I was in a conversation with a writer once and she casually asked how much a general website would cost. And I gave her the run down, setup fees, domain registration costs and design costs. I told her our bare fee would always be $135 per year to keep a website up, running and the domain registered.
She sniffed and said, “Oh, then could you guarantee that I would sell $135 a year worth of books?” I was taken back. I almost expected this woman to demand that I would put up that $135 a year if she didn’t sell that worth of books.
I said, “Do you ever sell that much in a year?”
The rest of the conversation is irrelevant but it got me thinking more and more on why a writer needs a website. And what a writer should expect from a website. Being a website designer and full fledged supporter of all people having their own website these are questions I have come upon before.
Why a writer needs a website:
Lets start with the obvious.
You need a website because someday your going to send your manuscript to a publisher on the hope that they might be interested. You know most of them wont be but that one special editor that thinks they could have a place for your book is absolutely going to do one thing. The editor is going to google your name. Have you ever googled your name? How about job interviews: You know that right now more people who hire anyone google their name first to see what’s on the internet about them. Google your name right now. What comes up? I can tell you that what you’re going to find is nothing that you can control.
Good or bad, what google finds is nothing you can change. However, you can guarantee one thing by having your own website. It will probably be first on the list and your own website is the only information you can put on the internet that you can control.
What about professionalism?
A stunning, well designed, updated website is impressive. When I see a nice website that is devoted to an author. I think: This person is trying to create a fantastic impression. This author wants to be taken seriously and is getting on his/her own bandwagon from the very beginning.
Maybe it’s not for you though.
Websites are not cheap and there is always the chance that your site will offer you very little. There is a place for folks who just will not benefit from a website. Their writing will never go main stream, they’ll never have a job interview or be worried that an editor would ever google their name. There is a large percentage of writers who just write to write and have no interest whatsoever in getting better at their writing or ever becoming a big name author who lives off of their writing. A website might just not be for these people. I’m not one of those people.
Blogs are cool.
They really are. Many authors on the internet right now are setting themselves up for success by writing blogs. These people already have fans before their books are even published. If you have a name for yourself, through a website or by other means, you are guaranteed to have more luck getting published. And when your book is published you’re guaranteed to have more sales.
I’ve never talked anyone into a website.ever.
It is a financial decision and, though my prices are not this high, most of the time a website will set you back over $1,000. This is your decision and yours alone. But think about your future. Think about what you want out of your website. If you can’t think of anything that’s probably a good sign that you don’t need one.
No one can guarantee website hits.
And no one can. Like I said to that woman, “Do you sell $135 worth of books ever in a year?” You remain your only cheerleader. No matter what you are the one that will guarantee a successful blog or website. And you don’t need to even be interesting. A website needs to be updated and kept at it.
Google my name Tarah Wolff.
What is the first website that shows up for me? It’s this one, of course. There is always the chance that you won’t have as unique a name as I do. At the moment there is no other on the internet to compete with me. So this is easy, I went to the top because I was the only one. I’m literally only competing with my other websites (which you’ll also see in the google list – because I’m a website designer I’m affiliated with a lot of website).
The beauty of blogs for authors.
The best advice I’ve ever heard for writers is two things and they are read everything that you can find and write as many words as you possibly can (and I don’t mean thousands but hundreds of thousands and most of them will be shit). You can never become a good writer without reading and you can never become a good writer without writing. I have only just finally given in and started this blog. It’s been damn good for me. It’s given me a place to write down my thoughts but mostly to practice and focus my thoughts. And isn’t this what writers are supposed to do well? To focus our thoughts and project them clearly to other people? A blog is a very good practice.
You can start a blog for free.
You don’t have to hire a web designer to start a free blog on the internet and have your own little website. It won’t include your own personal domain (such as http://www.yourname.com) without cost but if you go to wordpress.com you can start your website and your blog in minutes. And there are hundreds of free website templates to choose from. If you are a writer I urge you to try this. See how it goes, encourage your friends to get online and support your writing. If it goes well you’re going to want to consider expanding into a real website someday. And if that day comes go to directnic.com and see if the domain you want is available. For $15 a year you can grab the domain you want (if its available) and then you can at least hold it in safe keeping.
