Author Topic: Unpublished writers: Show me your websites! (Read 1705 times)

Christina Soontornvat · « **on:** July 03, 2012, 09:16 PM »

I'm in the process of setting up a website for myself, and I'd love to see examples of other unpublished writers' sites. I don't think I'll be starting a blog at this time, and will just start a static site. So I'm particularly interested in writers who are also not blogging. Thanks and can't wait to click your links!

Franzilla · « **Reply #1 on:** July 03, 2012, 09:54 PM »

I"m at franziskagreen.com. I don't blog either. One agent said she loved my website. Not sure why, she didn't say... and she didn't sign me either! But nice to know it comes off as looking okay, I guess!

austen · « **Reply #2 on:** July 03, 2012, 10:20 PM »

I don't have a website yet, but this is exactly what I'm planning to do.
Perhaps I'll have a link to post in another month or so.
Franzilla, I love your site. It's beautiful and inspiring. I can see why the agent liked it.

TracyH · « **Reply #3 on:** July 03, 2012, 10:43 PM »

I put my website up before I got my book deal, and I haven't updated it yet. I highly recommend Carbon Creative - they designed it and set it up for me. There's a link to them at the bottom of the front page on the site.

tracyholczer.com (the link should be in my signature)

pilonsc · « **Reply #4 on:** July 03, 2012, 10:51 PM »

This is my site: http://sarahcpilon.wordpress.com/

It's nothing fancy and it has a blog on my home page, but hopefully it will be somewhat helpful.

ruecole · « **Reply #5 on:** July 03, 2012, 10:59 PM »

Here's mine (but it's sorely out of date):

www.rachelelizabethcole.com

Rue

Shannywriter · « **Reply #6 on:** July 03, 2012, 11:32 PM »

Mine is mostly a lazy blog with other pages set up for the future. I use Wordpress and can later on pay the yearly fee to make it a dot com with my name. It is easier to manage then my livejournal which I still blog on too (copy and paste from wp)

The page I update the most is the books I've read. You can click at the bottom here where it says My Blog

myidea · « **Reply #7 on:** July 04, 2012, 12:45 PM »

Mine is mostly set up for my freelance writing right now at www.teachersidea.com.

There are links to my blogs and twitter, but they're separate from the main site.

Good luck!

Christina Soontornvat · « **Reply #8 on:** July 04, 2012, 06:55 PM »

Ooh, I like those...It's very helpful to see what content people put on their sites, as well as the many different styles. Thanks everyone! Keep 'em coming!

YAScribe · « **Reply #9 on:** July 04, 2012, 07:27 PM »

My husband is a graphic designer (print design.) This was his first attempt at web design, so it's not perfect, but it was free. ^_^

www.yascribe.com

ShelliC · « **Reply #10 on:** July 04, 2012, 07:36 PM »

Mine is a blog but I do have sidebar links to conference notes, some book reviews, and a few interviews. I'm probably making every mistake in the book, but I'm having fun.

https://www.shellicornelison.com

Pippa · « **Reply #11 on:** July 04, 2012, 09:47 PM »

Franzilla · « **Reply #12 on:** July 04, 2012, 10:39 PM »

Quote from: austen on July 03, 2012, 10:20 PM

I don't have a website yet, but this is exactly what I'm planning to do.
Perhaps I'll have a link to post in another month or so.
Franzilla, I love your site. It's beautiful and inspiring. I can see why the agent liked it.

Thank you!

shari · « **Reply #13 on:** July 04, 2012, 11:32 PM »

I blog (occasionally!), but the blog isn't my home page. My site's here, if you'd like another one to look at: www.sharigreen.com

Ree · « **Reply #14 on:** July 05, 2012, 05:37 AM »

Mine.

www.susanlorene.com

Good luck with yours!

Susan

Christina Soontornvat · « **Reply #15 on:** July 05, 2012, 08:48 AM »

Thanks, everyone. This is so helpful - I'm seeing a lot of the same elements on your sites (about page, links, etc). Much better than starting from scratch. Anyone else? PS: Shelli, of course I know your blog! I visit it!

lauriew · « **Reply #16 on:** July 05, 2012, 09:42 AM »

Here's mine: www.lauriewallmark.com
I have pages for: about me; my published magazine articles; my works in progress; and my blog. Laurie

ShelliC · « **Reply #17 on:** July 06, 2012, 11:03 AM »

Aw, thanks, Christina. I'm glad to know you drop by. Be sure and give us a link when your site goes up.

Christina Soontornvat · « **Reply #18 on:** August 13, 2012, 02:25 PM »

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much to all of you who linked to your sites in this thread! I finally got a website together - phew! It was a lot more work than I realized it would be! It's pretty simple and still needs some tweaks, but here it is: www.soontornvat.com.

Taking a look at everyone else's really helped me to build mine!

Andrea B · « **Reply #19 on:** August 13, 2012, 05:03 PM »

Nice, Christina! And thanks for starting this thread. I bought the domain for my name in hopes of starting my own, but I haven't done it yet and now I'm thinking it is the time to go for it.

I've been wondering how other authors who were not yet published had gone about this, and now I know!

@Tracy - I see you listed your two books and your agent for them on your website before you got your book deal. Is this common? Would you have also listed them if you were currently unagented? I hadn't considered until now putting up the synopsis for my finished works, with contact info in case a publisher/agent was interested.

Whizbee · « **Reply #20 on:** August 13, 2012, 05:47 PM »

Quote from: Christina Soontornvat on August 13, 2012, 02:25 PM

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much to all of you who linked to your sites in this thread! I finally got a website together - phew! It was a lot more work than I realized it would be! It's pretty simple and still needs some tweaks, but here it is: www.soontornvat.com.

Taking a look at everyone else's really helped me to build mine!

It's really beautiful! Very simple and easy to navigate too.

One question: Did you take those photos yourself? They are awesome! If not, you might want to credit them (and ask permission). There's another thread around her somewhere about writers getting in trouble for using images without asking.

And one tip: This is just my picky opinion, but you might not want to include the phrase "This is her first novel." It seems to me like you don't want to advertise that you don't already have a few manuscripts under your belt.

It's a great site!

Christina Soontornvat · « **Reply #21 on:** August 15, 2012, 08:53 AM »

Thanks for the tips, Whizby! Some of the photos are mine, the ones that aren't have Creative Commons licenses, and were marked OK to be used commercially. But I will definitely check it out a little more. I def do not want to get in trouble!

SarahE · « **Reply #22 on:** August 15, 2012, 09:39 AM »

I'm still fiddling with mine as I've only just started one too (and still trying to get my head around Wordpress and the template I purchased!) but I promise I'll come back and post in this thread when I've got something set up.

PStarz · « **Reply #23 on:** August 18, 2012, 06:04 PM »

Here's my website: www.patstarzyk.com

I did it myself using Weebly (you'll see the credit for them at the bottom of each page). It's a free package but you can pay to buy your own domain name (which I did). I'm not particularly tech savvy, but I found that in a couple of hours I had published at least the first pages. It's also easy to update, too, which mean you might do it more often. ("Might" being the operational word here!)

It also has a blog capability, which I haven't used yet.

Christy · « **Reply #24 on:** August 18, 2012, 06:19 PM »

These are great links guys! I love them. I have one but it's really awful but I'm glad I have my domain name so that's something. I'm going to have to hire someone to revamp mine because obviously I just don't have the eye for how to make it great.

KathyC · « **Reply #25 on:** August 19, 2012, 07:30 AM »

I'm unpublished, but have a website. kathycyr.com
It's mostly for inspiration right now. I wanted to keep it silly, lighthearted.
I blog using Wordpress, but only a little. I'm terrible at blogging and always forget to update.
For my website, I used Photoshop, free images from stock.xchng and Frontpage to create mine, plus a few misc scripts.
I hope that helps and that your site comes out great.

Christina Soontornvat · « **Reply #26 on:** August 20, 2012, 08:35 AM »

Thanks for adding everyone! Yes, KathyC, that's why I decided not to do a blog, but just a static site - because I know I'll be so bad at keeping it updated! It was really helpful for me to see others' sites on here that are also not blogging. It makes me feel less guilty for not doing it!

Pons · « **Reply #27 on:** August 20, 2012, 01:21 PM »

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your sites. I'd actually like to blog, but I can't think of anything to say that someone else hasn't already said. A static site is definitely a possibility, though, and your examples have all been terrific.

Laurel

Ree · « **Reply #28 on:** August 21, 2012, 06:27 AM »

It turned out great Christina.

Susan

Andrea B · « **Reply #29 on:** October 06, 2012, 12:08 AM »

This was such a great thread. It inspired me to get mine up and running. Once some craziness was resolved with the domain hosting gone wrong (good thing I don't have an online shop or I'd be in trouble), I finally was able to use Wordpress.org to create an initial site while I hunt for a customizable theme or template to adapt for my use in the future. I'm pretty happy with the result!

Thank you to everyone for showing your sites. It helped me figure out what to do with mine ... so I'm adding it to the list:

http://www.andreabrame.com

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Author Topic: Unpublished writers: Show me your websites! (Read 1705 times)