It’s one of the most important aspects of building and maintaining a website: creating new content. Without it, an author website is nothing but a static portfolio that people may visit once, but they’re certain not to return. Yes, folks, creating new content is super-important. Not only does it help to get people to return […]
The Importance of Author Website Content (and How to Create It) Read More »
One of my clients (thanks, Chip Wagar!) sent me a link a few days ago. He thought this article might be a good tool for me to use to stress the importance of author websites in today’s world of Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn. The article is called “Are You Digital Sharecropping Your Book Business.” I highly recommend it.
Why Only Doing Social Networking Can Be a HUGE Mistake for Authors Read More »
Every author wants to know how to get lots of traffic to their website (and ultimately, sell lots of books). Well, Askhari Hodari is a great example of that success. She is co-author of two books and has two websites (one for each book). Best of all, she gets nearly 9,000 pageviews a month on
Author Success Story: Askhari Hodari Read More »
On most author websites, it’s the most important thing: the link to buy the book. After all, if you’re not selling the book, then what’s the point? However, too many of the authors I work with don’t put enough oomph in their “Buy” link. Sometimes they create pages with no “Buy” link at all. Other
5 Ways to Make Your “Buy” Link Stand Out Read More »
Several of my clients have asked me to send out newsletters to their mailing lists recently. But none of them seemed to understand exactly what a newsletter can do (or the information you can cull out of sending a newsletter). With that in mind, I thought it might be helpful to outline exactly what an
Author Newsletters: Tips, Misconceptions, and More! Read More »
I came across this article on Publishers Weekly this morning. It talks about a firm’s new marketing strategy for authors, which allows them to promote books for a long period of time — not just the weeks leading up to and following a book’s release. Basically, the idea is this: the marketing firm builds a
7 Steps to a Group Author Website (With Lots of Traffic) Read More »
One of the things I frequently recommend for an author homepage is a “welcome” message, in which you give first-time visitors a good understanding of who you are, what you write about, and what people will get out of your book and your website. It’s Marketing 101: If a visitor can’t figure out the point
Authors: Where’s Your Message? If It’s Not on Your Homepage, You’re Missing Out Read More »
I came across this post on a message board, complaining that author websites are always boring. That got me thinking: How do you define ‘boring’? To whom are these sites boring? Are author websites supposed to be entertaining? What could authors do to make them more entertaining? Here’s the truth of the matter: author websites
Are Author Websites ‘Boring’? Read More »
I’ve said for a long time that every author website should include a photo of the book cover(s) and links to buy on every page. But what’s become even more of an issue of late is the various ways a book can be sold, and the various vendors that sell it. When I first started
Selling Books Online? Offer Options! Read More »
Remember the days when the only “reviews” of your book were the ones published in newspapers and magazines? Boy, how times have changed. We’re now in the era of American Idol and Facebook — one where “Joe the Plumber” has a voice just as influential as educated journalists. This new “voice of the people” has
What Authors Should Be Doing About Bad Online Reviews Read More »
