Where the Growth Is

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■ Websites✓✓there should be a call to action—an instruction aboutwhat to do now. For example, “Check out more . . . ” or“Subscribe to the blog . . . ”At the bottom of the site’s About page, a simple line suchas “See my books on GoodReads” can encourage a purchaseor the act of reading more about the author’s work.To avoid overwhelming visitors and have some controlover how they use the site, you should provide only onenavigation bar.Sometimes it’s useful to offer a free gift, such as a checklistor report related to a book, in exchange for an email address,and of course it’s always useful to assure people that youwon’t share their addresses.I encourage authors to use Mailchimp for collecting emailaddresses and sending newsletters. It’s fairly easy to manage,and it’s free until you hit 2,000 subscribers. The companygives you a code to copy and paste on your site and in blogposts to create a signup form.✓ A simple sidebar always wins over any element on thesite that’s vying for attention and creating a distraction(examples include a blog roll, an advert, and so on).If there is nothing to do on thesite, visitors will leave in under 30seconds.Missed opportunity 3:Getting your great content readIf a site is painful to look at or slow to load, a reader will clickthe Back button right away, no matter how much great stuffis on the site.That’s why using Flash on a Website is usually a terrible idea.Since everyone’s attention span is short on the Net, if yoursite takes longer than 20 seconds to load, you’re losing visitorsright away.Too much use of color and fancy graphics can detract fromgreat content, leaving visitors confused about where they areand what they should be doing.No matter how beautiful a site looks, if there is nothing to doon the site, then visitors will leave in under 30 seconds. Butif you give them something to read, do, learn, and/or download,you make their trip to your site worth their while.Missed Opportunity 4:Collecting visitors’ email addressesAuthors who collect email addresses in as many ways as possible—inperson and online with a simple form—are ableto continue marketing their books and communicating withinterested people. And when their next books are ready tolaunch, they will have a direct and easy way of connecting toeveryone who might be interested in that.If sending newsletters regularly isn’t do-able, it’s okay to sendnews less frequently, perhaps every other month or quarterlyor in connection with holidays.Missed opportunity 5:Showing some personalityIt’s important to convey a sense of the author’s style and brandin the first few seconds to avoid losing potential readers.Color, font, and graphics are integral parts of an author’sbrand and should reflect the author’s work and style.A picture of the author with a bit of flair (as opposed to astandard headshot) helps convey personality. And biographicalmaterial on the About page that is super- interesting toread should demonstrate that this author is what every greatwriter is—a storyteller.Missed opportunity 6:Speaking to readers (not other writers)Too many authors have their fellow writers in mind whenthey create content for their sites. Their About pages go onand on, spouting statements such as, “I’ve been writing sinceI was a child” and “I completed an MFA at . . . ”Biographical material shoulddemonstrate that this author iswhat every great writer is—astoryteller.An effective About page tells readers the story of the author’slife and work, with an eye on what they will want to knowabout and enjoy reading.Similarly, blog posts should not be about writing; they should14 | IBPA Independent | February 2013
Websites■be about themes and topics that relate to an author’s work andthat targeted readers and potential readers will enjoy.Missed opportunity 7:Making things easy for the mediaMedia people are generally pressed for time. They want tofind all the information they’re looking for in one place.This means that an author’s site should have one area wherephotos, blurbs, bios, videos, contact information, and otherkinds of content that media might want are nicely laid outand easy to download.Say Hello to4-Color Printing fromEdwards Brothers Malloy!Media people want to find all theinformation they’re looking forin one place.Missed opportunity 8:Encouraging contactsEasy-to-spot, easy-to-use contact information can lead togreat opportunities. Thanks to the contact information onmy author site, I’ve heard from magazine editors, radio showproducers, and even an agent interested in representing mywork to other publishers.More important, I hear regularly from readers, which keepsme inspired and fulfilled. That’s the best reason to make it easyfor people to drop you a line while you have their attention.Every author site should have a contact form or a dedicatedcontact page that includes an email address as well as links tosocial media sites.Along with the other elements that go into a professionallooking,interactive, reader-focused Website, something assimple as contact information can make a big difference.Whether you’re an author or a publisher or both, I hope thesetips and action points will encourage you to think about anauthor Website as an amazing tool for attracting and connectingwith readers and the media. ■If you need a new source for 4-colortext printing, look no further thanEdwards Brothers Malloy. With theaddition of a Heidelberg offset colorpress, a new Kodak NexPress (ourfourth), and a new Xerox iGen digitalpress, we have significantly expandedour color offering.• Full color text• One to 3,000 copies• All trim sizes• Soft or hard cover• Wide variety of stocks and bindingoptionsCall 800-722-3231 for details today!www.edwardsbrothersmalloy.comLaura Pepper Wu is the co-founder of the award-winning 30 Day Books, a book studio thatprovides marketing tools and resources for authors. Her latest projects include Authorlicious,a Website theme built just for authors, and the e-book 77 Ways to Find New Readers for YourSelf-Published Book, available at 30daybooks.com/77ways. She blogs at 30DayBooks.com/blog.Visit the IBPA Website at www.ibpa-online.org | 15
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