Writer Websites: Do it Yourself or Hire a Professional?

This week I’m celebrating the launch of my new website! If you missed the giveaway in the last post, make sure you head over and leave a comment by midnight tonight (Friday July 30) EST.

Today, I wanted to share why I chose to hire a professional to design my site rather than doing it myself. After all, why would anyone pay big bucks to have someone else do a website when there are inexpensive and fairly easy ways to design one yourself?

Originally I’d considered designing my own. I jumped into blogging and quickly learned the ropes, so I figured a website couldn’t be much harder. Initially, I signed up for Yahoo’s Sitebuilder. With the help of my friend Jill Kemerer, I got off to a great start. (Check out Jill’s articles for do-it-yourself website tips.)

Why then, did I stop my own efforts and hire someone? Here are just a few of the reasons I decided to have a professional set up my site:

1. To Save Time.

Anytime we try to learn something new, it takes more time and effort, even something as simple as a point-and-click build-your-own website. After I got my book contract, many other things began to demand my attention, things I didn’t want to give up (or couldn’t) like researching and writing the next novel (go figure!), rewrites on The Preacher’s Bride, blogging, writing interviews, marketing, etc. I needed to find ways to save time. Designing my own site was one thing I could give up.

2. To Ensure Professionalism.

When I was trying to decide whether to hire a web designer, I did an experiment with my husband. I picked several published author websites and showed them to him. I asked him to tell me which ones he thought were professionally designed and which ones were done by the author. On almost all of them, he was able to distinguish the difference.

Obviously not every professional web designer can live up to Pulse Point in their creativity and attention to detail. But for the most part, a trained artist who designs websites for a living is usually going to be able to put something together with more ease and skill than someone who’s not an expert.

3. To Stand Out From the Crowd.

With all the other websites vying for readers’ attention, I wanted something that could stand out from the rest. I didn’t want mine to be “just another website.” But I needed help to get beyond ordinary to something that reflected me as an author and helped set me apart. Isn’t that one of the things we’re working toward with our book too—letting our unique voices shine through?

Pulse Point was careful not only to tailor the site to meet my needs and likes, but also to help magnify my unique presence. They considered everything, from using a scroll font that matches what's on my book cover, the fun quiz box on the Reader Fun page, to their specially designed pop-up box for buying the book. (Check it out on the Books page, under "Pre-Order this Book." It's really cool!).

4. To Maximize Internet Potential.

Even if I had the time to set up a professional and stand-apart website, I still wouldn’t have the capability or understanding to maximize the potential the internet offers. Pulse Point's creative director, Kelli Standish, informed me that 43% of users still have dial-up. Because of that, Pulse Point carefully chose every picture and detail to help optomize the load time, particularly for dial-up users (many in the Midwest, which will possibly comprise a large chunk of my readers). Also, Google is now placing some emphasis on how fast sites load when determining the search engine rank.

In other words, the PulsePoint team has worked to make it easy for people to navigate my website. And since they're the experts in key words, search engines, etc., they also have the knowledge for how to drive more traffic to my site. Who wouldn't want to increase their potential for attracting visitors?

Summary: I look at my website as a business expense. My husband, as a private practice counselor, had start-up costs when he went into business for himself. My website is one of my start-up costs. My husband has to pay on-going rent for his offices. And now, my website is my online office and I’m paying “rent” for it.

As an added bonus, through Pulse Point, I’ve gained an incredible support for my writing career. Kelli Standish and her design team didn't just put together an excellent online brand for me. They also have a passion to walk along side me, encourage me, and do all they can to help me succeed.

So, should you hire a professional or do it yourself? Ultimately everyone has to make a decision that works for them. Before getting a book contract, I’m not convinced it’s necessary to invest a lot of money into a site—a well maintained, professional blog may even be enough. (See these posts: How Important is a Website for an Unpublished Author and How to Maintain a Professional Blog) However, after getting a contract, an author needs to give serious weight to the website issue.

What are you planning to do (or have you already done) with your author website? Are you considering hiring a professional or doing it yourself? And why?

*Make sure to read the comments! Kelli has included 4 Questions to Ask When Selecting a Web Designer.

Check Out My New Website! And Don't Miss the Giveaway!

Welcome to my redecorated blog which is now connected with my brand new website! Hurray! Time to party!

Even though at first appearance, my blog seems to be just another page of my website, if you look at the blog URL, you'll see it's still a Blogger Blog. My digital media management team, PulsePoint Design, was able to integrate my website and blog together so seamlessly they appear as one, and you don't have to worry about changing the URL in your bookmarks:)

And that’s only one of the many fantastic things that excite me about my new cyber home! Probably the thing I'm most thrilled about is having a place readers can go. Sure, they can come to my blog too. I've poured my passion about writing into my blog, and while readers may enjoy hearing about my writing journey, not everyone likes to comment or participate in the discussion.

So, now I'm super excited to have my website for my home base, the place where I can offer more to everyone. It's my hope people won’t stop with just browsing my website pages, but will connect with me in one of the ways they’re most comfortable—whether that’s leaving a note on my Facebook Page, a tweet on Twitter, an email, sign up for my newsletter, or a comment on my blog. I don’t respond to blog comments unless it’s a question, but I do try to chat with people over on Twitter and Facebook!

During the process of developing my website here are a few things we took into consideration, things that every writer should think about:

Decorate the Website to Reflect Our Uniquenesses:

I don’t write a specific type of historical that could easily be classified as Western or Prairie or Victorian. So, we steered away from an online brand that might box me in.

Instead we looked for colors and styles that reflect my heart and personal tastes, similar to the way I’d decorate my home. In fact, PulsePoint's creative director, Kelli Standish, even asked for pictures of my living and family rooms to help her get a feel for my style. They were able to make my website an extension of me, just as if they’d come into my home and added on an office.

Highlight the Things Most Important to Us:

Because social media is an important aspect of my writing career, the PulsePoint team made a specific point of including links to my sites in the header of the website. No matter what page of the website someone is on, my links are accessible. My blog is also a key part of my identity, and so Kelli put a feed for my blog front and center on my home page. I also really like visuals, so we included lots of pictures throughout the site.

Offer Something to Visitors:

Ultimately we don’t want our readers to come to our site once and then never return again. We desire to have an ongoing relationship with people. Part of making that happen is offering them more than just a picture of our books and a bio about ourselves.

Kelli and her team were great at encouraging me and giving me ideas for what I might include on my Reader and Writer Pages (check them out). She helped me realize my site isn’t so much about me as it is FOR others.

So, in honor of my new website and as a way to say thank you to everyone for your support and encouragement, I’m doing a giveaway! No strings attached—you don’t have to sign up for my newsletter or be a follower or tweet ten times or anything like that! Of course, you can if you want, but it’s not required!

I’m giving away a $25 Amazon gift card OR a free critique of the first 15 double-spaced pages of a manuscript. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post by Friday July 30 at midnight EST. I’ll do a drawing and post the winner next Monday Aug. 2. *Offer void where prohibited.

So, leave your email address and tell us what you're bringing to the house-warming party! Time to celebrate!!

P.S. Come back Friday and I’ll share why I chose to have my website professionally designed as opposed to doing it myself.

How to Attract Readers to Our Blogs

Let’s be honest. Most of us want to have people read our blogs. There aren’t too many of us who publish a post, sit back, and say, “There. I hope no one reads this.” After all, blogging is live, public, and worldwide. We expect readers, otherwise we’d contain our thoughts in a journal.

No, most of us write our posts hoping others will read them and engage with us. We want validation that our written words are impacting others in some way.

The longer I blog, the more I similarities I find between writing for publication and blogging. Some of the same techniques we use for drawing readers to our books are the same principles we can use to draw readers to our blogs:

1. Remember the Reader.

Yes, blogging is for personal expression for most of us. We like the creative aspect of being able to write about whatever we want. And the same is true of our books. A huge part of the joy of writing is that we can let our imaginations run wild. And yet, anyone serious about publication, knows we also have to keep the reader’s needs and desires in mind.

The same is true in our blogging. We should ask ourselves who do we want to read our blog? Family? Friends? People who share our hobby? Other writers? Future reading fans? The answer to that question can help give us direction with what we share and who we’re attracting because of it.

2. Capture the Reader’s Attention.

Think about how much care we put into crafting our titles for our books, the opening paragraphs, or the tag lines on the back. We think, “How can I hook the reader into buying my book.” We want to draw attention to it, help it stand out, so that it gets the chance it deserves.

When I plan my blog posts, I try to come up with titles that will draw interest. And I don’t want my first few sentences to be boring, because that might be all someone will read before deciding the post isn’t worth their time. Likewise, I want to keep them engaged throughout the post by making it easy to read with short paragraphs, headings (when possible), or bullet points. I always consider breaking up a blog post into 2 days if it exceeds 700 words.

3. Engage the Reader.

How do we draw readers into our books so they feel like they’re engaging with our characters or with us as the author? There are lots of ways we do that—through real stories, genuine sharing, humor, vulnerability, passion, depth, clarity, compelling topics.

When I write my blog posts, I never claim to know everything. I just share my opinions in hopefully a clear, concise, compelling way. I pour my passion, my experience, and my suggestions into the posts, stir them together into a conversational-style, and then give readers the opportunity to interact.

4. Offer the Reader Something.

When a reader closes our book, they take something away. It could be something as small as getting a break from the reality of their problems for a couple hours. Maybe the message of the book helps them through a struggle. Whether pure entertainment or life-changing, our books give our readers something of value.

I definitely want my books to be worth the money someone spends on them. And I also want my blog posts to be worth the time people invest in coming over and reading them. Maybe we can’t offer anything earth-shattering, but we can give inspiration, encouragement, insight, entertainment, knowledge, help, etc.

Summary: If we want to attract more readers we’ll have to use some strategy. We can do other things besides what I’ve listed—comment on other blogs, tweet links to our posts, continually make new cyber friends, broaden our web presence, etc.

But. . . to attract readers AND keep them coming back takes a little time and a whole lot of savvy. We’ll have a head start if we use some of the same techniques with blogging that we do with our books. Remember. Capture. Engage. Offer.

Are you struggling to attract readers to your blog? What are some of the techniques you’ve used to draw more readers?

The Love-Hate Relationship We Have With Our Books

A couple of weeks ago my publisher sent me a hard copy of The Preacher’s Bride—all 390 plus pages printed on 8 ½ by 11 paper. Each sheet was an exact replication of how the page would appear in the book once it’s published. This copy of the book is typically called Galleys.

My publisher wanted me to check for smaller scale mistakes. It would be my last time to see the book and make any changes before it went to print. With a colored pen, I could mark things within the text and also indicate the change in the margin.

Reading through the Galleys wasn’t optional. I had to sign a sheet saying I’d read the book and then needed to return everything within about a week’s time in a prepaid UPS 2-Day delivery envelope they’d provided.

Here I was, holding my book—a book I’d spent months laboring over. I was on the brink of publication, watching my dreams come true, knowing what a privilege it was to work with a large, strong publisher. I was getting to have a writing career and doing something I absolutely loved. I was indeed blessed.

And yet, as I started reading the Galleys, I couldn’t stop myself from feeling utterly discouraged. My family had to listen to me say things like, “This stinks!” and “I don’t want anyone else to read this” and lots of other moaning.

In fact, my complaining got so bad, one of my daughters finally said, “Mom, if you hate the book that much, why did you write it?”

I got to thinking we often have a love-hate relationship with our books. There are times, usually after we just finish writing a book, when we think it’s the best thing ever written in the history of the world. We’ve just spent months of our lives immersed in the setting and the plot. We’re in love with the story and the characters.

I wrote The Preacher’s Bride almost three years ago and I was definitely in love with it after I wrote it, excited to query it, secretly thinking, this is a wonderful story, how could any agent not like it? (Hah!) Since then I’ve completed two more novels, and I admired each of those, certain they were destined to wow my readers as much as they had me.

That's just the way it is. We fall in love with each book as we write it. But then when we’re having a love affair with a new story, that old book doesn’t look quite as appealing anymore. (One more reason never to stop with writing just one book!)

So what can we do to keep a balance in the love-hate relationship we have with our books? Here are just a few things I’m telling myself:

We’ll always find things we want to change.

Time and distance give us objective perspective (as I mentioned in: Can a Writer Salvage Early Manuscripts), but that also means we’ll continue to look at our stories with critical eyes, always finding words to fix. At some point, we have to know we gave it our best effort and then cut the ties. Let the discouragement be the impetus to work harder.

With each book we write, we should challenge ourselves to grow.

Yes, when you read The Preacher’s Bride, you may find some amateur writing. But I can have confidence that my next books will be even better. I’ve challenged myself to grow, pushed myself to try new things, made an effort to practice what I learn. So hopefully each book will appeal to readers even more. As my critique partner, Keli Gwyn told me, “If your second book is stronger than the first that's a good place to be. Some authors give the first everything, then disappoint readers with the next book.” If we’re not challenging ourselves to implement new writing skills with each book, then we might remain stagnant.

We need to surround ourselves with people who believe in us and can tell us the truth.

A few days after I sent the Galleys back, I got an email from a book buyer who’d read an ARC of my book. She told me she “really enjoyed the story” and that she was going to highlight my book as a “must-read Buyer’s Choice” in their Fall Fiction Catalog. Boy, did that email come at the right time! It served to remind me we’re often our harshest critics. We NEED others to join our writing journeys, those who aren’t afraid to be honest with us with the good and the bad.

Have you ever had a love-hate relationship with one of your books? Do you have times when you adore your book and then times when you can't stand it? What do you tell yourself to get through the discouraging times?

Who Deserves the Titles of Writer & Author?

A lot of people label themselves “writer.” Fewer people label themselves “author.” With so many hanging out writer signs and claiming author titles, it gets hard to distinguish who’s who. Today I thought I’d give my two-cents on this topic. I’m looking forward to hearing your opinions too.

Who deserves the title of writer?

Donna Kohlstrom asked this thought-provoking question: “Is it enough to call yourself a writer when you do it only for self satisfaction and the pleasure of sharing it with others? Or are you only a writer if you are published and won contests?”

Like many of you, I started writing when I was young. I didn’t necessarily call myself a writer. All I knew is that I loved writing stories. But then there comes a point in our lives when we begin to feel pressure to don a title, to define ourselves in some way.

Somewhere along the way, I decided “writer” was a defining piece of who I am. I think it was after I tried to walk away from it, tried to be passionate about doing something else, but couldn’t. Nothing else was as fulfilling, and invariably the desire to write kept tugging me until I returned to it. That’s when I finally gave myself permission to call myself a writer. I loved doing it, my brain was wired for it, it was a part of me that would never go away.

I wrote for quite a few years and began pursuing publication. Then after my twins were born I took a long hiatus where I didn’t write except to journal. The funny thing was that during those many years, I still referred to myself as a writer. I didn’t shed the title just because I wasn’t writing. I saw myself as a writer, even though I wasn’t writing.

Likewise, just because someone is writing, doesn’t mean they’re a writer. Maybe they’re going through the motions, putting words on paper, even getting something published. Perhaps it’s more of a project, a hobby, or short term pursuit.

If I make a quilt or two, would I call myself a quilter? If I take pictures of my kids, does that really make me a photographer?

My test is to decide if it’s something I’m passionate about and defines a part of who I am. If it is, then I embrace the title for all its worth.

Who deserves the title of author?

Is there a difference between the titles of writer and author? Do they refer to one and the same person? Or is the title author reserved for someone who is published? T. Anne asked this question on her blog a couple weeks ago and it really got me thinking.

By definition an author is: 1. One who originates or create. 2. The writer of a literary work.

Here’s what I’ve finally concluded: The title “author” belongs to anyone who creates a literary work whether they’re published or not. Author has more to do with the originator, the one who creates the masterpiece (whether it’s poetry or a painting or whatever).

When I completed my first story, I became an author. I’d created something. Maybe it wasn’t of publishable quality. But I’d birthed it and ushered it into the world. I was the author or creator of the book.

I put the title Author on the top of my blog many months ago. I put it on the first business cards I designed. I saw myself as an author long before getting an agent or book contract.

Here’s my parting advice: If we’re passionate about writing and it defines who we are, and if we’re creating our own works—then we should stand tall and proud and call ourselves what we are: Writers AND Authors.

Claim it. Believe in it. Don’t be afraid to say it to the world. Because if we think of ourselves in positive ways and have confidence in who we are, we’re much more likely to succeed.

Now it’s your turn! I want to hear your opinions! Who deserves the titles of writer and author? Do you agree with the way I’ve defined the two? Or would you describe them differently?

Can a Writer Salvage Early Manuscripts?

Shoved in a deep dark closet, under layers of dust, are five completed novels—my first REAL attempts at putting pen to paper. Sure, I have plenty of spiral notebooks somewhere filled with adolescent aspirations. But the five novels—they’re the effort of sweaty hard work and dogged determination to tell a novel-length story.

There they sit, in the closet. Abandoned.

Would I ever pull them out and try to get them published?

Someone anonymously asked me this: “You've mentioned you wrote several novels before beginning the querying process. What about those first novels told you that they were just ‘practice?’ Any chance those early novels can be salvaged? I'm just trying to wrap my head around the idea of investing so much time and energy into something and then putting it aside.”

These are great questions. I’m going to break them down and answer each one separately:

“You've mentioned you wrote several novels before beginning the querying process.”

While this isn’t technically a question, it’s a loaded statement. Here’s my thought: We shouldn’t make the mistake of putting all our time and energy into ONE story, and spend years and years polishing it, rewriting it, and trying to make THE ONE even better.

First, writers should be storytellers. When I finish writing a book, I get excited to start brainstorming for my next. In fact when I’m between books, it’s almost like my brain needs another story to spin—my mind is constantly searching for new ideas. If we only have one story, then we need to start cultivating our creativity (see this post: How to Find Plot Ideas).

Second, if we don’t keep writing new books, and we stick with our first love, we run the risk of putting too much stock into it. Keep in mind, that even if we polish our baby until it’s practically perfect, there might not be a place for it in the market. A similar book could have recently been released. Maybe the market has grown cold for that particular genre. There could be any number of reasons why the book won’t make it to publication—at least temporarily. We’re wise to have more than one book to try to sell.

Have I made a good case for moving beyond one book? If not, here’s one more reason: Writers keep on writing. We don’t keep on editing and rewriting. We write.

“What about those first novels told you that they were just ‘practice’?”

Time, distance, growth, and the eyes of a complete stranger. Weeks, months, even years away from a novel can give us the OBJECTIVE view we NEED. I could brush off the dust and open any one of my early manuscripts and look at them with the eyes of a complete stranger. Since it’s been so long and because I’ve grown, I can easily spot all of my many mistakes now—the backstory dumps, lack of tension, plot holes, etc.

If we don’t have the luxury (or patience) for putting our completed manuscripts aside for a time, then we need to find the eyes of a real stranger—someone who can look at our manuscript with a fresh, trained perspective. (And, if our critique partners have read our manuscript too often, they won’t be a stranger to it anymore than we are.)

“Any chance those early novels can be salvaged?”

Any novel is salvageable. With the right amount of work and dedication. And perhaps major rewriting.

In my case, I’ve learned so much over the years about the craft of writing and what goes into making a good story, I’d have to start each of those five books over, completely from scratch, reworking goals, motivations, plots, character development etc. I personally don’t love any of those story ideas well enough to do that. As I said before, I’ve got other ideas demanding my attention.

“I'm just trying to wrap my head around the idea of investing so much time and energy into something and then putting it aside.”

Any time we’re learning a new skill we need to expect that our early attempts may just be for practice. Whether it’s drawing or cake decorating or whatever. We wouldn’t expect to sell the first sketch or the first few cakes we attempt. In fact, we’d likely take lots of time to perfect our skill before thinking we were ready to go into business for ourselves.

And writing for publication is no different. We’re going into business—we’re literally self-employed. We can’t expect a paycheck if the work isn’t saleable. And getting to the point where our writing is ready takes lots of practice, learning from our mistakes, and often setting those first attempts aside.

What about you? How do you determine when your novel is for practice? When do you decide to salvage a book? How do you know when it’s time to move on?

How to Use Social Media Without Letting it Eat Up Writing Time

How can we use social media without letting it grow into a hungry monster that gobbles up our limited writing time?

Last week, I opened up my blog to questions and Lisa Jordan brought up a problem most of wrestle with: “I'm trying to create more of an online presence with limited time--Twitter, Facebook, building up my blog followers and blogging on a regular basis. I'm using the time I have to write to interact with others...I need to find a nice balance.”

Since increasingly more of the population is hanging out in cyberland, most of us can agree that social media sites are important hang-outs for writers. (See this post: The Importance of an Online Presence.)

I’ve been developing a web presence over the past year and a half. I joined online communities before I was agented or had a book contract and then worked at broadening my presence throughout cyberland in many different ways. Now as my first book gets set to release in a couple of months, I've built a strong foundation and can move forward with confidence. I don’t have to jump in, figure it all out, and meet people right when things are heating up with my career.

In other words, as I’ve said before, it’s never too soon to begin developing an online presence.

But exactly how much time should we devote to developing that online presence? We’ve talked this week about TIME and how hard it is to find enough to write with all the other responsibilities we’re juggling. How can we squeeze in the social media stuff when we barely have time and energy to devote to our writing? And if we do try to interact online, is there really any way to keep it from eating our writing time?

Here are just a few things I’ve learned along the way.

1. View social media time as part of the job description.

Sure I’d rather devote all my work time to writing itself. My husband is a private-practice counselor and even though he’d prefer to spend his work hours meeting with clients, he also has to set aside time for other duties –paying bills, doing paperwork, returning phone calls, etc.

Likewise, we have to accept the fact that a writing career is going to involve work besides the writing. We have to plan time into our days for those other things—returning emails, commenting on facebook, or writing up a blog.

2. Dedicate time to social media, but don’t let it take over.

No matter where we’re at in our writing careers, social media should never occupy the bulk of our work time. It would be crazy for my husband as a self-employed counselor to spend the majority of his day talking on the phone or writing up notes at the expense of seeing people. Even as an almost-published author, my primary job is my writing.

If we leave the social media door wide open all the time, it’s all too easy to spend our days chatting with co-workers and never get the really important work done, especially for those of us who find socializing online an easy, enjoyable part of the job.

Yes, we can schedule online time into our work days, but we also need to establish boundaries for “how much.” For example when I read blogs—I give myself permission to make those connections. However, I also give myself a time limit, and when it’s up, I move on to other work, even if I’d love to keep “visiting.”

3. Maximize the social media time we are carving out.

In cyberland, consistency and socializing are two of the top ingredients to growth. People need to see our friendly presence on a regular basis. That doesn’t mean we have to be chatting with everyone everywhere. Instead we need to make the most of the time we do have.

Maybe all we can afford is one blog post a week. Then we should put everything we have into that one post and make it shine. Maybe we don’t have time to visit all our blogging friends on a weekly basis. Then visit them every other week. The point is not to give up, but to keep our presence visible and genuine.

And if we want to continually see growth, we can’t forget to make time to meet new people on Twitter, leave comments on new blogs, and add Facebook friends. We have to build room in our daily schedules for new contacts too.

How do you make time for social media without letting it eat a chunk of your valuable writing time? Are scheduling in enough time? Or are you allowing it too much? And if you’ve found a good balance, please share your secret to success!