Comments on: Is it worth having an author website?

By: Erin Wright

Erin Wright — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 05:29:46 +0000

I agree with Stacy (as I usually do - hi Stacy!) Not owning your own real estate - building your career on someone else’s platform - has a name: Digital sharecropping. And just like with IRL sharecropping, it’s a great deal for the owner of the real estate (Facebook) and a shitty deal for the sharecropper (the author). I’ll say a few more positives that come from owning your own real estate: *You can use affiliate links to make sweet, sweet affiliate income from Amazon, BN, GooglePlay, Apple, and Kobo; *You can sell your print books and even ebooks through your site; *You can easily link to all storefronts so that the reader can find their site of choice to purchase from; *With MailerLite, the website has to actually be developed. You cannot just redirect it to FB and call it a day. They won’t give you an account if you do that; *I’m not into FB ads (that’s putting it mildly…) but even I know that putting a tracking cookie on your site means you can use that info to create more effective FB ads; annnddd… *This isn’t even taking into account linking to other kinds of media (audio and print) using your site, not just ebooks. I’d give up my FB page tomorrow without an ounce of regret. In fact, I debate whether I even need it virtually every month when I get the bill from the company that manages my social media profiles for me. But, I have the money so I keep paying. But if I ever needed to cut costs, social media would be the first to go. My website? You can pry it out of my cold dead hands… E PS If anyone out there is struggling with creating a website, I happen to use Virginie (who wrote the previous article) and can HIGHLY recommend her services. But whether you use her or someone else, this is a must to becoming a successful indie author, and crucial if you’re a Wide indie author. Hugs!

By: Stacy

Stacy — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 17:02:34 +0000

Yes, I feel authors need an author website. It’s where you display YOUR books, your work, where you toot your own horn. It’s your space on the net. It’s an important part of your brand. What I see some authors forgetting is that not every reader is on social media and even those who are, they don’t always go looking up an author on social media first. People think everyone is on FB, but it’s not true. Also, another thing, people are too dependent on social networks. You need your OWN space like a mailing list and website. Your list and site is how readers can keep up with you. I recently did a giveaway with a bunch of authors and something went wrong with the event and a reader emailed me to tell me she loved my books (lol) but also told me something went wrong with the giveaway link. She said, “I am so glad you have a website because none of the other authors did so I couldn’t contact them.” She contacted me through my site. All she did was Google me or found my info in my books and emailed me. So yes, while some authors think a website is useless, many readers do use them. And plus you can have a site for free so I don’t know why some authors wouldn’t do this important step for their brand.

Depending on social media is dangerous for a business. It can’t be your sole way of connecting with your fans, no. Didn’t people learn from MySpace? These places don’t stay relevant forever. FB has lost millions of people, some who have stopped using social media altogether. IG isn’t even as popular anymore. Now folks are running to TikTok but neither of these places builds your brand like a site or at least a mailing list. At least have one of these. I can’t believe how many authors still don’t have mailing lists but that’s another topic.

Look at all the authors who are getting banned from using FB ads, etc. They depended on FB. Do we really wanna be dependent on someone who can cut you off from your way of marketing or your fans at will? I know an author who had a fan group on FB and NO mailing list. She got into it with a reader on there, the reader reported her group and FB deleted her group. She had NO way of contacting those readers in her group because she had no mailing list. She was devastated like millions of authors who have been booted from using FB’s advertising. No thanks. I don’t want Mark Zuckerberg running my career.

Authors can do what they want of course but we need to remember to stop looking at our own preferences when judging readers. Again, a website is a big part of your brand and as a professional, having your own space on the web is important.

Good topic!

By: C.J. Shane

C.J. Shane — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 16:44:58 +0000

Thank you for this terrific post. I took different route. Rather than start with Facebook, I started with a website – two in fact. The personal one is for my art and books cjshane.com (I’m an artist as well as a writer) and the other, Ropes End Publishing, is my imprint for my books, classes I teach, etc. I publish a newsletter and a blog which I link to in social media posts. My social media accounts do not include Facebook. FB is problematic for many reasons, it’s getting more expensive and it is less and less effective. I’m glad I started with a website. Thanks again. P.S. I’ll be linking to your article later today in my own social media posts.