan to pursue writing as a professional, long-term career, I recommend starting and maintaining an author website even if you’re unpublished.

[writingdotcoffee]

What's More Important: Author Websites or Social Media?

Social media is widely considered necessary by authors and publishers for book marketing. But is it as important as an optimized author website?

[merrybond]

Author Websites

My sincere apologies to you! I did not have time to write a blog this past week because I was preparing a talk for the Washington Romance Writer’s Retreat this weekend. Therefore, for my blog today, I’m going to direct you to my talk PowerPoint presentation which you can download. I hope you find the information useful! Just slide down to the bottom of the page and look for WRW Authors.  Merry

Author Websites

[jimdjordan]

HOME

Do you have an author website? Post your link in the comments.

[literaticat]

Should I mention my YouTube channel in my query letter? I'm just starting out, so would it be helpful at all? Also, I know querying authors should have a website-- could a YT channel stand in lieu of that?

Last bit first: Nope, a page on YT or [insert social media platform] does not take the place of a website. Just get a dang website. It doesn't have to be fancy, it doesn't have to be large, it doesn't have to be expensive -- even if it is just a landing page where you can have a little bio / "about" and links to all your different social media and contact info. Even if that's ALL you have on it -- fine! Consider it a modern day business card, saving your domain name so nobody else snatches it. You can add more and make it fancier once you have books coming, and I promise you will be glad that this process is already started once that time comes.

(OR, you know. Don't, I guess. Listen, I'm not your mom. Do I think having a website before you even have books is a good idea? I do. But so what? If you don't want to, OK, do it later then. Nobody will offer rep or not based on whether or not you have a website started when you query, so whatever. But once you are more established and you actually have books coming, etc, it will become quite important, so as long as you know that, do what pleases you. But maybe put a bio and LinkTree in your YT or other socials at least?)

With regards to mentioning YT (or any social media) in your query:

-- If you literally just started, the page is basically empty and you have no idea if you will post regularly yet, I'd refrain from mentioning or linking to it until there's something there to see. Nothing sadder than a page with tumbleweeds rolling across it, yanno?

-- If it is something that you do regularly update and you think is a good reflection of you, by all means put it in the signature line of your query, alongside your website, other handles, etc. But no need to call it out IN your actual query letter -- that's valuable real estate where you could be talking about the important stuff, like your BOOK! :-)

-- The exception. when you really SHOULD mention it in the query, is if it is literally, like, your job description, you make money at, or it gives you a big platform that might boost the audience for your books -- in which case it would make sense to add to the bio section of the query. "In addition to writing books about the social lives of animals, I run social media for the Cincinnati Zoo and have a YouTube channel with 1.5 million followers" -- seems like good stuff to mention in your bio to me!