01 02 03 Amorina Rose Writes: Website decisions 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33

Website decisions

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Things are moving along very nicely with our anthology.  Most of the stories are in and ready for a final edit under the beady eyes that search out every error for correction and then some. Have I told you about our plans?  I think I have hinted but not said much more because until now we needed the time to see how it would go.  You see the ladies and I, joined by a good friend, have decided we would put an anthology together and self-publish. 

The motivation behind this is two-fold.  Firstly it would give readers a taste of what we can do.  We see this as mutually satisfying for us and them.  We get to flex our muscles a little and readers get a choice in style, genre, and to discover new talent.  Well, I don’t know about the last bit for sure but I threw it out there to you and the universe in the form of hope and I am not too proud to add prayer in on the equation.  The second reason is that we are hoping to learn through this process and when we are fortunate enough to get reader feedback we can then work towards improving.  We do anyway but how nice would it be to have our readers’ input. 

This brings me to the subject of today’s post – our website.  We have a name but as of yet we have not made any firm decisions other than we need a website before we publish.  We have begun to throw a few ideas around.  All of us on the blog believe this to be a necessity for ourselves and of course the people that may read our books. Personally I love going to websites as my list of reading grows.  Let’s face it how can you not when it gives a connection to the book through insight into the writer and their other works.

Mind you there are some incredible surprises at times and isn’t that fun?  Over the years I have been amazed at the different genres people can work in.  We are cheating a little by offering a few on our website by our diversity.  We see that as a plus for you and us.   However  knowing we need a website and actually setting it up and designing it is pretty difficult despite some artistic bents from my colleagues.  A little bit of reassurance and some understanding of what to start with came my way when I came across this post by Cara Brookins. It goes a long way to curb the panic. 

We don’t have to do it all at once but we do have to make decisions on what needs to be up there now and while we are at it we should also say thank you for pre-made templates.  I love reading Cara.  She makes things simple and achievable. Fonts, layouts, colour swatches can all be improved on down the track but an overall structure connects us to you.  We have time to make things more interesting as we go along and we will welcome any suggestions you may have. So for now let’s look at the pages Cara says are important.  She makes good sense and I am hoping this post will give you an idea of how much we are willing to take on board to give our readers the best we can. If we don’t take it all on board at once it is only because we need time to discover what suits us all, we three, and our reading friends. The link to Cara Brookins is below so you can have the option to explore more for yourselves. This post is really about what any of us can do to start with.

The About page is vital. We know it will get the most hits so we need our personalities to show through including the dreaded headshot.  You may need a little patience with us as we build on this. Remember the old saying, what comes first, the chicken or the egg? That’s us.  We are the chicken and the egg so all we can do is lay (egg and chicken joke so you had better be laughing) the foundation with this one and offering links and other bits and pieces will come.  There are also three of us and readers need to know they can find the individual with the benefit of what may be some interesting extras. Or not? We are still exploring this option.

We can’t do without our Books page.  Patience will be needed once again but I promise we intent to fill this.  Nothing is more frustrating than not knowing if you are reading at the beginning of a series or when the next one is coming out.  We are aware of this and also about the links to purchase.  Are you starting to worry we are getting ahead of ourselves?  Please don’t! We believe in ourselves so we are planning ahead by arming ourselves with knowledge. We know how important it is to have links to make all manner of things possible, accessible, to our readers including the next page – our blog

Our following has been slow and steady and we don’t want to lose you so the blog is a given. Cara stresses a blog can bring in as much as 55% more traffic.  For us it means continuing the hard work to improve the blog along with our writing but we love the blog as it is a means to give back to our readers on a different more personal level, and also to fellow writers by talking about their books. I am not at all reluctant to share an enjoyable reading experience? No reader ever is and it is a great way to give to our readers.  Of course we are selfish and want your attention on us but how can you trust us if we are not prepared to give. Sorry guys you are stuck with the blog and if you don’t like something then you can tell us on our contact page.  This is the last but not least page necessary for us as beginner websiters.  Contact forms allow readers, and agents, editors, reviewers and so many others to find you without compromising privacy. We are working on this.

There is so much more we can do with a website but slow and steady wins the race or so Mr Turtle or was it Tortoise, told us a long time ago.  No trying to make jokes with that last phrase as it is too close to home and our hopes and dreams, but we are fervently hoping he is right whatever he looks like.  Wish us luck because it won’t be too long before we will be telling you about our website, and the work involved on the way...?  Let’s leave that for another post.

Cara writes about lots of things and is very interesting in general.  Find her at http://carabrookins.com/5-12-pages-every-author-website-needs/

Ciao


Barb

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