WORK: Tour of book promotion sites

Caldwell :About my website. What do I need to do about that?

JL :OK -- let's see. Have you visited /jl/ yet?

Caldwell :no.

JL :That's why you don't know what to DO.

Caldwell :You caught me.

JL :OK, this session is is about website building.

JL : http://www.simegen.com/jl/ needs a total rebuild soon -- Marge Robbins built this out of a REAL MESS that I had made by just tossing everything in there. Then I did a run through and added bunches to what Marge had neatly organized.

Caldwell :Ok, I'm in your site, now.

JL :Note the elements.

JL :A nice HEADER (welcome to etc) that says what the page is about. A graphic image of yourself. Link to where to buy something by you. (amazon) THEN you'll want an index of other pages connected to this top page. You want your BIOGRAPHY and since it'snot large, you can put them both on one page.

Caldwell : Are these frames?

JL :Yes, this is a framed site because it's VERY overstuffed with a diversity of material. Impossible to organize this sucker! (but that's ME, you may have noticed) Then you want links to pages about each title.

Caldwell : Hmm, gives me a few ideas.

JL : And you want an index to the unpublished works. Now, click the link FICTION

Caldwell :Well, TS is unpublished. Teenagers is published. Short stories are unpublished.

JL :Right but plan for expansion or you'll be sorry.

Caldwell : I'm in your fiction section.

JL :bookmark that page.

Caldwell :You look very pretty.:-)

JL :Thank you.

JL :There are 3 pages I want to show you.

Caldwell :You're bookmarked!

JL :OK, now notice how BADLY ORGANIZED this page is.

JL :It's awkward.

JL :It's just serviceable - has no style or grace.

Caldwell :Yeah, I noticed.

JL :It's just THERE.

JL :Very bad page.

Caldwell :Hangs on the wall.

JL :I made this page. Pure me. No Marge.

Caldwell :Hmmm.

JL :right -- like the corkboard over my desk. NOW for the site you need to build for yourself. http://www.simegen.com/writers/bloodwilltell/

Caldwell :you want me to go there?

JL :Yes please.

JL :this is a site IN PROGRESS -- the photo is a placeholder because the book's publisher hasn't made cover art yet. This site was engineered by Jean Lorrah. It will be open to the public before October of 2001. This is a whole website to PROMOTE ONE TITLE - Jean Lorrah's October e-book, Blood Will Tell.

Caldwell :I like it. I like it.

JL :This is a much simpler design -- Jean is into "simple" and I'm into "complicated" -- just one of our differences. Note what links there are at the side.

JL :This site is just plain TABLES.

Caldwell :I'm into getting it done right

JL :It's hellishly difficult to build and maintain a site like this one because every time you want to add or change a link on that left table, you have to edit every single page in there.

JL :With the frames site, to change or add to the index, you edit one page, in one place. and it's done for ALL the pages. But it does load well in low-end browsers and will behave well for slow connections.

Caldwell :I think my commercial site is site up the frames way.

JL :Now, notice WHAT is there to promote that one TITLE. You need a TOP like mine (maybe without the frames - up to you) to ENTER into your 'world' and you need a site like this one for EACH of your unsold titles, a PROMOTIONAL site for each title.

JL :Note the free chapter -- note the NEWSLETTER. You should offer a free short story for signing up for the newsletter - a free example of your work.

JL :OK, now one more example. This one was just published as an ebook and WON A BIG AWARD and got mentioned on the McNeil Lehrer hour. http://www.simegen.com/writers/nessie/

JL :check that site out

Caldwell :Wow!

JL :yep - and that WHOLE SITE promotes just one book.

Caldwell :Nice job. You did this yourself?

JL :No, I had nothing to do with it. Lois Wickstrom made the site -- Jean and Lois collaborated on the children's book. The site had a LOT to do with getting that award -- of course the book is wonderful and created stir and buzz galore, but if the site had not been there, winning the award wouldn't help nearly as much. This site stirred up a storm -- it's hit-rate is phenomenal. It peaked at over 1200 hits PER WEEK.

Caldwell :Wish my commercial site could do that well.

JL : Well, first you build a GOOD SITE - then you get out on the net and promote like crazy to drive traffic to the site. They spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars on promotion -- and Lois worked on promotion week after week for a year.
JL :And now they've sold a sequel and already have a great site to promote it from.

Caldwell :That's wonderful.

JL :Whether they'll ever recoup the money is an open question.

JL :Now, two more places to show you. Bookmark Nessie - you can study it later.
JL :go back to /jl/ On the left index, at the bottom see LIFEWAVE NOVELS click that.

Caldwell :Am there

JL :I built the LIFEWAVE novel site.

Caldwell :Neat.

JL :It's about a series of books -- two of which have been published -- the other 4 unwritten because of a contract disaster (publisher got bought) -- Do you see what you can do with color and graphic words?

Caldwell :yes.

JL : This site presents several novels. Note two chapters of each are offered. click on THE SERIES and see what happens. But first NOTE the words at the bottom of this top page -- a few words about the PREMISE. For nonfiction -- you put some questions your book answers.

Caldwell :Yes

JL : Note that's also on BLOOD WILL TELL - the opening page gives you the PREMISE and for more detail you have to dig

Caldwell :Okay. Yes, I noticed that.

JL :bookmark this page /jl/kren/

JL :Go back and click on BOXMASTER

Caldwell :Wondering if I could set up some sort of chat board so that I can take questions about the two books.

JL : Yes, and most useful is a response form that emails itself to you.

Caldwell :I'm in Boxmasters, now.

JL : It too is for a series of novels. One of them sold to a publisher that folded - so technically the whole series is unsold. 3 books are completed.

JL :I made the background and the graphics. (you can tell - not great) But it does give an IMPRESSION.

Caldwell : Yes, it does.

JL :Note again, the premise is on the TOP page that loads first, books down the side, and some free chapters to read.

Caldwell :Yep, I noticed.

JL : I'm pretty satisfied with the general impression -- it's only when a sharp critical eye studies the page that it falls apart. But to me, a reader is really only interested in that FIRST impression and then is clicking links.

Caldwell :well, my eyes are not sharp nor are they critical. At this point, I'm lucky if I read and write the words right.

JL :click the #1 link Boxmaster.

Caldwell :I did.

JL : Note how this is what you might call COVER COPY or SELL COPY -- except it's not written the way it would be on a published book. It's pitched at WRITING STUDENTS -- designed as illustrations of the principles we teach here. The reason these two book series are presented HERE and just exactly LIKE THIS -- is that we had some interest in the LIFEWAVE novels (actually I've got two different people interested) and one wants to do it in script form as webcast (live actor). I have someone who wants to re-issue them. I have a script writer.

Caldwell :Congrats.

JL : Not yet. I don't have a contract, and don't have time to PURSUE this matter - but my agent wanted these sites made so she could have something to work with to SELL these two projects.

Caldwell :Neato! I also get the message.

JL :Also note the link at the left that says COMMENT HERE -- a form page for comments is an absolute MUST element for this kind of site. You saw it on the Blood Will Tell site also.

Caldwell :I agree.

JL : Oh, and that reminds me, there's one more website you need to study before building the one for your books. On the Introduction to Sime~Gen page, http://www.simegen.com/sgfandom/welcommittee/intros~g.html you will find links to each of the 8 published Sime~Gen novels where we have posted a very specifically written synopsis of each novel. The synopsis is written for the film industry because the novels were being considered for a TV series. Study those synopses and the novels behind them. You will learn a lot about marketing.

JL : OK, now you have several different KINDS of presentation sites to study in your copious spare time. Don't forget that there are spiffier and prettier and more powerful book-promo websites -- with sound and animation and razzledazzle -- all over the web. You can find many by following the webrings on out of our sites. Go to each of them -- click on all the links -- STUDY the kind of content.

Caldwell :kay

JL :Study the way the material is divided out into different pages.

Caldwell : Yes'm

JL :click around, read, study -- sleep on it -- and you'll come up with many better ideas than you see here for how to pour your material into a structure like this. Once you've got your books (see why you html'd them?) -- presented on the web and submitted to publishers -- THEN you can start working to drive traffic in to those book-sites you've got a publication date for.

Caldwell : Yes.

JL : Well, then that's enough for one afternoon.

bye