This is the 2nd installment of examining author Web sites. I took the July 1 fiction list from Kirkus Reviews and googled the authors in an attempt to find their Web sites.
37 of the 64 authors have Web sites. At 57% that’s just a bit lower than our last calculation based on the May 1 Kirkus Fiction author list, which was 62%. Perhaps 60% is going to come out to be the standard percentage of fiction authors with Web sites. We’re going to be doing some more samples.
Also, using Kirkus may skew the numbers a bit. One would assume that authors with books forthcoming would be thinking about things like author Web sites but, anyway, this isn’t intended to be scientific. I’m certainly not planning on digging out my research methods and statistics textbooks from grad school!
There were a few really good sites in this list and we’ll be highlighting those in future posts. Also, there were many good sites as well as some that could be really good with just a bit of design work. This week you can look forward to a set of postings that examine some of these issues.
Oh, and you’re thinking: isn’t this a blog about book design? Well, we will get back to that, too, and soon we will be showcasing a set of new book covers that Ceci has been designing. Meanwhile, there are some interesting parallels between book design and author Web site design worth exploring.
So, here’s the list of fiction authors that we researched. This time we’re also including the names of the authors for whom we could not find a dedicated Web site. And, just for reference, we also included the title of their latest book:
- Carrie Adams, THE GODMOTHER
- Jane A. Adams, LEGACY OF LIES
- Barbara Allan, ANTIQUES MAUL
- Stephane Audeguy, THE THEORY OF CLOUDS
- James R. Benn, THE FIRST WAVE
- Charles Benoit, NOBLE LIES
- Robby Benson, WHO STOLE THE FUNNY?
- Laurien Berenson, HOUNDED TO DEATH
- Mark Billingham, BURIED
- Simon Brett, DEATH UNDER THE DRYER
- Terry Brooks, THE ELVES OF CINTRA
- Sandra Brown, PLAY DIRTY
- Ken Bruen, AMMUNITION
- Candy Calvert, MAI TAI TO MURDER
- John J. Clayton, KUPERMAN’S FIRE
- Barbara Cleverly, TUG OF WAR
- Margaret Coel, THE GIRL WITH BRAIDED HAIR
- Anne Enright, THE GATHERING
- Michel Faber, VANILLA BRIGHT LIKE EMINEM
- Jane Fallon, GETTING RID OF MATTHEW
- Bill Flanagan, NEW BEDLAM
- Joshua Furst, THE SABOTAGE CAFÉ
- Patricia Gaffney, MAD DASH
- Michael Harvey, THE CHICAGO WAY
- Ehud Havazelet, BEARING THE BODY
- Joseph Heywood, STRIKE DOG
- Jean-Claude Izzo, THE LOST SAILORS
- Michael Jecks, THE MALICE OF UNNATURAL DEATH
- Lloyd Jones, MISTER PIP
- Glenn Kaplan, EVIL, INC.
- Thomas J. Keevers, THE CHAINSAW BALLET
- Evan Kilgore, WHO IS SHAYLA HACKER
- Hyejin Kim, JIA
- Harley Jane Kozak, DEAD EX
- Nikita Lalwani, GIFTED
- Lorna Landvik, THE VIEW FROM MOUNT JOY
- Richard Lange, DEAD BOYS
- Doris Lessing, THE CLEFT
- Jeff Long, DEEPER
- Jon Loomis, HIGH SEASON
- Stuart MacBride, BLOODSHOT
- Margaret Maron, HARD ROW
- William McCauley, ADULTERIES, HOT TUBS & SUCH LIKE MATTERS
- Craig McDonald, HEAD GAMES
- Jane O’Connor, DANGEROUS ADMISSIONS
- Kevin Patterson, CONSUMPTION
- Tito Perdue, FIELDS OF ASPHODEL
- Tom Perrotta, THE ABSTINENCE TEACHER
- Twist Phelan, FALSE FORTUNE
- David Plante, ABC
- Kat Richardson, POLTERGEIST
- Adam Roberts, SPLINTER
- Ray Robinson, ELECTRICITY
- David J. Rosen, I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK
- Brian Ruckley, WINTERBIRTH
- John Sandford, DARK OF THE MOON
- Lara Santoro, MERCY
- Michael Schiefelbein, BODY AND BLOOD
- Eliot Schrefer, THE NEW KID
- Edward Schwarzschild, THE FAMILY DIAMOND
- Karin Slaughter,BEYOND REACH
- Alexander McCall Smith, THE CAREFUL USE OF COMPLIMENTS (this site is returning an error message that appears to be a configuration problem. It was working yesterday).
- Spring Warren, TURPENTINE
- Guo Xiaolu A CONCISE CHINESE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY FOR LOVERS
- Edwin M. Yoder, Jr., LIONS AT LAMB HOUSE
Doris Lessing has a web site
http://www.dorislessing.org
[...] Of the 60 reviewed authors only 24 had Web sites. That’s 40%, which is lower than our calculation for novelists with Web sites. [...]
I’ve got a website! I admit it was not up when your list was published, however. I have felt conflicted about having a website, wondering if it would be of help or become an area of difficulty for me. With my good computer savvy friend behind me, I decided to try it. I am interested if you have done any research as to what a website does or what it does not do for an author and an author’s career. A wide range of experience, I’m sure, and full of good stories.
Best, Spring Warren
Hi Spring, we’ve added your Web site to the list! You asked a really good question about the actual impact of a Web site on an author’s career. We’re still in the middle of our research. Indeed, in a few months, after your site has been up for a while and your book published, then we’ll certainly want to talk with you about your own experience. Best Wishes!
Joshua Furst has after months of neglect added something new and interesting to his blog. He has posted the first in a series of YouTube vignettes associated with Sabotage Cafe. In addition he has created a website soley dedicated to this forthcoming novel: sabotagecafe.com. I think more than anything, author blogs and sites such as MySpace, and YouTube allow authors to be proactive in promoting their work as opposed to idley sitting around as publishers and agents go about their business of not doing much at all. At the very least i don’t see how they can do themselves much harm since any publicity is good publicity. Thoughts?
Rafael
Hi Rafael – you’re absolutely right. Every presence on the Web can help promote the author’s profile. Authors certainly must take the initiative in promoting their own works, that’s just the way things are these days.
Thanks for the tip about Joshua Furst. We’ll take a look at it.
Tito has repaired his deficiency and now has 2 sites:
http://www.authorsden.com/titoperdue and titoperdue.com
Google me (Alex Annesty) and you’ll get good results. I’m approaching this from the reverse position; I believe a good web presence can help promote and develop awareness of a novel in progress (‘Colin goes to Zobeland’ in my case). The Zobeland site was developed to this end and I’ve put effort into ensuring it makes my name and the novel’s title prominent in search engines.