The site is a showcase for author websites in all genres by any designer. Browse around and get an idea what authors are doing with their websites.

I’ve prepared a list of more than 1,000 authors with websites that I will be adding over the next few months. But if you have suggestions for author websites to be included, please let me know.

Joe Wikert posted an interview with Jeff Gomez, author of Print is Dead: Books in Our Digital Age that raises several good points including a future where the notion of what it means to be published is going to change. Gomez says, “The Internet is the best thing that has ever happened to the midlist author.”

Then I saw a comment to Joe’s interview where someone said, “who ever made money selling fiction on the web? (Nobody, that’s who)”.

What are some ways in which the fiction writer can leverage the Web in order to support a life of writing?

I’ve been thinking that a writer could earn a sustainable income by direct sales to loyal readers, either through books – digital downloads or POD – or even through a membership site.

Membership? Have a favorite writer? Not a lot of writers get very far in their blogging because – I suspect – they feel that blogging takes away from their real writing. But many writers craft essays, columns, and stories for publication. What if the author’s own membership site became an outlet for that creative content?

As an avid reader and follower of contemporary fiction I would gladly pay $50 a year (possibly more) for access to writings by my favorite writer. Make that writers. There’s certainly a limit on the number of writers I would support with an annual contribution but I spend a lot of money on books anyway.

How many loyal fans does it take for the writer to earn a sustainable income, either through selling direct or opting for some type of membership site? Do the math.

Keven Kelly writes

A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author – in other words, anyone producing works of art – needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.

It’s not a matter of if but when writers will break away from publishers and go independent.

It has not yet happened because most fiction writers are not net savvy or entrepreneurial.

Not just for loyal fans:

A writer also could use online products, either free digital downloads, or a membership site to attract new readers. For instance, I’ve recently developed an interest in Will Self. Since it’s not so easy for me to get his books down here in Buenos Aires, I would consider subscribing on a trial basis to get access to more of his writings, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction. Then I might be converted into a loyal fan.

A team is needed:

Of course, most writers are not going to be able to handle the slightest technical aspects of implementing such an online campaign, though a few will do so. And writers always will need editors and designers (your online site has to look good if you’re asking people to give you money). But there are plenty of ways to contract with those professionals. In the future publishers will need to shift towards providing that type of team to writers and managing an author’s online presence. If publishers don’t, then others will step in and do so.

I have many more thoughts on this topic but for now you should go read 1,000 True Fans.

When I saw today over at Slush Pile that Beautiful Children, the new novel by Charles Bock, was available through tomorrow February 29, I decided to grab the e-book even though I had absolutely no idea what the novel was about.

I also checked out the author’s stylish and intriguing Web site.

But I couldn’t really figure out what the book was about from the author’s Web site, so I went to Amazon to read the description.

On doing a bit of research for this post, I see that I must have fallen behind in my literary review sources and lit blogs since everyone is remarking that this book has been reviewed pretty much everywhere. Just goes to show that the word free must get my attention more than anything else! Or, maybe I’ve seen the review but just hadn’t paid any attention to it. I don’t know, which also goes to show that this free download helps to make a book memorable. But, what if there were hundreds of titles this week being offered for a limited free download by publishers all across the net? Is this an innovative twist to publishing or a publicity tactic? Either way, I think it’s a good move.

Question to self: Why have I not had The Millions in my Bloglines before today?

On doing a title search on “Beautiful Children”, Amazon returned a prominent display highlighting the free download:

E-book downloads, whether free or at a price, are particularly good for someone like me who lives at the edge of the world, as I’ve previously mentioned on this blog.

A recurring questions: how does someone become aware that a new title is available for download for a limited period? Diligently monitoring the media & lit blogs for announcements? And why does the Random House news announcement page still not have an RSS feed?

Everyone in publishing should review the 2008 Digital Outlook Report from Avenue A/Razorfish, a firm with extensive experience in interactive media. (Or, skip the registration and grab a copy from here).

A clean design makes shuffling through the 164 page document an ease. Relevance abounds but I want to focus on one issue, point 4 of the “4 questions that should keep creative people up at night“:

Narrative is the experience. As the Web becomes the preferred destination for brand exploration, digital experiences must become richer, deeper, and more able to tell compelling stories. If your brand experience depends entirely on pages and clicks, it’s time to wonder, “What is my story?”

Is there a story here? Are we designing a page or an experience? What is the beginning, the middle, and the end of the brand story we are creating? Does it move—and are people moved by it?

[Let's set aside the vested interest of Avenue A/Razorfish in encouraging their clients to invest in more complex and costly Web development.]

The stumbling block is often the revenue factor, trying to figure out how to monetize digital information. Of course, the most obvious way is to use the net as a platform for selling your product. Other industries don’t seem to have the problem in understanding that Web experiences fuel sales of physical products.

Tremendous potential exist in creating engaging author Web sites that pull potential readers into the book’s narrative, thereby promoting sales of the book.

That’s why I abhor those sites that provide a generic one-size-fits-all approach to every author.

Most people are never very interested in blogs that are too personal. No one really cares about what you had for dinner last night or seeing photos of your cat. Blogs are not for writing about your interesting life.

Internet marketers do as much thinking about how to use the net as anyone and view a blog largely as an attraction strategy, a way of bringing attention to one’s products or services. Blogging tools are superb for optimizing a Web site in terms of search engines.

Author blogs and web sites are not so much for an author’s current readers but serve as a strategy for attracting new readers.

Blogs are ideally suited for the non-fiction writer who can write about a niche and gain readers that way. For example, Quid plura? by Jeff Sypeck is a non-fiction writer I came across while reading those comments to the BookEnds post. Sypeck just released a book about Charlemagne. While I don’t think much about medieval history these days, browsing through Sypeck’s site makes me interested in reading the book. Note, too, that Sypeck’s new book also has its own Web site: becomingcharlemagne.com

I have a theory that an author website/blog will one day be the primary distribution platform for an author’s writings. The details of that are for another post.

Meanwhile, here is a great quote from Sypeck’s blog:

I was reminded of the neatest thing about writing a book in the first place: the author’s obsession, developed over years and often nurtured in solitude, finally becomes a shared point of reference through which readers can look anew at some aspect of the world.

Authors and publishers interested in contracting with an illustrator should take a moment to examine Ale’s portfolio. He is an exceptional illustrator. Here are a couple of examples of his works:

The theme of the video message is a twist on the book’s title. From a drop down menu you select a variety of options, such as “I just want my book back” to much more humorous options. Then there are mood options, such as “I am sorry. Okay? Now give me back my stuff.” From your selections is created a composite video of an actor asking, uh, demanding, on your behalf that your stuff be returned. You have to see it for yourself.

David already had an interesting book trailer on his site. The custom video creates a new opportunity for generating buzz about a book. As David admits, it’s an attempt at creating a viral video. If it catches on, then it spreads awareness about his novel. The custom options give users something to play around with and the videos are funny, so it might catch on. And people who like the sense of humor in the video might very well like the book. That’s the idea.

I ended up chatting with a B&N book buyer. She said that the most important tool an author could have is a website.

And I agree. The buyers do actually look at author websites and potentially use them for their internet marketing.

She also has some excellent tips about how authors should get creative with their Web sites. Go read the post.

One recent bit of advice to non-fiction writers: “You need to have a fantastic Website, even before you get an agent.” (link thanks to Joe Wikert).

But based on the July 15 issue of Kirkus non-fiction reviews:

Of the 60 reviewed authors only 24 had Web sites. That’s 40%, which is lower than our calculation for novelists with Web sites.

Amir D. Aczel, THE JESUIT AND THE SKULL
Steve Almond, (NOT THAT YOU ASKED)
Emerson W. Baker, THE DEVIL OF GREAT ISLAND
John D. Barrow, NEW THEORIES OF EVERYTHING
Bill Bass, BEYOND THE BODY FARM
Bob Beckel, COMMON GROUND
Jane Bernstein, RACHEL IN THE WORLD
Nancy Marie Brown, THE FAR TRAVELER
Matthew Brzezinski, RED MOON RISING
James Campbell, THE GHOST MOUNTAIN BOYS
Gillian Clark, OUT OF THE FRYING PAN
Robert Cole, UNDER THE GUN IN IRAQ
Stacy A. Cordery, ALICE
Michael D’Antonio, A BALL, A DOG, AND A MONKEY
Phoebe Damrosch, SERVICE INCLUDED
Christopher J. Dodd, LETTERS FROM NUREMBERG (Ok, Presidential candidates automatically have a publishing platform!)
Dominic Dromgoole, WILL & ME
Norbert Ehrenfreund, THE NUREMBERG LEGACY
Kathleen Flinn, THE SHARPER YOUR KNIFE, THE LESS YOU CRY
James R. Gaines, FOR LIBERTY AND GLORY
John Gray, BLACK MASS
Boze Hadleigh, BROADWAY BABYLON
Lesley Hazleton, JEZEBEL
Andrew Helfer, RONALD REAGAN
Paul Hoffman, KING’S GAMBIT
Corinne Hofmann, REUNION IN BARSALOI
A.J. Jacobs, THE YEAR OF LIVING BIBLICALLY
Catherine James, DANDELION
Robert D. Kaplan, HOG PILOTS, BLUE WATER GRUNTS
Hugh Kennedy, THE GREAT ARAB CONQUESTS
Glenn Kessler, THE CONFIDANTE
Jon Kukla, MR. JEFFERSON’S WOMEN
Alan Lapidus, EVERYTHING BY DESIGN
Jon Latimer, 1812
Paul Maher, Jr., JACK KEROUAC’S AMERICAN JOURNEY
Cristina Marcano, HUGO CHÁVEZ
Marco Martinez, HARD CORPS
Mark Matthews, THE LOST YEARS
Brian Morton, PRINCE
Michael J. Neufeld, VON BRAUN
Henry Petroski, THE TOOTHPICK
Paul Pines, MY BROTHER’S MADNESS
Norman Podhoretz, WORLD WAR IV
Katherine Ramsland, BEATING THE DEVIL’S GAME
Jim Reisler, THE BEST GAME EVER
John Elder Robison, LOOK ME IN THE EYE
Jessica Snyder Sachs, GOOD GERMS, BAD GERMS
Frank Schaeffer, CRAZY FOR GOD
Richard Shelton, CROSSING THE YARD
Peggy Shumaker, JUST BREATH NORMALLY
Ed Sikov, DARK VICTORY
Barbara Sjoholm, THE PALACE OF THE SNOW QUEEN
Jeffrey Toobin, THE NINE
Lou Ureneck, BACKCAST
Charles Van Onselen, THE FOX AND THE FLIES
Geoffrey C. Ward, THE WAR
Susan Warren, BACKYARD GIANTS
Andrew Wilson, HAROLD ROBBINS
Mort Zachter, DOUGH
Keld Zeruneith, THE WOODEN HORSE

One factor is simply an aspect of design. With an academic site you are often locked into a rather bland, generic design, a look that says nothing about you as a writer. Few universities provide faculty with blogs that are integrated into the faculty pages. So, you will usually need to do that elsewhere. And what happens if you change universities?

Many faculty are committed to staying in one place but, honestly, many academics publish books so that they can move on and up to a more prestigious university or laterally to another respected university offering a better deal. So, when you leave University XYZ then your faculty page at that site usually disappears, too, and you have to start your Web site all over again.

Here are a couple of academics releasing books this year along with examples of their faculty pages.

Emerson Baker

Stacy Cordery