The question of
what sort of web presence a writer should have comes up regularly on chat
boards.
I’m not a fan of shoulds. If
you’ve read my past posts, you probably know that. I won’t deny the discomfort
I felt when I first made a website with my name domain. Touting one’s work and
personal self feels weird and also somewhat unseemly.
But I also think there’s
gigantic cognitive dissonance in wanting to be published (i.e. make public) and
at the same time wanting to personally hide.
Unless you dream
of doing a J.D. Salinger act, which means writing a classic and then disappearing
as an ever-growing mystic aura radiates from the mention of your name, writing
to publish means having some public presence. This is true for traditionally published
authors, aspiring writers, and even more for the self-published who effectively
become publishers and marketers.
While social sites
are nice places if you like such hangouts, there is no substitute for a site
you control under your own name. I think this
post by agent
Jennifer Laughran says it well, in her own take no-prisoners verbiage.
A few common
reservations you can wipe off the deck immediately:
*It doesn’t have
to cost much, though free options are not as good for various reasons. There
are many inexpensive options that won’t force ads or a domain of the hosting
company.
*It doesn’t require
hiring a professional web designer. Nice to do (and worthwhile) if you are independently wealthy
or already successfully published. But most web hosting services have templates
that are intuitive and even non-techies like me can work with.
* It doesn’t have
to blow anyone’s socks off, like the sites of famous bestselling authors. Start
small and plain, but start.
Your website,
under your own domain name, is your bit of real estate in the digital world. It’s
a place to see you, (photo, please) your books if you have any, and a way to
connect.
Of course, you don’t have to. You don’t have to write or publish anything. You only have
to eat, drink, sleep, and try to be kind to others. But if you wish to share
your work, get thee a website.
