3 Reasons to Have a Website If You’re Unpublished

website
J Garrattley / Flickr

When I tell writers it’s mandatory they have a website, those who are unpublished will immediately ask, “But what do I say on my website if I’m unpublished?”

I’ll answer that question in a moment, but this question assumes that there’s no benefit to having a site unless it’s to market, promote, and sell a book. But there are several good reasons to start a site even if you’re not yet established.

  1. Get over the learning curve. While it’s easy nowadays to get a full-fledged site up and running in 24 hours, even with your own domain name (through services such as WordPress.com), you still need to learn new systems and become accustomed to new tools. Don’t wait to start this process until the day you need a site. Educate yourself in advance. Start building a simple site today so you can have a killer site when it’s most important to you. Here’s an example of a simple and effective site by an emerging writer.
  2. Build awareness. In marketing communications, you have to distinguish between goals that are to (a) make a sale and (b) build awareness. At least half of the advertising you see is meant to build awareness rather than make a sale. Why? Because we’re more likely to buy a product we’ve been hearing about—assuming a positive impression has been formed. Having a site (and participating in social media) helps build awareness of who you are and what you do. As positive impressions collect, it’s an investment in your future success as an author or provider of services.
  3. Open up opportunities. You never know who might visit or stumble on your site. You never know who’s listening. You never know who’s searching. When I had my own website that wasn’t connected to my employer, many more opportunities opened up because it was clear how people could contact me, what I could offer, and who I was already offering it to.

I consider items 2 and 3 to be gravy. No. 1 is the biggest deal; get comfortable with the tools before you get into the serious work.

So, what do you say on your site if you’re unpublished?

  • Keep it simple. You might need only 1-2 pages on your site, your welcome/summary page, and another for an extended bio. Your site should link to your other social profiles online (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc).
  • Don’t belabor your unpublished status. You deserve to have a site if you’re unpublished; it helps indicate your seriousness about your career. But you don’t need to explain, at length, your journey to get published or your attempts to find an agent. Briefly describe the type of writing work you do, and leave it at that.
  • If you do have credits, list them. They don’t have to be major credits. Local and regional publications count, as do blog posts and online articles. Link to anything that’s available to read online.
  • You don’t have to blog. If you are interested in blogging, here’s my advice.
  • Include contact info or a contact form. A good head shot is nice, too.
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Cynthia Morris

Jane, 
I get the value of having a web site for your book. I’m nearly decided on this but wanted to see what you think. 

I’ve got my web site for my business, Original Impulse. It’s dedicated to coaching writers to start and finish their projects. 

I’m thinking to have the web site for my novel Chasing Sylvia Beach embedded in this site. A tab at the top of OI will lead to the ‘home’ page for CSB with several other tabs there – for events, media kits, etc. 

It will look slightly different but will be hosted on the same site. Do you think this is the best move (shows me walking my talk as a writer, keeps things simple) or do you think the book should have its own site? 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this. 

Jane Friedman

I recommend a consolidated presence whenever possible, as long as it’s easy for visitors to find what they want. My only hesitation here is that readers of your fiction may not understand what “Original Impulse” is or how it’s connected to you. It’s a tiny disconnect that may not ultimately matter, especially if your site header makes it clear who you are.

(An alternative might be to have everything you do reside on a domain that was something like http://www.CynthiaMorris.com?)

Keep an eye on your Google Analytics to see how people find you and what path they take through your site. That should give you some indicators as to how people are perceiving and acting on the site information.

Florence Fois

Do think the same applies to unpublished writers who have had blogs up and running for any length of time?  Thanks Jane, your posts are always informative.

Jane Friedman

I consider a blog to be a form of a website, so yes, that counts! But I do recommend eventually transitioning to a domain you own and host if you haven’t already. (If “blogpost” or “wordpress” are in your web site address, then you don’t yet own your domain.)

Anittah Patrick

If you want your site to be more visible to Google, consider having at least 13 pages. (Blog posts count!)

Jane Friedman

Awesome tip! Thank you.  🙂

MamaSim

Hi Anittah, does that mean each blog post counts as a page?

Anittah Patrick

 The quick answer is “yes”. The more comprehensive answer is “it depends”. The reason it depends is based on your index  / no index settings as it relates to tags and categories.

But basically: yes. To a search engine, each post is a distinct page, so long as it has a unique URL. 🙂

Anonymous

This is an awesome post, Jane! 

When I started out on my writing journey; I had no idea where to began.

I knew that I wanted to eventually write a book, but where to even begin making myself known as a credited writer.  So one of the first things I was certain of was that I had to get my name out there in order for people to know what my intentions were. 

It made perfect sense for me to have a website up and running before I actually got published. That’s the main reason I started Releasing Me Today. I’m so glad that you shared this post with us. It confirmed to me that I am starting this journey on the right foot! Thanks Jane! 😉

Jane Friedman

Excellent! Thanks so much for sharing your experience here.  🙂

Karen Lenfestey

Jane, I was guilty of not putting in much time building a website. Then one day the newspaper which interviewed me for an article about e-publishing asked for my web address. I thought “If the paper is going to publish my web address, I should have one!” Thanks to weebly.com I could easily put together a professional site in a short amount of time. Each day I thought of more things to add to it, too. So, it can’t hurt to start early.

Jane Friedman

Oooh! Awesome resource. I did an e-newsletter over the summer that focused on three easy tools to put up a website in “one step.” I mention Weebly. Here’s the link for anyone interested:

http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=f8b16374ec668e8d6004fcc38&id=1a599dfdf9

Hopeperlman

Jane, 
As always, your post is incredibly helpful. I’ve been thinking about having a website. I’ve already been blogging for several months on my topic.

My question is really an “I’m confused.”  I’m on blogger, but wondering if I should switch to WordPress. I’m also confused whether WordPress can be the holder of my domain name, or if I need to go to Go Daddy or another place like that, set up a website, and then link my blog to it.

I apologize if you’ve answered this before. I just don’t quite get it. 

Jane Friedman

Great question!

If you have a blog set up at WordPress.com or Blogger (or somewhere else), then that’s having a site. It’s not a site you *own* — but it’s still a site. It puts the blogging functionality front-and-center, which is not what everyone really needs, but it’s a start.

I often recommend WordPress.com as a site solution because you can start free and easy at WordPress.com, where WordPress acts as your host/site owner, then, at some point in the future (when you’re ready), import *everything*  into your own domain where you use WordPress as a content management system as the backend—and you don’t have to relearn any tools.  

Side note: What is WordPress really? It’s an open-source content management system (see WordPress.org) that happens to offer blogging tools at WordPress.com. Millions of sites across the world run on a WordPress-based system hosted at their own domain.

Here’s the twist: You can use WordPress.com and pay about $20 to have a domain you’ve bought (e.g., JaneFriedman.com) act/appear as the URL. 

Let’s use my name as an example: You might have your site stored and running at https://janefriedman.wordpress.com, but you’ve bought the domain JaneFriedman.com. However, you don’t yet have hosting for that domain (JaneFriedman.com), and don’t want to pay for hosting. But you can still tell people your site URL is “JaneFriedman.com” and it will work if you’ve paid WordPress.com the $20 — even though the site really lives at “janefriedman.wordpress.com.” 

Hope that makes sense!

You can buy your domain through services provided by WordPress, or through GoDaddy, or many other providers. It doesn’t matter too much who you buy your domain from.

Just remember: Your site and your blog shouldn’t be two separate things. They are one thing.

Hope

Thank you so much!  

Maureen Crisp

You can also buy your domain through Blogger…$10 through Google… I changed my blogspot to a dot com. It took 24 hours to come through…Easy

Maureen Crisp

You can also buy your domain through Blogger…$10 through Google… I changed my blogspot to a dot com. It took 24 hours to come through…Easy

Mamasim

I wonder if this can be done for Tumblr as well…..?  I have just had my business cards etc printed with my Tumblr address – but now wondering if I should have gone with wordpress as I would like to have my blog acting as a website as Jane has suggested…..

Jane Friedman

Yes, you can set up a custom domain with Tumblr as well. Here are instructions: http://www.tumblr.com/docs/en/custom_domains

But Tumblr is a rather lightweight platform for a full-fledged site. It’s certainly doable, but you may outgrow it quickly.

Carolyn Branch

You convinced me quite some time ago. I bought my name and set up a site. At first, it was awkward, but now I enjoy blogging and look forward to sharing book reviews and helpful sites I find.  It may not ever help me in a business way, but I’m glad I did it, just as I always am when I follow your good advice!  Thank you!   http://carolynpaulbranch.com

Jane Friedman

Awesome!  🙂

Diana Flegal

Great advise Thank you again Jane for being a great source of information. 

Jane Friedman

Appreciate you reading!

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Patricia Gligor

Jane,
I started my writers forum (a blog for writers and readers of mystery novels) several months ago. I post regularly and interact online every day. I also belong to a writing/marketing group. I’m unpublished to date. My question is: Do I need a website in addition to my blog now or can that wait until I’m published?

Jane Friedman

Having a blog is more or less like having a website, assuming you’re able to add static pages. If you have an about/bio page, and the ability to add static pages with info (like media kits, excerpts, etc), then you should be fine with what you have now (especially if WordPress based).