Purple Prose:
websites

Last month, Natalie Aguirre (Literary Rambles) interviewed Chuck Sambuchino about his new book, Create Your Writer Platform. Natalie was excited about the book, so I had to check it out.

Unlike other promotion-based books I’ve reviewed, this book doesn’t focus solely on social media. Chuck talks about what platform is and why it’s necessary. He shares twelve fundamental principles of platform (the book is worth it for this chapter alone), and he discusses platform for fiction and memoirs. Topics also include choosing the platform avenues that will work for you, as well as information on the use of websites, blogs, newsletters, non-fiction articles, public speaking, and social media. At the end of the book is a section with author case studies that showcase what several authors did to make the most of their platforms.

Create Your Writer Platform is one of those books you don’t have to worry about being out of date before you finish reading it, because Facebook decided to add another feature, or because there’s a new social media site that’s suddenly become popular. And it’s one of those books you’ll want to review again and again.

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If you’re interested in learning more about crafting YOUR social media strategy, the YARWA (YA chapter of the Romance Writers of America) is offering a month long workshop during April. This workshop is for both the newbie and individuals experienced with social media. For more information, please check out their website. You don’t have to be a member of the YARWA or RWA to register.

Have you given much thought to your writer platform?

I’ll see you in April, when I return to blogging after spring break. XOX

©Stina Lindenblatt

Two months ago, I blogged about a recent trend in which many New Adult authors aren’t using websites for their main hub of activity. They’re using their blog to substitute as a website. All the information about their books, their latest news, where they can be found in the world of social media is located on their blog via the use of ‘pages’.

Last week, I read H.R. Sinclair’s post on having a website verses a blog verses a wlob. I knew what the first two meant, but had no idea what a wlob is. Turns out it’s a blog that has a static landing page instead of the dynamic page that we’re use to seeing. Author websites typically have a static landing page. You click on a header to go to the author’s blog.

I knew you could do this with Wordpress, but until H.R.’s post, I had no idea that you can now do it with Blogger. (Warning: it’s a lot more complex than it is for Wordpress.)

I’m considering making changes to my blog this summer, which will include a new design. The question is: do you find wlob’s annoying? Would you prefer to go straight to the blog page? Or are you okay with seeing the static page first? Do you even check out author websites?

©Stina Lindenblatt

Websites. It’s something we constantly hear that we need, even if you’re a pre-published author. I mean, how else will our adoring fans know when our first or next book is due to be released?

But websites cost money and take time to set up. So we stall. We come up with excuses why we don’t need one yet. We come up with excuses why we can wait until next week, next month, next year to create one. We just plain come up with excuses, period.

That was me, until I decided it was time to create one. So I researched websites of authors that write similar books to me, and was shocked at the results of my informal study.

First, I studied the websites of my favorite YA authors (e.g. Simone Elkeles, Katie McGarry, Jennifer Echols) to see what I liked and didn’t like about them. Next, I studied the websites of my favorite New Adult authors (e.g. Tammara Weber, Jessica Sorensens, Cora Carmack).

But wait, the majority of New Adult authors don’t have websites. They have blogs and they have Facebook author pages, but no websites. Most of them used Blogger and create Pages to represent each book or series. Just like a regular website. Most of them talk only about their books in their posts. In all cases, they had a low number of blog followers but a high number of Facebook author page ‘likes’. And it didn’t matter if they were traditionally published or self published, the results were the same. Also, most of the ones I looked at were on the New York Times Bestseller list. So what does that tell you?

This is when I did a happy dance and crossed ‘create a website’ off my to-do list. It’s not like I usually check out an author’s website. As long as I can find out when the author’s next book is due out, I’m happy. And most of the time I get this info from Goodreads.

What about you? Do you have a website? Are you planning to create one this year? Have these findings made you rethink whether you need one?

(Remember, these results are based on my research on New Adult authors. The findings might be different if you write a different genre).