How to Build a No-Frills Author Web Site

My Novel

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You’ve written and published a novel. It’s on some store bookshelves, and for sale at online book retailers like Amazon. You’ve even garnered a handful of mixed reviews. What’s your next step? How do you keep spreading the word? Building an author web site (or blog) might be a good way to go. Don’t feel intimidated by it. There are quick and easy ways to put a no-frills web site together for starters.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Computer
Internet Service Provider
Web Host
Freebie or Shareware Web Editor Software

Step1

Decide if you want to promote yourself or your novel. This will influence the narrative and design flow of your web site.

Then decide if you want to build a web site or a blog. Each has its advantages. With a web site, however, you have the option of adding more graphic and multimedia “bells and whistles” in the future. Most blogs come up short on the high-end.

Step2

Download freebie or shareware web page editing software. My personal favorite is Web Weaver. This program has been around for a long time, and offers maximum ease of use. You don’t need to know HTML and you can immediately preview your site as you build it.

Step3

Select a web site host. Do an online search for web host review sites, and cross-compare recommendations. I would look for a host service that’s been around for a while, and offers accessible and friendly customer service.

Step4

Before you start building your site, look at a variety of author web sites. Mystery writer Carl Hiaasen’s site is a good example of a no-frills author web site. Hiaasen’s site includes an author photo, a list of published novels, links to his novels’ Amazon sales pages, a book tour schedule, an author interview FAQ section, and author-related links. These are the basics.

For first-time-published authors, add a juicy excerpt from your novel.

Tips & Warnings

Television producer and novelist Stephen Cannell’s web site is a great example of an author site with all the multimedia bells and whistles added. For example, he’s actually produced full-video promos for his novels; each has the high-end production values of movie trailers.