PHOTOS

iStockphoto

Getty Images
Fotosearch
Fotolia
Feature Pics
Dreamstime
Big Stock Photo
123RF
Free Digital Photos
Free Stock Footage
Phoenix Clips
Footage Firm

AUDIO

Opsound
IStockPhoto
Sound Dogs
Partners in Rhyme
eStock music
QTR Note
Shock Wave
Pac DV
Incompetech
Derek Audette
CD Baby
Music Loops
Jimmy Gus
Stock Music
Music 2 Hues
In The Hands
Free Play Music
Royalty Free Music
Public Domain 4U
Ghost Notes
Jamendo

PLACES TO LOAD IT:
www.youtube.com
www.trailerspy.com/
www.dailymotion.com/us
www.vodpod.com/
video.yahoo.com/
www.metacafe.com/
www.dailymotion.com/us
www.vimeo.com/
www.veoh.com/
www.blip.tv/
www.revver.com/
www.brightcove.com/en/
www.bookshorts.blip.tv
www.bolt.com
www.dropshots.com
www.castpost.com
www.flukiest.com
www.ourmedia.com
www.Phafare.com
www.podesk.com
www.tubemobul.com
www.trueveo.com
www.in.com

And a link to the video you most liked from the day:

Swept: Love with a Chance of Drowning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_qAoQth9Wk

Thank you again for being such a great audience!

Jeannie

This makes it so much easier to link your content to other pages on your site.   If you’re on a self-hosted version of WordPress, you can easily update from the link at the top of your dashboard that says: “wordpress 3.1.2 is available! Please update now.”  Click the “Please update now” and then choose Automatically update and voila! You’ll have the newest version.

The link ability will then automatically change when you’re ready to link a section of content.  As usual, highlight the content, hit the link button and click on the new line at the bottom of the window “Or link to existing content” — this will expand to show you the content you currently have.

WINDOWS USERS

Because these are Windows keystrokes, they work whether you’re in Photoshop, an HTML editor or WordPress.

If you’re ever in need of keystrokes to call up a specific symbol, search for your character map on your computer.  Find that here:

Start Menu > then All Programs >> Accessories >> System Tools >>Character Map

This will show you all the symbols and their keystrokes.

Here are the codes below to a couple basic special characters you might use.  To get these to work, press and HOLD the ALT key while you hit all of the numbers in order.

— Emdash symbol: Alt + 0151

© Copyright symbol:  Alt + 0169

® Registered Symbol: Alt + 0174

™ Trademark Symbol: Alt + 0153

MAC USERS

Not being a MAC user, I hope these are accurate. If you try them out and they aren’t please let me know.

© Copyright: Option G

® Registered: Option-R

™ Trademark: Option-2

— Emdash: Option-Shift-Dash[-]

http://deniserobbins.blogspot.com/2009/12/making-of-connect-dots-book-trailer.html

And here are the videos we’ve done for her:

CONNECT THE DOTS

(for which my husband produced the soundtrack)

Click here to view the embedded video.

KILLER BUNNY HILL

Click here to view the embedded video.

IT HAPPENS IN THREES

Click here to view the embedded video.

And be sure to check out Denise’s new book coming up as well.  Great cover!

NEVER TEMPT DANGER

She never thought of her “gift” as special, more like a curse.

As the one man who accepted her “gift” slid the diamond ring onto her shaky finger, Maureen saw his death flash in her mind an instant before the bullet struck. With his blood on her hands and a government research project in the balance, Maureen (Gilly) Gillman does the only smart thing she can. She disappears. If there was one thing Maureen had learned, it was Never Tempt Danger.

Special Agent Lucas Danger knows Maureen Gillman better than any other man. Assigned to find Gilly and her military robot prototype, Lucas discovers that his past has caught up with him. When the woman he loves collides with his secretive past, Lucas has to open his mind as well as his heart to save Maureen.

Who will get to her first?

Visit Denise at www.deniserobbins.com

Here’s the temporary design we used — taking the angel and devil images that are signature to her WIPs and Chains (that’s work-in-progress, for all those of you with a less-than-innocent mind).  Stay tuned for the real deal, but Heidi made me promise to keep this one around for future use.  (And check out the cover of her upcoming book — is he not gorgeous??)

Today’s post is going to center on the website for the aspiring author (the unpublished writer working his or her way to publication.)  The Unpublished Writer’s Website is a topic of controversy, apparently.  As I did a little snooping around the web, I uncovered very different opinions.  Some highly recommend having one, others tell you to focus only on your writing and forget about a website for now.  And other opinions weigh somewhere in between.  The truth?

They are all correct.

Do You Need One?

Deciding if you need a website at this stage depends on two things:  where you are in your career and what your goal in having a website is.

If you have not finished and polished and perfected at least one book, your focus is better spent on writing.  A website is not something you need at this point and in fact, it could possibly hurt you down the road.  If you create a site too early in the game, it might not reflect you or your writing in the best light.  The best thing you could do at this stage of your career is focus on becoming the best writer you can be.

But let’s say you have a finished, edited book.  It’s so polished, it shines and you’re ready to submit to agents and editors.  Is it time for a website now?

The answer depends on you.

First, you need to ask what your goals are.  Why do you want one?

• Are you looking for an agent and/or editor?
• Are you looking to network with other writers and authors?
• Are you looking to start building a platform or online presence for yourself?
• Are you looking for that perception of “Serious Writer” within yourself or from others?

If your sole reason is getting an editor or agent, stop worrying.   You don’t need to have a website to get the agent you want.  A reputable agent or editor will take you and your book on because they love your work.  Not having a website isn’t going to change their mind about requesting to see a full or offering representation.

But it’s very possible that agents will look at one if it exists.  When I talked to one of my clients, Kathleen Bittner Roth, about why she chose to have a website at this stage of her career, she told me, “All you have to do is read a few agent blogs and you’ll get the picture in a hurry—if they are interested in you, they will check you out. I am a firm believer that when you want something, you must act “as if” from the beginning.”

And that thought is echoed in some of the agent comments I’ve read. On the Pubrants blog, Kristin Nelson discussed a conversation she had with an editor about whether they visit unpublished author websites: “For both of us, the answer was ‘yes.’ When reviewing sample pages where we like the writing, we’ll often give the writer website a glance and see what’s there. I don’t bother if the sample pages haven’t caught my interest.”

So while it’s not necessary to have a website to gain the interest of an agent, be aware that they will look.  If you’re going to have one, make sure it is the best it can be.  That doesn’t have to mean professionally designed, but it does need to be professional, with good, informative content.

Who Is Your Target Audience?

You’ve heard the saying “Content is king.”   In order to make your content relevant, however, you need to understand who you are marketing to.  If your reasons for wanting a website span the four questions then your target audience breaks down into two main focus groups:

Agents/Editors

• Other Writers & Publishing World Contacts:

Most people visit websites with a “what’s in this for me?” mentality.  This mentality is a staple in the Features vs. Benefits aspect of marketing.  For every feature a product offers, it’s the benefit to a customer that sells it.  For example:  McDonald’s advertises a playground for kids and a happy meal with healthy options like apples and milk. Those are features of the store.  The benefit is a quick, cost-effective meal that provides good nourishment and safe entertainment to keep kids occupied.

The benefits sell to parents because it meets two of their most important needs: good food and an entertained child in a safe environment.

When you are considering what to include on a website, you need to think about what your audience needs:

If agents and editors are viewing your website, they are already interested in your work.  They are looking to see what else you offer and a little more about you.  Your website, for this audience, serves as an online resume.  Ultimately, they want confirmation of what they already think (which often means not having something on your site that proves that opinion wrong).

Other writers and authors are looking for someone to connect with.  They are also looking to network and learn more about you.  They are visiting because they’ve already begun to form an opinion about you and they want to connect further.

When it comes to your website, you are leading out of the gate – they already want more or they wouldn’t be there in the first place.  Now is the time to show off your best side.

What to Put on Your Website

The most basic element for a good website is function.  At its core focus, a website is a tool to inspire a specific action on the part of the viewer.  If you’re published, that action is easy: you want the visitor to click and buy your book.

As an unpublished writer, the action you are hoping to inspire is a little more vague: you are trying to instill a perception, an impression of you that stays when the visitor leaves your site. If you read last month’s post on brand, you’ll remember this phrase: Your Brand is Your Promise.  It is also their Perception.

It’s an important element of brand that is often overlooked.  A brand is not only set in your efforts, it is set in someone else’s opinion about what you’ve offered.  This extends to your website – the final judge is the person viewing.   Everything you include, from the design to the content, can help steer their perception of you.

Design

On the Pubrants blog (http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2008/03/talking-websites.html ), Kristin Nelson says, “Don’t have a website/blog unless it can be a professional one. The homemade sites look it and just make me cringe. It won’t keep me from asking for your full (or if I like the novel, offering representation) but it’s not putting your best foot forward and that’s never a benefit.”

I’m going to qualify Ms. Nelson’s statement (and hope she doesn’t mind).  When she says professional, I don’t believe she means it has to be designed by a professional.  It has to be professional.

What does that mean?  To me, the best litmus test you can give your website design is whether or not you would print it out and hand it to that agent or editor in person as a representation of you.  Would you be confident that you’ve handed them something that will steer their perception of you in a positive light?

When asked why she chose to have her site professionally made, aspiring author Kathleen Bittner Roth told me, “My response goes right back to acting “as if”. I have been a successful, self-made business woman and I learned way back that putting anything other than your best foot forward is going to cost you in the end. So, for me, a professionally designed website is cost effective in the long run and a wise business decision. Every writer has a dream of who he or she is (not wants to be, but is)  and I believe a person’s website is the perfect opportunity to present a visual representation of this dream—a good website is a multi-layered symbol of what and who you are as a writer.”

Kathleen touches on one element that can be vitally important in connecting with other writers or showing a good side to an agent or editor.  Sometimes, having a website changes your perception, and that cannot be undervalued.  You are your best advocate, so if having a website gives you more confidence and belief in your abilities, it’s worth it.

If a professionally designed website isn’t in your current budget, there are a number of templates and easy-to-create options out there that will give you a functioning, professional and simple website.  Keep it simple if you’re building it yourself.  If you want to leave it to the pros, visit other writer and author websites and look for the ones you like.  There will usually be a designer’s link somewhere on the site, and you can see their portfolio and style and pricing.  I recommend researching at least a few before deciding.

Focus & Content

The other aspect is the focus of your site and what content to include.  This brings up the question about blogs: should you have one?

If building a platform and networking with other writers and authors is part of your focus, then a blog is a great opportunity to do just that.  One example of a successful, well-focused blog is The Lovestruck Novice (http://thelovestrucknovice.blogspot.com/), started by aspiring author Sarah Simas.  When I asked her why she decided to start the blog, she told me, “I wanted to create a site other aspiring authors could swing by and get in the mix with published authors. In the interest of making the blog unique, I decided I’d “grill” my author guests with questions on writing and the publishing industry in a fun, high energy, and entertaining way.”

Her blog is a mix of her own entertaining posts on her writing and life, interviews with authors and with other “novices” to watch.   Focus and content wise, Sarah has done a wonderful job of creating an environment for her audience and establishing her own personality.  Building a platform was a part of her goals, and she’s doing just that.

However, a blog like Sarah’s takes a lot of work.  She posts three days a week and spends from 3 ½ hours up each week writing, posting and promoting.  Making a successful blog takes time and effort.  This type of commitment may not be what you’re looking for at this point, in which case a blog is probably not what you want on your site.

So sans blog, what other options do you have for content?

There is a world of options when it comes to relevant content to put on your website.  Remember the audience and their goals:  form an impression and connect with you.

Start with the basics:

About You – Your site should include a few paragraphs about you, how you started writing, and what you write.  If you include a photo on this page, it should be a professional, nice one.  Again, professional doesn’t imply you paid to have it taken. It means you look professional in it.

Work/Books/WIPs –Your website should give a snapshot of what you’re working on.  Include working titles, genre, word count.  Whether or not you include blurbs and summaries of your WIPs is up to your comfort zone (and for a look at both sides of this, see this post (http://jeannieruesch.com/wordpress/?p=2940).  List content finals or wins.  List any articles you’ve published or other related work.

Contact Information – Be sure that there is an easy way to contact you on your site.  Include an email address or a contact form.  And if you’re active on social networks, include links to those as well – and include them prominently.  These are actionable links by your visitors and ways you can connect more personally with them.  Make it easy for someone to find you.

And make your site personal by adding other content:

With a focus on your writing, you could embellish your sites with facts, tidbits or interesting stories.

• Include fun research facts you’ve discovered.  Chances are if you found it different or interesting, someone else will too.
• Make playlists of songs that inspired you while writing or that match the tone and emotion of your stories, like you’ll find on Adrienne’s site (http://adriennegiordano.com/bookshelf/).
• Pick out elements that are highlighted in your book – recipes, pets, causes, an historical era, whatever you can pull from your site, and build a page or section of your site around that.

And before you say, “I don’t know what would be interesting enough…”—think again.  Yes, you do.  Do you write sassy, strong heroines?  Make a section of your site about strong women you admire. Do you write alpha males? Focus a section of your site on alpha males in the world – perhaps with a focus on the careers of your characters.  Dig into your stories and find what makes them unique, find what inspires you within them and build that into your website.  It offers even more compelling ways to connect with you as a writer.

And don’t underestimate connecting as a person.  Even two people who have nothing in common can talk for hours about a favorite TV show or movie.  Put some personal touches on the site:

• Try a list of your favorite things: books, music, television shows, and movies.  When considering “favorites” to include, look for things that connect people, rather than separate them.  Unless it’s part of your platform, staying away from politics and religion is always a good idea.
• Include links.  It’s wonderful for both networking with others and your search engine results.  Offering a links page to helpful resources, other authors, chapters, research sites, or whatever else you want to focus on offers a chance for those websites to link back.
• Do you have a hobby or additional job that would provide useful information to other writers? By all means, create a page to share your expertise and knowledge.

Ultimately, think outside of the box.  Kathleen Bittner Roth did that by adding an “Unbook trailer” to her site (http://kathleenbittnerroth.com/).  Without a book or need for a book trailer, she found a unique and entertaining way to add content to her site.

To summarize, for the unpublished author, your website is a place to build a bridge between you and your target audience.  For agents and editors, it means presenting yourself professionally.  For other writers and connections within the publishing world, it means offering a common ground.  If you keep that in mind, you can’t go wrong.

What’s the next level you can take your website to once your author bookshelf has books stacked and your readership base is growing?   You have a website that’s been focused on your author brand,  you offer updates and new information often, but you want more interactivity, you want to reward your readers with a deeper connection to you and your work.  How do you do that?

Now is the best time to truly shift the focus of your website.  In other stages of your career, your website was a place to show yourself  to other writers, agents, editors, reviewers and while some of that may still be true, your ultimate goal should be enhancing the reader’s experience: immersing them in your world(s) and offering more connection to you, the author.

The Basic Needs

Before the bells and whistles, you have to make sure you’ve got the basics in order. Basic needs for an established author’s website are mostly in line with everything else we’ve discussed – a solid design that enhances and evokes your brand, a clean navigation and easy-to-use site.  As you gain a larger readership and write more books, there are a few added basics that every site should have:

A simple, printable book list.

This doesn’t need to be fancy, but it should list all the books you’ve written.  If you’ve written series or connected books, they should be listed in order.

A coming soon page.

This is across the board for any author, but as an established author, it’s imperative.  Your readers will come to your site looking to find out when your next book is out.  As soon as you know, let them know.  Provide details on release dates, blurbs, cover, and whenever possible, a sample of the first chapter.

An easy way to contact you.

An established author is going to have fans write to them or want to connect somehow.  Have a contact page that gives all the options you offer.  A contact form, an email address, a mailing address (PO Box, please), any and all social media connections you have.  Everywhere you want a reader to contact you, list those options.

Bells & Whistles

You may ask why you need to enhance your reader’s experience through your website.  Aren’t the books enough? Or your Facebook page or twitter, or your blog?

Yes and no.  Some readers won’t ever visit your Facebook page, your twitter account, or your blog.   But your website is the one place everyone will come when they want more: more of your books, more information, more connection to you.

We’re writers, but we’re also readers. If you’ve ever met one of your favorite authors, then you know that in some ways, to a reader, an author can be like a celebrity.  Readers feel connected from your books, and just like we’re all curious about what our favorite celebs are up to, we like to know about our favorite authors.  That connection helps to build a reader’s loyalty, their trust.   And offering more for them on your website shows the reader that you value them – that you realize that your career wouldn’t be what it is without them.

So, what sorts of bells and whistles can you add to enhance their experience?  We’ll study some examples of bestselling authors and what they share with their readers:

Epilogues, Deleted Scenes & Other Short Stories

Giving more of your stories is a great way to draw your readers to your site and keep them immersed in the world you created.  One fabulous example of this is Julia Quinn’s 2^nd Epilogues for her Bridgerton series.  Her tagline for these is terrific: “Because happily ever after is a whole lot of fun.”   The offer the “story after the story” for one of my most beloved series.

Another author who has done this is Susan Elizabeth Phillips, who offers an epilogue to Heaven, Texas.

You can also choose other routes, such as deleted scenes.  Caridad Pineiro offers deleted scenes from a number of her books, as well as free reads.

Readers love more of their favorite stories.  It’s why series, especially in romance, are so successful.  When we fall in love with the characters, we want to keep reading about them.  These are great options to give a little more to your readers.

Micro sites

A micro site is a glimpse into the world of your books.  One example is Brenda Novak’s LAST STAND series.  She has a micro site available from her website (it requires flash to see) that showcases this series – the lead heroines, cases, chapters, and all wrapped in the design idea of the “offices” of the Last Stand – which works with her series premise.

If you have connected books or long-standing series, a micro site dedicated to your book’s world and characters is a great way to get your readers that much more involved.

More Information About The Author

Readers love to get to know their favorite authors.  There are a ton of different ways you can do this.   One I think is particularly enjoyable is on Lisa Gardner’s website.  She has a video called “A Day Living with Lisa Gardner.”  The video is funny, in tone with her books, and a great way to make readers laugh.

Other options, outside of the traditional “About me” paragraphs can be quirky Q&A.  Kristin Hannah does this on her website, and it’s different and fun.  (And she apparently hates onion rings.)

Get Behind The Scenes

Readers love to delve into the world of how you created their favorite books.   Look for ways to bring out special details that aren’t anywhere else – more than just settings, character bios.  Look for unique tidbits.

One of my favorite authors, Karen Rose, offers trivia on how she created her books: http://www.karenrosebooks.com/krose-trivia.htm .  It’s a great insight into how some of my favorite characters and stories came about.  I love reading these, as a writer and reader – it’s fun to see where she gets her ideas and how my favorite books come to life.

One of the best workshops I attended at the National RWA Conference was on how a cover was created. It was run by the amazing Kate Duffy, and she walked us through the variations of a romance novel cover – we saw the different versions, the changes and why they were made. It was fascinating.   While you may not be able to offer something like this to your reader, there are other details you can offer.  Things that you changed along the way and why.

And as someone who always watches the “How it was made” section on DVD movie releases, I love knowing what’s behind the scenes.   I love seeing the special effects in movies, and readers love knowing what went into making a book.

Fan Clubs

Fan clubs can be a tricky thing.  They can be called a number of things: fan club, registered readers group, etc, but it boils down to your loyal fans looking for a deeper connection with you.

On Eloisa James’ website, her “registered readers get: a whole level of eloisajames.com available only to registered readers. On these pages you will find short stories, extra chapters to Eloisa’s books, special bulletins from Eloisa, photos and other exclusive items.”  As well as advance notice of news and books.  Her website also has an “easter egg” hunt ongoing, and registered readers get hints on the game.  Her fan club is a place to play and get the inside scoop.

This level of connection has to be unique, because these days, readers can connect with you in a variety of ways: facebook, twitter, other social media.  What you offer in an exclusive group is essentially a bargain: I’ll give you, the reader, special access in exchange for your email address and agreement to send you updates.  It’s the author’s way of remaining connected to the reader and rewarding loyal readers with ways to make them feel special.

Interactive Additions

One good way to get readers active on your website is a forum or message board.  However, use caution with this because boards can take time to build, and if they aren’t kept up with fresh content, can quickly become stale.

I love the concept that Eloisa James & Julia Quinn joined their forums together into one.  It’s a great way to connect with readers of the same genre and build a stronger base for activity on the board.

Taking Your World Into Theirs

The next step would be to provide options that bring your written world off your website and into the everyday world of your readers.   There are a few ways to do that, from simple and inexpensive to luxurious and interactive.

Bling

Bling is always good for giving goodies to your readers.  This can be a variety of things from buddy icons, wallpapers, to downloadable/printable bookmarks and more.  Buddy icons can be used on message boards, forums.  Wallpapers can grace your reader’s computer

Games & More

Another option is to look into 3D games such as Second Life, and build a world that your reader can navigate through in 3D with their own avatar

Or look at creating a game about your books.  At the “Nora” level, taking the next step involved actually creating a game based on the world and characters in her Bride Quartet series, where you can “be” a character and truly interact with her world on your own time, away from her website.

Other options include apps for phones and more.  These get expensive of course, so choose what fits within your budget and always, what enhances your brand.

It Has to Work.

There are no limits to how interactive you can get with your readers.  But something to keep in mind with the addition of new perks, new games, new information, more details and more interactivity, is the most basic needs of a website: Keep it simple.

Your navigation needs to expand and grow with your new features, but overall you want to be sure your readers can find things without much effort.  Brenda Novak says, “I think the key to having a good web site is making the information quick and easy to obtain, while making the site as interactive as possible, with content that constantly changes. As the site grows, so does the amount of content, and it’s imperative that it be organized in an intuitive way so that it doesn’t frustrate the visitor. Otherwise, it becomes a waste of time and effort.”

Frustrating the visitor can be easier than you might think, especially when your website is full of information.  Your main navigation should have easy, recognizable headers such as “about”, “Books”, “extras”, “Contact”, “Links”, etc…  Look across most author websites and you’ll see the same navigation titles.   Don’t get cute here, don’t try to think up something original – this isn’t the place for it.   The more content you offer, the simpler your navigation needs to be.

So load up on the added features, get interactive with your readers but remember to keep your website simple, focused and professional.

Originally published at Romance University.org – Be sure to visit to read the comments for more indepth Q&A.

So here’s the first bit of news, which might be startling wake up call to those of you who fit into either of the above categories.  If you are newly published, which means your book is already on a shelf somewhere (virtual or real), and you don’t have a website?  You’re behind the curve.  In fact, you might be approaching D status on the Marketing Report Card.  A new author’s website provides a multitude of functions – ones that include helping you to gain readers, reviews, attract attention and more.  As an Author (with a capital A, cue the drum roll), your audience is wider, more varied and has different needs.  Therefore, your website now has a checklist of elements it should provide.

If you don’t have a website and you have a book out, then print this article out, find a website designer you love, and get ready for the sprint of your life.  You need to catch up.   If you are an author with the contract under your belt and a “release date” looming in your future, you are right on track.

Do You Need A Website?

Yes.

It may seem blunt and unnecessarily scare tactic-y, but the truth is that for an author in today’s world, a website is your best marketing line of defense.  It is an absolute necessity.

And for an author with a release date on the horizon, the website isn’t going to be the only marketing consideration you have, but in all likelihood, it will be the one that everything feeds.  Think of ads you see in magazines, on book review websites, bookmarks, business cards – everything lists a website address.  A website is the place where most everyone will come to find you when they want more information.

You need to provide that information in a timely, professional manner.  According to Kristin Nelson, of Nelson Literary Agency, “that website should be up and running when the catalog copy is being done for your book.  Why? Because your publisher is going to be sending out ARCs to reviewers and to other terrific people who have the power to give you a plug, and it’s at that moment in time when they might want to find information about you and the book quickly and easily.”

Which leads to one other point of distinction: Easily.  At this point, you need to have a domain name secured with your author name.  JaneAuthor.com if it’s available or if not, some of the variations I’ve seen are:  janeauthorbooks.com or authorjanesmith.com.  A domain name is a small yearly expense and it’s very simple to set your domain name to forward to any other location.  There is no good reason not to have one of your own.

Mostly, an author at this stage needs to create a professional appearance, top to bottom.   Think of how much attention you have paid to your appearance on a first date. That first impression is important and you need just the right “outfit” to achieve just the right look.  If you present yourself as professional, then people will think of you as such.  If you present something half-hearted, people may assume you feel the same about your career.

Who Is Your Target Audience?

Before looking at what to put on your website, we need to focus on who will be viewing it and what their specific needs are.  In our previous post, we discussed how an unpublished writer’s audience is more inclined toward attracting an agent/editor and building a network of connections with other writers.  A new author has a bigger audience to provide for.  Not only are you trying to attract readers, but you’re trying to establish yourself as a professional in the marketplace among other professionals who have the power to help propel your career.

Your website might be visited by book reviewers, librarians, book buyers, and big name authors as well as readers.   In all cases, two things are true.  These visitors want to delve deeper into the book and they want to know more about you.

Your readers are going to want to feel connected to you and your work.  Whether they’ve read the book already or they are considering buying it, your website can give a nudge into buying this book or remembering you when the next one comes out.  It’s possible that they’ve seen mention of the book somewhere else – an ad, a book review, a comment on a website or social network, or a recommendation.  They are now coming to you to convince them the book is worth their time and money. Ultimately, they are looking for someone they can trust.

How do you build someone’s trust through a website?  Present the authentic you, keep any promises you make and respect the relationship.  Remember that your website, for a reader, is about building upon the relationship you’ve started with your book.  Your work is your shining glory – everything stems from it.  But a relationship is often nurtured by the little things, the small details.  And especially when there might be months to wait in between your first and your second book, your website can maintain that bridge.

Industry professionals are going to want to trust in you, as well.  They want to know that they are putting their name to someone who is professional, serious about their career and knows what it takes to stay in the business.  Every review a book reviewer puts their name on builds upon their reputation.  Same goes for other authors.  When someone is giving their name to further your career, the way you show respect and consideration for that is to present yourself in a way that enhances their trust.

What to Put On Your Website?

So with the audience firmly in mind, what should your website look like at this stage?  We break that down into Design and Focus/Content.

DESIGN

As I mentioned in our last post on websites, I believe the best litmus test you can give your website design is whether or not you would print it out and hand it to someone in person as a representation of you.  Would you be confident that you’ve handed them something that will steer their perception of you in a positive light?

It’s easy to be lax when it comes to what you put on the web, because you aren’t face-to-face with the person viewing it.  But if you had to hand them a printed version of your site and watch and receive their response in that moment, would it change how you look at what you’ve got?  Imagine the best-selling author in your genre who you’d love to get a quote from.  Would you immediately start to think of excuses for why your site looks as it does? Or could you give a big smile and say, “This is the extension of me and my work that I want you to put your name on with a stamp of approval.”

That’s what your website is – an extension of you.  And because authors put reviews and quotes on their marketing material, you are asking for Mr. Big Author’s stamp of approval on you, the Author, and all that encompasses you.  That includes your website design.  Be 100% confident that it represents your brand as a writer well.  Dress your site for the job you want: Successful.

FOCUS & CONTENT

As an about-to-be/newly published author, your website audience is looking for more information to establish their opinion of you and your work.  To meet the barest of basics, you should always have:

A Front Page that provides basic information about your upcoming book.  People should be able to type in your domain name and get immediate facts: what you write, when your book comes out, and where to find it.  They want to know what to expect and when, as quickly as possible.

• A Bio – A few paragraphs and a photo of you.  People want to see who you are.  This photo should be professional and simple.
• Book page – Your book’s page should include a summary of the book (back cover/jacket copy), a cover image, excerpt if possible, and links when available on where to buy the book.
• Coming Soon Page – Have a page that gives details about what’s next from you.   Both readers and industry professionals will appreciate knowing that you’re building a career, not just a one-hit wonder.
• Contact information.  An email address and/or a contact form where someone can get reach you.
• Events & News.  If you are planning a book tour in bookstores, any booksignings, conferences or blog tours, be sure to put that information on your site.  Include dates, links and any relevant information.
• A Way To Capture the Connection.  Don’t let a visitor walk away from your website, waving their hand as they turn their back and saying, “I’ll call you sometime.”  Nail down the next date now by giving them options to let you connect to them:
  • Social Media Links:  Your links to Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks that you actively maintain should be accessible easily.  Preferably on the home page.
  • Newsletter Subscription:  If you have a newsletter, offer an easy-to-find place to subscribe to it.

Beyond the basics, there are plenty of “Added Features” you can adopt. Think of the extras sort of the way you would a DVD release of a movie.  You get the movie and you get more– behind the scenes information, deleted scenes, the ‘making of’ features, and whatever else enhances the viewer’s experience.  That is the goal for everything beyond the basics on your site:  Enhance your website visitor’s experience.

I did some searching on author websites, looking for interesting, unique ideas, here are some websites that get an A for fresh website content.

Character Quotes

Janet Evanovich’s site – the header contains quotes from the characters in her books.    I LOVE this idea – and for a new author trying to establish a name, what better way to give glimpses of your style?   Where you put this on your site depends on a number of factors – genre, style, site design – but it’s a wonderful way to intrigue a viewer into wanting more.

Deleted Scenes

Every book has them and sometimes, they are scenes you loved, found interesting but ultimately cut from the book.  So share them!  Pick one or two, make sure they shine and add them to your website.  Therese Walsh, author of The Last Will of Moira Leahy, does just this.  A word of caution though:  Choose carefully so your scene doesn’t provide spoilers or ruin something in the reading of the book.

Research Notes

Therese Walsh also provides research articles to share how she researched aspects of her books.  Once readers have delved into a world of a book and loved it, they want more.  Personally, I love the way she’s laid out her pages here and shares photos and words, including quotes from people she spoke to.

Research here, for me, is different than offering a “research for writers” page.  Because here you are trying to instill the same sense of magic and personal voice in the aspects you included in your book.  Did you learn something that fascinated you?  Share the fascination as well as the fact.

Sneak Peeks

You have a Coming Soon page that talks about what is ahead from you.  Include a sneak peek of your work – maybe a few lines, or a character article about your favorite character.

Author Christyne Butler (http://www.christynebutler.com) has a Coming Soon section on her bookshelf that gives all the facts about her upcoming books – as well as includes a picture of the hero and heroine, in her mind’s eye, of each book.   I love this – it’s a bit of whimsy and always fun to connect a book that’s not yet out with a recognizable face.  When the book comes out, the images are removed and replaced with the cover.  But for something that is months out, it’s a great way to instill some interest.

Brand-Specific Interactive Extras

Depending on your brand and the tone of your book, look for fun, interactive extras you can include on your website.  Angie Fox (http://www.angiefox.com), author of The Accidental Demon-Slayer (and others), has a quiz on her website that asks what your ‘biker bitch name” would be.   This fits perfectly with her voice and tone, and it’s fun for the reader.   (Mine is Spaghetti Neck Stella Fast Pants, if you were curious…)

These are just a few of the extra ways you can enhance your visitor’s experience.  And don’t forget the ones we mentioned for unpublished writers, because those will work as well:

• A music soundtrack for your book

• Favorite Things Lists
• Links
• Highlighted elements of your books – recipes, causes, an historical era, whatever you can pull from your book and share in a way that furthers your voice and style.

I’d like to add one note about pulling elements from your books.  Be sure it’s something this section fits YOU, the author, as well.  For instance, I’m not a fan of cooking.  Most anyone who has read my blog posts knows this.  So if I included a Recipes section on my author website – unless they existed of “Get in Car. Drive to Chili’s.” – it would seem disingenuous.

Everything you put on your website should have a purpose.  And when you’re considering what to include, ask yourself these questions:

• Does it enhance the visitor’s experience and connection with me?
• Does it further my brand?
• Does it feel genuine?

And since I haven’t said it yet…congratulations on your new or upcoming book!

I know for a lot of you, the idea is daunting.  You have writing to do.  (And likely other jobs, a family who would like to see you once in a while, and sleep would be nice, as well.) When are you supposed to tweet? Or Facebook? Or make a video with sock puppets?

It all starts with a plan.

The way we communicate with people is changing.  The world of PR and marketing is beginning to embrace this – the Old Spice Guy’s twitter/Youtube phenomenon is truly one of the most inspired uses of modern day marketing I think I’ve ever seen.  But a campaign of that scale required massive planning ahead.  The Old Spice marketing folks didn’t just hop on Twitter one day and say, “Hm, this could be fun.”  They made a focused plan of action, with measured results to justify it.

Let me back up a little bit.  Some of you are probably familiar with or heard about the Old Spice Guy.  But let’s summarize the overall campaign from a marketing perspective.

The goal: To use social media to interact with a younger, newer audience and breathe new life into Old Spice. Venues included their twitter account and YouTube, plus gathering responses from a number of other social media connections.  (And even if you don’t give a whit about Old Spice, check out the YouTube channel.  See image to right for a good reason.)

The plan of action:  Get people on many forms of social media to shout out to oldspice and ask questions.  These questions were then responded to on the Old Spice YouTube channel with targeted, brand-focused short videos.

The response:  Huge.  You couldn’t log onto a social network, much less twitter, without seeing @oldspice somewhere.  It was an unparalleled success.  The commercial was also nominated for an Emmy.

What does this have to do with you?  A plan of attack for social media doesn’t have to involve large sums of money, video responses and more.  But you do have to walk into the social media circle prepared, understanding what you’re in for and what you want to achieve from it.   So today, we’re going to start with Twitter.  It doesn’t matter whether you are published or not, there are ways to use twitter to your advantage at every stage of your career.

Step 1. Set Your Goals, Have a Plan

First, you need to decide what you want to gain from it.  Be realistic and consider where you are in your career and what your needs are and how twitter can help you meet them. Do you want to learn more about the industry? About specific agents or editors? Network more with other authors and writers?   Do you want to build an audience for your books? Decide what you’d like to achieve and then build around that.

And just like you would with any business plan, there needs to be a basis of measurement in place.  The above are generic goals.  Learning more about agents/editors is a great goal.  But what does it mean?  Drill down to specific goals.  Figure out why you want/need to meet that goal.   Let’s say learning more about agents is one of your goals. Why?  Are you looking to query soon? Getting info on who would be right to represent you?  That’s a terrific goal and for those agents on twitter, you can definitely meet it

So your plan of attack needs to get specific.   Choose 5 agents on twitter that you want to know more about.  Perhaps that you’d even like to get to know a little, and have them see your name as well.   Follow the steps below to meet your goal of getting to know these 5 agents.

Let’s say you have a new book coming out and your goal is to start building an audience.  Perfect.  Now who does that audience look like?  Decide on a specific goal.  Let’s say you write murder mysteries set in a bakery.  Someone who might appreciate your books would be those who love to bake.   Turn that into a goal: Connecting with twitterers who talk about baking.

The more specific you can make your goals, the more sense the Steps into Using Twitter will make sense.

Step 2. Follow, Follow, Follow

Follow People

Let’s say your goal is to build a network, get involved and become a more relevant player in the industry.  The first step to using twitter to further this goal is to start by focusing on those in the literary world.  Find literary agents, publishers, authors and other writers to “follow” (which means you’re signing up to see their tweets).  Following is easy and it takes very little time.  And if you’re not sure where to start, here’s a place:

Go to my twitter account at http://www.twitter.com/jeannieruesch and click on who I follow.  You’ll see a variety of agents, publishers, editors, some authors and friends among the mix.  Click the option to follow any who interest you.  The best way to find people to follow is to see who others are following.

I also have a list I update on a regular basis of agents and editors on twitter.  You can find that here: http://jeannieruesch.com/wordpress/?p=1307 .

Find discussions.

The wonderful world of twitter has a plethora of chats on a regular basis – many of them literary based.  People join a chat by including a hashtag. For example, #romuniv would be a hashtag for Romance University.  Anyone could participate in a conversation about this.  It’s a wonderful way to engage with new people, who you aren’t following or who aren’t following you.  The chats brings like-minded people together.

Some literary focused hashtags include:

• #askagent
• #smallpress
• #writegoal
• #bookpub
• #litchat
• #followreader
• #amwriting
• #writingparty
• #amwritingparty
• #authors
• #writechat
• #thrillerchat
• #editorchat

How do you find them? A quick way is to go to http://twitter.com/ and search for the tag above.  So type in #litchat and anyone who has used this hashtag will show in the results. One of my favorites is #writegoal.  It’s a terrific way to connect with others writers doing just what you’re doing.

Building an Audience From Scratch

Let’s look at building an audience for your books.  If you’re writing fiction, your audience isn’t going to be those talking about writing.  You’ll need to branch out into finding followers and discussions that you can engage in.   Deirdre advises: “For writers of fiction, you’re doing searches on subject matters and really getting into the consumer realm.  If you think your books are being read by stay at home moms, maybe you’re focusing on mom bloggers who might even be talking about the books.  You’d be listening for something completely different. Focus on keywords; really observe how these folks are communicating.

Look for conversations about authors in your genre.  If your genre is romantic suspense, see which competitors’ books are being talked about, where they are being talked about, and who is chatting about them.  Those are topics communities are built around.”

Two aspects here: The first one is finding subject matter niches.  Let’s look at the mystery books in a bakery audience.  We imagine people who love to bake might like your book.   So go to http://www.twitter.com/ and search on “baking cupcakes.”  Is this something you know about?   Is there a discussion you could participate in?

This is also a terrific way to learn about who is reading your genre.  I write regency-set historical romance.  One of the best-known authors in this genre is Julia Quinn.  I can search for Julia Quinn on twitter to see who’s talking about her books.  There, I see people discussing historical romance – that’s my audience.   I can follow those people and begin to listen to discussions on books and discover how I can participate.  I’m sure there are some of you saying, “This feels a little like cyber stalking.”  J  Most users of twitters love followers.  If they don’t want them, they’ll protect their twitter account.

Social media is about connection.  And what’s better than connecting with someone who loves what you do?  Or reads what you read?  Connecting, following, joining in discussions is part of the community.  Your responsibility is to respect it.  Remember that Twitter is not about selling.  It’s about sharing.

If we look back at the Old Spice guy, not ONCE did they sell their product.  In fact, they turned their concept into being about the community.  The community asked the questions, the responses were made to them.  It wasn’t about the Old Spice products.  It was about the people.  That makes all the difference. It’s why it worked.

Step 3:  Listen. Observe.

Read and observe for a while and keep your fingertips at rest.  Don’t engage, don’t respond, don’t jump in.  Take the time to listen.  A few months ago, I had the honor to interview social media/PR guru and author Deirdre Breakenridge (@deirdrebreakenridge) on this topic.   She reminds us, “These are communities with a culture.  You really need to observe people and their behaviors and the sociology of the group, how they interact, the information they are sharing and what makes them excited.  As you watch and observe, discover where you fit in into their community and what you can contribute that would be relevant. As an author, I did a lot of listening and observing in different communities.”

Consider it sort of like moving to an entirely new country.  (In some ways it is.)  You wouldn’t just get in your car and drive around (possibly on the wrong side of the road), chatting everyone up without having some sort of sense of the culture, the expectations, or what you could say that might thoroughly offend someone.  (If you would, well… there’s no helping you then. )

With Twitter, it’s easy to tune someone out.  It’s even easier to unfollow them.  So some of the biggest mistakes people make on twitter includes jumping in and immediately pursuing their own agenda, marketing themselves.  No one cares.  Not yet, because you haven’t given them a reason to weigh your tweets as anything other than self-interested.

Imagine being in a room with twenty people. Would you walk in and immediately start selling yourself or your books?  No, because they’d quickly tune you out.  Twitter is no different.  Settle in, get to know the people and then you’re ready to join in.

And actually, you’ll find that doing so helps make this not so overwhelming.  It can be daunting to figure out what to tweet about, and if you’re like me, half of what you think of writing seems stupid.  Listening and watching how others interact within the community is a great way to learn what you want to achieve with Twitter.

Step 4: Decide how to participate

Now, it’s time to engage with others.   So let’s get back to the game plan.  If your purpose is to network and becoming a bigger part of the writing world, you’ll need to engage in the conversations on writing.

Start with one chat group. Perhaps the #writegoal one, to connect with other writers.  Share your experiences; respond to those who write theirs.  Offer encouragement.  Or if you’re going more toward industry professionals, look to #litchat.  Read the discussions previously held, and begin to form questions, comments.  That’s your opportunity to engage with others, to join the community.

You also need to set your expectations for how you want to use twitter versus what others are using it for.  Quoting Literary Agent Janet Reid from her blog: “One of the great ways to make twitter a total waste of time is to follow someone who isn’t using twitter for what YOU are using it for.”

Not everyone responds to replies. Not everyone does searches by hashtags.  Some people use it as an extended version of IM to chat with friends, coworkers and others and pay no attention to anything else.  Others use it extensively to converse on topics, offer advice, and such.  Check out their pages, see what they tweet about most and adjust your expectations from this accordingly.  Remember the golden rule of tweeting:  Observe.  Listen.  Then engage.

If we take the mystery-book-in-a-bakery author looking to build an audience, the one thing you do not want to do is find that audience of bakers and immediately start talking about your book.  The idea is to listen to their discussions about their specific niche: baking.   I did a search on twitter on “baking cupcakes.” There are a ton of comments about it.  See what’s being said.  Discover what you can add to that discussion, how you can support someone with a common interest.

This is the one area I think people misinterpret using social media.  If you join a conversation with a “let me tell you all about me” mentality, you’ll be ignored before you write your next tweet.  But if you join in and share good info that people can use on that topic, they will see you as a resource.  They might eventually follow your twitter account.  There, they will begin to learn more about you, then about your book and you’ve expanded your audience a little bit at a time.  Not based on the book, not based on being an author, but based on you. The person.

Step 5: Measuring the Results

Twitter can be a great tool– as long as you use it in a way that makes sense for you.  And as long as you realize that it takes time to build results in a community like this.  Unless you have a huge marketing team and dollars behind you to build a plan like the Old Spice folks did, you’ll need to be patient.  Build your audience the same way you make friendships: one person at a time.

Time Spent

And that often means finding time where there is none.  It can also be a tremendous time suck if you let it.

It’s important to focus on your plan of attack, your goals.  Consider your time spent on social media as another part of your business plan.  And just like you would with any other aspect of a job, set a time frame around it, a measure of success.  Can you devote to 15 minutes a day spent on twitter? Responding, reading, searching out new discussions?  5 minutes?  Or maybe every other day.  Whatever makes sense to your schedule, add the time into your daily routine.

Measurable Results: Followers/Information Gained

At reasonable intervals, you need to go back to your plan of attack and remind yourself of the goals.  Did you want to gain information? Network more?  Make inroads with an audience niche? Gain more followers?

Keep track of your gains.  If you want to gain more followers, note the number you started with.  Then six months later, see if you’ve gotten closer to your goal.   If your goal was to learn more about agents, look at the list you made of agents to know more about.  How have you done?  If you wanted to network more with people in the writing industry, again, look at the number of followers you started with.   After six months, has it grown?  Have you participated in conversations?

Part of a marketing plan is the measure of success.  For the amount of time you spend on twitter (or any marketing focus), you need to know it’s worth it.  You also need to give it time to work.  If after six months, you aren’t seeing the gains you hope for, then you need to evaluate your plan of attack.  Maybe change things a bit.  But measure your results, from beginning to end.

If we look at the OldSpice guy, the twitter account has over 100,000 followers.  I don’t know what they started with, but I imagine that’s one measure of success.    Another measure of success is the views of the short videos in their YouTube channel.  Some are over 3 million.  That’s a definite measure of success.

And for all the tricks and tools and lists to follow on Twitter, check out my other post: Twitter For Writers