As some of you may already know, I have a writing alter ego. This “good
twin” writes contemporary romance further towards the non-erotic end of the
spectrum, though still with plenty of heat. In this identity, I have a three-book series coming out from
Avon Books in the spring, and I need a website!!
I’ve been checking out various author websites, trying
to narrow down what clicks for me and what doesn’t. Then I
thought, why not throw the question out to the big wide world?
So … I’d love to hear what you think about these questions:
What do you want to see in an author website?
Do you like it if there’s a blog integrated with the website?
Do you read author’s blogs? (Other than the NNN, of course!)
What do you like to see authors blog about?
Do you have a favorite author site, and why do you like it?
What keeps you coming back to a site?
Do you have a pet peeve about author sites? Something I
should no way, on no account, ever consider doing?
Anything else you’d like to add? Feel free!
By the way, the first book is called “The Fireman Who Loved
Me,” and will be out in May 2012 under the name Jennifer Bernard.
Thanks for your help!
Posts
8 comments:
Okay, what I like to see is all the books in order so I can tell which comes first in the series.
Blog yes, I like to know the random/crazy/funny things authors get up to.
Timely, I'm looking at my blog too. Fastest way for me to click off before the page has even loaded? Music that autoplays. (Or videos--a big name author's site had an autoplay video that drove me up the wall when I tried to go to it.)
Also, no flash -- I do most of my websurfing at night on my iPad, which of course can't handle flash. If I'm not on my iPad I'm surfing on my phone, so make your site mobile-friendly. (That's what I'm having to work on right now.)
As Anonymous said above -- a booklist that shows the order of the books if it's a series.
I love deleted scenes/inside peeks into the author's view of characters/play lists/free reads/extra content, that type of thing.
Hmm, this is going to be on my mind all day now...
My preference is when the blod and website are together, so I don't have to go hunting around to find things.
I love exerpts and stories written especially for the website. I have a list of about 20 blogs that I visit every morning.
Which ever way you go, it needs to load quickly when I call it up.
I personally think a blog on a website is nice to keep in touch with the authors. I'm not a big fan of newsletters..
I so agree with Leah - NO FLASH - iPad no likey. I love a blog connect to a website but understand it can be very time consuming and would rather you be writing ;) so a little message to us or even a newsletter to up date us or tell us what's happening would be nice.
Of course I love my NNN blog my other blogsI frequent is Smutketeers and International Heat.
I want to know what's going on in your writing, life, and what's inspiring you. Deleted scenes and character talk is great! I'm not huge myself on sneak peeks but I know lots of others are- I'm too impatient for those lol. Best of luck and I can't wait!! Xoxo
This is good stuff! My web designer and I are in the process of "reorganizing" my website. It won't look different but I need to reorder my books and add a few things, so I'm reading these comments with great interest!
I like a very simple website, which is why I just had mine re-done to be uber easy to use. Also, I stopped having an official blog. I don't tend to read other authors' blogs all that much, and I'm not very good at blogging myself. I think readers like free reads, and extra information about the series, vignettes, etc.
Maybe deleted scenes?
I like the complete list in order, too. I also like to know when the next book is coming, and if it's part of one of the series' I already read. I understand that sometimes the author doesn't know the exact date, but it can be frustrating for the reader to be given a vague date. I like a blog, but if you are going to write one, you have to keep it up - if I go to a website and the last blog entry was dated 2 months ago, I won't rely on anything on the site. I go to my favorites pretty much every morning; I look at this site, the Amazon freebies/bestsellers and the Heroes and Heart breakers website regarding books. I check out Fantastic Fiction quite a bit too, for release dates and series lists.
Good luck!
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