The Value of Author Websites

Yesterday I had the chance to attend an industry professional development session with writer and techie-guru Lori Culwell of bookpromotion.com.  The focus of the presentation was on author websites, and their value to your (ie. the writer's, the publisher's and the agent's) bottom line.


Here are some of the big ideas from Lori's presentation:


1)  Y'all (writers, agents and publishers) should know what comes up as the top-ten items when you Google an author.  That first google page is what the vast majority of your "visitors" will see- be sure it's full of good things, and ultimately, things that can lead them to purchase your book!

2)  Today's readers, especially fiction readers, want to feel connected to the author.  A contemporary writer must have an interactive online presence to hook readers, and keep them hooked.

3)  Writer's should have control of their own domain name, and control it's hosting.  Free websites are NOT recommended, as the writer ultimately does not own the content, and/or cannot change or update the content over time.  Owning your domain and paying for hosting are small investments that will pay off over time.

4)  The subject of an author's novel doesn't have to be the only fodder for online discussion.  Does the author write about vampire love, but have a passion for basket-weaving?  Great!  Add some tweets or a blog post or two about things other than their writing life.

5)  Nonfiction writers need to establish themselves as an authority. So, they should be spending time blogging, posting, writing articles, and tweeting about everything and anything to do with the subject matter of their book.  Build a presence in the real world, and establish credibility within their area of expertise.

6)  Take advantage of the many forms of web statistics available.  Find out how to capture emails, track who is visiting the author's page, and use that information to reach out to audiences new and old.

7)  Photos can go a surprisingly long way.  Google images for example, is a source readers and online shoppers frequent.  Be sure to take advantage of this not only by posting lots of pictures on various subjects, but also by tagging all of your photos so they lead back to your website and your book.

8)  Make buying the book as simple as possible.  Have links for individual booksellers that go directly to the purchase page for your particular book.  [According to Culwell, online shoppers have short attention spans, so make purchasing fast & easy, or risk losing the sale.]


Lori Culwell covered so much in such a short period, but she is clearly an authority on the subject, and a great person to reference.  You can tweet her at @loriculwell or check out her website bookpromotion.com.


~Michelle In Turn