When visiting a website to learn more about an author, expert, or entrepreneur, the first thing I look for is the “About” page. I need to know quickly what the person does, how qualified they are to do it, and how they express themselves.

About half the time, there’s no information on qualifications (this is especially true with companies selling services to authors). I get the impression that people like to talk a lot about what they do, but not why we should trust them to do it for us.

But even when those essential trust-building qualifications are included, so many of the About sections I read are dry and boring. They lack personality. They don’t draw me in.

Help readers discover the real you

I want your all-important “About” page to communicate exactly what it should to your target readers. I want you to pull them in with your words. I want you to discover how to write a powerful “About the Author” page so readers want to engage with you.

That’s why I asked writer and content strategist Sonya Matejko to share with us the About page advice she offers her clients.

Introducing Sonya Matejko

Freelance writer and Vienna, Austria, resident Sonya Matejko uses words to make people feel seen and heard. Whether through branded content, a founder’s bio, a reported story, or her poetry, Sonya writes because she believes well-written stories have the power to empower and connect us, and to help us grow.

Sonya is also the founder of Nurtured Narratives, a wellness-focused storytelling company. There, she provides a feel-good storytelling experience for brands, entrepreneurs, and others who value well-being.

Here’s our conversation about how to write an “About the Author” page that sizzles and sings.

How to write a powerful “About the Author” page

Why is an “About” page an important component of an author website?

Put yourself in the shoes of a reader. Imagine you are between two non-fiction books about improving self-confidence with equally good reviews.

Certain that both could give you valuable insight, you go to the authors’ websites to see whose insight you are more likely to resonate with. The first About page confirms what you suspected: the author indeed has credibility (previous books) and knowledge (related certification). Check.

But then you go to the second About page. As you learn more about them, you realize you want to learn from them.

Their story doesn’t just offer credibility. It offers relatability. And they become not just an author you’d like to hear giving a talk but one you’d want to talk with over coffee.

This is the power of an About page on an author’s website.

What’s your About page philosophy?

My philosophy centers on feel-good storytelling, and the same applies to About pages.

Consider the question: How do you want your potential reader to feel about you as an author? Do you want them to feel:

• Like you both look at life in a similar way?
• Like they can trust you based on your experiences?
• Inspired by your perspective?
• Empowered by your way of thinking?

This could be the difference between having a one-time reader and having a reader on your email list, first in line for pre-orders, and following you on social media — because it feels good to them to be a part of your community.

What are the most common mistakes individuals make with their About page content?

The most common mistake is leaving much to be desired.

It’s not enough to have an About page with your bio and headshot to check the box of having one.

Imagine the frustration from a reader who’s already read your bio in the book or on Goodreads, and then they get to your About page to learn more and are hit with the exact same content. It feels like a waste of time for them — and a wasted opportunity for you to build loyalty and connection with a reader.

It’s totally understandable if the idea of adding more to yours is overwhelming. So, start small.

Consider the questions you often get from readers. They might come from Instagram DMs, book signings, email  messages, or even via your aunt at family gatherings. Write down three, then include those answers in your About page narrative or in an FAQ.

What are the most important elements of an “About the Author” page?

Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, the most essential elements on your About page include:

• Who you are
• What you write about
• What makes you credible to write about this
• Why you do all of it

Especially for nonfiction, you want to show people that you have a solid foundation of knowledge to lend to the topic. They need to know that you’re more than just someone who’s read a few studies and developed their own theory over coffee.

But then you also want to include your why; this will be the hook. The other elements are check marks so the reader says, “OK, they know what they’re talking about.”

But then the why is the “OK, I want to be a part of this conversation.”

Here’s a great example from Whitney Goodman, the author of Toxic Positivity. You see, she goes through her bio, training, and press features.

But then she has a section called “I Believe,” and this is the section that intrigues me most. It’s just four lines, but it’s these four lines that, if someone on the page believes them too, lands her a new reader.

Other good examples in nonfiction include Mark Manson, Lori Gottlieb, Vivian Tu, Kevin Wilson, and Susan Cain.

How can authors write an About page self-description that stands out and resonates with their target readers?

For nonfiction authors, chances are you will not be the first author to write about your topic of choice. Even if how you look at it is different, there have most likely been books related to the umbrella topic that have been published before yours.

Of course, the reason your book will succeed is not because of the topic. It will be because of how you talk about it and the unique experiences in your life that have shaped that perspective. This is also why readers will choose your book over another on a similar topic.

Stand out by telling readers how you see the world, what shaped that sight, and why you feel compelled to share what you know with the world. Many people can write about healthy eating, but none share your story about what got you into it.

Don’t just tell a story. Tell your story.

(And P.S. it doesn’t have to be long! See this short but solid example from Jacquelyn Ogorchukwu Iyamah.)

A fiction writer usually needs to approach their About page description differently than a nonfiction writer. What one thing do you think is the most important thing to include on a novelist’s About page?

Fiction differs in that readers are more likely to make an initial choice about a book based on their preferred genre, the storyline, the setting, etc., rather than on the author. However, that doesn’t discount the value of having an About page for fiction authors.

That’s because once readers get hooked on a book, a series, or an author’s writing style, they’ll often want to know more — especially before the author’s next book. The Author page can satisfy that need.

Lisa See’s About page is a great example. She not only has her bio, but she also showcases insights into where she finds inspiration for her books. Plus we learn more about what led her to become the author she is today.

As another example, consider Kristin Hannah. Her About is divided into sections, each meeting a varying interest for a reader with things like her favorite books and fun facts about her.

Is there anything else you’d like to add about how to write a powerful “About the Author” page?

Writing what you know is one thing, but writing about yourself is another. So, if you’re sure of the story in your book but unsure of your story as an author, you’re not alone.

And I’d love to help you get sure. I’m open to connecting with you to help you access clarity around your story and write an About the Author page that’ll tug at the heartstrings of your future readers. Get in touch with me if that sounds appealing.

Do you have an “About” page on your author site? Please share the link in a comment so we can admire it! (You can see mine here.)

It tells readers, the media, and others who you are, what you write, and why you’re good at it. It might even give people a preview of your latest book.

Maybe it’s a showpiece – attractive and well-written, easy to navigate, and on-brand. But if it’s not attracting “traffic” – marketing-speak for site visitors – you’ve got a problem.

Here, in alphabetical order, are 10 free ways to increase author website traffic.

1. Blog comments

Most blog comment templates allow you to include your website URL. When your comment contributes to the conversation, readers might click on the link to learn more about you.

Note, though, that while the blogger always appreciates a simple “Nice post” or “Thanks,” that’s not the kind of intriguing, insightful, or thought-provoking commentary that generates author website traffic.

Say something that makes the article’s readers want to learn more about you.

2. Email signature

Increase author website traffic by adding a link to your website to your email signature.

It’s as easy as that.

3. Guest blogging

Include a link in your guest post author bio. In addition, when appropriate, include links to specific relevant content on your site within your article.

When I guest blog, I often link to more information on my own blog about topics mentioned in my guest post. For example, in my recent IndieReader.com guest post, “3 Ways to Sell More Novels in 2021,” I added links to four directly relevant articles on my site.

I’m a regular guest blogger for IndieReader.com; it ranked 13 on my list of traffic sources during February.

4. Newsletters

Always include at least one link to your website in your author newsletter so that subscribers can click through to learn more about you and your books.

Or, do what my friend Kathleen Gage and I do. We both offer the first few paragraphs of our current blog post in our newsletters with a link readers can use to click through to read the rest of the articles on our sites.

Consider a newsletter swap with an author targeting the same audience as yours, too. Include your site link in the text you write for your colleague’s subscribers.

5. Podcast guest

Podcast hosts typically tell listeners where to learn more about each show’s guest – that’s your website address.

In addition, many publish “show notes” on their websites. Show notes typically include a link to the guest’s site and links to more information about topics discussed on the show (and those links could be on your website).

6. Press releases

Your book announcement and other press releases should always include a link to your web site.

When you post them on free press release sites, you’re generating a link from that site to yours.

7. Publish viral content

Creating content on your site that is so helpful, funny, or amazing that people are clamoring to share it brings visitors to your site to see what everyone is talking about.

You can also leverage someone else’s viral content, as we’ve seen with the recent epic “cat lawyer” video. Just Google “cat lawyer,” then scroll down the list of media outlets reporting the story that made nearly everyone who saw it giggle.

Those news reports are attracting site visitors. You can use that trick, too.

8. Social media

Authors blog for several reasons, but one of the most important is to create content that attracts traffic. Help your target audience find your quality content by sharing the link to each new blog post on social media. Share the links repeatedly, too – not just when the content is new.

Make it possible for others to share your content while they’re on your site, too, by installing social sharing toolbars.

Be sure to include your website URL in all of your social media profiles, as well.

9. SEO – search engine optimization

Search engine optimization – SEO – is what you do to your website so it gets found by search engines.

The better your site’s SEO – meaning, the more content you create that fits what your target audience is looking for – the higher your site pages show up in search engine results.

People are more likely to click on your link and visit your site when your content is near the top of the search results.

To move up the page and attract more traffic, improve your SEO. If you use WordPress, you can start by installing the free Yoast SEO plug-in. It will suggest ways to improve each blog post’s SEO.

10. YouTube

Almost three quarters of U.S. adults – 74% – use YouTube. Does your author brand have a presence there?

Including a link to your website in the description of all videos you upload to YouTube will send traffic to your site.

Increase that traffic volume by promising video viewers something that will make sure they visit your site with that link.

Bonus! Do this for your book on retail sites

Would you rather send traffic to your Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BookShop, or other  sales pages? Several of the these strategies apply to that, too. For example:

• Instead of including your website URL in your social media profiles, use your preferred sales page link.
• Direct YouTube traffic to a book sales page or your author page that lists all of your books on the retail site.
• Add your sales page URL to your email signature.

Max out the free options to increase author website traffic

You can also pay for traffic through online advertising, but I recommend taking advantage of the free opportunities first.

When you’re ready, explore buying ads on the social network used the most by your audience. As with all other book marketing tactics, you’ll need to learn how to do that effectively, though. You don’t want to waste your marketing dollars.

How many of these 10 strategies are you using already? Tell us which ones you’re using and how well they’re working for you in a comment!

Author website must-haves

By Pauline Wiles

As a writer, you might presume that creating your website should be easy.

In fact, finding the perfect words for your online home can often be challenging. Moreover, design decisions and technology choices can be downright overwhelming.

It doesn’t have to be hard, though, especially if you start slowly. It’s all about knowing what you can and can’t live without in an author website.

7 key elements

Here are seven author website essentials. 

1. Clean design

Modern websites are lean and clutter-free. I can generally spot an older site solely from extraneous information clamoring for my attention. Keep your words concise. Limit decorative elements, choosing “white space” instead.

If you’re sprucing up your current site, your sidebar and footer are prime areas for purging clutter.

With website traffic coming increasingly through mobile devices, clean design is vital. And don’t forget to make sure your site looks great on a phone.

2. Book information

As a rule of thumb, the more books you’ve published, the less information your website needs for each title.

For your debut release, you’ll be proud and excited. With only one book to showcase, you might feature:

• A description
• Reviews
• Several “buy” links
• ISBN number
• Book club questions

However, if you have, say, eight books in the same genre, prune this to each book’s:

• Title
• Cover
• Single purchase link
• One-sentence teaser

Recommend a reading order for your books if appropriate, but don’t overload fans with details.

3. Clear calls to action

Don’t give your audience a dozen options. A highly effective website prioritizes the ideal single next step that you’d like your visitor to take. That’s your “call to action.”

In addition, research shows that visitors are more likely to see and click on buttons, versus underlined text links. So, pick a clear “call to action” for each page, and create a button in an eye-catching color.

Calls to action include buying your book or subscribing to email updates.

4. High-quality author photo

Unless you’re desperate to retain privacy, you’ll form a closer reader relationship if you show your face on your website.

Just as you wouldn’t attend a party without sprucing up, your author photo should reveal you at your best. Use one that’s recent and good quality. Don’t use a hasty selfie, or a poorly cropped picture.

A professional author photo truly is a worthwhile expense.

5. Recent content

If you care about your readers, demonstrate it by keeping the content on your website fresh. This doesn’t mean you must publish weekly articles (see below), but check that your copyright year is current and “news” is still applicable.

Remove dead social media links.

If I see a Google+ link on a website, I know it probably shelters other cobwebs, too.

6. Mailing list invitation

If you don’t yet have an author website, I encourage you to publish a few simple pages initially, without getting bogged down in extras. Setting up a mailing list should follow as soon as you’re able.

If you’re daunted by the idea of a newsletter, it’s fine to gather email addresses before you plan to send regular updates. At a minimum, you’ll have permission to notify readers of your next release.

Once you have a mechanism for collecting emails, you must also publish a privacy policy that states how you’ll handle that information.

You’ll need to offer something to encourage site visitors to provide their email address. This “lead magnet” can be a free sample of your work or another reader resource.

But don’t let a lack of this type of gift prevent you from setting up your list. If necessary, it can come later.

7. Contact information

Many authors favor a contact form, but a simple email address on your website is adequate.

Journalists typically prefer this more direct method, and if you hope to be interviewed on current topics, you should consider including your phone number, too.

If you do opt for a form, check it regularly to make sure it still works.

A few author website non-essentials

You have limited time and energy for your marketing efforts. Especially at first, you can get away without these:

• Press/media kit: Unless you’re pitching to mainstream outlets, emailing relevant information will suffice.
• Long bio: Today’s website visitors typically scan your content, so a few engaging sentences are better than reams of text.
• Blog: Especially if your site is new, or if you’re not seeing results from blogging, focus instead on submitting guest articles to other sites with complementary audiences.

Aim for simplicity

The most effective author websites are constructed deliberately and thoughtfully.

Rather than treat your website as a repository of all your writerly interests, aim instead for strictly curated pages.

Whether you already have an author website or are starting from scratch, the best philosophy is less is more. By keeping it simple, your website is easier to construct, and to maintain. And, you’ll minimize typos and broken links while increasing the likelihood that your visitor will take action.

Not only will you make it easier on yourself, but clear, concise content is the ultimate compliment to your reader.

What’s your biggest frustration with your author website? Please tell us in a comment.

You need an author website. (No, you can’t use a Facebook Page in place of an author website.)

So the question isn’t the one I hear from so many authors — “Should I create a website?”

The question is: “What should I use for my author website address?”

Options include your:

• Author name
• Book title
• Book topic
• Company name
• Memorable phrase related to your book

For some, the answer is obvious. For others, it isn’t.

And the whole situation can be somewhat confusing, especially if you introduce landing pages into the conversation. (Landing pages are single page sites designed to get people to take a specific action, such as provide an email address to receive a free digital download, enter a contest, purchase a product, register for an event, subscribe to a newsletter, and so on. There are no toolbars or menus because all of the content is contained on that single page.)

In general (but definitely not always . . .), the safest option for many for your site address/URL/domain name is your own name. It helps build your author brand while offering the most content flexibility.

In fact, Theresa Geraghty, vice president of product marketing at the world’s largest domain registration company, GoDaddy, recommends reserving your name even if you don’t plan to use it.

“You want to own your identity, especially while you’re building your brand,” she says.

11 questions to ask about your author website name

It helps to have a process to follow as you examine your website naming options so you know what makes the most sense for your situation — not mine, or anyone else’s.

Here are 11 typical questions along with suggestions that work for each situation. Skim this list for your situation. Not all of these will relate to you.

1. Will this be your only book?

If it’s a one-off and you have other reasons not to use your author name (it’s too hard to spell or too common), consider using the book title or a shortened version of it.

2. Do you expect to write more than one book?

Reserve your author name.

3. If you write nonfiction and you’re going to write several books, will they be on the same topic?

If they are, either your author name or a memorable address related to the topic make sense.

If you’ll be writing on disparate topics, there’s no quick answer. You can use your name and allocate site real estate to each book, buy the book title domain name for each book, or set up topic sites. If it were me, I’d probably use my author name and subdivide the site for SEO (search engine optimization) and simplicity reasons.

4. If you write fiction and plan to write several books, will they be in the same genre or several genres?

If they’re the same genre, use your author name.

If you’ll write under different genres, you’re still better off for SEO reasons to keep everything on one site. Use your name as the URL and divide the content according to genre. Design the site home page so those content “buckets” are clear.

5. Do you plan to write a mix of fiction and nonfiction, in several genres, or about a range of topics?

For example, if you write in several genres, your author name can act as your umbrella site URL. The home page and toolbar or menu can direct visitors to the right book category. Each category can have its own section on the site.

You can use that approach if you write both fiction and nonfiction, too. Divide your site content by type.

On the other hand, if your fiction could alienate or offend your nonfiction audience (or vice versa) or it’s not wise to house both under one roof for other reasons, consider using your name plus the type — authornamefiction.com and authornamenonfiction.com.

6. If you’re a business owner, does the book support or relate to your business?

You can showcase the book on your existing site.

Another approach is to have two online homes for your book — add information about it to the existing website, but give the book its own website, too. Use the title or a shortened version of it for that URL. Then, link the book content on the business site to the book website, and add information about the business to the book’s website, and link it to the business site.

7. Is your name hard to spell or remember?

Geraghty advises purchasing your name, but then considering variations of it, too. Grab common misspellings plus your first name and last initial or that option with the word “author,” she says.

“Experiment by searching for several options to see which ones you like,” she says.

8. Do you already have a website with your name as the address (yourname.com) but it’s not an author site?

If your book is compatible with the site’s content, expand it to include book information. If it isn’t — if the two can’t coexist peacefully — consider buying your name plus “author” — yournameauthor.com.

9. Is the domain name (URL, web address) for your name or topic already claimed by someone else? 

This, Geraghty says, is exactly why she encourages people to buy their own name as soon as possible. When it’s too late for that, she recommends adding your middle name or initial, using your name plus “author,” “fiction,” “nonfiction,” or your genre (jenniferjonesromanceauthor.com).

Is the .net. .biz, or another extension option available? Grab it.

You can also try to buy your name from the current owner.

“GoDaddy can broker that,” she says.

10. Are you planning to build a business around your book?

Consider buying a memorable or clever domain name for the topic. For example, consider an entrepreneur with a gluten free cookbook who is planning to create online training programs or other products — an app or laminated cards travelers can use to request gluten-free meals in a wide range of languages. She should consider claiming an umbrella URL such as glutenfreegurl.com. The domain name will be the brand; the book and other products are part of that brand.

11. Do you write under a pen name?

Reserve your pen name domain name so that you’re easily found. You can also house your pen name writing on a website that uses your real name, but many authors use a pen name to keep the two separate and distinct, so keep that in mind as you make your decision.

Claiming your author website domain name

Reserving your domain name is often easier than determining the right name to use.

Because I use GoDaddy.com for all of my domain names, I became a GoDaddy affiliate. You can’t beat the price — you can get your website address for as little as $4.99 — and I love the customer service. (Tip: Geraghty says the customer service agents will even help you figure out what name to use.)

Start at the GoDaddy $4.99 domain name page or your favorite domain name registration site and type a few options in the search bar.

After you’ve added your author name (and any range of options — .com, .net, and so on) to your cart, play around with a few other options. Knowing that romance is one of the most popular genres today, I just searched for “bestromancebooksoutthere” — (best romance books out there) — and discovered it’s available! If I wrote romance books, I’d grab that for sure.

Don’t stop at one domain name

In fact, I’d recommend that you buy a few URLs so that you have choices. Here’s why: You can “redirect” all of those URLs to just one address. “Redirect” is another word for forward or “point it to.” As a result, pretending I’m a romance author, I can claim — purchase — sandrabeckwith.com, sandrabeckwithromanceauthor.com, and bestromancebooksoutthere.com. I might even purchase the .net addresses for those, too.

Then, I can use sandrabeckwith.com for my website URL, and redirect the other domain names to that address.

Here’s an example from real life: I offer authors a daily book marketing tips series, “365 Daily Book Marketing Tips.” I purchased dailybookmarketingtips.com because it’s memorable and relevant.

Click on that link, and look at the address at the top of the page. It’s not dailybookmarketingtips.com, is it? That’s because my webmaster redirected it to buildbookbuzz.com/365-daily-book-marketing-tips/.

I realize that naming your author website and then snagging the right domain name isn’t always as simple as just purchasing the URL for your name, though. If you still have questions and would like feedback on your options, jump on over to the Build Book Buzz Facebook group and post your question there. We’ve got a great group of smart and generous authors who are always willing to share their experiences.

What’s your author website domain name and why did you select that one? Tell us in a comment.

Author website tips

By Avril O’Reilly

Creating a website to promote your work (and yourself) is scary! There’s no doubt about that.

Authors worry about the cost, the content, the how, and the when – there’s a lot to consider.

We might take a look at author websites in the interests of research. That’s when panic sets in, Looking at the huge, sprawling sites belonging to the likes of Lee Child, James Patterson, or Karin Slaughter can be downright intimidating.

I have been speaking to the people at Frequency Designs, the firm behind Anthony Horowitz’s very smart website. Based on Ireland’s scenic South coast,  Frequency Design created this and many author sites.

I picked up some insights from designer Liam Fitzgerald. He talked me through Horowitz’s site — you might be surprised to learn how much you have in common with this published author. Fitzgerald shared some lessons for authors at all levels.

First the bad news

I was shocked to discover that writers have to pay for their own websites. The publishing houses do not pay. An author, if lucky, might get a page on the publisher’s site.

And what about updating a site? I imagined the PR company would add news about events and new titles. Not so. And Fitzgerald says that publishers offer no help with “the technical nonsense.”

“There has been a transition over the past 7 to 8 years,” he explains. “In the past, the publisher would have done a marketing-led site for the duration of the book launch, and then abandoned it. The strategy was ‘Hit ’em hard, hit ’em fast.’ The site was never updated then it would be abandoned. Now writers are left to their own devices.”

So, Horowitz has to shell out for his own site and update it himself. Not so different from us self-publishers then.

Now the good news

A few years ago, authors showed how professional they were by the quality of their book covers. Writers had to decide between paying an expert or having a DIY cover. Now it seems that we are facing the same tough choice again when it comes to how we look online.

Still, websites are much easier to develop and manage than they used to be. Website platforms such as Weebly, Wix and Wordress allow people with no design or coding skill to use ready-made themes to put together something good-looking.

You might decide to go it alone with a WordPress theme. Themes determine the design of your site. Spend some time seeing what is available and what it will cost you. Quality costs.

If you can afford a web designer, they can show you how to maintain the site yourself. They can also offer a wider range of themes.

What are the costs?

Google local prices for these costs:

• Hosting (monthly or annual fees)
• A domain name
• WordPress themes
• A designer

First steps

If your mum is launching her knitting book in the library, then a free Weebly site might be acceptable. Long-term success demands more.

Think about how you would fill these pages well:

• Home
• About (with pictures)
• Contact
• My books

Register your name

Once you have a sense of where you want to go with your site, you need to register its domain name — your site’s URL. There are many good reason for registering your author name as a domain – quickly.

• It looks professional.
• It is what the big name authors do.
• It makes you easy to find when journalists or buyers look for you. They will check Facebook, Twitter, and online. Be ready.
• It will last longer than a site based on a single book title.

Fitzgerald describes a worst case scenario when a writer becomes known and an online casino, or worse, steals the name before the author can reserve it. Then the writer ends up having to buy an alternative address — avriloreillywritesbooks.com or something similar.

He says, “If you do nothing else, at least buy your name as a domain. Spend on that.”

Hiring a web designer

Authors have to think about how they want to spend their time and as Fitzgerald knows, “Time gets eaten up on website learning.”

He advises hiring an expert. “The free themes can all look the same. That adds to the home-made look.”

You do want to stand out from the crowd — and always in the best way possible.

Ask your questions about author websites by commenting below. 

Guest post: 4 steps to an About Me page that sizzles

By Andrew Wise

Blogging isn’t easy. We are constantly being pulled in a million different directions, so it’s not uncommon for one task to take precedence over another. In our haste to get out blog posts out, we often neglect the little things . . . like the importance of a well written “About Me” page for an author.

Believe it or not, the About Me page on any given site is usually somewhere in the top ten most visited pages. It makes sense, too, when you consider that nearly 80 percent of daily blog visits are from new visitors. They want to trust that the person they are getting their information from is reliable, and the About Me page is the place where they find that out.

If your About page lacks content, hasn’t been updated in some time, or doesn’t exist at all, you’re making a huge mistake. Fortunately, there are some easy ways go to about fixing that, whether you write fiction or nonfiction. Here are four tips that will help you transform your About Me page. (Note: To see the infographic better, click on it, then click on the image on the new page a second time to enlarge it.)

1. Prove yourself to be an authority in your industry.

Why should someone turn to you for information and what makes you more trustworthy than the next guy with a website? Simultaneously build your brand and prove that you know your stuff by adding reader testimonials or subscriber counts to your page.

2. Show your personality.

An About Me page may be a visitor’s first look into who you are and how you write. Try to sound like you’re engaging them in conversation as opposed to regurgitating textbook jargon at them. Be polite, be positive, and be friendly. Having an approachable, conversational tone in your writing really does go a long way.

3. Add a picture.

Time is precious and no one enjoys reading giant blocks of text, no matter how important the information may be. Adding a high quality picture to break things up a bit may help a lot. Humans are visual creatures and visual creatures are stimulated by pictures. For an author About page, you want to include photos of yourself.

4. Conclude properly.

A great college professor once told me that you should always finish a presentation by asking if anyone in the audience has any comments or questions. You should end your About Me page in a similar manner. Whether it’s offering the reader a simple way to join your weekly newsletter list or simply suggesting comments and opinions either via a comment box or your email, make sure you’re giving them an outlet to express themselves.

What’s the first thing you will do right now to improve your “About Me” page?

What’s worst, since this was for publication rather than for personal research, I wanted to make sure I had the facts straight about the paid version of the product. I looked for a phone number to call; there was none.

My fact-checking choices were e-mail or online chat. I chose the chat, but even then, initial answers seemed so automated and unconnected to my request that I had to confirm I was talking to a person.  I found it hard to believe that the company wanted to handle a media inquiry through the website sales chat function, but that’s what we did.

What does “media friendly” mean?

Does your website make it easy for a journalist to get the information needed from you? Is it media friendly? And what does that mean, anyway?

A “media friendly” site makes it easy for the press to find, copy, and use important information about your book. There are two easy ways to do this:

1. Create a media section that journalists access on your toolbar. Whether you label it “media room,” “for the press,” “press kit,” or “media information,” you’re saying to any journalist, “Click here to get the information you need.” Make sure that section has the information they need, want, and expect. (More on that below.)
2. Add a “contact” option to your toolbar and include not just your name, e-mail address, and telephone number, but your city, state, and country so that the reporter can calculate your time zone before calling. Too many authors leave out this information on their site, preferring for some reason to remain almost anonymous. Make it clear that you welcome media inquiries by encouraging them and making it easy to connect with you.

Should it be this difficult?

At a minimum, you want a description of your book on your home page or another prominent place on your website. Here’s the path I had to take to get enough information to write a 200-word piece on the app:

• Grab the product description from the “about the company” link buried at the bottom of the page.
• Take notes on product features and benefits by watching the video on the home page.
• Snag a few more tidbits from the “support” page. (“Support” was the last place I checked for product information because I didn’t need support for an app I wasn’t using. I needed descriptions and details.)
• Review blog for “news.” Find nothing useful.
• Conduct five-minute e-chat with sales support staff.

Please don’t make it this hard to get information about your book.

To learn what you should include in your press room, read the “Must have online press room elements for authors and books” blog post. If your site needs a spring tune up, check out this free Author Website Checklist from the Duolit team.

Take the time to make sure your site is media friendly. It’s an easy thing to overlook — so easy in fact, that many do. Give yourself a competitive advantage by being the author who recognizes the importance of this and acts on it. You’ll stand out.

(Photo by Nathan Rupert via Compfight.)

What’s in your website press room?