Are you a published author? Maybe you’re a writer looking for that big deal as you begin querying agents and publishers. In either regard, you will need to market yourself. As a writer, you try to land that book deal, you will network in the industry by sending query letters and attending conferences. If you attract attention of an agent or publisher, they may end up searching for you on a search engine.
If you’re an author, self-published or by standard means, it’s all about brand name recognition; these days an author is expected to market themselves. To do that you want a high profile web presence which starts with a website.
You want your audience to find you, be able to read samples of your work, and even contact you. Authors need to be accessible, listen to their audience to sell more books! But how will you do that? As an author, how can you be easily found by potential book buyers on the Internet?
Rather than having John Smith on the other side of the country, wouldn’t it be nice if your name was directly linked to your author website? You show up, the agent clicks on your writer’s website and they are brought to a crisp, clean, professional website that showcases your work.
Now an agent or publisher can see that you take your career as a writer very seriously, but how do you do it? What do you need and how should you go about it?
Domain Name: The first thing you need is a domain name that relates to your name. If someone searches for you in Google and your name matches exactly what they search for, you will show up high on the search results every time. Don’t be surprised if you even show up in that coveted number one spot!
Email Address: Even if you’re not a writer or author, professional email addresses are important today. Sending out a resume or query letter, you don’t want to put Sparky71@yahoo.com on the top for your contact information. It shows you’re not serious. But, if you suddenly have yourname@yourname.com it shows you are committed to your craft as a writer.
A website: Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? But really, as a writer or author, you need to be careful. You want a professional looking website and not something with dancing clipart scattered across the page. Why? Think of this website as your resume, your portfolio. This is your work and your art being represented, so don’t you want to put your best foot forward?
Of course you do! You can have a fun design, if that’s how you want to market yourself, but it should still be clean and crisp. Remember you can’t delete what you say on the internet no matter how hard you try, so always present your best side.
Content: To stay relevant on the Internet, and to keep visitors returning, you will want a system where you can update your own author content, have a blog, post book covers and excerpts. No one enjoys reading a static page, even if it is by their favorite writer or reader. Active in the community? Make sure you get a blog roll so you can link to your favorite agent or publisher blogs, maybe even other authors that you follow.
The internet is all about networking and you want to make sure that when someone finds your website, they don’t quickly click away.
www.yourauthorsite.com Your Author Site works with authors and writers to create affordable, professional, websites that are easy to manage to help ensure writers can focus on their work rather than their website.
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