Comments on Book Binge: A Reader's Guide to Author Websites

@Timothy Hallinan - You're absolutely correct, the...

2009-05-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

@Timothy Hallinan - You're absolutely correct, there is an errant apostrophe in there and I apologize. Thanks for the heads up.

@Emily Bryan
I think flash has it's place and I'm not saying you shouldn't use it at all - after all, it is YOUR site and you should design it how you want. I just think it should be used in moderation. I also think your entire site shouldn't be flash based.

@Everyone else...

Another great post about author websites can be found here.

Each time I contemplate adding flashy-things, I he...

2009-05-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

Each time I contemplate adding flashy-things, I hear again that readers would like me to skip them. (Heavy sigh!) I was on Christie Craig's site the other day and little tags kept sliding in. I was charmed, but I think I'm hearing readers really don't what them.

This post continues to educate. Thanks for tackling the topic!
www.emilybryan.com

GREAT post! You are so preaching to the choir. Som...

2009-05-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

GREAT post! You are so preaching to the choir. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking until I'm blue in the face to authors who do not understand the value of a well-designed, well-navigated Web site.

As a virtual book tour host at Pop Syndicate, it is incredibly frustrating to go to an author site hosted on a free service that has more commercials than information. I go to sites that have no media, no author photo, bio, book listings... I wonder if this person is every a "real" writer. Based on their Web sites, I don't think they take it seriously enough, which makes me think their books won't be great - and that they won't be worth hosting. Period.

Authors should avoid flash sites, heavy graphics that clog even a high speed connection, and music and videos that automatically load. Those are incredibly annoying and slow up your net speed.

Great job! Thanks so much for posting!

Thank you for the info. i'm having my clients read...

2009-04-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the info. i'm having my clients read this first.
Jo Ann Hernandez
http://bronzeword.wordpress.com

Timothy, you are not agreeing with an anon--the an...

2009-04-14T05:43:00.000-07:00

Timothy, you are not agreeing with an anon--the anon pointed out a typo where there is not one. She/he said "List number one"
1. Typos. You make a living off the written word - how about making sure it's spelled right?No typo there :-)

As for the other, we all do it. I just think thought it was snotty of the anon to point out something that way. I'm not the only who saw her post as sarcastic with a fake smile. It just pushed a button.

You don't need to remove the music. Just have a button somewhere that we can see clearly so that it can be turned off and on. That music on your site is catchy. I like it.

Great post-- thanks.

2009-04-14T04:42:00.000-07:00

Great post-- thanks.

First, this is an invaluable post. I just e-maile...

2009-04-14T03:19:00.000-07:00

First, this is an invaluable post. I just e-mailed my site manager to ask him to disable the automatic music. It was written just for the site by an Emmy-winning composer, but you're right. It's an irritant. And I'll make a few other changes, too,

All the points are well thought out and clearly presented. And the response about where to direct people to buy the book raises a thorny question. In addition to all the online sources, I would ABSOLUTELY include the IndieBound site, just to give independent booksellers their props. (And they've chosen both of my last books as picks.)

And as much as I hate to agree with an anon, there is an "it's" problem, and it's in this sentence: "Each book has it's own separate page that includes all available information about that book . . ." That apostrophe just shouldn't be there.

But this in nit-picking, considering the value of the post. Thanks for helping me straighten out my own site.

One of my favorite author sites belongs to Eloisa ...

2009-03-26T05:16:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite author sites belongs to Eloisa James. She's provided lots of things to explore. There's a delicate balance between being entertaining and being succinct. If I was looking for quick info, I don't know how effeciently organized her site is, but part of the goal of the author is to introduce readers not just to individual books, but to her whole fictional world. Eloisa's site does a good job of that.

I think Cherry Adair's tflac site is innovative, b...

2009-03-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

I think Cherry Adair's tflac site is innovative, but day-um, enough with the music! And having to click two different "enter" screens to get to the main site?

Another annoying thing is that if the user clicks to turn the music off, the sound pops right back on again when you go to another page. What part of "sounds off" does the site designer not understand?

Holly,Thank you. I seriously appreciate suggestion...

2009-03-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

Holly,

Thank you. I seriously appreciate suggestions on whatever will make my website more "user-friendly." Off to make some new links on the home page!

If anyone else has a suggestion, I will certainly take a look at it!
www.emilybryan.com

Emily,Personally I'd like it if the blurb is liste...

2009-03-23T12:31:00.000-07:00

Emily,
Personally I'd like it if the blurb is listed next to the book on the bookshelf page. Also, another suggestion (I really hope you don't mind!) - On your home page you have the cover/title for Vexing the Viscount. You should link the cover AND title so they take you the book page. The less I have to click, the happier I'm going to be.

Holly--Thanks for the imput. Going back to add blu...

2009-03-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

Holly--Thanks for the imput. Going back to add blurbs to all my excerpt pages. Or maybe the blurb be on the Bookshelf page so the reader can decide there whether she wants to go further . . .

There are so many things to think about and how to make a website work for every reader is a good trick. And my DH wonders why I'm always tinkering with mine!

My preferences align with Holly's for the most par...

2009-03-23T12:15:00.000-07:00

My preferences align with Holly's for the most part.

Excerpts are good, if I already read the blurb. The blurb--whether the official one or something written by the author to give readers an idea while marketing does its thing--tells me in general terms whether this book is something I might want to read or not.

The excerpt, for an unknown-to-me-author, gives me a sense of the writing voice (and it's perfectly fine if that voice is different depending on the novel/series genre too, just gimme a taste.

Being allergic to spoilers, I am usually leery of excerpts because--unless it says so right there at the top--I have no way of knowing if I'm getting chapter one or chapter ten, and that just... ugh.

On trailers: I only watch them after I've read the blurb, and even then only for authors I know I like. See, as far as I'm concerned, books = reading, so the whole book = video thing? doesn't quite follow for me.

@EmilyBryanObviously I can't speak for all readers...

2009-03-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

@EmilyBryan

Obviously I can't speak for all readers (as Seneca has proven) but personally I'll take a blurb over a trailer any day. Here are a couple things to consider:

1) I visit your webpage and there's no blurb telling me what it's about, only a trailer. Personally, I don't like trailers, so I hardly ever watch them (no matter how well done they are). I haven't been on your site for more than 5 seconds and already I'm unhappy because I can't find the information I want. Which means I'm not going to buy your book. You just lost a sale because I don't know what your book is about.

2) What if I'm at work or on my mobile phone and can't watch the video? As with the scenario above, I can't find the information I want about your book and therefore don't buy it.

It takes me about 10-20 seconds to read a full blurb, 30 on the outside. Your trailer is what? 60 seconds (or close to it)? If I'm in the middle of placing an order at an online bookstore I'm not going to wait that long.

As with excerpts, I feel trailers are a bonus, not a necessity. Therefore if you have nothing but a trailer available on your site, I'm probably not going to stick around to buy.

Like I said, every reader is different but that's how I feel about it.

I will say, other than that, I think you have a great site. I think it's very pleasing to look at and seems completely functional.

I've always liked Christine Feehan's website. Not...

2009-03-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

I've always liked Christine Feehan's website. Not only is it easy to navigate, but there is always up to date information.

I hate Julie Garwood's site. It loads sooooo slow. And the music? Meh.

I agree w/ #4. Marking NSFW would definitely be helpful.

Emily,Personally, as long as the video tells me ab...

2009-03-23T07:35:00.000-07:00

Emily,
Personally, as long as the video tells me about the book, then I don't require the blurb.
Some video trailers are pretty bad, but yours (I only looked at two) are good.

I plan to get Pleasuring the Pirate :)

Excellent post. Thanks for the ideas for making my...

2009-03-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

Excellent post. Thanks for the ideas for making my website more functional. I'd despaired of not having all the cool flashy-things, but now it seems I needn't have worried.

One thing that surprised me is the insistence on having the back cover blurb. Since I don't get to write my blurbs, (and a suprising number of authors don't!) I haven't included them, opting for a quick (under a minute) trailer (which has to be clicked to play) before my excerpt begins. Are you telling me readers would rather have a blurb than a trailer?

Since I recently re-vamped my website, I'd love to have some honest reader feedback. If you have some time to give to me, please visit www.emilybryan.com. First one to spot an error or broken link and report it, gets a signed copy of PLEASURING THE PIRATE!

Thanks!

@anon Cherry Adair's website is awful! I waited ov...

2009-03-21T23:44:00.000-07:00

@anon
Cherry Adair's website is awful! I waited over a minute and a half for her website to load, all the while listening to that awful music. That was terrible. :(

Dunno, Seneca, could this be the same anon who har...

2009-03-21T10:27:00.000-07:00

Dunno, Seneca, could this be the same anon who harped about typos in an old review? Someone with a dull axe to grind with the ladies here?

Not that I like to give anons the time of day, but...

2009-03-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

Not that I like to give anons the time of day, but Holly is correct. it's is a short form of it is. or it has.
Using its doesn't make sense in her sentence. What does it belong to?

yeah, Joey Hill is storywitch.com or something lik...

2009-03-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

yeah, Joey Hill is storywitch.com or something like that.

Thanks for the info. It is interesting that your s...

2009-03-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the info. It is interesting that your summary lists point #1 as a warning to watch for typos. In your explanation of having a separate page for each book, you wrote an "it's" where you should have an "its" instead. Sorry to mention, but maybe another set of eyes would have caught that. :-) I skimmed the rest and didn't check for other typos...

Ooh I agree. I remember visiting Cherry Adair's si...

2009-03-21T02:03:00.000-07:00

Ooh I agree. I remember visiting Cherry Adair's site: http://www.tflac.com/. While very pretty, it was completely and utterly useless. I couldn't find what I wanted and it took a long time to load. I have dsl, I really pitied those people on dialup.

@ JenBExcellent point, I'd forgotten about that. W...

2009-03-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

@ JenB
Excellent point, I'd forgotten about that. What site was it that I recently tried to visit and couldn't find..Oh, Joey W. Hill. Her site address is something cutesy like that. Very annoying. I had to Google her name to find it.

@Meg Allison I think the light text/dark backgroun...

2009-03-20T20:32:00.000-07:00

@Meg Allison

I think the light text/dark background is totally subjective. I know a lot of readers complain that it's hard to read. When we first opened this site we had black and red..big mistake!

@Lisa Logan
As for the separate pages, I think having one place on your site that lists all your books with the option to click to a separate page is the way to go. This is speaking as a book reviewer, however. I like being able to link to specific books/blurbs/excerpts on an authors site.

@Renee
Crusie and Gibson were two I had on my list for Java. I really hate those sites. It's so frustrating not be able to link to or get the blurb from them, isn't it?