Back in February I whacked out a post about all of the nutzoid things that authors do or don’t do on their websites that drives me crazy. It generated a lot of interest, and comments keep trickling in even though it’s now buried in my Rants & Raves Archive. Some readers agreed with my points, others didn’t, but the best comments offered new gripes that should be avoided at all costs. I couldn’t resist compiling them, and sharing them in a Part II, or whatever I’m calling this follow up.
Before I get into the new suggestions, here’s a shortlist of what I listed on my original post, The Ten Biggest Mistakes Authors Make on Their Websites.
1. They don’t have a website
2. They don’t have a blog on their website
3. They bury stuff under a rat’s nest of links
4. They don’t offer link-bait for bloggers
5. They treat their website like a can of Coke instead of a carton of milk
6. They don’t have a picture of themselves
7. They don’t promote anybody but themselves
8. They don’t play on the vanity of bloggers by linking to their good reviews
9. They don’t interact with their fans
10. They don’t offer a high-resolution image of their covers
Okay, so here’s a list of additional no-no’s that comes directly from the comments…
- They don’t have a comprehensive backlist of their books
This was mentioned by several commenters, so I can’t assign credit to any single person, but I should have put it in the top ten myself. This obviously applies to authors who have huge backlists, like Linda Howard, ah-hem, but there are several big-time authors who do it right. Nora Roberts and Jane Ann Krentz have very good lists, and I appreciate how the information is organized. As one commenter said, don’t send us to Wikipedia looking for a decent book list. For shame! Another commenter named Lanta pointed out that we want more than just the titles and covers too — please include the blurbs. How else will we know what each book is about?
12. They don’t choose a flexible, WYSIWYG web design/maintenance tool
Before I explain this one, I want to give Jeaniene Frost credit for citing this common mistake. As a new author, it must be hard setting up a professional-looking web presence with limited funds and no experience. I’ve heard several authors talk about paying people to set up their websites, and then feel trapped because they have to pay for every single update. That’s a bad set up. By all means, pay someone to design a brilliant template with smoking hot graphics, but make sure that you remain in control of the site itself, and that means getting your hands dirty. Fortunately there are a whole bunch of WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) applications that take the mystery out of web design for laymen like me. Blogging is a wildly popular hobby, and there are a host of programs that are relatively easy to learn, and work like a charm.
13. They don’t list their international covers
Never forget that your audience is global. It’s too easy to be U.S. centric, especially for those of us who live here, so if you have covers for international versions of your books, be sure to list them right alongside the U.S. versions (this was from WonderBunny). We readers are naturally curious, and it’s fun to compare and contrast the cover art. I also argue that contests should be open to readers everywhere. What’s a few extra bucks when it means that you can include all of your fans? Those green forms at the Post Office aren’t all that terrible to fill out. If your contest is for a published book (not an ARC), then consider using The Book Depository to send your prize. They don’t charge for shipping, even on international orders. I just sent a prize to a winner in Scotland last week for $6.99 total. Yep, that’s the book, plus free shipping, and no tax. It costs me well over $13 to mail a book to Great Britain when I ship from the Post Office, and that’s just the shipping cost.
14. They go for too much Las Vegas-style razzle dazzle
This one comes from Marta Acosta, and I can’t believe I missed it. No annoying flash graphics or music. Ack, music is the worst, and it really puts your fan on the spot if she happens to click on your website while at work. No one wants to hear “Like a Prayer” blast out of their computer speakers anyway. Make sure that your homepage loads fast and smooth too. You might have a really cool gimmick or widget that makes everything sloooowww. Be sure to weigh those flashy graphics against the basic performance. That’s part of the reason why I redesigned DSB’s homepage recently. I had a huge widget that was slow, and I changed it up for a small one that’s fast. It’s not as pretty, but I think it’s worth it.
On a side note, quite a few people disagreed with my notion that authors should have blogs, but I respectfully disagree. I don’t know if casual readers realize just how little information publishers provide about the books they sell. It’s virtually nonexistent at times, and to get book bloggers talking about their books, the author herself needs to become a fountain of information. The best way to do that is to maintain a blog, and throw out tidbits about their progress, about their upcoming projects, and about signings, interviews, contests, etc. All that can be accomplished quite handily via a blog format, because bloggers like me add author blogs to Google Reader, or whatever tool they use to track dozens, if not hundreds, of blogs. Fresh information is like catnip to a blogger. A smart author feeds that addiction by popping up on book bloggers radar with information that is not available elsewhere.
And here’s my next idea…
I’ve been wondering if I should do one of these lists for book bloggers, now that I’ve nitpicked the poor authors to death. It seems only fair, but if I tackle this list I’d like some help from the authors, bloggers, and readers who regularly visit DSB. I was thinking we could put together a list of the best features and the worst sins that we book bloggers do on a regular basis.
If you’d like to contribute, just email me with something good and something bad that you see out there in the blogosphere. It can be anything really, whether it’s design or content related, but I ask that if you want to cite specific examples, i.e., single someone out, then let’s only do it for the positive stuff. Who knows? Maybe we’ll pick up some good ideas, and I’m always looking for ways to improve DSB. Oh, and I’d like to give everyone credit for their tips, so I’ll probably quote you directly.
I won’t have time to publish this until late April, so there’s lots of time to think it over and share your thoughts.
