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If You Don’t Define and Present Yourself Online, Others Will Do It for You

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

Today’s post is by writer, coach, and brand strategist Michelle Tamara Cutler (@mickytcutler).

In social media groups and forums, many of us writers talk about the trifecta of building a website, maintaining our online identity, and navigating the shifting sands of social media platforms.

Really, what we’re talking about is how we define and present ourselves online.

Back in 1997, when I was a visual artist in NYC, I relied on in-person events, word-of-mouth, business cards, and email to maintain professional connections. People were just starting to speculate that domain names would have future value, and in a flash of foresight, I bought my own domain based on my name.

Securing my name was easy; creating an online portfolio of my work was complicated. Websites required designers, and hiring a coder to build an HTML site from scratch was expensive. Luckily, a friend, who worked as a web designer at Calvin Klein, offered to build my site in exchange for a few brunches of huevos rancheros at Life Café. Similar to a chef asking the prep cook to cut and parboil vegetables, my friend asked me to prepare my content before he began designing.

What I thought would take only a few weeks to curate my work and write a simple bio became a yearlong existential dive into defining myself as an artist in the online world.

My new site featured artwork and stills from film and theatre, and the only way you would find me is by already knowing my name from an email salutation, business card, or referral. I was active enough at the time that I could enjoy my online obscurity. I felt like a cool after-hours club or that super memorable gallery café you stumbled into and don’t want to tell too many people about or else it will be ruined. Not a recipe for online success, but that kind of success wasn’t currency until the 2010s.

Flash forward to 2024. More and more professional relationships were being forged via video apps and social media. My website—originally designed as a visual portfolio—wasn’t optimized for text, the main way search engines understand what a site is about.

As creative industries shift, we have to shift with them

I was ready to embark upon the fifth iteration of my website. I had used Wix and Squarespace templates, repeating the same formula my friend had initiated 25 years earlier: images, fonts, palette, and graphic design. This felt comfortable because I could rely on the power of an image—of me or by me—to speak for me.

But my business model had evolved from visual artist to writer.

I’m no tech expert, but I am a seeker of information. During a Writer’s Bridge session about newsletters, I met a business strategist in a breakout room. I commented about wanting to design a new website, and she replied, “Before you pick out your colors and font, decide what it is you’re offering.” I had never defined what it is I do or why it might be relevant or of interest. I trusted people would “get it” by osmosis.

If we don’t define our online presence for ourselves, the internet will do it for us.

I searched Freelancing Females, a database of freelancers, for a designer who could also advise me on my content strategy and SEO. Many web designers offer free site audits, and I interviewed three potential collaborators within my fixed budget before engaging with one for my revamped site.

Working with my new web designer felt uncomfortable at first. Her recommendations clashed with my creative instincts. I cringed at the suggestion to call myself a Coach—one of the internet’s strongest search terms for personal services. But when I really went deep into what I’d been doing for over a decade as a screenwriter and advertising writer, I began to accept that I had been coaching my clients as much as executing the material. How did I expect to attract new business when I was reluctant to define my offerings?

This got me thinking about my first job.

At fourteen, I worked behind the counter of a famous bakery known for its signature product: a slab of chocolate fudge on a round vanilla cookie. My boss’s Greek family were the original owners of Berger’s Bakery, and he was charged with opening a stall at a new food market. He hated it. He was (is) an artist and the idea of selling donuts and squandering his talents on frosting decorative sheet cakes made him outwardly furious. He would shout at customers, shout at other vendors. Shout at us.

And still people would line up to buy the product.

Later, I became the manager of a popular restaurant in Soho and a bartender at what was the first real Spanish tapas bar. I saw that a successful business relies on repeat customers who take comfort in the food and service experience they know and love. They tell their friends, they bring their family and first dates. So yes, it’s the quality of the product, but it’s also the ambience.

I can’t help but use my years in food service as an analogy for how I approach the design and upkeep of my website and social media.

I am my restaurant: front of house, chef, prep cook, cleaner, server, barista, bartender.

My website is the Front of House of my business. Similar to deciding whether or not to order from a restaurant at first glance, you wonder if what they serve is clear? The description of dishes and ingredients. Their hours of operation and location. Does the font on their signage look authentic or is it that “Euro bistro” font you see everywhere?

My testimonials are like reviews: my food is fresh, it was served hot, and tasted delicious.

I imagine my social media accounts as ancillary rooms to my dining room: a reading nook (Substack), a cocktail bar (Instagram), a coffee corner (Facebook), a business center (LinkedIn), a rave club (TikTok). They adorn and embellish my website, but they are not the reason you’d decide to eat at my restaurant. Hanging out in my cocktail bar may be so comfortable that you never walk into the dining room and sit down to order a full meal.

Let’s not forget the bathrooms!

The state of the bathroom tells you a lot about what’s going on in the kitchen as far as cleanliness. Keeping all of our spaces—social media sites, forums, profiles—tidy and up to date goes a long way in instilling confidence in strangers seeking you out for services.

Because as writers, all of our exchanges become personal experiences with our readers.

Using the restaurant analogy, I broke down my website approach into three rules.

1. Don’t be shy: clarify what you offer (again & again & again)

The internet is like a three-dimensional restaurant. It isn’t a linear experience. Visitors could land anywhere as the first point of contact, not just your Home or About page. Like the chef’s specials, be clear about who you are, what you care about, and how to engage on every page—whether that’s hiring you, buying your book, or signing up for your newsletter.

It feels redundant and counterintuitive as a storyteller, as if you don’t truly trust your audience, but it’s necessary if you want to serve that dish you’ve spent years training to perfect. Perhaps your huevos rancheros are what we’ll eat for brunch every Sunday!

2. Don’t be clever: optimize and prolong engagement

The name you choose for your URL should be clear and have longevity, so it builds in ranking. It’s like your favorite local bar or coffee shop. You love saying the name; it brings you comfort. Even when they do a renovation, the name sticks if it’s as iconic as a chocolate fudge cookie sold by a shouting Greek.

From there, your website should reflect your key offerings, the themes you’re passionate about, and your core subject matter. The staples. Otherwise, search engines (and potential readers) are less likely to find you or, once they have, remain engaged. Simple updates—like page titles, keyword-rich narrative descriptions, videos, blogs, podcasts, and clear navigation bars—help your target audience discover and benefit from your offerings and perhaps try new dishes!

3. Don’t be elusive: make it easy for people to contact you

How annoying is it when you’re ready to order and the server is nowhere in sight?

Successful sites guide visitors toward a clear next step or CTA (call to action). Whether you’re an author, coach, or freelancer, your website should funnel visitors toward your main goal—booking a consultation or speaking engagement, subscribing to your newsletter, or purchasing your book—without making them hunt for how to do it.

Use your skills to define a core narrative

We are storytellers, are we not? Let’s use that skill to our advantage when building the language—the food culture—of our site. If you specialize in plant-based food, don’t court the meat eaters. When I looked into the proverbial mirror, I saw I’m squarely in the creative nonfiction landscape. I help film producers, commercial directors, and individuals adapt true stories into screenplays and memoirs. My personal writing is memoir, essays, and flash nonfiction.

Notice that ALL of the underlined words are true to me AND strong search words for my website copy.

For me, revisiting the question of who I am in the digital space became an exciting process of rediscovery.

By leaning into what makes sense to me and integrating storytelling into my strategy, I’m able to make my site more effective with my voice and connect with an entirely new (wider) audience beyond my original network.

Now, my website analytics show visitors spend an average of 2:46 minutes engaging with my content, and people who have never heard of me will get in touch after finding me through organic searches. Perhaps they are following a tasty, glazed carrot—or even a fudge-slathered cookie—down a rabbit hole of their own.

Author website builders: Tertulia versus BookBub (and more)

Both Tertulia and BookBub now offer author website building services. How do they compare?

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Username or E-mail Password * function mepr_base64_decode(encodedData) { var decodeUTF8string = function(str) { // Going backwards: from bytestream, to percent-encoding, to original string. return decodeURIComponent(str.split('').map(function(c) { return '%' + ('00' + c.charCodeAt(0).toString(16)).slice(-2) }).join('')) } if (typeof window !== 'undefined') { if (typeof window.atob !== 'undefined') { return decodeUTF8string(window.atob(encodedData)) } } else { return new Buffer(encodedData, 'base64').toString('utf-8') } var b64 = 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=' var o1 var o2 var o3 var h1 var h2 var h3 var h4 var bits var i = 0 var ac = 0 var dec = '' var tmpArr = [] if (!encodedData) { return encodedData } encodedData += '' do { // unpack four hexets into three octets using index points in b64 h1 = b64.indexOf(encodedData.charAt(i++)) h2 = b64.indexOf(encodedData.charAt(i++)) h3 = b64.indexOf(encodedData.charAt(i++)) h4 = b64.indexOf(encodedData.charAt(i++)) bits = h1 << 18 | h2 << 12 | h3 << 6 | h4 o1 = bits >> 16 & 0xff o2 = bits >> 8 & 0xff o3 = bits & 0xff if (h3 === 64) { tmpArr[ac++] = String.fromCharCode(o1) } else if (h4 === 64) { tmpArr[ac++] = String.fromCharCode(o1, o2) } else { tmpArr[ac++] = String.fromCharCode(o1, o2, o3) } } while (i < encodedData.length) dec = tmpArr.join('') return decodeUTF8string(dec.replace(/\0+$/, '')) } jQuery(document).ready(function() { document.getElementById("meprmath_captcha-67da70750ce0e").innerHTML=mepr_base64_decode("MTEgKyA0IGVxdWFscz8="); }); Remember Me     Forgot Password

Author website builders: Tertulia versus BookBub

Both Tertulia and BookBub now offer author website building services. How do they compare?

This premium article is available to paid subscribers of Jane's newsletter. Login below, or learn more and subscribe. 

Username or E-mail Password * function mepr_base64_decode(encodedData) { var decodeUTF8string = function(str) { // Going backwards: from bytestream, to percent-encoding, to original string. return decodeURIComponent(str.split('').map(function(c) { return '%' + ('00' + c.charCodeAt(0).toString(16)).slice(-2) }).join('')) } if (typeof window !== 'undefined') { if (typeof window.atob !== 'undefined') { return decodeUTF8string(window.atob(encodedData)) } } else { return new Buffer(encodedData, 'base64').toString('utf-8') } var b64 = 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=' var o1 var o2 var o3 var h1 var h2 var h3 var h4 var bits var i = 0 var ac = 0 var dec = '' var tmpArr = [] if (!encodedData) { return encodedData } encodedData += '' do { // unpack four hexets into three octets using index points in b64 h1 = b64.indexOf(encodedData.charAt(i++)) h2 = b64.indexOf(encodedData.charAt(i++)) h3 = b64.indexOf(encodedData.charAt(i++)) h4 = b64.indexOf(encodedData.charAt(i++)) bits = h1 << 18 | h2 << 12 | h3 << 6 | h4 o1 = bits >> 16 & 0xff o2 = bits >> 8 & 0xff o3 = bits & 0xff if (h3 === 64) { tmpArr[ac++] = String.fromCharCode(o1) } else if (h4 === 64) { tmpArr[ac++] = String.fromCharCode(o1, o2) } else { tmpArr[ac++] = String.fromCharCode(o1, o2, o3) } } while (i < encodedData.length) dec = tmpArr.join('') return decodeUTF8string(dec.replace(/\0+$/, '')) } jQuery(document).ready(function() { document.getElementById("meprmath_captcha-67d3d86c9e37f").innerHTML=mepr_base64_decode("MTQgKyAyIGVxdWFscz8="); }); Remember Me     Forgot Password

Exophonic Writing: Crafting Fiction in a Foreign Language

Photo by JACQUELINE BRANDWAYN on Unsplash

Today’s post is by writer, editor, and book coach Karmen H. Špiljak.

Writing fiction in another language might sound straightforward. Technically, you’re using the same tools as in your mother tongue, so changing the language should feel no different from, say, switching from painting with acrylic to painting with oil. At least that was what I expected fifteen years ago, when I started writing in English.

What I learned was that it is much less about the tools and more about the painter. I fully expected a few challenges and hiccups, but I didn’t imagine that writing stories in another language would feel different. My writing voice sounded different, too. I stuck to it because English became my daily language after I’d left Slovenia. I wanted to make a living as a writer and writing in English meant reaching more people.

Later on, I learned that the practice of writing in a non-native tongue is known as exophony. French linguists have been discussing exophonic literature for almost fifty years, while “Exophonie” has been in use in German literary and cultural studies since 2007. The term made it into English, but it’s far from widespread. In fact, my spell checker keeps suggesting the word is an error.

Writing in a non-native language is nothing new, though. Exophonic writers include established names like Elif Shafak, Khaled Hosseini, Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri, poet Nilofar Shidmehr and household names like Milan Kundera, Fernando Pessoa and Joseph Conrad.

There are different reasons authors decide to change their writing language. Hungarian author Ágota Kristóf wrote The Notebook in French because she’d migrated to Switzerland. Samuel Beckett adopted French to change his writing style and prune the embellishments of his mother tongue. Yiyun Li writes in English so she can distance herself from her painful past, while many others simply want to reach a wider audience.

Exophonic writers must master the language and find an authentic way to express themselves in a different framework. Sometimes, this means letting go of certain habits, expressions and structures, other times it’s about navigating cultural aspects without compromising one’s truth.

Ongoing language mastery, I learned, is a blessing in disguise. It invites you to stay curious about the language. You also become more conscious of your choices and deliberate about identifying and overcoming your shortcomings. Here are a few things that will help you ease the transition.

1. Adjust the mindset.

It might take a few beats before the quality of your writing in a foreign language resembles that in your mother tongue, so managing expectations is key. Give yourself permission to write badly, knowing this phase is a necessary step towards progress.

Avoid the temptation to compare your prose to that of writers who are further down the path. Their resources and circumstances are most likely different from yours. You can only make a fair comparison if you pitch your older writing against your newer pieces.

2. Disable the internal translation.

To take your writing to the next level, disable the internal translation and start thinking in your writing language. This might feel weird and counter-intuitive, but it will make a massive difference. If you’re crafting sentences in your mother tongue and translating them onto the page, chances are you’ll carry over the syntax and style from your mother tongue. You might, for example, favor compound sentences or baroque prose because it’s the predominant writing style in your mother tongue.

Sometimes your unique perspective will enrich the language and give it a fresh feel. Other times, it will stifle your prose and bring confusion. In Slovenian, for example, I could say that an icy wind shaves, but in English, I’d write that the wind felt like a razor against my skin. There’s a fine line between authority and authenticity. Every exophonic writer must find their own balance.

3. Master the language.

Exophonic writers tend to have a solid grasp of their writing language. Editing tools like ProWriting Aid, Grammarly and AutoCrit can help improve grammar and spelling, spot any disobedient commas or dangling modifiers and suggest further improvements. While these tools aren’t a replacement for an editor, they can help you hone your editing skills.

Writing fiction, however, requires exploring the language beyond grammar, from semantics to register, intonation, euphemisms and other details of the spoken and written language. The best way to learn is to immerse yourself: read, watch, and listen extensively. This will improve your feeling for syntax, grow your vocabulary and advance your dialogue skills.

I rarely read without a pen and I collect unfamiliar and interesting words in a dedicated notebook. A good dictionary and thesaurus are invaluable, but be mindful how you use them. Unusual or rare words stand out. If you use too many, they’ll divert the reader’s attention away from your story.

4. Scale up.

Before committing to a full-length novel, it’s good to try your hand at short-form fiction. Writing short stories is far from easy and comes with a steep learning curve. You’ll hone your storytelling skills, develop your voice in another language and build up your confidence. Not to mention that it’s much easier to revise a story of five thousand words than a novel of a hundred thousand.

5. Identify your writing tics.

Every writer has a favorite phrase, expression or way to start and end a sentence. You might not notice these tics unless you read your work out loud or ask for feedback. A good editor or editing tool can help identify your tics and weed them out. Writing software like Scrivener offers statistics on frequently (over)used words.

6. Do a quality check.

Ask native speakers for feedback to identify any parts where things aren’t clear or the writing is off. If you can hire an editor, even better. Exophonic author Emma Sterner-Radely wrote candidly about her editors’ confusion about doing something from one’s toes. In Swedish, the expression describes putting everything you have into doing something, but it doesn’t translate well into English.

After revising your story, read your work out loud or use an app that will read it for you. Mark any parts where the words don’t easily slip off the tongue and revise them.

7. Befriend your mistakes.

Accept that making mistakes is a part of learning. Even a thorough editing process can result in a few oversights. If an error slips out before you catch it, be kind to yourself. Take it with a pinch of humor. Croatian author Lidija Hilje, for example, turned her slip into an amusing blog post about the wider implications of roasting the wrong bird: They’re Eating the Peacocks, the People Who Live There.

Overall, I found my exophonic experience to be rewarding. I rely on copy editing and sometimes still struggle to find the right words, but I’ve also honed my style and got creative with the language use. Funny enough, these days I even dream in English.

New podcast on the growing audiobook market

The Spoken World podcast launched last week and will provide in-depth coverage of the global audiobook market.

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The Next Big Idea Club has launched Author Insider

Author Insider is a weekly Substack newsletter that will focus on interviews and online education featuring industry insiders.

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Entangled expands Red Tower to the UK

The publisher, best known right now for the Rebecca Yarros series, will expand in a partnership with the Penguin Michael Joseph division.

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New UK children’s publisher: Three Wishes

Three Wishes expects to publish 15 to 20 concepts a year across novelty board books, personalized journals, arts and crafts, and sound books.

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New imprint: Bloomsbury Archer

The imprint will publish science fiction, fantasy, crossover stories, speculative romance, horror, and mythological retellings.

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Dodging the Scarcity Trap

Today’s post is by author and book coach Anne Janzer.

When I landed on the idea for my first book (a business book), I couldn’t believe that no one had written it yet. The gap in the market looked glaringly obvious to me. So I rushed to fill it, focusing all my energy on getting the book to market quickly, publishing myself.

Once it was published, I started the hard work I had deferred: sharing the ideas, blogging, speaking, defending the framework, and learning from others. I began to build the audience.

As a first-time author, I had tried to “own the space” before someone else did. A mindset of scarcity made me rush.

I was not alone. As a nonfiction book coach, I encounter prospective authors who worry about guarding their ideas. Scarcity has many voices:

Would you sign a nondisclosure agreement before we talk about my book?What if someone steals my idea?I don’t want to share this idea/framework/concept until the book is out.

It’s only natural. After pouring your heart into a book, losing it before you’re finished would be heartbreaking.

Of course, someone could “steal” your idea. We hear news stories that only reinforce the problem—some author stealing another’s plot, for example. These things happen, but rarely.

In protecting your ideas, you may just be hurting yourself. Instead of experiencing the relatively uncommon problem of someone stealing your ideas, you live in the much more common condition: no one knows about your ideas in the first place.

What we can, and can’t, protect

Let’s be clear: I am not a lawyer, but to the best of my understanding, copyright applies to the expression of ideas — the words that contain the thoughts. That’s what you protect. Your words. Book titles, though, are not protected by copyright in the U.S. It’s possible you could trademark a title, however, and nonfiction authors might want to trademark a framework or license a system. (Learn more about trademark from a lawyer.) But before you lock everything up, let’s look at the underlying assumption of scarcity and loss.

As anyone who has written a book can tell you, the gap between the idea and finished product is huge. That’s why skilled ghostwriters charge a lot. Your idea is just the starting point.

If you and I both write a book on the same topic, I can guarantee the two books would be quite different, especially if we really bring ourselves to the writing process.

Many people worry about getting credit for their ideas. But credit is rarely guaranteed. Creative work, like science, simmers in a global soup of ideas bouncing and colliding with each other, generating new ideas.

Can you remember the origins of your ideas and beliefs? Do you cite the textbooks you studied in college, the essay by the author you love, the article in the paper? It’s hard because once ideas enter your mind, they react with each other and your experience. They become part of your worldview.

Hoarding ideas rarely pays off. Like money stuffed in mattresses, unshared ideas don’t earn interest.

Do you want to keep your ideas from entering the mix, or do you want to make an impact? If it’s the latter, start right away.

Ideas aren’t scarce

If a plate holds three cookies and I eat two of them, there’s only one left for you. (Sorry — you should have acted faster!) Unless one of us buys or bakes more, those cookies are a finite resource. They belong in the realm of scarcity and so do the following:

Sports (only one team can win the big game)Time (you only have 24 hours in the day — the number is unknown, but decidedly finite)

But other things in life play by different rules.

Love: You don’t love a child less when you have another one. Your time and sleep may be constrained, but love grows.Smiles: If I smile at you, you might smile back and both our spirits will be lifted.Yawns. (We’ve all experienced that.)

Likewise, an idea doesn’t get “used up” if it reaches more people — instead, it grows in impact and value.

Good ideas multiply when shared.

When we treat ideas as scarce commodities, we fulfill the prophecy and make them smaller and scarcer.

Writing and publishing with abundance

What would happen if you approach writing with a sense of abundance and share your ideas well before the book is out?

You might deepen your understanding by testing your concepts in the world.You would start interacting with people interested in those ideas, building your author platform.Your book would have a ready audience when it appears.

If you’re pitching a publisher, imagine if your book already had a bunch of pre-orders. That would strengthen the pitch. (Hat tip to Jeevan Sivasubramaniam of Berrett-Koehler Publishers for suggesting this … I think it was in a LinkedIn post. See what I mean about remembering where you encounter good ideas?)

The lessons of abundance

That first book (Subscription Marketing) turned out pretty well in the long run. In hindsight, my sense of scarcity led to an unnecessary rush. So I wrote a second edition reflecting the lessons learned in conversations about that book. It eventually found a larger audience who appreciated its ideas (and it had a great run with a business publisher in Japan).

But I wished I’d shared my ideas in writing and speaking before the book came out, learning from conversations and building the audience by offering useful insights. I am grateful to my first book for teaching me lessons that I have tried to apply to my books about writing.

Not only is it more effective to believe in abundance, it’s more fun as well. You can let go of fear and anxiety and lean into serving others.

Your ideas don’t live between the covers of a book—they come to life in people’s minds. The best way to support your book, especially in the nonfiction world, may be setting those ideas free long before the book appears in print.