I have spent the last several years studying, interviewing
and writing about authors (250+). One of the first things I do is review the
writer’s website. You can tell a lot about the author from their site. Some are
complex. Some are simple. Some communicate their message. Some barely qualify
as a website.
It is time to share a study I just completed using the HBSAuthor Spotlight Authors and their websites. This is a group of outstanding
authors with bestselling credentials and a great net presence.
Title
In many ways the title is the most important part of a
website. It’s like the title of your novel. The visitor immediately knows who
the site is for.
The title should identify the author and the type of novels
that are featured. A well-constructed title helps in any search the reader does
on the Internet. Here is a sample of authors who use their name and genre as
part of their title.
Several in the study use their credits to sell themselves in
the website title. Here are a couple of samples.
Many authors in the study put
a subtitle after their name with a catchy phrase. Here are a few example of some
of the HBS Spotlight Authors with extensions in their websites title.
A few of the websites used a meaningful title other than
their name. Something related to their novels or series in most cases.
The thing to remember here is when people start looking for
you, the author; they may have a problem matching you to their search if you try to get to fancy.
In my case, if I use my book title ‘Game of Fire’ (my latest
novel) or the Johnathon Stone Mysteries (my mystery series), I probably would
miss much of the traffic that I get today. Plus when I write my next novel, the
title of my site won’t match with the new book title.
Metadata
I think it is
important to know a little bit about Metadata. What is Metadata, you ask? Metadata
helps people searching the Internet for information about you, to find it more
easily. (This type of information is used in the card catalogs of libraries.)
Metadata is inserted
into an Internet Homepage as the page is developed. It is expressed as a set of keywords or tags.
Descriptions and keywords in meta tags are commonly used to describe the Web
page's content.
So the bottom line
here is when your home page is constructed you should include your name, genre,
title of your series, publisher, and protagonist in your metadata so readers,
visitors and prospects can find your website.
Main Menu
The next important thing in a website is the main menu. It
is the key to communicating to the reader. With a quick glance, the reader
should be able to move to an important area of your website. Therefore the menu
should be simple and easy to follow. The main menu appears at the top of every
page of your site.
Here is a list of items the study found most common in the
standard main menu.
Home – This is
the first or front page of your website. A visitor should be able to click this
option anywhere on your site and return to the front page.
About – This
option is used for your Bio or Profile. It usually includes your picture and your
background description. Profile control is a topic for another time but you are
required to furnish a profile for your marketing effort including retail
outlets (Amazon, etc.), organizations (Goodreads, etc.) and social media. You
should try to keep your site profile consistent with the other profiles.
Books – If you’re
an author, a list of your books is one of the main reasons for having a
website. The site visitor should be able to click on this option and move to
information about a particular book.
Blog/Newsletter – This
is a link to your direct communications to your readers. I recommend doing both
a blog and newsletter but there is a time factor in making this decision..
Besides broadcasting new releases and specials, they can help you develop a reader
list.
Contact – This is
another important option for your website. Your readers need a way to interact with
you through social media and email (sometimes a form). This option makes it
easy for them to click and communicate.
Extras (called many
things) – This option can be a
variety of things important to your audience. Some use it to broadcast services
they provide. Others provide pictures or lists, etc. This option should be important enough to make the top rung of the menu system.
The following is a sample of some of the Spotlight Crew’s
Main Menus. Like I mentioned before, there are more than 250 crew members, all
with outstanding websites. Room would only permit to have a few examples.
Sparkle
Abbey
Bestselling
Mystery Authors Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter write under the name Sparkle
Abbey @sparkleabbey. They have written the bestselling Pet Mystery Series.
Their main menu is a basic, simple presentation allowing the visitor to easily
move through their site.
Dianne Harman
Author Dianne Harman @DianneDHarman is an Award Winning
Bestseller Romance author. Dianne has another simple presentation.
Diane Capri
Amazon Bestselling Author
Diane Capri @DianeCapri is the author of The Hunt for Reacher series. Her main
menu is simple. She adds an important topic, ‘Get Involved.’
I have included her sub-menu, ‘Get Involved’ so you could get an idea. Communications is important to her.
Author Carmen DeSousa
@Author_Carmen is the Author of the Southern Suspense Series. Carmen provides
useful information to other writers so she includes an option for easy access.
Her ‘Writing, marketing, and life...’ section is a group of memo entries on giving advice on all sorts of things. Very interesting helpful tidbits.
Stacy Eaton
Stacy Eaton @StacySEaton is the International Best Selling
author of the popular My Blood Runs Blue series. Her main menu includes an
option for her street team.
Her ‘Join My On The Beat Street Team’ selection says this:
Do you enjoy reading?
Are you a social butterfly who likes to share?
If you are, then you are going to want to
join the On the Beat Street Team!
What you’ll receive:
·
Advanced
review e-copies of upcoming novels
·
Promotional
discount codes for your family and friends (applicable paperbacks)
·
Special
street team giveaways, including personalized autographed paperbacks
·
If you
host a book club or writers group, I’d be happy to schedule an online (or
in-person, depending on location) discussion about my books, writing, or
publishing
Melissa Foster
Award-winning Author Melissa Foster @Melissa_Foster is the
author of several International bestselling novels and the founder of the World
Literary Café, Fostering Success and the social and support network for women,
the Women’s Nest.
She has an option ‘FOR WRITERS’ so authors can go quickly to
useful information. Also, she adds her social media and contact information as
a second line which I like a lot.
Jan Romes
Jan Romes @JanRomes is a Contemporary romance author. She is
writer of the Texas Boys Falling Fast and the Twelve Brides of Christmas
series. Jan also adds her social media links to her main menu.
Jake Needham
Author Jake Needham @jakeneedham is a best-selling Mystery
& Thrillers Author of the Jack Shepherd crime thriller series. Jake
includes a link to his Audio Books.
Audio books are becoming a lead topic on websites as authors move their digital book versions to audio.
Chantel
Rhondeau
Chantel Rhondeau
@ChantelRhondeau is a Romantic suspense author. Chantel writes the Agents in
Love series. She adds a special cause to her main menu.
Chantel has '#DV Awareness' as one of their main topics on her site. Like many authors, she fights for something worthwhile and includes that on her site.
Domestic Violence Awareness : Readers of all my books know that somehow, someway the message that abuse is not okay makes it into my stories. I don't go in with the intention of this being there, but it sneaks in.
Multi-Line Menus
Many authors use multi-line menus. Remember to make this
version simple enough that the visitor can easily travel around your site. Use
multi-line menus cautiously.
Eden Baylee
Eden Baylee @edenbaylee is
the author of a psychological mystery/thriller and three collections of erotic
novellas and flash fiction. Her main menu has more options but it is easy to
read and follow.
John W. Huffman
Award winning Indie Author John W. Huffman @johnwhuffman
writes Historical Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers. John’s main menu is more
complex but the style of his menu makes it easy to read.
Joanna Penn
Author Joanna Penn @thecreativepenn (J. F. Penn) is an
Action-Adventure Thriller Author creating the ARKANE thriller series. Also, she
is a leading consultant in the book industry. Joanna’s double line menu is
another example of a simple design.
Vertical Main Menus
Some authors use a vertical menu. This version of menu allows
more options but simple to follow is still the key.
Catherine Bybee
Author Catherine Bybee
@catherinebybee is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal
Bestselling Romance Author. Her main menu is simple but complete.
J.A. Jance
J.A. Jance @JAJance is a New York Times bestselling author.
Judith is the author of the Joanna Brady series and the J. P. Beaumont series. Her
main menu is another example of vertical, easy to follow presentation.
Judith adds an interesting
option: Sugarloaf Café.
The Sugarloaf Café section of her
site has a wealth of good food recipes. Check out the Tuna Casserole recipe. In one of her books the lead character refers to her mother’s
tuna casserole.
Connie Flynn
Author Connie Flynn @ConnieFlynn is the bestselling
award-winning author of many Mystery, Fantasy, Paranormal and Romance novels
and short stories. Another example of a simple, vertical menu. Connie works in her
Bootcamp link.
BOOTCAMP FOR NOVELISTS IS ACCEPTING ENROLLMENT FOR
CLASSROOM WORKSHOPS
Something of value
Another main menu concept that I like is giving the reader
something of value besides your books. It gives the visitor another reason to
visit the site.
Terry Ambrose
Terry Ambrose @suspense_writer is the author of the McKenna
Mystery series and a member of Murder, We Wrote. Terry has a topic to help
readers avoid scams and cons.
Scams & Cons topic
Book Pages
Here is your marketing opportunity.
Your site should have a page for each book. This is your
opportunity to market your book. At a minimum it should include the title,
cover, product description and a BUY LINK. The authors in this study are all
over this important marketing item.
Some other items I found on the book page where:
Reviews
|
Book trailers
|
Awards
|
Excerpts
|
Story backgrounds
|
Access to author signed copies
|
Dropdown Menus
Of course, the main menu leads to drop-down menus. They in
turn have links to your information pages. Simple, straight forward titles
provide an easy path for you reader. The number of items in a dropdown has a
limit for readable. Several sites in the study had so many items in the submenu;
a laptop lost control of the menu because the reader had to scroll down to view
an item or two.
If you are fortunate to have written a ton of books, you
should create submenus and split them up my series or genre or fiction and
non-fiction, something the reader can quickly navigate through to your
information. Remember the reader may not have much patience if they have to
struggle to find information.
The following is a list of popular items I found in the
submenus.
Events/Appearances
|
Interviews
|
Book Stores
|
Media Kit
|
News release
|
FAQ
|
Work In Progress
|
Services
|
Side Bars
The side bar usually includes your current action items and
links. Here is a checklist of some of items found in this area. Most of these
are not found in the main menu or their sub menus.
Join Newsletter
|
Latest News/next event
|
Recent comments
|
Books –Thumbnails with
excerpts/Buy links/Trailer/Sneak peek
|
Guest Book sign in
|
Subscribe to blog via email
|
Contact me
|
Follow me
|
Site search
|
Social media icons with links
|
Advertise services
|
Story progress
|
Here is a list of other item usually found in the side bar
that adds credibility to the author.
Great sites to visit
|
Badges –
Groups/Publishers/Goodreads/Book tours
|
Profile summary
|
Acclaims
|
Tweet feed
|
Facebook list
|
Blog list/recent posts
|
Interview list
|
Bottom Menu
Usually this echoes the main menu although this is an
opportunity to expand the information selections without getting in the way of
the communications. Also, included in this area should be a copyright notice
and the web developer credits. Don’t spring something new there if it relates
directly to marketing your books. Many readers never go passed the second or
third screen looking for information.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a current author or a new author, your
website is your gateway to your novels and sales. The goal is to get visitors
to your book buy links.
Most of the authors in this study have outstanding websites.
That is why they were the best source for this study.
Hopefully this post will give you a direction in developing and
maintaining your website. If you keep it up-to-date, it will change frequently.
The sites I reviewed had two main purposes: Marketing and Communications. They all
had links everywhere. And they provided useful information about the author, their
novels and how to contact them. Please visit them by clicking the link connected to their name.
I’ll end with an old saying: “You can write great content
but if you don’t market your book or communicate too your audience, it will be like writing in the sand.”
Follow me:
Follow Me on Twitter: @jimhbs
Or EMAIL at: james.moushon@gmail.com
View my website: James Moushon – Mystery Writer
Or visit my blog: The eBook Author Corner
Take a look at my Author’s blog: HBS Author’s Spotlight
Or my Mystery blog: HBS Mystery Reader’s Circle
Check
out the Jonathon Stone Mystery Novel: Black
Mountain Secrets
NEW
RELEASE: Another Jonathon Stone Mystery: Game
Of Fire
