McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

When to start an author website?

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arianne:
I'm in the process of self-publishing my first novel, and I'm just wondering, when should I start up my author website/Twitter/Facebook? Should I start it up now or should I wait until the book has actually come out? Should I buy my domain now and just not put anything on it yet?

And what sort of thing should I put on my Twitter feeds/blog posts? I've heard some people say that I should go for personal everyday stuff, but others have said that it should only be author-related, writing-related stuff. Does anyone have any personal experience or advice? Thanks in advance!

LizW65:
I can only speak for myself, but I got the domain name and started building my website a couple months before I was ready to bring the book out. That gave me ample time to figure the software out and design the site; thus I was able to launch it within a few days of the book's release.

The Deposed King:
I got a free blog over at google before completing book 1.  I got a grand total of about 20 visitors of six months.

After Book 1 lit up and Book two was just about ready to come out, I transfered to a real blog.  My current website.  So you don't 'have' to have anything up to make a winning move.

That said there are some authors out there with killer websites.  Updates on their books, pictures, exclusive content, e-mailing lists.  I think its like the 80/20 principle.  80% of your money will come from just plain writing the book.  The other 20% is from value added stuff like the website and such.

But I can't claim to be an expert yet.  Still just getting started since april last year.




The Deposed King

Dresdenus Prime:
The first thing I did was make a twitter account and immediately started talking about writing my book. I've heard from a couple different self published authors that Twitter is the place to promote. I commented on other author's tweets and made some general tweets of my own about writing and what genre I was looking towards.

Then I started a blog. I personally used wordpress and I like it well enough. I began by posting book's from other author's I knew on twitter, did a book review, but also generalized it by talking about movies and games as well. I've been slowly revealing more about my novel in the hopes of building anticipation. (The book cover should be done this week!)

The last items on my list before the book's release is to get active on facebook (I just created my author page yesterday), make an account on goodreads, and dive into Google +. From there I will start promoting my novel and trying to drive people towards my blog. I've actually had a couple people compliment me on it.

As to a main website, I have been tempted to buy the domain name I want just so I have it, but I probably will not worry about putting one up until after the book is released. I don't expect my book to fly off the shelf, but I want to build a base of reader's first before I put up a full blown site. Until then, my blog is my main site.

Quantus:
I have no experience from the Author's side of it, but as a member of the Audience, Id recommend having it up and running before the book comes out, so that when new readers are become interested in the book and you as an author, they have some place to get information that is established and looks professional.  Id say focus it on your author/writing  news and activites, rather than flooding it with general/personal information, for the aforementioned Professional feel of it;  it's not just for fans, it can also be a good tool if and when interested publishers come looking. 

What Liz said about making it a good ways ahead of time to work out the bugs is probably prudent advise as well. 

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