Happy Wednesday! The Insecure Writers’ Group is a group of writers offering motivation and encouragement to all those taking on the challenges of writing. Every month the ISWG sponsors a blog hop where writers can blog about a topic related to overcoming obstacles and exploring various aspects of the writing journey. If you’d like to participate in a future hop you can join here. It’s always a great experience, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in writing and sharing with other writers.
The co-hosts for this February 7 posting of the IWSG are Janet Alcorn, SE White, Victoria Marie Lees, and Cathrina Constantine.
Every month there is an optional discussion question to ponder, and this month it’s the following:
February 7 question: What turns you off when visiting an author’s website/blog? Lack of information? A drone of negativity? Little mention of author’s books? Constant mention of books?
I thought about this question for a while. And after pondering it over for a bit, I came to the conclusion that there isn’t any major thing that stands out to me as a problem on an author website that wouldn’t be a problem on any website.
What will make me run away from an author page (or any page really?)
Some of my biggest website pet peeves: Offensive language or material, hard to navigate, tons of ads (intrusive ads drive me insane), if it’s slow or makes me feel like my computer will get a virus….those are all major things that will send me running from any website, not just an author website.
As a reader, I like and appreciate a site that is well-organized, and has a nice balance of promoting books but also talking about other writing related subjects as well. I think there can be a great balance between being real and relatable and presenting some of the tough aspects of life and writing, but definitely not 100% gloom and doom. Life is heavy sometimes, of course, but if every single post is sad and depressing all the time then it’s not something I want to spend much time engaging with. Having anxiety myself, this is a major trigger for me that I have to avoid if I want to keep myself in a healthy place.
It’s always an advantage to see all of an author’s books with a timeline or arranged by order to see in what chronology they should be read (if there is a series or a universe of books that group together). I also do really appreciate an author that makes themselves accessible to their readers, whether that be through offering a way to contact them or by responding to comments and engaging with their fans and readers.
Those are some of the important things for me when it comes to author websites, but I know feelings on this subject vary! How about you? Is there anything that will send you running from an author’s website? What are some things that you like to see, and if you are an author, what kinds of things are important to you for your own website?
Hope you are having the best Wednesday!
-Winter
Winter Betancourt 
I like your point about a site being “well-balanced.” It’s obviously there to promote the writer, but it should offer more than self-promotion. Well said.
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Thank you! I totally agree! I love to read about an author’s work and see the books they have available, but it is definitely also nice to engage with them about other subjects as well besides just the books they have for sale. To me it makes it a more interesting website/blog.
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I’m with you about those pesky ads. I make a hasty retreat.
I’d love to have a balanced site but that’s a bit difficult, for me, because my landing page is all about my book. I am changing that soon ( my goal) to include my 2nd book and have a nicer appearance.
An item I’m missing is a press kit to download. So as you see, I have work to do.
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Your book is so beautiful, it looks lovely on your landing page! Websites are something that I struggle with, they are hard to setup and I find them really confusing to try to design. It’s a struggle for sure. For me, no matter how easy a website builder is supposed to be to use, I still find it difficult!
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I evaluate the balance of a site based on three legs: entertain, inform, and inspire. I love to come away from a site visit with a smile, knowing I’ve learned something I’m eager to apply to my life. The ticking clock of mortality urges me to avoid sites that fail the three-legged stool test.
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I like that approach! That’s a great way of sorting through the millions of things these days competing for our time and attention.
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I vote against too many ads, pop ups that distract me, and too much prose. I’m looking for clean, simple lines, and as you say, a balance of information that’s helpful, along with book blurbs.
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Thank you Liza! I totally agree, pop ups are so distracting, and a lot of cluttered information makes a site overwhelming to visit. I like that you mentioned book blurbs, I enjoy reading those too so that I can quickly get an idea what the author’s books are like.
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I decided to pay a bit of money to get rid of the adverts from my blog site, because they annoy me. Obviously it depends if you can afford that extra money, but for me it’s definitely worth it.
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They annoy me too! I totally understand and think it’s well worth it.
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Ads are a bane of my existence. Another big peeve I have regards landing pages that open onto one huge image or graphic that dominates the screen, but requires you to scroll down to actually find links and text. It’s just overwhelming. Also, I liked your thoughts on balancing topics that are real and sobering with those that are a bit more uplifting. Many thanks for sharing!
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Thank you so much Jake! I totally agree. Ads are the worst! Anything that distracts and makes it almost impossible to read the text is a huge problem for me. I’ve seen ads that are so intrusive you can’t even look at what you’re trying to read. Definitely a pet peeve of mine too!
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