Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Submission protocol, query etiquette, and strategies that work
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dgaughran
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Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Post by dgaughran » September 29th, 2010, 6:41 am

My friend is a web-designer, so he knocked me up a snazzy website for next to nothing http://davidgaughran.com/. I think it's a useful tool, and can only show the agent that you are professional and serious, and considering the amount of crazies who submit, that can be no bad thing. I have a brief description of the book up there, an outline of some of the characters and the first chapter available for download. I haven't updated the information in a long time, so the chapter is an old version, and the descriptions aren't as good as they could be. I must update it before I start submitting to agents again. I have been rewriting my novel for the last 5 months, and I have about four or five days left of this final, final, final edit to go. I think there's light at the end of the tunnel, but that could be just somebody ahead of me, smoking.
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Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Post by Guardian » September 29th, 2010, 5:01 pm

Here is the little website of my beloved, yet unpublished novel.
http://www.crystalshadeangeni.com

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Regan Leigh
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Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Post by Regan Leigh » September 30th, 2010, 12:14 am

Man! I've been working on a job related website for two days now...and I'm exhausted. :) I had wanted to give my website a nice new shiny look soon, but this one has drained me enough to want a break. Suddenly my site doesn't seem so bad. ;)
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Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Post by Moni12 » October 4th, 2010, 3:01 pm

I have two blogs, you can see the links below. The reason I did this was because I started the Illusion one because I was posting many questions on Facebook (mostly to do with social norms) and I decided to put it on the blog. Later I started one for my writing. If I could post to different pages so my "rambling" was separate from my writing topics on the same blog I would do that. If anyone knows if that can be done let me know. Managing two blogs is a little strange.

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Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Post by adam.purple » October 20th, 2010, 7:48 pm

I'm not much for Twitter or Facebook, but I do blog about my attempts to get my novel published. You can find me at Writer, not.

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Truth and Fiction
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Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Post by Truth and Fiction » October 22nd, 2010, 10:22 am

I'm glad I found this thread so I can now look at everyone's sites!

I started a site and blog this summer (link in signature). I think it can be helpful and fun if you are actually interested in it and willing to invest the time. I can tell through google analytics that people find my site by searching for information on writing, or even by searching for my name (hmmm...I wonder who those people are?). And my site is only a few months old. So I feel that having a web presence is worthwhile...but I also don't think it's a miracle worker. If you don't have a desire to blog, then don't force yourself to do it (not to mention that your blog will probably be tedious if you're not into it).

Oh, and I bought my URL but just used a free Wordpress template. It's slightly customized, and my husband made a few cosmetic tweaks, but overall it's just the template. There's really no need to spend lots of money on a designer when they are free options out there that are entirely professional.

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Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Post by saraflower » October 29th, 2010, 12:03 pm

I would like to do a website for my books since a lot of people say that you should have one by the time you begin querying agents. I just don't know how you would represent your books without cover designs and so on. I guess I'm lost on what you should put on the website. I do blog and I also have a FB fan page. Do you think that would that be enough for now?

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Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Post by Truth and Fiction » November 1st, 2010, 2:09 pm

Sara, I think the blog is enough. I actually think it's unprofessional to have a website all about your unpublished works in progress, acting as if they're already published books or heavily trying to market them, etc. Yes, you can certainly include project descriptions and info about what you're working on, but that's about it. How many people would visit your site and then return if you just have info on the books you're working on? An interesting, well-written blog that provides a more complete sense of who you are as a writer might be helpful to agents once you start querying.

I think some people try too hard with their sites -- they come at it attacking the marketing/promotion side of their books (whether those books are published yet or not). Obviously, a website is there at least in part to inform people about your work and drum up some interest. But I think writers should look at their sites from the point of view of their visitors. No one wants to be marketed to constantly. A good blog with interesting and current content, however, encourages them to come back for more.

I'm also not a fan (ha) of the Facebook fan pages, but that's a story for another day.

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Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Post by saraflower » November 1st, 2010, 4:02 pm

Truth and Fiction wrote:Sara, I think the blog is enough. I actually think it's unprofessional to have a website all about your unpublished works in progress, acting as if they're already published books or heavily trying to market them, etc. Yes, you can certainly include project descriptions and info about what you're working on, but that's about it. How many people would visit your site and then return if you just have info on the books you're working on? An interesting, well-written blog that provides a more complete sense of who you are as a writer might be helpful to agents once you start querying.

I think some people try too hard with their sites -- they come at it attacking the marketing/promotion side of their books (whether those books are published yet or not). Obviously, a website is there at least in part to inform people about your work and drum up some interest. But I think writers should look at their sites from the point of view of their visitors. No one wants to be marketed to constantly. A good blog with interesting and current content, however, encourages them to come back for more.

I'm also not a fan (ha) of the Facebook fan pages, but that's a story for another day.
Good point. I'll just stick to the blogging then until I get published. I never really got why people were telling me to create a website when I didn't even have an agent yet.

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Truth and Fiction
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Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Post by Truth and Fiction » November 1st, 2010, 11:29 pm

Really, your blog can function as your website anyway. If you can, simply include a contact section, maybe a brief bio section and maybe a page with a brief description of your project, while keeping the blog as the main thing. Good luck!

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Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Post by Guardian » November 5th, 2010, 4:49 pm

Truth and Fiction wrote:I actually think it's unprofessional to have a website all about your unpublished works in progress, acting as if they're already published books or heavily trying to market them, etc. Yes, you can certainly include project descriptions and info about what you're working on, but that's about it.
I partially agree with this. Stick with the blog in most of the cases. But it's not unprofessional to have a website about your work at all. Website about a project can be used as a good promo site, or as a promo with a note "it will be released" (Although I agree it's a kamikaze if you have around 1000 word from your entire project and you start to advertise it on a way as if it would be ready to go. Always add the release date as TBA.). Websites also good to get the attention of certain people and also to have a solid base where these people can reach you anytime. Blogs are a bit different as blogs used to be much more personal. Sometimes too personal. Blogs are rather interactive and continuously must broadcast information day by day or week by week. Websites are static and they must contain only the general data. Plus in Blogs most of the writer also writing about their present project so there is no real difference between a website and a blog as both are serving the very same purpose; to share info about you and your WIP (Websites, but mostly blogs are always sharing this info the most. The only real difference is the update time and the content. Blogs used to have much more.)

But I believe there is no such thing as unprofessional in this matter. It's a matter of taste. Some people and companies create websites for their work in progress, some don't.

If you want to write day by day about your WIP or how you work, go with the blog. If you want to work more on your WIP instead of blogging, then create a website what you should update only very few times.

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dgaughran
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Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Post by dgaughran » November 13th, 2010, 7:36 am

Truth and Fiction wrote:I actually think it's unprofessional to have a website all about your unpublished works in progress, acting as if they're already published books or heavily trying to market them, etc.
Sorry, I can't let this comment slide. You think it's unprofessional to have a website about your unpublished works in progress? That is just ridiculous. In fact, the opposite is true. Take a look at my website below for an example. You think that is unprofessional of me? I have seen several agents say that they don't care whether a writer has a website or not, and several more say that it does make a favourable impression, shows the writer is serious, and understands the importance of platform, even in fiction, and has made steps in that direction.

Part of your comment makes absolutely no sense. You don't think writers should looks if they are "heavily trying to market" their unpublished books. Wow. No further comment needed.
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Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Post by saraflower » November 13th, 2010, 11:15 am

dgaughran wrote: You think it's unprofessional to have a website about your unpublished works in progress? That is just ridiculous. In fact, the opposite is true. Take a look at my website below for an example.
Great work on the website! Very professional. I like it.

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Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Post by thmafi » November 19th, 2010, 6:27 pm

mmmm, well i think everyone did a pretty excellent job of answering this question, but i'm just going to jump in and say something anyway, if only because i need a reason to make a first post on this shiny orange forum. (hey, nathan!)

i am as of yet unpublished, but i've already purchased a number of domain names that i think will come in handy when the time is right, and for now i use a basic blogger template that i've customized to suit my aesthetic preferences. it's helped me quite a bit, actually, in establishing a platform.

so i'd say a million percent yes to having some kind of online presence.

hehe.

yay, first post.

p.s. hi everyone :D
TH. Mafi
http://www.thmafi.com
twitter: @thmafi

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Re: Do any of you other unpublished authors have websites?

Post by heather_hangs_it » November 21st, 2010, 11:43 pm

you mean this is your first real live post on these blessed orange boards, tahereh? nice to have ya!

and for the record, tahereh's blog is pretty sweet. check it out!

~heather

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