One of my favorite magazines is Everyday with Rachael Ray. I've subscribed to various cooking magazines over the years, but this one does such a great job keeping me engaged. One of the new features, "This Month's Menu," is a two-page spread of thumbnail snapshots for every recipe in the issue. Seeing a picture of the recipe greatly increases my desire to try it.
I recently saw another example of this type of feature on Wall Street Journal's online magazine. The interactive web page, The Off-Duty 50, has snapshots and links of 50 fall trends. Again, I found it very entertaining and time-worthy.
Katie Brown puts out visually delicious books on entertaining and cooking. I just borrowed Katie Brown Celebrates from the library. With full page pictures of decorations and recipes, the book kept me entertained for over an hour.
These are just a few examples of publications, online and in-print, that have succeeded not only in capturing my interest but in keeping it for future issues.
What publications or websites are keeping your interest lately?
(The winner of a copy of Jody Hedlund's latest, The Doctor's Lady, will be chosen tonight! If you haven't entered, head to this post, 5 Reasons to Read Jody Hedlund's The Doctor's Lady and leave a comment with your e-mail address by 5pm Eastern time! Winner will be announced Monday, September 19, 2011!)
Have you ever struggled with a crummy attitude? Head to MVRWA's blog today for my post, "Why a Crummy Attitude Hurts Us."
Have a fabulous weekend!
Showing posts with label author websites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label author websites. Show all posts
Friday, September 16, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Magazine Layouts and Your Blog/Website
Websites and magazines have a lot in common. Both lure readers in and attempt to keep their attention as long as possible. Both aim to have the reader come back for more, and both provide interesting content.
Since I'm in the process of redesigning my website, I've been studying website design manuals and blogs by designers, and I've spent hours evaluating other author sites (mainly in the genre I write) to get a feel for colors, themes, appropriate pages, and content.
I came to the conclusion that our websites and/or blogs should emulate magazine layouts. They should be colorful and pleasing to the eye. The feature story (blog or note from author) should be placed prominently, and the reader shouldn't have to flip ahead (or click through links) to finish the entire piece.
Break Up the Text
It's also a good idea to include white space, or a buffer zone around the elements. Readers can't handle boxes and boxes of information crammed together with little separation. Make it easy on them--allow ample space between the elements.
Use headers and different colors to train the eye to various sections. Pictures add to the overall tone of the site--use them to set the mood. And, naturally, be specific about the tone you're setting. Authors of light romances should shy away from goth-looking sites with red accents, skull pictures, or lightning bolts. Help the reader match their expectations.
Make It Easy To Find Your Content
The navigation bar is similar to the table of contents--keep it prominent, consistent across all pages, and make it easy to understand.
To keep readers coming back, update your content. If you have a blog, post regularly. If you have a website, update it in a timely manner and make sure the updates either appear on your home page or are referenced there. It won't do you much good if you're adding a new article on your Articles page each week but you're not announcing it on your blog or home page. Most people head straight to your home page and if the content remains the same from January to June (or your last blog post was six months ago), they assume you aren't updating the rest of your site either.
Glossy Paper/High Performance
The quality of paper counts, and your operating system does too. Are you using a basic template for your blog? I recommend it. These often are optimized for quick loading times and for SEO performance. Is your website sized for popular browsers? Does each page have keywords and descriptions for search engines and readers to find your site?
Stay Current
My favorite magazines often add new features and tweak the overall look on an annual basis. Freshen your site every six to twelve months by cleaning up your side bar or tweaking your theme.
Subscriptions and Sharing
Those postcard subscription inserts in magazines? Think of them as your social media buttons. Feature a button to subscribe to your blog through an RSS feed, by e-mail, or through Google Friend Connect. Also, you want people to be able to be able to find you wherever you are online. Prominently display links to your Twitter page, your Facebook page, your Goodreads page, or anywhere you network. And the same way magazines encourage people to give gift subscriptions, simplify your blog's sharing process by including a "retweet" button and 'Facebook Like" button.
How Magazines and Websites Differ
On the flip side, I read a fantastic article by Thomas Umstattd Jr., CEO of Umstattd Media, on the differences between print design and web design. "Why Print Designers Fail at Web Design" is linked and worth a read. In fact, I recommend his entire site, Author Tech Tips, for any writer.
What did I miss? How can a blog or website benefit from magazine layouts?
Enjoy your Monday!
Since I'm in the process of redesigning my website, I've been studying website design manuals and blogs by designers, and I've spent hours evaluating other author sites (mainly in the genre I write) to get a feel for colors, themes, appropriate pages, and content.
I came to the conclusion that our websites and/or blogs should emulate magazine layouts. They should be colorful and pleasing to the eye. The feature story (blog or note from author) should be placed prominently, and the reader shouldn't have to flip ahead (or click through links) to finish the entire piece.
Break Up the Text
It's also a good idea to include white space, or a buffer zone around the elements. Readers can't handle boxes and boxes of information crammed together with little separation. Make it easy on them--allow ample space between the elements.
Use headers and different colors to train the eye to various sections. Pictures add to the overall tone of the site--use them to set the mood. And, naturally, be specific about the tone you're setting. Authors of light romances should shy away from goth-looking sites with red accents, skull pictures, or lightning bolts. Help the reader match their expectations.
Make It Easy To Find Your Content
The navigation bar is similar to the table of contents--keep it prominent, consistent across all pages, and make it easy to understand.
To keep readers coming back, update your content. If you have a blog, post regularly. If you have a website, update it in a timely manner and make sure the updates either appear on your home page or are referenced there. It won't do you much good if you're adding a new article on your Articles page each week but you're not announcing it on your blog or home page. Most people head straight to your home page and if the content remains the same from January to June (or your last blog post was six months ago), they assume you aren't updating the rest of your site either.
Glossy Paper/High Performance
The quality of paper counts, and your operating system does too. Are you using a basic template for your blog? I recommend it. These often are optimized for quick loading times and for SEO performance. Is your website sized for popular browsers? Does each page have keywords and descriptions for search engines and readers to find your site?
Stay Current
My favorite magazines often add new features and tweak the overall look on an annual basis. Freshen your site every six to twelve months by cleaning up your side bar or tweaking your theme.
Subscriptions and Sharing
Those postcard subscription inserts in magazines? Think of them as your social media buttons. Feature a button to subscribe to your blog through an RSS feed, by e-mail, or through Google Friend Connect. Also, you want people to be able to be able to find you wherever you are online. Prominently display links to your Twitter page, your Facebook page, your Goodreads page, or anywhere you network. And the same way magazines encourage people to give gift subscriptions, simplify your blog's sharing process by including a "retweet" button and 'Facebook Like" button.
How Magazines and Websites Differ
On the flip side, I read a fantastic article by Thomas Umstattd Jr., CEO of Umstattd Media, on the differences between print design and web design. "Why Print Designers Fail at Web Design" is linked and worth a read. In fact, I recommend his entire site, Author Tech Tips, for any writer.
What did I miss? How can a blog or website benefit from magazine layouts?
Enjoy your Monday!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Author Websites
Don't click away! I know the term "author websites" is scary, scary, scary!
I used to get wobbly knees, icy fingers, and a bad case of the shakes at the thought of setting up an author website.
What is it about websites that terrify us so? I don't know about you, but I felt completely inadequate. I couldn't even figure out how to research various ways of obtaining a website without getting nauseous.
I've written on this topic before. You can check out my article Five Things to Consider Before You Design Your Website for information on getting prepared to have your own site.
For those of you who are interested in designing your own custom website using a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) design program, I've written a Basic Website Design Guide. All of my articles are available at my website http://www.jillkemerer.com/. They are also linked in the sidebar of my blog for easy access.
Every day, more website templates crop up, so writers don't even have to customize to have a professional looking site. I, however, wanted complete control over the colors, the layout, and the pictures in mine, so I learned the basics.
My biggest fear was that I'd design a site and it would end up looking cheesy and unprofessional. My first website design was very simple. It had a Home page, a Biography page, a link to my blog, and a Contact button for anyone to e-mail me. About six months after I published the site, I decided it could look better. I changed the background and the layout and I added a few more web pages.
Why am I telling you this? Because I don't want you to feel your site has to be perfect, especially if you aren't published yet. You can tweak it and upgrade it as you learn more. I would never recommend anyone putting up a sloppy, unusable site, but I think many authors are so intimidated about having a great site, they don't have any site.
Please keep in mind that editors expect published authors to have a website. It's a terrific promotion tool. It's okay to have a free, template-style website as an unpublished author, but when you get "the call" your editor will probably suggest you get a professional site. I can think of a few reasons for this: many free websites do not utilize a http://www.com/ domain name, and many free websites do not have a function for readers to e-mail and contact the author.
If you're the do-it-yourself type on a tight budget, hold off on spending big bucks to hire a professional website designer. Ask your editor or agent for examples of author sites they feel are appropriate. Spend time planning your site based on their suggestions. Study the layout, content, and appropriate web pages.
Build your own custom website using a web-hosting service such as Yahoo! Web-Hosting or GoDaddy. They offer easy to use design programs. Beware of less prominent web-hosting sites. Their design programs can be difficult to use. You can also purchase design programs, but they are expensive.
If you set up a site and your editor is still not loving it, or maybe you feel updating it is too time-intensive, you may have to pay a professional. If this happens, don't consider the effort of designing your own site wasted. You have to determine a clear vision for your website whether you design it or someone else does. Why not do it now?
Have a wonderful weekend!
I used to get wobbly knees, icy fingers, and a bad case of the shakes at the thought of setting up an author website.
What is it about websites that terrify us so? I don't know about you, but I felt completely inadequate. I couldn't even figure out how to research various ways of obtaining a website without getting nauseous.
I've written on this topic before. You can check out my article Five Things to Consider Before You Design Your Website for information on getting prepared to have your own site.
For those of you who are interested in designing your own custom website using a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) design program, I've written a Basic Website Design Guide. All of my articles are available at my website http://www.jillkemerer.com/. They are also linked in the sidebar of my blog for easy access.
Every day, more website templates crop up, so writers don't even have to customize to have a professional looking site. I, however, wanted complete control over the colors, the layout, and the pictures in mine, so I learned the basics.
My biggest fear was that I'd design a site and it would end up looking cheesy and unprofessional. My first website design was very simple. It had a Home page, a Biography page, a link to my blog, and a Contact button for anyone to e-mail me. About six months after I published the site, I decided it could look better. I changed the background and the layout and I added a few more web pages.
Why am I telling you this? Because I don't want you to feel your site has to be perfect, especially if you aren't published yet. You can tweak it and upgrade it as you learn more. I would never recommend anyone putting up a sloppy, unusable site, but I think many authors are so intimidated about having a great site, they don't have any site.
Please keep in mind that editors expect published authors to have a website. It's a terrific promotion tool. It's okay to have a free, template-style website as an unpublished author, but when you get "the call" your editor will probably suggest you get a professional site. I can think of a few reasons for this: many free websites do not utilize a http://www.com/ domain name, and many free websites do not have a function for readers to e-mail and contact the author.
If you're the do-it-yourself type on a tight budget, hold off on spending big bucks to hire a professional website designer. Ask your editor or agent for examples of author sites they feel are appropriate. Spend time planning your site based on their suggestions. Study the layout, content, and appropriate web pages.
Build your own custom website using a web-hosting service such as Yahoo! Web-Hosting or GoDaddy. They offer easy to use design programs. Beware of less prominent web-hosting sites. Their design programs can be difficult to use. You can also purchase design programs, but they are expensive.
If you set up a site and your editor is still not loving it, or maybe you feel updating it is too time-intensive, you may have to pay a professional. If this happens, don't consider the effort of designing your own site wasted. You have to determine a clear vision for your website whether you design it or someone else does. Why not do it now?
Have a wonderful weekend!
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