Updating your author's website

I needed a wee break from zombies so after reading this great article from WOW Women on Writing, on what every author's website needs, I hopped right on it to give my site an update.

I wrote about this very subject nearly two years ago on this blog and the advice is still the same:





- Name (duh)
- Contact information: don't make this hard to find, people have very little patience for cute buttons or tiny fonts.
- Samples: up to each author whether or not they'd like to post but it can be very helpful when an editor pops by to see if you're a good fit for their project
- Graphics: keep these to a minimum. Absolutely nothing animated nor flash pages to slow down your load time.
- Keep it clean: use lots of white space to ease the eye. Nothing screams amateur more than a page glutted with excess distractions that take away from your message.
- Links are great but don't lead people away from your site unnecessarily. Keep your personal blog or that of your dog off your professional site. Linking to your work, however, is a great way to show off your talent.
- Domain name. Keep it short, such as yourname.com or yourname.net if possible.

What do you find valuable on your site? Any recommendations to add to our list?