Thanks to Bookseller Jolie at DearAuthor.com, we now have the Top 10 Peeves from Booksellers and Readers About Author Websites. Here’s what they are and, of course, my two cents on each of them.
#1 – Series links are not easily identifiable. This should be its own special link on the home page!
When readers find a book they like, they want everything they can get their hands on!!! Whether it’s more in that series or another series you may have!
Booksellers want to stock your series, have all the books on hand. 9 times out of 10 a reader will buy all the books in the series, if a bookstore has them. While booksellers are a smart bunch, we can’t know ALL the books that are interconnected! Like the reader, we’ll go to the author’s website for the information.
My take: An author should definitely have all the books in a series interconnected. If the entire website is based on the series, then it should be fairly obvious at the outset. If the website focuses on the author, the series should be linked together through the navigation. A good example of this is http://www.eliotpattison.com, where author Eliot Pattison has a tab in his navigation for each of his two series of books, with the individual books within each series being dropdowns from those tabs.
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# 2 Printable booklist – This makes it so easy for the reader to print and take to the bookstore! And makes it even easier for the bookseller!
The list should have all your books listed on one page, series in chronological order and separated, ISBNs, dates!! Prices and publishers optional but it can’t hurt to have that information too!!
I say printable because, when you print it, all the information should be there and not cut off the page. Everyone’s computer is different so making the list simple and easy is best!
My take: I can honestly say I’ve never seen this on an author website. Is it common to go to the bookstore and want to buy every book by one author at the same time? Wouldn’t you want to buy one, see if you like it, and then buy others?
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#3 A contact the author link should be visible on the home page – it’s the easiest way for us to tell you how great your books are!
Romance readers love to tell you how much they liked your book! They love that connection to a book and its author as well! So do booksellers for that matter. I’m often telling authors how wonderful they are! Psst, here’s another secret–I may even tell you special tid-bits! Like how you book is doing in our stores or if we’ve got your book placed in special locations, or your book is selected for our promotions!
My take: I agree with this. Personally, I always recommend that we put the contact link in the site navigation. And I also like to tie a newsletter sign-up into the contact page. But that’s another story …
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#4 The most recent book should be featured on front page with sequel links, etc.
Again, it’s all about a reader getting the most out of your website! If we know the information is at our fingertips – that’s the first place we’ll go!
My take: The most recent book should definitely be featured most prominently on the homepage (who calls it “front page” anyway?). That doesn’t mean you can’t feature your other books below it, though.
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#5 – Everywhere there is a book mentioned, there should be a 13 digit ISBN . . .
The easiest way to locate a book online and in a bookstore is through this handy number. When used, it’s THAT specific book found very quick and easy!! Readers would rather be reading the book than spending too much time looking for it!
My take: I agree with the concept here, but do they really mean “everywhere” the book is mentioned? That’s a little much, don’t you think? If you look at any of the author websites I’ve worked on, you’ll see just how many times a book is mentioned on an author’s website. You couldn’t possibly list the ISBN everywhere. But I do recommend that you include the ISBN and pub details on the “The Book” page of the site. That’s where it’s appropriate. And another note on this … if you have proper “Buy the Book” links on your website, people won’t need an ISBN, because you’ll be linking directly to the book’s page on Amazon, B&N, etc… For people who plan to go to the bookstore and buy the book, the ISBN is helpful. But I’m not sure it should be as prominent as they recommend here.
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#6 – Coming soon should be on the first page as well. And update it often . . . it’s what keeps us coming back!!!
We’ve just finished your latest book and already we’re looking for more! And we want to go directly to the source – YOU! So what’s next???
My take: I’ll ignore the “first page” reference again here. Other than that, I totally agree. Keeping your site new and fresh and highlighting upcoming books is a great way to keep people coming back and giving them the information they want as soon as they arrive.
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#7 – Don’t make us work to buy/sell your books! Keep things simple . . .
The easier it is, the quicker it is, the more time we have to read and sell more!! Make the links easy, don’t hyphenate ISBNs, etc.
My take: I referenced this above. You should definitely have a “Buy the Book” link on every page of the site. If you want to include an ISBN with it, fine. But it should be one click to the page where you can actually purchase the book.
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#8 – Who would you compare your stories to?
Ex: If you like sexy historicals by Sabrina Jeffries, you’ll love my new book. . .
Or compare it to another medium, if you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you’ll love my new paranormal series. . . We may not always agree, but in the end, it gives us a direction and a place of reference to start.
My take: Interesting… I often recommend that an author have a “welcome” box on their homepage where they briefly discuss who would benefit from/enjoy their books and their website. It’s sort of the same idea. But I’ve never thought of comparing yourself to similar authors. Good idea!
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#9 – Let me know future books in a series . . . dates if you have them or general concepts and plans are great too!
Again, when we readers and booksellers find something we love – we want more!!! And if we have to wait for another book, that’s okay, but give us the lowdown about who, what, when, where – please any information!!!
My take: This was sort of covered before, as well. Even before all the books in a series are published, they should at least be touted. Here’s an example of one of the author sites I built where we do just that:
http://www.thelossofcertainty.com
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#10 – Toot your horn — let us know of all the awards you’ve won, etc.
I know there was recent debate on this site about this, but what it comes down to is – you’ve been chosen, over others. Readers and booksellers are interested, especially when we’re looking for a new author, new book. And let’s face it, we ALWAYS are!!
This is more importantly the case when sending out promos to booksellers, if we haven’t had the chance to read your book – at least we know SOMEONE did – and LIKED it enough to give it an award!!!
My take: I couldn’t agree more. If you have won awards and the like, don’t be afraid to promote it on your homepage. After all, your website is a marketing tool, so don’t be afraid to market yourself!
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