Top Ten Things That Should Be On Your Author Website

From time to time I like to share with fellow authors, especially new authors, the things that I have learned on my publishing journey. One of the things I have learned is the importance of having a website. A website is important for  many reasons, one of them being that having a home base with all your pertinent information in one place is helpful for fans, potential customers, and media. So with that in mind, here are the top ten things that should be found on your author website.

Home Page-  Every author website should begin with a home page. This is the landing page for everyone who stops by and it is also the page where you make your first and hopefully best impression. Be sure to include your name, the name of your site, and your branding message. In other words, what do you stand for as a writer, what do you promote, what can people expect from you. My branding message is "Kids Who Read Can Do Anything". This not only lets my readers know that I promote children's literacy, but it also lets them know how important I think good reading skills are for children's future success.

Bio- Every author website should have an interesting biography because lets face it, people are a curious lot. Readers want to know about the authors whose books they find intriguing. They want to know where you live, what other hobbies you have, and what makes you tick. This helps them to connect to you on a personal level and when people feel connected they are more likely to care and share!

Book List & Synopsis- Readers need to know what books you have available and what each book is about. A brief synopsis of your book or books gives them a taste of your writing style, allows them to see what genres you write in, and if well written, will wet their appetites. This is also the place to add the covers of your book or books because we all know a picture is worth a thousand words.

Easy To Find Contact Info- Contact information is a key ingredient. Fans want you to be accessible and the media don't want to have to dig for information if they are interested in you and your product. I usually make my mailing address available for those readers wishing to send me letters or pictures; each which  fills me with delight when it arrives.

Reviews and Interviews- Reviews and Interviews are an authors credibility builders. They show possible customers that there is an established audience for the work. People are leery to read books by authors of whom they have never heard and generally wish to see recommendations before making a decision of their own. Make note that links to reviews and interviews should always be made to appear in a separate window so that potential fans remain on your site until they choose to leave.

Availability- Today's customers like everything they come across to be user friendly and nothing turns them off as quickly as a site that doesn't allow them to effortlessly find what they are looking for. Links to the various places that your book/books are available should be assembled in one easy to find place. And similar to review and interview links, they should be made to appear in separate windows.

Events Page- Now that you are a published author, you want to connect with the public and this is the page that allows you to do just that. This is the page where you share your projects such as an upcoming book, a book launch, a contest or promotion, book signings, and any speaking engagements. People want to know what you are doing and where can meet you in person, so be sure to keep this page up to date.

Current Picture- As stated earlier, people are a curious lot. Not only do they want to feel that they know all about you, they also want to know what you look like. The more people recognize you from your picture, the more people will remember you; the more people remember you, the more likely they are to share with others about you and your work. This another great way to build credibility.

Added Value Content- Added value content are pages that draw the reader back over and over again, pages that show the reader that you are not totally self absorbed, pages that offer the reader something of value.Value content can be almost anything you think your target audience would be interested in. My audience consists primarily of mothers of children from six to twelve; I, therefore, offer pages introducing other great children's books that I recommend, craft sites, recipes, safe sites for kids, etc...


A Call To Action- And last but not least, you need a call to action. A call to action is exactly what you want your visitors to do before leaving your site. As an author, I have two things I want my visitors to do before they leave. I want them to comment on what they think about my site, and I want them to buy my book. On my home page I state that I would like people to look around, find something useful, and then leave me a comment about the site. Underneath this statement I have placed a comment box for them to do this. I have also placed, on several pages, small "buy now" buttons that are linked to my book's Amazon page.These buttons make it easy for people to go right to the point of sale.

And there my friends you have a list of what content should be in an authors website. Signing off for now with wishes for a bright and beautiful day!

Those Great How To Books!

There are so many great books to read for the sheer pleasure of reading, but often we forget about what I like to call the "How To Books". These are books that instruct us how to do some particular thing like crafts, building with Legos, gardening, and much more. Cook books are a big hit at our house because I love to cook and my daughter loves to help me. She loves to help so much that she told me when she was four, "I am a good cook mommy. I know how to make coffee (this from watching my husband), sandwiches, cereal, and salads." Now that she is seven, her expertise includes toasting bagels and English muffins. She has also helped me with many a batch of cookies, brownies, and cakes.   

As an avid collector of old cookbooks found at auctions, garage sales, thrift stores, and bargain basement rummage sales at local churches, I wondered if my Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls was still available. Much to my surprise, this 1957 classic can still be found at Amazon. I thought with summer quickly approaching I would try to involve Emily in more cooking projects. Two particular recipes that I think will be fun to try are the Ice Cream Cone Cakes (who wouldn't love one of those?) and the Good Kid Cookies which look like faces of boys and girls.

At the end of summer perhaps I'll post a pictures of our creations. Meanwhile, I would love to hear what kind of "How To Books" you and your sprouts like? 

Signing off for now with wishes for a bright and beautiful day!

The Little Things In Life!

 
Enjoying the little things in life is an important and integral part of living. If one is unable to enjoy the special little moments that happen each day, then life becomes dreary and unbearable. I am a firm believer in this and that is why I take such great pleasure when my daughter reads to me on the way to school.

This morning, on our thirty minute ride, she read two of her accelerated reading books to me. Both books she read happened to be by the legendary Mercer Mayer. The first book was titled Just Grandpa and Me. This story is about little critter and his grandpa spending the day together and shopping for a new suit.  Even though I could not see the pictures as she read from the back seat, I laughed repeatedly when little critter said things like, "I had to hold Grandpa's hand so he wouldn't get lost." As an adult I know very well that all the things little critter says he is doing for the benefit of Grandpa, really pertain to him.That is probably what makes it so funny.

The next book she read was Me Too. This book happened to be about little critter and his younger sister. Every time little critter does something, his little sister says me too. Every time little critter has something, his little sister wants it too. In the end when little sister has a candy cane of her own and little critter says, "Me too,"sister agrees and shares. It was  a wonderful story about how children often learn by the good example set for them.

As I laughed,  I thought how pleasant it was to be able to spend those joyous moments with her. Sometimes, as adults, we don't laugh as often as we should. When my daughter is grown and I am long gone, I want her memories of me to be pleasant, positive, joyous, and many! I guess that is why I work so hard at appreciating the little things in life.

Signing off for now with wishes for a bright and beautiful day!

Do You Have Emerging Readers?

With school almost over for this year, I thought I would re-post something from a couple of years ago. Summer is a great time for those of you with small children on the verge of reading to work on the fundamentals, and this post just might be the place to help you get started.

My husband and I started working with our daughter since she was two. We worked on the alphabet, number recognition, drawing, writing, and numerous other subjects. Because of this, when she was barely four she told us she wanted to read. Of course this thrilled us to no end, and I immediately set out in search of a beginning reading program.

Having lived a mere five blocks from the library as a child, and having spent almost every waking moment of each summer there; I decided this was the place to start my search. So a hunting I did go. What I found was the BOB books.

BOB books are a series of books designed to gently guide children into the first stages of reading. The first few books use just a few letters to make simple words. These few simple words are then repeated on almost every page so the children become familiar and comfortable with how letters form words. Each new book adds a few new letters and sounds. The set I found at our local library also happened to have audio Cd's which could be listened to while reading.

While it took most of the summer and the first part of pre-school for her to actually get the hang of phonics, once she did, she was reading everything in sight. She read shampoo bottles while taking a bath, store fronts when we shopped, road signs when we were driving, and books from both the public library and our own collection. The BOB books definitely helped her develop the pre-reading skills she needed to get started.

She is now finishing up first grade, has tested at a fifth grade reading level, and has a great love of the written word. So if you have a child who is on the verge of reading, take it from me and check out BOB books at your nearest library or at http://www.bobbooks.com .

Signing off for now with wishes for a bright and beautiful day!

When A Pet Adopts You...

Last year my daughter was convinced that she wanted a puppy, and her dad was ready and willing to let her have one. But thanks to the foresight of my mother-in-law, we simply borrowed her new puppy for a week. It only took one turn at picking up the dog waste, which was fresh and warm, to change my daughter's mind about puppy ownership. Not particularly being a dog person myself, I secretly rejoiced. It's not that I don't like dogs, I just don't like the dog maintenance that would fall to "ME" no matter how much my husband and daughter proclaimed otherwise.

On the other hand, I have always been a cat person. The death of both of my cats after twenty long years, however, convinced me to take a break from pets of any kind. I enjoyed two years of pet free, odor free, hair free, litter free peace and quiet, that is until recently. That is until, we were adopted by Max. Max, the  year old, black and white, male cat that showed up in our yard one day and refused to leave. He sat at our back door and cried to be let in which of course encouraged my daughter to champion his cause vehemently. "Pleeease, can't we let him in?" she pleaded with the cuteness factor that only a seven year old possesses.

"Daddy would kill Mommy if I let that cat in the house," I said. Because you see, my husband has definitely never, ever, ever, been a cat person! But as I told him about the situation that night when he called from work, he began to melt. His attitude towards cats had not changed, but his daddy would do anything for his baby girl instinct had kicked in. That night on his way home from work he stopped at an all night grocery store to buy cat food in case the cat came back the next day.

Although both my husband and I looked for the cat all day, we did not see hide nor hair of him. Soon it was time for me to go pick my daughter up from school and on the ride home I told her of her father's decision. She was over come with a joy so great that it would not be dampened even when I cautioned that the cat might not come back or that  he may already have had a home. We quickly arrived and climbed out of the car, and who do you suppose ran to greet my daughter? That's right, the cat. Being familiar with the cats that roam the neighborhood, I was relatively sure this cat had been dumped, and so I told my daughter she was allowed to keep him. No sooner had I opened the door a crack and the cat my daughter would later dub Max ran into the house, looked around as if to say so this is my new home, and started purring happily.

Not even one week had gone by when all of us began to feel that Max was family, yes even my formerly anti-cat husband. Thinking about how easily Max had adopted us and we had adopted him made me think of two of my author friends who wrote books based on similar experiences of adopting pets.

The first is Buddy Finds a Home by Rachel Edmiston. This story of how Rachel's family found a very imperfect dog and how he made a perfect addition to their family is a good lesson in how love can cause us to overlook differences. My daughter truly enjoyed this book, especially when she realized it was a true story. I would recommend this book for children 6 to 8.

The second is a cute book called Grady the Gray Cat by Lori Moore. This adorable flip-it-over book offers two stories about Grady the gray cat. Side one tells the story of Grady's adoption, and side two offers the story of Grady's new toy firetruck. Told in rhyme, this book is an excellent choice for a read-aloud to young children. Lori did an excellent job of making me wonder what will happen to Grady next.

Signing off for now with wishes for a bright and beautiful day!

Christmas in April???

Emily and I were very excited to receive a package in the mail today. After all, it's not every day that we get fun and important mail. What was in our package, you ask? My good friend Lisa Tortorello's new children's book The Moose at the Manger. And to make matters even better, it was an autographed copy!

I first met Lisa last year at the Sandstone Book Expo where we were signing copies of our books. Her book at the time was a fabulous memoir called My Hero, My Ding about the special relationship between her and her grandfather. Lisa turned out to be a funny, warm, and witty person and I feel blessed to have made her acquaintance.

Since that day last summer, I have learned many things about Lisa. She is a teacher from Chicago, she is a talented writer, and she has a penchant for collecting moose. Did I say a penchant? Perhaps obsession is more like it. What ever you call it, that collection is what inspired her to write The Moose at the Manger. So if you like to Christmas shop a little early, I would recommend you check out the advance copies Lisa is offering on her blog. Then you too, can share Muse the Moose's journey as he looses his family, worships at the manger, and finds his family once again.

Even if you don't have children who might enjoy this book, snatch one or two up for all the moose lovers you know. And be sure to take a look at the pictures of Lisa's collection while you are there; you won't believe how many moose she actually has in her until you see them with your very own eyes.

Signing off for now with wishes for a bright and beautiful day!

Quilted Pictures - Who Knew!

Over the years I have acquired many hobbies and loves and one of them  happens to be quilting. Now I am by no means an expert quilter; the most ambitious quilt I ever made was a quilt made of  blocks containing different colored leaves. Usually I just make random patchwork quilts or patchworks in the Around The World pattern where you start with a center square and keep adding different fabrics around the first until you reach the edges.

It is also pretty obvious since this is a blog about reading, writing, and life in general that I love books. I especially love children's books. Recently I had the opportunity to read a children's book by Janice Green about the creation of the world. It was truly an excellent book. It would never have occurred to me to combine two loves like quilting and writing.

Janice has done a great job doing just that. Her retelling of the creation story in an entertaining and simple way that children will be sure to understand is delightful. And the beautiful illustrations made from quilt segments add interest to this fine book. I would definitely recommend this book to parents just beginning to teach their children biblical truths.

Although this book is most assuredly in the Christian Children's genre, all you quilting fans might just want to take a look at the splendid illustrations as well. In the back of the book Janice even identifies many of the fabrics used in the quilt segments pictured. So go get your copy of The Creation today.

Signing off for now with wishes for a bright and beautiful day!