Writers Still Need Websites
The answers are: maybe, yes! and "are you kidding?"
So, while you are establishing your freelance writing career or writing the next great American novel, you still need a website. I've seen several trusted recommendations that an author start plugging a book on the Web at least six months before it is due to come out. Some agents also like unpublished authors to have blogs or sites, at the least.
I'm not going to tell you that you must be "out there" to get noticed by agents or publishers. "Out there" used to mean "too weird for words." The most effective out there anyway is in the real world, meeting the people who can help you achieve success. Attend conferences, seminars, workshops, book festivals and network and build relationships with influential living beings.
But back to the Web site matter, or, cleaning out A Writer's Edge garage. Neatly stacked at the curb for the virtual charity pickup are some sites to help you if you must DIY:
In addition to the basic standbys: A List Apart and CSS Zen Garden
PulsePoint Design offers custom web and graphic design and promotion services. This site contains many good ideas and tips you can use. See the Author Marketing blog with the great post on book trailers/videos, which I've mentioned previously.
I hope you aren't struggling with HTML 4. And if you're learning to use XML (XHTML) good, but look out, we're about to Dive Into HTML 5. Still struggling with CSS? Try something from Free CSS Templates.
Then there's that icky matter of SEO (optimizing your site for search engines). Yeah, it's still important and I'm not talkin' keywords in the meta tags. That went out long ago. Get a good overview at Website Design Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tips | Sproul Creative Graphics and Website Design.
And finally, a couple of places to jazz up your offerings:
Open Flash Chart - Home
Webfettiâ„¢ | Free Layouts, Graphics for MySpace, Zwinky, Hi5, eBay, more! Listen to this article












Thinking of setting up a blog or site about writing? I've found just the place to obtain content. At the
Is F+W Publications violating copyrights of contributors to the
The same evening, 

Last month when I wrote about how to have better websites for a book, yourself and your writing, I listed some of the components that enable attracting visitors, capturing their attention to keep them browsing, and causing them to return to your site. I promised to explore each of these components more in depth. This is the second follow up article. Today we'll consider
Joe Wallace, over at The Freelance Zone, recently wrote about



After almost four years of preaching about writers needing websites, it's time to move on to the next logical step to success: maintaining websites. It is debatable if a static site is worse than none at all. Visitors who return a few times and find nothing new, seldom come back. More importantly, fresh new content keeps search engines spidering your site and sending people who search on your keywords to your little corner in the vast web.
Did you ever wonder how many search engines scan the Internet? The search engine optimization (
About a month has passed since Liz Cohen wrote to tell me about the 
A new-to-me company, Adaptive Blue, is offering "smart links" and SmartLink Widgets to enhance blogs and websites. They come in a variety of flavors (stocks, music, wine, movies), but we'll focus on the one for books.
Sorry if you came for a laugh on Silly Saturday. Nothing struck me funny this week, especially the payment demand received by snailmail from a company which shall remain nameless (because I don't want to inadvertently send them any business by mistake). This NAMELESS.NET company purports to be a "domain listing service". The bill uncannily resembles the monthly statement from my water company. It purports to cover: 
[Groan!] I think I broke my new blog layout. However, in the process, I've discovered a great new resource,
I see I've managed to lose the background to this page. What a challenge! I'm trying to switch from a two-column to a three-column template, HTML to xhtml markup language, and Old Blogger to New Blogger--all in One Swell Foop! Unfortunately, I avoided learning xhtml, seeking to hone my CSS skills, then resting on my fat assets. Wrong! A writer, even those who write the behind-the-scene coding for web pages, must keep learning. So, here I grow. And although little shows on this page yet, like the duck floating serenely on a pond, I'm paddling madly below the surface!
