I'm searching for info and need more experienced opinion than mine here, regarding building a website...

I'm not sure when my book will be finally in print... (hopefully sometime before the year is over).

Should I build a website before the book is ready?

Need any and all suggestions you can give this newbie writer here, please ! (I know if I have the website up and running, I can add it to the contact info in the book). Also, would like my son to help me with this before he heads out for college again.

Anxiously awaiting...

My humble opinion would be yes, build it now...if you build it, they will come. The main reason I say build it is because of the marketing that will come with the birth of the book. You will want to do flyers, bookmarks, maybe have pens made, posters, whatever....

You NEED to have a web page addy for the public to view, and so they can find out all about you and see what else you have to offer. You never know when an editor might be reading one of your web page addresses on a flyer somewhere, go to your site to see what you are all about, and then write to you asking to see your clips. HEY...It could happen!

So, which comes first? The chicken or the egg?

I say, it's the rooster...

JJ

My recommendation for an addy is your name as it will appear on the book. Don't do book title becsue you will have more books on the future.

I agree with the queen...of course.

Keep asking questions about developing your site because there are many women in here who ahve done the same.

A nuter thing...are you computer savvy? If not, KISS...(keep it simple stupid). I didn't write that, but the words are very true. Don't crowd your web page with unnecessary words and artwork. Keep it simple, but interesting until you've built up a following. And unless you know how to write code, keep things to a minimum...reason being the more artwork and pic's you have on your page, the longer it takes for the page to download and it's been my experience that people will NOT wait. They will close your page and move on. YOU GET ONE SHOT at first time impression...girls, correct me if I'm wrong here, k?

There are places you can get FREE web pages and I've heard they are easy to do. If you can afford to get someone to do you a web page, then hey, go for it...if you cannot, you might want to try and do one on one of the free sites for now. Just a thought.

JJ

Songbird,

I agree with JawJaw in that the simpler you keep it the better. Too many pictures, products, links and such will only clutter and confuse the consumer.

My husband and I use Homestead and have found it to be worthwhile; however, it did take some time-3-4 weeks to set it up and then over a period of several months we added and deleted until we had it the way we wanted it.

Some of it was very confusing and if you're not computer-oriented, JawJaw's idea of a free webpage might be the best way to go. There are several sites on the web that offer free sites; but be careful some of them are not worthwhile.

Thanks Jaw Jaw, Dotsie and Toni.
I'm shopping around for ideas and more. But I do agree that simple is a good idea!

How does a bilingual website sound to you gals?

It sounds so CURRENT! Wow! You go girl! My guess is that it will be way ahead of everyone else with multiple languages. Cool!

You could set the site up so you can take pre-orders on your book. Audiences, viewing or reading, have short memory spans because there are so many books out there now. This way, they will receive the book right after it's released.

Thanks, Dianne! Pre-ordering sounds like a great idea!

JJ- Your enthusiasm is contagious! I apppreciate it so much!!!