On John Kremer's blog yesterday, he commented about an author's website which he says is the best one he's ever seen. Granted, it IS cute, quirky and really a neat way to promote your book. I've never seen anything like it and I love new ways authors come up with to entice the reading public to buy their books. It's actually a great marketing ploy because you really enjoy going through the different pages, not to mention the author has a great sense of humor! This website can be found by clicking here.
However...before you go over there....
We're going to play a game. It's called "What's Wrong With This Author's Website?"
I'm not singling out this website to down it because, truth be known, I love the hell out of it. But, since you are here to learn how to pump up your own websites or book blogs, this website will help explain a point that someone in one of my writing groups brought up the other day.
But, let's see if you can spot it. What is this author doing wrong?
Leave your comments in the comment box and see if you can guess. Tomorrow, I'll give you the answer. Have fun!
(Incidentally, this is a lesson in SEO and not in any way increminating the author because whatever it is that she is not doing does not hurt her Amazon rankings at all ---> 2,835 as of last night.)
Only goes to prove that if you can come up with something quirky and leave a smile on people's faces, it doesn't matter what the hell I think, lol.
Tags: How to Pump UP Your Book Promotion, online book promotion, author publicity, book promotion, book promotion tips
16 comments:
Well Dot - I went to the site and frankly, you might have thought it was cute and quirky and maybe it works for others but for me, it did nothing. I was bored waiting through each appliance she wrote on, which actually told me nothing about the book, about the author, price, availability, etc. Maybe it was someplace there but by the time I got to the section where you click and follow more instructions, I'd had more than enough and lost what ever interest I might have had. Just MHO ya know and I'm far from an expert on this stuff.
What is the web site missing? Well, let's make a list, shall we:
1- Actual information about the book. Stories tells me nothing. What is the theme? is there one?
2- Price, how much does this thing cost?
3- Excerpt. If she got a quote from David Eggers, I want to be blown away by her words
4- Photo of the book. All we get to see are the galleys? Really? Is she serious?
5- Reviews. What do others think?
6- Other information. I even visited her other web site and it's as annoyingly vague as the fridge one is.
7- Blog or other info on author. Nuff said.
So will I buy this book? Probably not. :)
What is wrong with the site? It's all flash, no substance. How can Google or any other search site find anything on her website to help rank it? That's the first thing I noticed. Then, the writing on the appliances got old after awhile. She misspelled "availability" or was it "availabilities"? Either way, she misspelled it.
No times for when she's doing her book tour? I am interested in more discussion about this, so Dorothy, remind us all on Yahoo when you share the secrets!
You guys are doing great. All these things are missing, but what I'm thinking of could be one of the biggest mistakes she'll ever make in regards to future book promotion. I'm leaving this post up one more day to see if someone can zero in on what that is. Have fun! Manic Mom, I will post the results in the group...thanks for asking!
Oops, I just reread the comments. Vicki is narrowing down on it...now, can you guess?
I would say the problem is that for each page, she does not identify herself. That could have been 20+ subliminal messages about her name to get it to stick in people's subconscious.
Gloria Oliver
www.gloriaoliver.com
Unveiling the Fsntastic
Okay, so i got the writers mane is Miranda July? Okay, and the book is titles what again?
For me, if I have to bounce all over the web to get the author's bio and pic and info about the tour then I'm bored.
oh, wait, she did give dates, times and places for the tour, LA SF and a couple of other places.
So,does this kind of thing actually work? I don't know. Not being all that great at promo, I really can't say, but i think I'll leave my promo work to Dorothy. She REALLY knows how to promote!!
Too much work for so little gain. While it's rather creative, I got bored paging through and finally just stopped. You need to get right to the point - people don't have that long of an attention-span - especially on the internet.
It's all images and no searchable text--how in the world can google help rank it, since it can't search for any terms?
Also, in order to find info out about the book, you have to go through 30 some-odd pictures (which is fun the first time, but would get old REALLY quickly).
Cute, but gimmicky...
And, she'd have to create a brand new site for whatever new book comes out, which is inefficient.
I hate websites that make me click a dozen places to get the info I need. And hers is one of them. If I just happened upon her site, would I know she was an author? Would I even bother to click the arrow and read more of a site that has NO info to guide me in what it is about?
She still could have done the cutesie 'write on an appliance' thing, but then still have info and a nav bar that gave you the info you wanted.
I only clicked 3 times, and I stopped. It was that annoying to wait for each page to load.
You can still be cute, original, and artistic without all the separate pages and loading times. Blech.
I kind of like it. I wouldn't mind a link to her main website, though, on every page. Her main site is a bit confusing and seems disorganized, and the book's website is completely lacking in navigation.
The book's website, however, does keep my interest! I read the whole thing, but I probably wouldn't read it again.
She doesn't have an email sign up for her visitors, readers and fans!!!
Wanza
First, I did not say it was the best author website I've ever seen. I said it was the best author website I've seen in a while.
I have many critiques of the site. It's missing a lot. Her other website stinks. The key thing missing on her website is any sort of searchable text for ratings on Google, BUT her website has been mentioned a lot. I bet she has had more website visitors that 99% of websites that are searchable by Google, almost all of those visitors sent by bloggers who found the site fun and interesting.
Her site does target her audience. If you are not her audience, you don't get it. You leave. She's telling you by example that her stories are quirky and unusual. If you like her site, you'll like her book. If not, you won't.
Her book now stands at #1336 at Amazon.com. That rating comes from some great review in Publishers Weekly and Booklist and, more important, from her unconventional website. It's working. If it didn't work for you, simple. It's not for you.
But, boy, what buzz it's getting.
as a former web designer and Marketing director I have to say she is doing everything wrong. Your name is your brand and you have to get your brand out there. You need a uniform consistent look that people will asociate with you every time they see it.
Also there is too much work to get too little information. My finger got tired from clicking and never really finding any information about the book. She talked more about the colors of the book than the book itself. In fact, did she talk about the book?
Homegirl needs a new web design, book cover design and some brand recognition.
Just my two cents worth.
i think a creative flash is ok but it's long, hard on the eyes and lacks information.
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