My dear and wonderful friend E.J. Copperman is now putting together a web site to help "educate the public" on the upcoming (June 1) release of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEED, the first in the Haunted Guesthouse Mystery series. And in discussion with E.J. and the fantabulous Lorraine Bartlett, an interesting question came up:
Do readers even care about author web sites anymore?
As a sales tool, web sites were never exactly what you'd call a wild success, anyway. Readers come looking for information, probably about an author they've just discovered. They either scan the home page, immediately become disenchanted, and leave, or they look for more detail. Upcoming signings, a quick bio, books other than the current offering, links, and so on.
But with the rise of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, and blogs like, you know, this one, have web sites become less relevant? Are they archaic little artifacts now, good for a quick peek, but not where the real communication is happening?
As a reader, I rarely check out author web sites. As an author, I'll look at some to see what I can learn (ie. steal) from them. I've never been great at thinking of innovative uses for the site, which could be why the bulk of my visits are from bots trying to see if I've given up the ghost (that's an allusion to E.J.'s book) and forgotten about the site yet.
The trick with a web site is driving traffic toward it. I don't know where one falls in this chicken v. egg argument, but does a well-planned, easy-on-the-eyes, interactive web site naturally attract visitors? I don't think so--I can say my web site is very well designed because I didn't design it, but it's not rivaling stephenking.com for hits.
Let's hear from the DEAD GUY faithful (and even the unfaithful): What do you want in a web site? Do you look at them for authors anymore? What makes you look? How are you driven there?
Are those enough questions for you?
By the way, our delightful Designated Blogger Deni Dietz's equally delightful STRANGLE A LOAF OF ITALIAN BREAD is among the finalists for the Lefty (Best Humorous Mystery) award at the upcoming Left Coast Crime convention in Los Angeles! Brava, Deni!
For those who want a look at the contending book, go here.
And now, the weekly update on my ongoing project (converting all my vinyl LPs to digital formats): An entire week spent with Bill Cosby albums. Cosby taught me about standup comedy, from a very early age (I was maybe eight), and what's especially striking, beyond the fact that the early albums were genius and the rest were the work of an excellent craftsman, is how much Cosby's comedy is like music. The tempo, the pitch, the way it's built and the way it plays--all signs that the man was and is an artist who understands exactly what he's doing. Try to listen to "Go Carts" on the Wonderfulness album and not be struck with how he builds it like a very short symphony. Brilliant.
Back to music now: Converting Jim Croce's work took a very short time. He only released three original albums before a plane crash cut his life short at the ridiculously young age of 30. Perhaps the most underappreciated artist of the 1970s, Croce constructed wonderful short story songs that could be funny ("Roller Derby Queen") or tragic ("These Dreams"), with a novelist's sense of humanity for his characters. The hits like "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" don't tell the whole story. Songs like "Recently," "Workin' at the Car Wash Blues" and "Time in a Bottle" do.
Next up: Crosby, Stills, Nash and occasionally Young.
