In the Internet age, there are various ways by which authors, especially those who are just starting out, can reach out to their audience. An author website is just one of these. Is having a website beneficial to an author? Why and why not? Do the benefits outweigh the hassles of building and maintaining an author website? Should every author have their own website? Here are five reasons to consider it.
1. Yes. It’s a way to reach more readers
An author website is an incredibly convenient medium through which an aspiring author can attract new readers, build a reputation, interact with fans, promote him/herself and his/her books, and make him/herself known to the literary world and to the publishing industry. It is a great opportunity to create a pleasant online space that an author can fill with creative, original content that showcases his or her talents. It also allows an author to share bits and pieces of his/her life and thus gain the attention and camaraderie of potential readers from all over the world.
2. Yes. It’s more professional than Facebook
There may be more than a billion people on Facebook and most businesses, organizations, and institutions in the world have a Facebook account, but let’s face it: how many people actually think of it as a serious platform for serious people with serious goals and motives? Sure, we use Facebook and Twitter a lot, but we mostly use them for sharing and linking. And what we link to are what we recognize as the legitimate sources (i.e. news organizations, news aggregators, well-known blogs, etc.) You should have a Facebook account, yes, but it shouldn’t be your online head office.
3. Yes, but you can use social media instead
Nowadays, there are enough social media networks and mobile media channels to reach a global audience without the need for paying for an author website. Through Facebook and Twitter, you can connect with tens of thousands of prospective readers without spending a dime and without sitting in front of the computer for hours, tinkering with code. If you keep up a strong social media presence by posting regularly and interacting with your followers, you don’t have to bother with a dedicated website.
4. Yes, but you can’t give everything away
The concept of starting and maintaining an author website, especially one that is regularly updated with new and interesting material, is off-putting to some writers because of the ever-present threat of plagiarism and of copyright issues. A lot of aspiring authors are hesitant to post their stories, essays, and other written work on the Internet because magazine and book publishers often refuse to accept work that has already been published online. And in the age of copy-paste, there is always a big risk of other people trying to pass off your work as their own.
5. Yes, but the decision is up to you
If budget, effort, and conventional publishing are main concerns, then skip the website. But if gaining a following, building a reputation, and acquiring an air of legitimacy are more important, then go for it.
