I once posted a blog entry where I said it was never too early — and never too late — to build an author website. I may have to amend that.
I was contacted the other day by an author who was considering building a website. She was working on her first book and had been doing a little research on what it would take to get that book published. She’d heard that an author website was a must, so she contacted me.
I started asking her questions about what the book was about. Who it was for. She wasn’t really able to answer. She said that it was still in the early stages and really could change a great deal before it was completed.
And so, for the first time ever, I said what I never thought I would. I told this woman that she may want to get closer to finishing her manuscript before building a website.
Because until you know who you’re writing for and the genre of your book, then what can a website accomplish? You don’t know yet who you’re speaking to. You don’t know who your audience will be. You don’t even know which division of a publishing house you’d want to reach!
So, maybe there is such a thing as too early for an author website. Although, I must say that in four years of doing this, I’ve never encountered this type of situation before.
It never hurts to inquire about an author website. But you should at least know what type of writer you are before launching an author site or a book site. Otherwise, you may build something that doesn’t really suit your final product.
You live, you learn!
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