Authors. As with everything there are good ones and bad ones. Ones that write books we (personally) love and ones we throw on the floor and stomp on. But this post isn’t about the later. This post is about the authors we do love and what we want from them to keep us buying books from them.
Now a disclaimer: I’m going to admit right upfront that I am going to ask for things that I as an author do not do. I know there is a certain level of hypocrisy here, but hey, maybe it will show how somethings we as readers want may not be what is best for the author in some way or another.
Let’s get on with the list!
A web site, and not any web site. I want a web site that is easy to navigate and isn’t hard on the eyes. Please, figure out some way in whatever budget you have to make it look professional–honestly it isn’t that hard or expensive to get a professional web site these days. If I open a web site and it looks like it was your fourth grader’s summer project, well guess what? It changes how I think of you. Unfair? Probably. Real? Yes.
And as long as I’m being difficult, here are a few things I really want to find on this easy-to-navigate, professional-appearing site.:
- Your releases. Yes, seriously! I want to know what you’ve had published before. I want to know what you have out now. And I want to know what is coming up soon. Really I do.
- A way to get a reminder when your next book comes out. I don’t need a big old fancy newsletter; a simple note will do. But give me something. If I love your books, I WANT a nudge that says “Hey, my book is in the store NOW.” I know you may not realize this but I don’t have time to check your site every month just to see what is happening. It would be nice, if you could contact me. (But as an aside, ONLY if I ask for this contact. Sending me a newsletter I didn’t sign up for or that doesn’t have an easy “opt out” link is the SUREST way to make me not buy your book.)
- A picture. Weird I know. But I like to see you.
- Buy links. You want me to order your book? Give me a link. This also provides me with strange little bits of information I, for whatever reason, like to know–like who the publisher is and when the book was or will be published.
And that’s about all I need. I know some authors write blogs or provide forums and free reads. I personally don’t need any of that. Just give me the straight dope on the books and a look at you–and we are good.
Write the same book, but different. I KNOW this is a horrible thing to ask, but I’m being honest here and it is what I want. (Not what as an author I want to do–so this is one of those hypocritical moments I warned you about.) Say I fell in love with your dark sexy shifters and read on some blog, “Good News! Dark sexy shifter Author A has sold a new series!! It’s a romantic adventure, no paranormal at all.” My first reaction? Anger, annoyance, petty pouting. Just when are you planning on writing these books? And if you have all this extra writing time, WHY aren’t you writing more dark sexy shifters? HUH??? Seriously, get your priorities straight if you expect me to stick with you.
Then there is the different part. If I love the dark and sexy, I expect that always. If it is a tortured hero that drew me to you, I want another one, and another one after that. But I don’t want the same book–so you better think of some way to twist around that plot and characters while still giving me the core book I desire. I know this isn’t easy–all the more reason you better not be wasting time writing those darn romantic adventures that I never asked for in the first place.
Reply to my fan mail (email anyway) and make me feel loved. You don’t have to slobber all over me, or offer to send me cool free stuff (although I do love cool free stuff), but if I write you a note saying I loved your book, give me more than, “Thanks, Author A.” Even a smiley face goes a long way to make me feel a little love.
Don’t miss your deadlines and then be playing on the Internet or bopping around conferences. In fact, don’t miss your deadlines. Unforgiving little reader, aren’t I? But seriously, if you’ve posted that you are under contract and the next book should be out such and such date, then it isn’t…and instead I see all kinds of fun pictures of you at 4,000 conferences or 20 million Twitter tweets…well, let’s just say, I’m really not that understanding. Sorry, I’m not.
So, there you have it my sometimes irrational always demanding expectations of the authors I love. How about you? What do you expect from authors?
No related posts.
I am SO with you on the ‘not hard on the eyes.’ I don’t understand what makes people think that a black background with white (or even worse, all different colored) fonts is attractive. I can’t read them, unless the font is huge (and no, I’m not going to play with my settings to enlarge it).
There are dozens of blogs I hit one time because it’s too much trouble for my eyes to handle. I’m noticing fewer and fewer sites with music, lots of slow to load graphics, and dancing, flashing fonts. Thank goodness.
I don’t have a newsletter (can’t believe anyone would care enough) but your point about a mailing list for new releases is something I’ve debated.
I agree with all your points. Especially about the hypocritical ’same but different’. I’ve had very few positive experiences with an author who has branched out into something new and different, but I can understand how an author wants to branch out. But to keep me as a reader, the new branch has to have roots in the old tree.
Terry, I hate the music too! My finger dashes to the mute button. I am also not a fan of fancy flash, etc. home pages. If there is an option I always hit “skip”. I’m there for the information, not the wrapping. And if the wrapping is too fancy, I will completely click away.
I don’t post photos of myself on the net.
For what I write,
it would be silly to
and readers wouldn’t expect it.
After all, Invisible is about identity theft.
Plus my face isn’t selling books.
(grinning)
I’m with Lori and Terry,
no music, no flash, no autoloading of book trailers.
I want to get in and get out.
I DO like blogs
because they are often updated
(unlike websites).
Oh, and give me a way to contact you.
Great post, Lori. As a reader, I pretty much look for what you note. A way to find out about an author’s back list (Amazon doesn’t always make this easy!), information about what’s coming up, and if I really love the author’s work, a newsletter to sign up for.
I don’t usually mind if an author branches out into something new; I hope to find the same voice that drew me in before. That said, I admit, I do want more of the same — only different. Shrug.
More of the same? hmmm…
I guess if I enjoy an author’s voice, I like more of that, but…
Okay, now I’ll have to go think about this. Thanks (not), Ms Devoti!
I love seeing author photos! I don’t know why, but I want one on the main page of an author’s website. I feel more connected if I can look into their eyes, even just in a photo!
And all the other stuff you said, Lori!
I would suggest, also, on the author website copious links to where else I can find the author: Facebook, MySpace, Book Blogs. (Never heard of ‘Book Blogs’? Check out my site.)
Oh, and I do have a new website… pretty, I hope, and with all of your recommendations!
I expect nothing from the authors I read and the new authors I discover but a good read. If you can give me that, consistently, then I don’t much care about anything else and I will buy your books faithfully.
My problem as a novelist myself is that I have a hard time finding where to draw the line when it comes to blatant self-promotion, so I try to be as low-key as possible. I don’t always succeed.
So I’ve got all the requisite promotional tools — website, twitter account, facebook, etc. — but I’d so much rather be writing books that readers will (hopefully) enjoy and leave all the huckstering to someone who is much better at it than me.
And I think I speak for most authors when I say that.
So my only demand of others is that they concentrate on the BOOKS. Make them sing. Because I surely like listening to the tunes.
I so agree with the releases page on author websites. Bibliographic info is the #1 reason I go to author websites. An organized releases page with books listed in series order goes a long way to making me a fan for life!
Great post! I agree to the fanmail comments lol… I think it would be really neat if authors shared more on their RL heroes too. I have a blog series to that effect, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to share it with us! It’s a different take on the standard author bio.
A web site with easy-to-find info, yes. [nod] It’s amazing how many writers’ web sites don’t have obvious buy links, or lists showing in what order to read their series books — you know, useful stuff readers kind of need. My web site is minimal right now, just a Wordpress blog and a few pages, but if you want to buy my work you don’t have to hunt around.
Photo — no. Just no.
I don’t mind if someone else has a pic on their web site, but I don’t have one on mine and probably never will. I’m a singularly non-photogenic person. No false modesty, just truth. I can’t imagine having my face on my web site would do anything at all to enhance my sales. :/
About the newsletter thing, I’m like Terry in that I don’t really think people would be interested to sign up for something like that yet. And I’m e-published, so my work is available for at least a year; even if you only hit my site every few months, the buy links are right there on the “My Fiction” page and you won’t have missed anything.
About writing the same book over and over, just a little different, I don’t do that. [duck] And even as a reader, I don’t expect it. Sure, there’ve been times when a favorite writer has moved on to a different genre or subgenre I haven’t cared for, but a couple of times I’ve discovered that I do like at least some books in that area after all. Judith McNaught got me reading contemporaries, for example, when before she switched I’d never considered even trying one. I’m still not a major contemporary fan, but at least I know now that I can enjoy some of them, so I’m willing to take a chance occasionally.
And sometimes writers try so hard to give us “the same thing but different” over and over and over that they write themselves into an over-the-top, cliched rut. I’ve recently abandoned what used to be one of my favorite series because of that problem.
I like trying different things, and appreciate that other writers are going to want to as well. If I like a writer’s voice and admire their craftsmanship, I want to at least have the chance to try whatever they offer. Even if I dislike one or two, or if they move into an area where I just can’t follow, what I like about a writer’s work is more fundamental than “Hot-sexy Regency with humor and a cute animal,” or whatever, which means I can appreciate quite a lot of variety.
About responding to fan mail (or blog comments), definitely. [nodnod] Unless a writer is hugely popular (like Stephen King or Jo Rowling level) I don’t think there’s any excuse for completely ignoring fan contact. Even a friendly sounding form response is better than nothing.
Deadlines, yeah. :/ I agree with a lot of the folks in the current GRRM flap that a good book in ten years is better than a lousy one now, but once you’ve got an announced publication date, there should be an excellent reason — probably involving an extended hospital stay for you or someone very close to you — for significantly missing it. Especially with a series book, where fans have already made significant investments (emotional as well as financial) in the characters and story arc, finishing what you start, some time near when you said you were going to finish it, should be a top priority.
And it was that announced due date that’s really killing him. Gordy Dickson never did finish the Childe Cycle, and went years between series books at times, but he never said “The next one will be out on January of 1989″ or whatever, and then wandered away. He never got half the hassle from fans about it that GRRM is getting, and IMO it’s because Dickson never made a specific promise, with a day circled on the calendar, and then broke that promise.
That makes all the difference.
Angie
The only problem I’m having with authors right now is if they have a contest. I’m an avid reader and love entering contests. I don’t mean to be rude but if an author is giving something away the recipient needs to receive it in a timely manner. Here lately I’ve had to email a few authors about not receiving a book. I wait approximately a month before contacting the author. I understand schedules, family emergencies, etc. This is why I wait a month. There was one contest I entered and won where they let me know their shipping date. I like this idea. I’ll get off my soapbox now. Have a great day.
I have the flipside issue. I love giving books away but I wish more readers would let me know they’ve received contest wins.
I now prefer giving away eBooks because I can easily follow up with the winner. I don’t have to pay extra for a delivery confirmation. I can also easily resend the winning book.
You summed it up pretty well. I will add though, I love blogs. I feel like it gives me an inside scoop as to what the author thinks and feels (whether it actually does or not). On the same note, I also like it when the author replies to comments left on their blogs. I don’t expect a big long reply, but an acknowledge that you know I was there is always nice. It’s kind of like a big thank you for supporting me. Weird? Maybe.
I’m not sure how “professional” my website is, but it’s definitely Easy Read. I can’t read those flashy things, so I want mine where I can read it. (Even the font on this blog is a little small for me–yes I have vision issues.) I have a picture, but it’s on my bio page. If somebody wants to see it, they have to Look. But it’s up there.
Hmm. I have all my books there, and they’re in order, but there isn’t an easy-to-copy-and-print list. (Of course, I only have 6 books so far, so…)
As far as “the same but different” I’m pretty willing to follow an author wherever they want to go. If they’re good writers, they’re good writers, and most authors tend to write the same themes or the same types of characters. Like Anne Stuart’s bad boy heroes. She might be writing historical or contemporary, but her heroes are usually a bad boy of one sort or another. I know what my themes are. I try to write something different, but I never really do. I love adventure with my romance, so my stories usually have one of those. And then, it’s about working together. Sometimes it’s just the hero and heroine who have to work together to do something. Sometimes, it’s more people. But somehow, my stories are always about that, whether they’re set in a fantasy epic-land, or Victorian Europe with magic, or somewhere more real. Maybe that’s what you mean by “the same but different,” Lori?
You hit all my pet peeves! HAHAH. You’re not alone, unreasonable or not, I agree with you.
Also, could you please publish more than one book every few years. I mean seriously, if you write, then write, but please don’t make me fall in love with something and then only produce a book every few years. Childish? Yes of course, but it is the way it is.
But Amanda, would you rather the author publish crap? ‘Cause I’ve been seeing that more and more lately. An author is pressured to publish more and ends up churning out garbage.
I’d wait forever as long as the book was good.
“Write the same book, but different.”
I completely understand what you’re saying here! I recently found a new-to-me author whom I adore. I read her hist romance (not my usual genre) and loved it. Looked up her other books and saw that she has a couple of para romances out (my usual genre) and, oddly, I’m really not interested in trying the paranormal.
Great post!
Sandy
Wow, sorry I went AWOL. For some reason I wasn’t getting emails telling me people posted replies. Got them first thing this morning then they stopped! I thought the crickets had landed.
My husband starts pacing if you just mention that book!
Same but different…without naming names it is hard to specify. And it is horribly unfair to ask of an author because it is incredibly hard for them to do! There is a certain author whose series I love, but at some point I realized all the characters were the same–there were new characters each book, but they were the same casting–if that makes sense. So that was too much the same. Then again there have been authors whose series I LOVE and I hear they are doing something completely new they are really excited about…I’m usually not. Because I want that same type of book. It could be a new series in the same sub-genre and I’d be cool–I’m talking switching from say paranormal to romantic comedy.
On contests…you know I’ve had winners of contest never send me their addresses– more than once. I never know what to do then…
Angie, GRRM…hmm…that might just be who I had in mind.
Second note on the same but different. I think this is a huge lie-to-ourselves issue for authors.
At NINC last fall Lou Aronica spoke on what makes publishers choose an author to push. And one of the big things he said was doing something well that makes you stand out AND doing that thing over and over. Being consistent.
Immediately after the session authors started talking around this…well, that could mean all my stories are heartwarming, it doesn’t matter some are historical and some scifi romance. Or whatever. Basically though I don’t think we wanted to hear what he had to say.
I am a big genre hopper–started in romantic comedy, then dark paranormal, now urban fantasy AND I have a paranormal YA with my agent. I can stretch and say there is some common thread between all of these…or drop the rom com and say the rest are all paranormal and that is true, but I don’t think it fits into what Lou was saying.
Yes, there are authors like Connie Willis and Neil Gaiman who write very different books and still get huge fan bases, but I think they are the exception not the rule.
Which doesn’t mean we all have to do the same but different thing–we just need to be honest with ourselves as to what we are doing and face that it may make breaking out harder.
At least that is my opinion.
Please, please, please, update your web site. I’ve come across a half dozen author web sites recently where the author has a current book out, but her web site hasn’t been updated in 2-3 years. Those authors probably aren’t reading this article, but I’d much rather have a very basic web site that’s updated than a fancy one that’s still advertising a “new” book that came out in 2006.
And please make it easy to figure out how your books are related, especially if you have several overlapping series. If I haven’t read your books in a year or two, don’t assume that I’ll remember all the convoluted relationships between your various characters – just give me a cheat sheet of who’s related to who so I don’t feel so lost.
I want to find series numbered clearly, or at least pub dates. I’m guessing it’s the pub houses that decide whether to list series in chron, or reverse-chron, but it’s not consistent. And unless the series are numbered, or listed with pub dates, I have to do yet more searching elsewhere to other sites to try and figure out your series order. Try to help your potential customers, not irritate them, thanks.
And I want to find published books in 2 clicks, 3 only if there’s many different series so that they have to be broken into sub-sections.
I don’t read author blogs much anymore; a gal can only take so much promoting (your own, as well as your buddies). I can handle if you write other genres. I might even like your other genre better
Ah, the un-updated web site. I have been guilty of that—although we are talking a few months, not years.
I went to a WordPress site because it makes updating a lot easier and I STILL will find myself thinking…I need to update that site…I really need to update that site. My MySpace page is a full release behind right now. It is on my list…
So, I completely agree with the keep your site updated, but it’s a bit of another case of me being hypocritcal I guess.
It is just amazing how much time all of this stuff takes–but it’s about priorities, right? Skipping an hour of twittering maybe to up date the site? I could…should…do that.
Shreela, Ha, something I do! (kind of
) I say on my site #4 in my Unbound series, etc. But what I didn’t realize is a lot of category series readers like to also know what number the book is in the entire line. So, that might be something else for us category authors to think of putting on our sites…
In addition to being an author, I’m also a librarian. I have avid readers come up to my reference desk and they’ve discovered a new book by an author who’s been writing since the 80s. They want a list of everything that author has ever written. Yes, they do. They also want a blurb about every single book. So if you have the cover on your site – make it link to a page with the blurb. If you write a LOT, provide me with a printer friendly book list that I can print out for my readers. Include Title, year published, ISBN – minimum.
I also second the idea of making the site look professional. If you’ve published twenty or thirty books you might have enough royalties coming in to pay to have the site designed. I have visited an author site and it was really primitive. The basics were there – but no links to blurbs, no printable book list…nada. It did make me question the author a bit.
If someone is a newly published author (like me) the blurbs are good, but the book list isn’t that necessary…yet. I mean if you only have two books out, why make a list?
But include links and an ISBN number.
I can’t tell you how many times a library is asked to purchase a book for our collection or request a book through interlibrary loan and are forced to look this stuff up. Yeah, that’s what we do – but make it easy for us and we’ll love you forever. Really.
Francesca
I like pictures and when I do interviews with authors, I like having one with the interview. Contact info is a must. I can’t request an interview from you if I can’t contact you. If you don’t want to put an email address for you include one for your publicist or have a leave a comment page.
Susan Mallery has a wonderful website with her complete backlist as a printable PDF. That’s saying a LOT, with all the books she’s written! http://www.susanmallery.com
I also really like Debbie Macomber’s site. It’s simple and homey, just like her writing, with fun extras like knitting patterns. There’s nothing flashy or distracting, it’s just easy to navigate.