What Kind of Authorial Website is the Best?
I got a notice the other day letting me know that author Lesley M.M. Blume had a new website worth looking at. So I gave it a peek and really, it is quite nice. Of course there’s a reason it’s as professional as it is. Said she, "I highly recommend the site’s designer, Andrew Hearst — who formerly edited Vanity Fair.com and recently helped to build the famed new White House website. His passion for Deco art was a big bonus with me, as you all might have expected. You can reach Andrew through his website: http://www.panopticist.com/"
So today my question to you is, what are your favorite authorial websites?
I mean, I just sold two picture books to Greenwillow, yes? So I should probably think about creating a website, yes yes? So I ask you, dear readers, who do you like?
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A couple different sites come immediately to mind on my end.
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There’s the interactive and thematically consistent site of Kirsten Miller.
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There’s the fun and bouncy site of Lisa Greenwald.
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There’s the animated and original site of Katie Davis.
Who else do you like? I’m including adult author sites in that question (I’ve friends who started the company that created the John Hodgman website, so I’m open to different ideas). What do you look for in an writer’s online presence? What do you despise?
If you want to mention the URL in the comments PLEASE remember not to include the "http" part. My comment function gets all squirmy when you write that. Just start with the www or what have you, and all will be well.
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About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Kirkus, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on BlueSky at: @fuse8.bsky.social
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I’m a big Theo Black fan myself. He did my site as well as a bunch of other author sites, and he’s great to work with.
http://www.theblackarts.com
Good luck!
I think it’s a good idea to go with someone who specializes in author websites. Check out http://www.xuni.com to see Maddee’s work there. She just did my website makeover and she’s fantastic!
My website is a little different. I thought a lot of the websites were unattractive. Plus I included “DVD extras.” It’s http://www.katecoombs.com.
P.S. These comment length restrictions are soooo maddeningly short! I revised the above over and over to fit!
I just came across the site of Jane Yolen yesterday while looking up some publisher descriptions. My librarian heart twittered with excitement at the creativity of an old-school “card catalog” to organize the breadth and depth of all her works! Aesthetically cute!
http://www.janeyolen.com/
I love Mo Willems’s page: http://www.mowillems.com/
Love, love, love Sophie Blackall’s site.
http://www.sophieblackall.com
Also http://www.alessandracimatoribus.com
I like interactive, but not too busy. It *must* be easy to navigate. For instance, the Kirsten Miller site is *awesome* but it’s hard to get that menu bar to hold still. I want easy-to-access info about you & your books, and a couple fun, unexpected things (maps, doors or library card catalogs to open are nice bonuses).
Congratulations on selling your books to Greenwillow!
I have a couple of favorites:
Jarrett J. Krosoczka – Of course he is an artist so his site would be very visual.
http://www.studiojjk.com/
David Macaulay – this one looks quite professional
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/waywework/index.html#
Mo Willems – is just plain kid friendly!
http://www.pigeonpresents.com/
I think it’s important to not get carried away by flashy stuff — content is most important. So I prefer a site with a blog right up front. I’m less interested in the games and pop-ups; they’re just distracting. See: Justine Larbalestier, John Green
I like a professional-looking, simple site with clean lines. I don’t like a lot of distraction either. Some sites I like (sorry, no time to get all linky but I’m sure they’re easy enough to Google): Elizabeth Dulemba, Candace Fleming, David LaRochelle, Kate DiCamillo, Lola Schaefer, and Marla Frazee. Some I like more for style, some more for content, but overall good sites. As far as my personal experience, I get the most comments from everybody (teachers, kids, parents, agents, editors, writers, etc) on my About Me page- they love the personal feel of it and go out of their way to tell me so (which is, of course, lovely to hear!) So even when I re-design the site in the future, I’ll probably keep that stuff pretty much as-is 🙂
I LOVE Lesley’s new site. Wow…so professional and easy to maneuver.
Is it terribly uncouth to mention mine? It was a lengthy process, but well worth the effort and it continues to grow with my books. http://www.karmawilson.com (bear books)
PS: My website designer for http://www.karmawilson.com is Waxcreative design team–super pros. http://www.waxcreative.com One of my main concerns was hiring a designer who would force me to upkeep. 🙂
I’m partial to Laurie Keller’s website – it definitely reflects the type of books she creates: lauriekeller (dot) com
The sites you’ve posted are fabulously good. And intimidating. There’s a lot that can be achieved through blogging as well, as you well know. It doesn’t always have to be this fancy.