Once in a while someone contacts us about Web work, only to ask, “But do I REALLY need a book Web site?” Since we’re in the business of designing and developing Web sites for authors, our answer is, of course, biased. That said, here are five good reasons why you do, indeed, need a book or author Web site to if you’re going to have a shot at success.

First, you’re competing against an astonishing number of authors; the number of books published each year is staggering.  Given the economy, you’re competing for a shrinking pool of dollars, too.  So the pressure is on you to rise above the noise and get noticed; invisibility has a high cost. When people see or see or hear you in a media interview,  chances are they’ll want to learn more about you and your book(s) via your site.  How do we know this?  Because in tracking our more than 200 active author Web sites, there’s inevitably a spike in traffic after a media event. The trick is to move people from the book site to the book store (a topic for another blog entry).  

Second,  there’s a whole generation of people who are skipping traditional media altogether and turn to the Web for news and entertainment.  When the media or people in your online special interest community create buzz about you, they’ll want to post a link to your site were people will presumably find more information and value-added content.

Third, without a book Website you’re invisible to media outlets that may call upon you to offer sage advice or insight. When traditional media venues need experts to offer explanations about current events or breaking news, or put a topic into perspective, they turn to the Web. Google is a first — and, often last — stop for producers and journalists who need to schedule an interview with an expert. (Even if you’re not an expert by training, you might be called upon to comment on a topic that plays a role in your latest novel, under the presumption that you’ve done your research.) Your book web site can be the gateway to that interview opportunity.

Fourth (a corollary to the preceding), without a site you’ll miss opportunities to connect with reading groups (the Holy Grail for fiction writers), and you’ll lose potential speaking engagements — there are far more authors than speaking bureaus, and the days of writing to the publisher to contact an author are long gone.

Finally, it’s almost impossible to be part of the “anytime information flow” without a site.

Like it or not, we live in a 24/7 on-demand world.  Prospective buyers and followers of your work expect to learn what they want to learn on their schedule, any time of the day or night.  A well-crafted book or author Web site enables you to provide timely information and/or compelling entertainment that your target audience can access as it wishes.

As we stress with prospects and clients, a book or author Web site is no guarantee of success. But it you don’t have at Web presence, your chances of success are greatly diminished.  In the pre-Internet days, you had 30, or maybe 60, days to gain traction with your book.  If the book didn’t take off, there were no opportunities to easily continue promoting it, and all, the blood, sweat, and tears you put into your work were for naught (at least from a commercial standpoint). The Net gives provides an ongoing opportunity to build your brand and create awareness about your book. Why not take it?

This post started off as another cautionary note about considering the consequences of what you say in your blogs and on your site. It was based on the recent incident involving a model and a [formerly] anonymous blogger who created  Skanks in NYC on Blogspot.  The model launched a defamation  suit, and the courts ordered Google, which provides the Blogspot service,  to reveal the blogger’s identity.   But events moved so fast—the model dropped her original suit and the blogger may sue Google for revealing her identity—that the buzz around the incident has morphed in a number of directions, including: whether anonymous postings fall under the category of protected speech, when and if anonymous postings are acceptable, the general state of discourse on the Net, and related topics. 

You’ll find a good summation of the issues by Randy Cohen, who pens The New York Times Magazine column, “The Ethicist.”  Equally interesting are the comments to Cohen’s article—you’ll find some good points, pro and con, regarding Cohen’s ideas.  One comment in particular has implications for authors, as it concerns Internet libel and what to do about it if you’re on the receiving end. The commenter, Michael Roberts , a victim of Internet libel himself, turned his situation to an advantage by starting a service that helps other victims of Internet defamation. This is not an endorsement of Mr. Roberts’ company – I have no basis for making such a judgment, and there are competing firms  in the reputation management field. But you’ll find a lot of information on his site (Rexxfield.com) that may be helpful if you ever find yourself in the crosshairs of someone whose primary mission in life appears to be destroying your credibility.

Back to the model and the blogger, regardless of the outcome of the case, here are a few other takeaways:

1. As I’ve said before, err on the side of caution. If you’re not sure about something that you’re about to put in writing, stop.  If you can’t get a legal opinion, write something else.  Or recraft the post.  
2. Consider your primary job—writing books.  Unless your strategy is to attract a lawsuit for publicity purposes, your primary goal should be to STAY OUT OF COURT.  Even if you win, you’ll likely still lose in terms of time, cost, and disruption to your life. Going to court can be an enormous time suck and an emotional drain.  A Pyrrhic victory will not help you meet your next deadline.  Leverage the Net for the good things it can do for you;  shun anything online that creates heat, but little or no light.
3. Before you click “Accept” during the process of signing up for a Web-based service, read the terms of service, the privacy policy, and related documents. Yeah, it can be tough slogging through the legalese.  But you’ll learn what happens to your personal info if the law knocks on the provider’s door. (Even if you’re not worried about that possibility, you really ought to know the conditions under which your private information may be shared, what content is acceptable, and the disposition of your intellectual property while you’re using the service and after you terminate the service. The best surprise regarding these matters is. . .no surprise.)

As the case unfolds, there will no doubt be other takeaways.  In the meantime, court is in recess.

Being a Twitter user is a little bit like being a U.S. citizen. It’s a worthwhile and amazing privilege, but one that comes with responsibilities. In the case of tweeting, it means being truthful—or you may be in for a surprise.

Take the case of Amanda Bonnen, whose May 12 blog entry described her apartment as “moldy.” You can read about the case online at the The Huffington Post  but, in short, Bonnen’s landlord, Horizon Group Management LLC, found out about her tweet and initiated a lawsuit for $50,000 for defamation. It’s anyone’s guess how the case will turn out, but in any event, there’s a lesson we can learn from it: we’re all responsible for what we say via any social network, on our Web sites and blogs, on chat boards, or on any other online venues.

This isn’t to suggest that anyone should refrain from using social media for fear of getting sued. It’s simply to say that while the medium is new, the rules of the road remain unchanged. The same transgressions that get you sued in the real world can get you into trouble on the Web. According to the Media Law Resource Center, a nonprofit information clearinghouse in New York, judgments against bloggers have topped $16 million. Who knows the monetary value of the cases that have been settled out of court.

To minimize your own risk, there are several things you should do. First, get the facts. Start by taking a look at the the Citizen Media Law Project’s Legal Guide. It’s written in plain English and is easy to digest (the section Publishing Information That Harms Another’s Reputation is particularly useful).

Second, exercise common sense. If you’re about to write or say something that you can’t imagine seeing on the front page of a newspaper or hearing on the air, don’t post it, blog it, Tweet it, or podcast it!  Yes, the Net is quickly redefining all kinds of boundaries, but not as much as many people think. Decency, honesty, and integrity still prevail.

Finally, don’t assume that anything you post on a social networking site is a private communication. There aren’t any private communications on the Internet. Worse, the Net has a long institutional memory—what you post today can come back to haunt you many years in the future. (BTW, the Wayback Machine, a favorite tool of lawyers, has now archived more than 150 billion Web pages! Yours is probably among them.)  

The bottom line is this: Tweet well. Post and blog wisely. Podcast as though your reputation depended on it. Because it does.

“What should I put on my Website?” “ Is a trailer a good investment?” “Should I podcast?” “How about a discussion board?”

These are the kinds of questions authors typically ask us when we begin the Website design and development process.  And, while we’ve created more than 200 author sites and have gained insight about what works and what doesn’t, we always answer the usual questions the same way: “That depends . . .  ” Sure, we quickly arrive at specific answers for individual clients. But until we learn about the author and his or her work, the demographics of the author’s audience, the budget for the project, and the author’s goals, it’s hard to offer hard-and-fast answers.  One size does not fit all, although general principles do apply— most of the time.  Let’s take a closer look at some of the common questions.

Begin with the Basics
“What are the basic pages I should have on my Website?”  That depends, in part, on the genre, the specifics of your book,  the image you’re trying to project, and the audience you want to reach.  In general,  though, your site should have enough compelling content to woo the visitor into buying the book or learning more.  At a minimum, you should have:

• An overview of the book and some insight into why your wrote it
• Excerpts
• Praise
• Your bio and photo
• A Q&A that gives people an idea of how you work
• News (links to interviews and media appearances)
• Events
• Media—materials for the press, such as your media kit and photos. 
• Mailing list sign up
• Contact information

If you have special interests,  you might want to add a page or two devoted to them.  This provides a means for you to connect with people who share those interests.  (E.g., if horseback riding is a major passion when you’re not writing, you might devote a small section of the site to your equestrian pursuits).  The key concept is this:  go beyond the jacket copy and show the world who you are, so visitors meet the person behind the monitor.  Remember, YOU are ultimately the brand.  And your site can move beyond the constraints of your book to represent your brand in whatever ways can best help you achieve your goals. 

Moving onto Multimedia
“Should my site have multimedia features?”   That depends . . . on whether you’ve gotten your basic site in order and whether the multimedia elements truly add to the user’s experience.  Multimedia offerings can raise your site to new heights and take visitors on an exciting adventure . . .  or they can just fall flat.  What makes multimedia an asset for your site? Three words: motivation, content, and quality.

Motivation.  If you’re using multimedia features to compensate for the fact that your basic site is lacking—because of skimpy or non-inviting content,  poor design, or poor graphics—forget it.  Bells and whistles won’t keep visitors around for very long if the basic site can’t stand on its own merit. 

Given the staggering amount of text, audio, and video options on the Web, people will quickly click elsewhere if you bore them or waste their time.  Heed the Golden Rule of the Net:  provide content to others that you would want to read, view, or hear yourself — spare them the eye candy and the fluff.   Your motivation in offering value adds such as podcasts, trailers, and interactive features (e.g.  quizzes, surveys, and games ) should be to entertain and inform— to make it worthwhile for visitors to give you a few moments of their time.

Content.  If a podcast consists of your reading an excerpt, save your breath (unless you’re incredibly famous or your voice is irresistibly riveting or charming).  Rather, use the opportunity to deliver a commentary on the story behind your book, insights into where you get your ideas from, your opinion about a news happening, etc.  Or you might consider reading an original short story that people can only hear by visiting your site (for a good example, see Jodi Picoult’s “Weights and Measures”). 

The need for quality content is even greater when you include a trailer on your site.  With so many choices on YouTube and other video sharing services, a visual recap of the plot won’t hold people’s attention for long.  Create a sense of drama and hint at the burning issues in the title you’re promoting.  Make a credible promise about the payoff for buying the book.  In short, the trailer should show and sell. 

Quality.  While you’re providing exciting and valuable content, make sure that the quality is top tier.  With a podcast, that’s fairly easy.  Ideally, you’ll record in a  professional studio so you can leave the sound quality to audio experts while you focus on turning in a great performance.  If a studio is out of the question, or you’ll be podcasting frequently,  get yourself some good recording gear.  (The Edirol R09HR  is one of our favorite digital recorders.)  Find a quiet room and experiment with recording levels.  And most importantly, write scripts that you can rehearse; ad-libbing often sounds as though you lack control and direction and it makes for tedious audio editing tasks (or an extremely bored audience).  Don’t insult your listeners with low quality, off-the-cuff productions, or they won’t be listeners for long.  

With a book trailer,  providing a high quality production is more complicated unless you, or somebody close to you, has video production skills.  If you don’t have the ability to artistically meld text, audio, images and stock footage into a trailer, hire a professional to create a trailer for you — there are lots of firms and freelancers who specialize in creating trailers ranging from simple slide shows to Hollywood-like productions.  You want to create something that people will share and talk about, something that goes “viral” across the Net and helps galvanize a community around your work.  Which brings us to the next question — providing a means for fans to connect.

Discuss Amongst Yourselves…
“Should I build community through a discussion board?”  That depends . . . on traffic to your site and the amount of time you’re willing to devote to the board’s maintenance.  Threaded discussion boards can be a great laboratory for you, a place where you can test new ideas in real time and get a sense of what excites people most about your work.  And they can be terrific community-building tools. (For examples of robust discussion boards, check out the forums on Chris Bohjalian’s site and Jacquelyn Mitchard’s site .) 

Despite the benefits of discussion boards, we generally discourage launching them early in the game.  Aside from the chunk of time you’ll have to spend clearing out spam and porn — discussion boards are magnets for all manner of unwanted content — there’s the chicken-and-egg problem.  Nobody will post unless other people have posted. And the longer the board is empty, the less people will want to fill it up.  If you’re getting enough site traffic and you direct people to the board, you may eventually build up a group of fans who want to talk to each other in a structured forum.  In the interim, consider assessing your potential community before launching a dedicated board on your site. Put up a guestbook and invite (moderated) comments.  Beyond your site, use outside resources to gauge response.  Put up a Facebook page (or become active on the one you already have), and reach out through Twitter.  If you’re not getting a response from visitors to your site’s guestbook, or from Facebook friends or Twitter followers, chances are that people won’t invest time in your discussion boards, either.  Which takes us to the final point.

Bring Them On
“I’ve built a great site with quality content.  What do I do next? ” There is no “that depends” for this question.  The answer is simple.  Promote.  Promote.  And continue to promote.  If you don’t have a blog, start one (ideally, the blog will be integrated into your site rather than part of a hosted blog service).  Issue intelligent Tweets on a regular basis.  Participate in Facebook groups in your areas of interest.  Take advantage of bylined article submission opportunities.  Submit your news release to online press release banks (the backlinks will help with search engine optimization).

The list could go on.  But it all starts with a solid site that leaves no doubt in a visitor’s mind: you’re an author worth visiting online … and reading in print.

“What makes for a good author Web site?” prospective clients often ask me. 

There are the obvious elements: A good author website should be like a grand hotel room. The location of every amenity and necessity should be obvious and easy to find. It should be engaging for book buyers and media friendly–a one-stop go-to spot that can give reporters and producers all the information they need. Elegant design and a little razzle dazzle never hurts either.

But what about the soul of a good author Web site? That’s what really differentiates sites once you get beyond the basics. And that’s a much more difficult quality to articulate.

For insight into the matter, I turned to a gym buddy of mine, Pharame, who’s known throughout the health club I frequent as an expert on the human soul. He’s also a testimony to the fortune of good genes and the wisdom of a good workout routine – at 64, he sports a body that most 24-year-olds would die for.

Since Pharame’s not a Web guy, I asked him a general question that I knew would be within his bailiwick: “Why are we here?”

He laughed, slapped me on the back in a friendly gesture that nonetheless knocked the wind out of me, then boomed, “Stevie! You are born naked and you die naked. In between, it’s YOUR story. So tell it WELL.”

No one ever nailed it better.

A good author Web site IS your story.

And telling it WELL is about using technology, words, and images to have a conversation with your site visitors. It’s about voice–talking “to,” rather than “at,” your audience, just as you would in a good radio interview. It’s about intimacy–revealing what motivates you and what makes you tick as a writer. It’s about credibility–conveying your authority while keeping your ego in check. And it’s about humility–respecting your viewers’ time and being grateful for the fact that there are hundreds of millions of Web sites they could be visiting, but they’ve chosen to point their browser to yours.

Pharame knows what he’s talking about: It’s YOUR story. Tell it well