Get Started With Your Own Website or Blog

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If you're serious about your career as an author, you need a website. And the sooner
you get one going, the better.



Why?



The most important reason: There's a learning curve. You don't want to be scrambling
to put together a site when your book releases, or when you have an agent's interest,
or when someone asks why you don't have a site.




You also learn a tremendous amount about how the online world works, and what works
for YOU especially in finding your audience online. (I learn something new every week!)



This is a topic I'm passionate about, so you can find a range of past blog posts at
NO RULES covering multiple angles of site development and strategy. Here are some
of my favorites.

Should
You Hire Someone to Design Your Website?


A controversial post where I recommend that a writer in the early stages of their
online presence NOT invest in a designer.



5
Things That Make Me Stop Reading Websites/Blogs


The advice here is evergreen and will always apply.



How
Writers Can Start Blogging in a Meaningful Way


I offer 4 tips on approaches any writer can take.



What
Should Fiction Writers Blog About?


Often when I give blogging advice, the novelists all complain, "But that's great for
nonfiction writers. What about us?" This is my answer for them.



Managing
Multiple Identities Online—Avoid


Tackling another big question I get frequently, about pen names and/or managing different
audiences/relationships under the same site.

Probably the big question for any unpublished writer, with nothing to
market & promote: What are the must-haves for my site? What should I put on it?
What purpose does it serve? Here are 4 things to get you started:



About/bio page. Impress and charm people with your writing skills here. It's
an opportunity to show off.



Hub for ALL online activity. Wherever you're active online, whether it's Facebook,
Twitter, GoodReads, etc, your homepage should be the central hub where people can
see EVERYTHING you're active in, and connect with you wherever they want.

Newsletter sign-up. I've covered this here and here.

Content. This might take the form of a blog. Or it could be a podcast or video
blog or something else entirely. If you're not sure what your "content" looks like, check
this post for ideas.


Other questions I frequently hear:



How do you make sure your website looks professional to people in the publishing industry?



How do you know whether to gear it toward agents, publishers, or readers?

What are the best (or easiest!) tools to use?




Who should I hire to help me? Can I do it on my own?

If you read every post on the topic at NO RULES, you'll get a good idea what all the
answers are. Or, if you want a full, interactive course on the subject, then all these
questions and more will be answered in a live class I'm teaching tomorrow: "The
5 Essential Components of a Strong Author Website."




The webinar is happening at 1 p.m. EST, and lasts 75 minutes. Keep in mind that you
do not have to make the live webinar to get the event. You can see the recorded webinar
online and communicate questions to me afterward. Sign
up here!




What you'll learn




If you don't have a site: How to get started easily, efficiently, and for very little
cost

If you do have a site: What elements you need to evaluate and possibly revise on a
monthly, quarterly, biannual, and annual basis

When you should hire a professional designer or site developer, and how much you can
expect to spend

The secrets of a strong "about" (or bio) page

What kind of information to make available for your books—or what to say if you're
unpublished

How and when to integrate social media onto your site

How and when to include an e-mail newsletter sign up

How and when to integrate a blog onto your site

What website plug-ins or features are most effective and helpful

How to start using Google Analytics, a critical tool for helping you understand how
people find and use your site


Hope to see you there! More
info and sign up here.

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