Yesterday, I gave my website a much-needed overhaul. There are still a few things I’d like to adjust (updating some links, changing some colors to green, testing the LiveJournal crossposter as soon as I hit publish on this post, etc.), but the important bits are done.<\/p>\n
I’m now using WordPress 3’s default theme. My old theme was nice, but this one is widget-ready and makes it simple to change some things I wanted to change, like the header image. (That’s one of the many trees in my backyard.)<\/p>\n
So while I was sprucing things up, I was musing on aspiring author websites and why I think they’re silly.<\/p>\n
I mean, I know we’re all supposed to have hundreds of blog subscribers and at least 1,547 twitter followers and\/or facebook friends before we publish so much as a drabble, or agents will discard our queries unread.<\/p>\n
But aspiring author websites still seem weird. (Even though I apparently have one. (Though I had a website before I started writing, so I’d probably have a website even if I weren’t writing. It would be about my vegetable garden and books I’ve read.))<\/p>\n
I think it’s my inherent dislike of self-promotion, combined with feeling that unpublished writers have nothing to promote. Obviously I can only speak for myself, but I’m not a brand and I don’t have a platform. I blog for my friends and family. And anyone who cares how my vegetables are doing, like my future self.<\/p>\n
So, other unpublished writers (and recently published writers), enlighten me. What’s the value in having a website? With book blurbs and sample chapters? What about blurbs for multiple books in multiple series – does it imply you’re serious about writing, or that you haven’t sold despite trying for a long time (because I’ve seen this one a lot, and it strikes me as the latter, but I’m not really the audience for that)?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yesterday, I gave my website a much-needed overhaul. There are still a few things I’d like to adjust (updating some links, changing some colors to green, testing the LiveJournal crossposter as soon as I hit publish on this post, etc.), … Continue reading