4 Basic Web Tips for Authors

The past couple weeks I have been slammed with work and web stuff.

Halloween seems to be my busiest time of year.

That's how it is when you promote the paranormal I guess :-)

Since I have been busy I have been trying to save time or make time wherever possible. In doing this I have noticed simple things that waste time- like having to search for things or repeat myself.

Authors please don't take any offense to this I am an author myself and am guilty of some things but as you progress you learn.

Here are some tings I've learned that make promotion easier for you and the websites and blogs that you work with.

1) Post your email address on your site and blog. Bloggers, promoters, reviewers, publishers, etc might wish to contact you. Your email address needs to be visible and easy to find on all of your websites and blogs.

Create an email that is strictly for business and set up spam filters. You might have to deal with some spam but you might also make some great connections that can boost your career.

If you can't be contacted your career may not flourish.

This is the most important thing you can do and one of the simplest things that is often overlooked. Just this week I searched three author websites and blogs and couldn't find an email address anywhere.

2) Have a professional author email address. This means create an email address that is your author name (if you write under more than one name, have a separate account for each pen name makes things easier believe me). When I have to contact an author I search through my address book under their name. If it doesn't come up I have to dig through emails trying to find them. Don't use cutesy stuff like sexywriter@whatever.com or crazywriterwoman or anything like that.

Simply use yourname@whatever.com- this is something else that makes it much easier for you to be contacted.

3) Research online author and book promotion. If you are going to promote online do your research. Check out sites and see what they offer.

If you want to promote at a site read through the site before emailing them and asking what they offer because 90% of the time if you check out the site it'll be clear.

Every day I am asked- what do you offer? what should my guest post be about? what is your site about? And I repeat myself every day (as I am sure hundreds of web mistresses and bloggers do)- and no I am not being bitchy :-)

Save everyone a little bit of time and research your target. All you have to do is scan through a site and see what other authors have guest blogged about, what type of giveaways have been offered, etc.

4) Don't be a diva. Every site does things a bit differently, everyone has their own way of doing things don't nit pick and request that your stuff be posted differently or crazy stuff added. If your name is wrong yes ask that it be fixed, if your links are wrong request that they be fixed. But don't ask for stuff to be rearranged or added or anything like that. If you are too picky bloggers and promoters will start labeling you as a diva and not want to work with you.

Those are 4 simple and basic web tips that can make author promotion so much easier. And these are coming from me and author and book blogger so I know both sides of the coin and I have learned from my experiences.

When I started out I had no idea what book blogging and online book promotion was all about. I figured if you write it people will buy it. Well they aren't going to buy it if they don't know it exists.

Book bloggers and book promotion websites are the bread and butter of writers- especially ebook authors.. These sites are what can make or break your success.

Do your research, know which sites to pitch to and appear on, and above all else make your author persona easy to find on the web- this means have a blog, have a Twitter account, have a Facebook account and above all else make sure your email address is easy to find.