A Writer's Website

[Neurolanis]

I am reworking my website where I hope to begin some minor attempt at self-promotion or to at least look good to any agent, in potentially considering representing me, who may take a look for me online and come across my site. What should an author's (unpublished writer's) website convey? What kind of images or articles should it have? What would catch someone's attention? I need some inspiration..

[The Master]

I would definitely recommend that you browse some of the author sites in the Resource Networkto see what other authors have done.

For basics, I think that any author site should have:

• An informative bio about you. Of course you want to include professional information such as education, but also be sure to include something interesting about your childhood or some formative event in your life to add personal interest.
  
• A list of any works you have published. Don't forget to list articles, short stories you have done for magazines. List these in a correctly referenced manner so that a potential publisher can look it up if they wish. Of course, if something can be purchased make it easy for the visitor to do so.
  
• Excerpts from your work so people can get a taste of what you do. Ideally, I think a "website exclusive" short story is a great way to introduce people to your work and add real value to your website. It helps move it past "online brochure" to "content rich".
• A few good links to writing or genre resources on the web that you personally recommend {*cough*speculativevision.com*cough*}. Linking to authors you personally enjoy or that inspire you can help show your influences.

Some design elements to consider:

• Don't over clutter the page. Cramming too much onto one page invokes "wall of text" reaction in users. Use "whitespace" (blank portions of the page) to help lead the eye to content.
  
• If possible use a theme that encompasses the type of work you do. If you do Dark Fantasy and have a lot of Vampire stories black backgrounds and blood red for links might be good. If you do children's fantasy keep the colors light and bright. If you aren't sure stick to a conservative design with soft, neutral colors with "a potential publisher might be looking at this and it should look professional" in mind.
  
• Avoid flash, music, most animated graphics, and other doo-hickeys. Again, think "professional". If you want to be taken seriously your site should reflect it.

Here's a couple of example sites:

• Lee Allred: Lee does a good job of theming his site with plays off his name. He has also injected some whimsy and selected elements that reflect his work with DC Comics. Lee has a good selections of key content areas that are easily found via his consistent menu. The major negative I see is that red is a tricky color to use on the internet. It can be quite hard on they eyes in large blocks like this, and tends to have a bleed effect on neighboring colors. A slight darken to a deeper tone of red would be better.
  
• Melanie Rawn. Black isn't necessarily the best background for a Fantasy author, but the colors here are very elegant. Content sections are excellent and informative. I think the site could be elevated with a little more elaborate design (some gold filigrie accents would look nice) and I think she is missing out on a golden opportunity to leverage the truly beautiful, professional artwork from her book covers.
  
• Irene Radford. A good example of a basic author site with key content sections and soft pleasing colors. Usability suffers from inconsistent menu placements, seemingly random variance in backgrounds, and opening of links in new windows.
  
• D. Harlan Wilson. The entry splash screen is a throwback no-no of early web design, but past it you will find simple elegance and an easily navigated site. Tone on tone gray and black works to this design's advantage, giving the author a unique and memorable look. Content depth is really excellent and informative hitting all of the major elements.

[Neurolanis]

Wow, I really appreciate all the suggestions. I've been looking for authors' sites the hard way and forgot about the directory, actually. I will check that out for sure.

I wonder where someone might get a site with graphics/text quality like on some of those sites? At this time I can't pay like 400 dollars, really, to have a site especially designed for me. (Maybe when I get my advance, unless that's being too hopeful.) I like the site I have right now, with Tripod, but it doesn't have that elegant look it should, I think.

[Bread Butterbeard]

Well all you really need is a good programmer who knows their stuff with Web design, in this case I do and would happily take some time to go over exactly what you want and go from there. Aside from that it really depends on who your provider is and what tools if any they offer.

[Neurolanis]

Gee thanks Taith! I didn't forget about you, I just didn't want to ask too much of you. I always appreciate your help. I am working with a talented artist right for my website, so I'll need to check and see if she isn't already designing something for this website's appearance or something. But I think I will need a more professional looking website for sure.

[Bread Butterbeard]

I will be happy to help in anyway possible my friend, just send me a PM or message me on MSN and we can discuss what you need further. I am usually on around 3ish.

[Neurolanis]

I am usually at work at that time but can PM you.