Every month or so, I like to scour the web and see what other authors are doing with their online marketing efforts. After all, what better way to find great ideas than from others doing similar work.
But what struck me today as I was reviewing a few sites was the brilliance of these author website ideas … and the serious lack of professionalism in presentation of execution.
Here are two examples. Apologies in advance to the authors in question. I hope they can view this as constructive critisism.
Case Study #1: PixyMusic.com
What it’s doing right: Well, this trilogy got some prominent coverage in the local paper. That’s something most authors would kill for. And what caught my attention the most was the blurb at the bottom of the article, which explained that while the first book isn’t going to be released for another month, you could actually receive a signed copy before the official launch date. That’s a brilliant way to get people to the site and give them something special for coming.
What it’s doing wrong: Have you looked at the site yet? Clearly, this author did not decide to go with a design firm. In trying to stay within a small budget, he created a site himself that looks really unprofessional. In fact, it doesn’t even look like it was created in WordPress or any of today’s free templated services. This instead looks like a dated site that was created in some kind of older web design software that then translated the design into HTML for him. If you were an agent of publisher, what would you think about signing this author to a contract? Great ideas, poor execution.
Case Study #2: ColtonsPocketDragon.com
What it’s doing right: I came across a press release today about this book series. It talks about how you can visit the author website to see short videos and inserts from each book. Again, it’s a great way to make a site really dynamic (who doesn’t love video?), and allow parents and kids to get a taste of these books, and hopefully fall in love.
What it’s doing wrong: Once again, execution is key. The site doesn’t exactly have a good UI (user interface) — with a header bar that isn’t consistent throughout the site, and a navigation that doesn’t include book titles, but instead refers to them as “Books 1, 2 and 3” (as if people remember which number book in a series they have read). In addition, the author clearly wanted a site that was moving and dynamic (note the moving words and such on the homepage), but it’s clear from the layout and fonts that it was not designed by a professional. Again, this appears to be an effort by an author to cut costs … but at what cost?
So what’s the moral of the story here? Innovative author website ideas are great. They can take a good book and make more people realize how good it is. But without a professional website design, even the best ideas can fall flat.
If your site resembles either of these, reach out to us for a free consultation on how to build a profesional-looking author website.