It was time and past time for a new/updated website. I finally bit the proverbial bullet and have hired a fella to bring the site up to speed. With a new book coming out in October (finally!) and with little prospect of actual in person events to promote And the Crows Took Their Eyes, a good website seems crucial.
So I've spent most of yesterday (it was rainy) creating new content for the new pages and searching my files for pictures to adorn them.
HOME was simple -- book cover, brief synopsis, advance praise.
Next up was ABOUT VICKI and even typing those two words kinda gives me the willies. (What are the willies, anyway? Nevermind, I probably don't want to know.) The thing is, I was raised with the idea that one doesn't talk too much about oneself or heaven forbid, seem to brag on oneself. But ABOUT THE AUTHOR is a part of every writer's website so I settled in to try to give a brief overview of my life and alleged writing career.
More pages to come-HISTORY of the Massacre is next on my to do list. And eventually maybe DISCUSSION GUIDE. What else do I need?
Ay, law.
That reminds me. I also finished up a piece for Mystery Readers Journal. But I'll let Miss Birdie tell you about that tomorrow.
11 comments:
A new website is exciting! You'll need a books page, with all your books listed and links to sellers. If Malaprop's will have signed copies, make sure you have that specified with a link to them. Also, along with the big places have a link to independent bookstores (bookshop.org).
Hmmm, I just went and looked at a dozen or more authors' sites and the only one that is well set up is Laurie King's. I did the one for our church with another person and it isn't easy to get it to be enticing, informative and nicely laid out. Good luck with it!
What a good business-woman you are. Being creative somehow makes the retailing of work a bit more difficult (at least for me.) I'll be happy to see the results. Good to hear you've got a pro to help out. In art school we were first confronted with the need to write an "artist statement," describing why/how we create what we do. That wasn't half as hard as writing a one paragraph bio. Good luck on that!
I think the best decision is to hire a guy to speed up the site. It is better to spend your personal time on the creative process ...
Once it is up and running smoothly I hope it mostly takes care of itself.
Are you going to have a separate site for all your pictures and Josie updates?
Authorbytes did a fabulous job of designing a new site for me... then I promptly became seriously ill and haven't published a book since. I've left it up, though, since all my books are still in print and I live in hope of finally finishing and publishing my wip, and a lot of people have complimented the content of the site. They seem to especially like the articles on writing. A section devoted to writing is something you can consider.
Great idea, Sandy -- I had a FAQ section on the old one that was mostly about writing-- I can incorporate soe of that into a Writing section
The Josie stuff will still be my blog. There'll be a link to it from the website.
LOVE THIS IMAGE!
And can't wait for the new book!
Maddee James at xuni.com recently put together a website for me, and I have to say, I love it. Wish I'd had a "pro" do it sooner. A suggestion from her was a page for some of those things that just don't seem to really "fit" in other categories. So we added ETCETERA. There are photos there from past book cons, signings, etc., newsletter archives and a couple other things. It's been handy.
Hooray for Miss Birdie. I am so looking forward to your book. I've done a lot of reading on the massacre to prepare for it.
What about including something on how you first learned of this incident in history? What prompted you to look into the massacre and what made you decide to go down the rabbit hole and write a book about it? Did a "Character" jump fully formed in your head and land himself/herself into the thick of the action?
For readers who might, after reading your book, find themselves wanting to know more, you could consider a section of links to historical resources they could investigate.
And, of course, there must be active links to sites for purchase!
Kaye- Etcetera is a terrific idea!
Gwen- I've been working all day on that very page, explaining the history and how it grabbed me and the whys and wherefores of the various characters. Plus links.
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