February 7 question: What turns you off when visiting an author’s website/blog? Lack of information? A drone of negativity? Little mention of author’s books? Constant mention of books?
Honestly, I don’t spend a lot of time on other author’s websites. So, I’m going to flip this one around a bit and you can probably tell my pet peeves by what I do value.
I love it when I go to an author’s website and I can easily find their books with retailer links, their social media links, and their email newsletter. That means the navigation is clear and easy to manage.
My goal is to have those basics in place.
There can be extra bells and whistles, but please, have your books easy to get to first. Make it clear which books are part of what series and their reading order if that is important. And then, if you want, add in all the optionals that your readers like: pet pictures, blog posts, videos, book reviews, and so on.
I edited a book for a gentleman who also had a video about each of his books and a CAD floor plan. I thought that was pretty spiffy.
But what really rocked my socks was how easy the website was to navigate and how he put the entire series order at my fingertips.
As for me, I know I struggle with consistently writing blog posts and email newsletters. But, if I can nail the basics first, then that’s what really matters. (I better go make sure that I am nailing these basics.)
Also, I like it when an author is honest about their schedule or lack thereof. If a book is going to come out next year, tell me. Or tell me you’re not sure when that book is going to come. I understand scheduling, health concerns, and kiddos.
I hope you also have compassion for the slow writer because I have two small children. So, I squeeze my writing into the early mornings before they wake up. That means all writing, editing, blog posts, email newsletters, and other marketing efforts all take place before they wake up. It’s not a lot of time for a lot of work to be done.
My writing, for that reason, is pretty part time, but that’s okay. I have about 10 to 15 hours a week, assuming I get up and am writing two hours before the kids wake up.
And most mornings, the view from my laptop camera looks like this because the little one wakes up crying for mom, then settles back to sleep in my lap.
This is why, I don’t know when I’m going to publish Gold Valley Books 4 & 5 even though they’re written and partially edited. You can read the early versions on my Ream page.
I started a new day job on the first, which is good financially, though I’m not sure what impact it will have on my writing (because I actually wrote this on January 30th), so during January I stockpiled some blog posts for the rest of the year.
What do you like about author websites, and what do you wish I would add to (or remove?) from mine?
Also, Magic Mavens, please read and comment on other participants’ responses to the Insecure Writers’ Support Group question.