Website vs. Blog

Do you need a dedicated author website? Not necessarily. But if you don't have one, I would recommend having a blog then. You need a landing page where readers can find out about you and your book(s).

The advantage of having a website is that once you have created the content and set up the site, you only need to make changes when you have new things to post--reviews, author interviews, promotions, book release dates, or blog tours. The downside is that you are not building a following, like you are with a blog.

Blogs are great for building an audience, but it takes a lot of work and time to write the articles. Time that could be used writing your next book or marketing it via other channels. No matter how frequently you post, there isn't a guarantee you will have many readers. So you will have to spend time promoting your blog. And coming up with interesting content that will attract a following.

Having a website or a blog also allows you to have a place to post links to the social networks you belong to. I use Twitter, Google Friend Connect, Facebook, GoodReads, and Shelfari on my author home page. Managing all those and interacting on each one can be a job on its own. 

Wordpress and Blogger are the two major blog hosting sites. A short article listing the pros and cons of using each can be found at NetDivvy. You can also create a blog on a regular website if the hosting company you use has that functionality.

Here is a link to the top website creators with prices: easywebsitebuilders.net. Out of the sites on that list, I have used Wix.com and Weebly.com. Both are easy to use and have a large selection of templates to choose from. The upside of Wix is that it uses Adobe Flash, which allows you to create sites with cool transitions. The downside of Wix is that Flash doesn't come up on iDevices. Since Weebly doesn't use Flash, their sites can be viewed on multiple software platforms and browsers. Weebly also creates a mobile version of your site that has its own menu system.

For my Pub Pilot site I used Jimdo.com, which is another great website creator. I chose Jimdo over Weebly because it had more layout options in regards to placement of the sidebars. Wix, Weebly, and Jimdo are all available for free. If you don't pay for them, then you will have less options with what you can do, and your domain name would have a long extension that includes the hosting site's name--something like yourwebsitename.jimdo.com.  The pay options on the low end for Weebly, Wix, and Jimdo are in the range of five to ten dollars a month, depending on what your needs are.

If you want your own domain name, you can buy it through the hosting site you choose (easiest way)--costs about ten dollars--usually lasts a year (not a monthly fee). You can also buy it from GoDaddy.com and have it transferred over to your website. GoDaddy is a great place to see what domain names are available.

One thing to note is that because sites like Jimdo, Weebly, and Wix can be used for free, their support is through forums and emails--at least at this time. So getting answers often takes a day or so.

What if you are technically illiterate? Then it's time to either learn or have your friend, family member, or neighbor teach you--or make one for you. You may also find someone on Craiglist or Elance.

In summary, having an author website isn't mandatory, but it is a good place for people to learn about you and your book(s). While a dedicated author site is much less time consuming to maintain than a blog, it doesn't allow you to build a following like a blog does. Just realize that developing an audience through blogging isn't an easy endeavor. And consistently creating interesting articles takes time away from your other tasks--like writing your next novel.