Websites, writers and connectedness
My editor tells me that it is essential for a writer to have a website. If I'm reading her correctly, the biggest impetus is to give readers a chance to contact the author with questions and comments. Obviously, it also serves as advertising. So I spent a while browsing other authors' sites and blogs. They varied from pretty basic to very professional with buttons and videos and direct channels to where the author's books are for sale.
When I grew up (and it may help date me to know that when I wrote as a teenager it was with a portable typewriter balanced on my knees) a book came out in print. Then people read it. If you were highly moved by it, one way or the other, you maybe wrote a letter to the publisher, which was forwarded to the author, who maybe wrote you back. I think I did this twice (and I read thousands of books).
Now writing seems to be much more of a dialog between the authors and their readers. Anyone can write a review and have people reading it. And authors can respond in real time to inquiries. E-books and self-publishing blur the line even further between writer and reader. Books can be written, published, critiqued and revised in an almost cooperative way. When I reformatted Lies and Consequences for the fourth time, trying to make Microsoft Word play nice with Smashwords, I did a quick edit to fix a few of the most egregious problems noted by early reviewers - thank you Ann Somerville and J.R. Tomlin.)
Still, I know Lies and Consequences has been downloaded at least 850 times, and I've seen 18 reviews and no messages. And really, reviews should be written with other readers in mind, not the author. So what do readers really want in the way of author contact? Is a message drop the critical thing? Do readers like to hear about work in progress, author bio, and random blogging, or is it really all about the books? Would a free short story be a big attraction? I'm musing these questions as I decide if readers really want the additional exposure.
Goodreads is a nice forum for interaction, and I'm glad I found it. But I'm old-school enough to wonder if we aren't getting too caught up in the illusion of personal connection through the keyboard. Would it not be better to let the work stand on its own? Are authors' egos and lives and minutia really relevant to the books they write? Or am I just a Luddite in this new connected world?
When I grew up (and it may help date me to know that when I wrote as a teenager it was with a portable typewriter balanced on my knees) a book came out in print. Then people read it. If you were highly moved by it, one way or the other, you maybe wrote a letter to the publisher, which was forwarded to the author, who maybe wrote you back. I think I did this twice (and I read thousands of books).
Now writing seems to be much more of a dialog between the authors and their readers. Anyone can write a review and have people reading it. And authors can respond in real time to inquiries. E-books and self-publishing blur the line even further between writer and reader. Books can be written, published, critiqued and revised in an almost cooperative way. When I reformatted Lies and Consequences for the fourth time, trying to make Microsoft Word play nice with Smashwords, I did a quick edit to fix a few of the most egregious problems noted by early reviewers - thank you Ann Somerville and J.R. Tomlin.)
Still, I know Lies and Consequences has been downloaded at least 850 times, and I've seen 18 reviews and no messages. And really, reviews should be written with other readers in mind, not the author. So what do readers really want in the way of author contact? Is a message drop the critical thing? Do readers like to hear about work in progress, author bio, and random blogging, or is it really all about the books? Would a free short story be a big attraction? I'm musing these questions as I decide if readers really want the additional exposure.
Goodreads is a nice forum for interaction, and I'm glad I found it. But I'm old-school enough to wonder if we aren't getting too caught up in the illusion of personal connection through the keyboard. Would it not be better to let the work stand on its own? Are authors' egos and lives and minutia really relevant to the books they write? Or am I just a Luddite in this new connected world?
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I have no expectation or desire to engage in long conversations with the author or become BFF's etc. I'm not a huge fan of short stories although I know lots of people are. An author bio is nice to see what gender the author is and where they come from and who/what their influences are. I actually love those widgets where the author shows what books she is reading/recommending (you know those ones from Amazon that scroll through pictures of the book so you can click on it).
There are small number of author's blogs I follow because they are so witty (e.g. Ilona Andrews, Jordan Castillo Price). But these authors seem to love blogging and chatting with readers about their own life and I don't expect or want every author to provide me with an entertaining blog. But mostly for me the website is just a way to see what they're working on so I can add it to my TBR pile.