Before I started this site, I had a folder in my bookmarks with my favorite author’s websites. Every couple of months, I’d do a check and write down what was coming up so I could budget new books and make a note to pick them up. If an author’s site wasn’t something I could easily browse, I’d cross them off the list and only pick them up if I came across them in the book store.
Since starting this site, I don’t cross them off any longer, but instead, I make an effort every month during my round ups to find what I’m looking for. I’ve been lucky so far because most authors have a part of their site devoted to news and their upcoming and the truly wonderful ones put up links to Amazon or another bookseller.
But there are some that seem to want to make this a mystery when new books are coming out, or like to load up their site so it’s impossible for a new visitor to do anything.
An example of one of my favorite websites is JuliaQuinn.com. The same web design team takes care of Elizabeth Boyle and Eloisa James and they are very awesome. Here is a screenshot and then a close up of the menu:
Everything you could possibly need is within your fingertips, and its chock full of extras for devoted fans. Now, I understand that a lot of authors really don’t have the time for all the extras. It’s lovely, but it’s not needed. All I really want your website to do is give me an accurate listing of all your books, where I can find them and if anything is upcoming. Anything more than that is just gravy.
But some authors try to make it difficult for you to find anything whatsoever, or their pages aren’t neatly organized. I heart Victoria Alexander. I think she’s written some wonderful novels, but whoever upkeeps her website makes my head hurt. First, there is the godawful splash page that opens in a new window. And then…
It’s one long page that scrolls and scrolls and scrolls. She’s got releases going back to Love With the Proper Husband all on the same page, complete with huge text that blinks and in many colors. I hope they’re not charging her a lot of money for that atrocity, because it’s highway robbery. I could make a better website in half an hour and I feel so sorry for her at this point, I’d do it for free.
An author’s does not have to be as sleek looking as Julia Quinn’s. It be as simple as Nora Roberts‘ or Catherine Anderson‘s sites. Something a bit more in the middle, like Liz Carlyle would be a happy medium. I get what I’m looking for with Liz Carlyle, and I don’t have to search for it.
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