The Quest for the Perfect Website
Bob and I are getting the content together for the Agnes website, and Mollie sent us a list of things she thought should go on it, your basic website line-up:
Home Page
About the Book
Bios
Event Schedule/Book Tour
Related Sites
Purchase Links
Those are all good and necessary, of course, but they struck me as Things We Want People To Know, rather than Things People Want To Know. I run into that all the time when I’m critiquing stories and editing my own work: People write the things the reader needs to know to understand something instead of just telling the story. And it’s a complete waste of time because readers read for story, not to gather information so they can understand something somebody else is invested in.
So I started thinking about what I want to know about a book. The basic premise sure, the story blurb. But I also want to know who’s in it, and I want to know where it’s set, and I want to read a chunk of it before I plunk down my hard-earned cash. So the “Book” section has to be more than the blurb, I need cast dossiers on there and something about the setting and the first chapter for sure. And a lot of people are doing reading groups now, so questions that pinpoint some of the things we did in the book might give even more info, so definitely a Reader’s Guide.
Home Page
The Story (Blurb)
The Cast
The Setting
Chapter One
Reader’s Guide
Then I thought about the things beyond the book that people have asked us–basically the story they want the website to tell–and tried to see if there was a pattern there. If we had a nickel for every time somebody asked us, “How do you collaborate?” and we explained, and their eyes glazed over . . . People do seem to want to know how two people who get along as badly as we do manage to write books together, they just don’t want to hear about Track Changes and labeling the Master Document, and why it’s a bad idea to put “Hey” in the subject line of every freaking e-mail even though after three years he’s still doing it.
So I thought that once the story in the book was set up, the story of the book should come next. A page talking about how we collaborated, sure, we did that for DLD and we can expand on that, pull some things from the old HWSW blog. And then I found the e-mails from the first night we brainstormed the book and the earliest brainstormed synopsis we did six months later. That seemed to make sense: First tell people how we collaborate, then show them a little bit of it (there are literally thousands of e-mails and hundreds of pages of notes, so just a little bit). And then there’s the editing process; we talked about the things we had to cut on Don’t Look Down, and people would say, “Yes, but could we see that?” and of course by then whatever we’d deleted was long gone, but we still have most of the stuff from Agnes, so maybe if we put some of the outtakes up there for people who have read the book, they can see what we cut and get more book. And then maybe stick the reviews at the end of that to show how it all came out. So that’s:
Collaborating
Early Agnes
Outtakes
Reviews
And I do think there should be Good Things on a website, too. Like the gorgeous downloads for wallpaper and avatars Mollie and Mara did for The Unfortuante Miss Fortunes site, although Agnes’s would probably run more toward flamingos and bullet holes. And people who’ve read the Cranky Agnes columns excerpted in the sections headers have asked to read the entire column, alhough of course all I wrote was the excerpts, so I could write those (ARGH) as extras. And there should be contests. And a place where people can leave comments. So:
Cranky Agnes
Downloads
Contests
Comments
And then there’s the business part of the site:
Event Schedule/Tour
Bios
Related Sites
Purchase Links
Contact Info
So for the past several days, we’ve been assembling all of that. I’ve still got several columns to write and a lot of recipes to test, but the website content is now at 42,000 words. Which brings me to my question:
When does a website just get to be too much? This is a book site, not an author site, it’s just for Agnes and the Hitman. We want it to be a good time, and Mollie and Mara will make sure it’s beautiful and easy to navigate, but at what point do you look at the content and say, “That’s too much, I’m not even going to click on any of the links”?
And since I have you here, what in the above list would you cut? Is there anything you’d add?
I’ve never planned a website like this before–my author website just sort of grew–and I like the idea of “Here’s the book, here’s the process, here’s something for you, here’s the business info,” but 42, 000 words is . . . well, half a novel by the time I’m done with the other Cranky Agnes columns.
So what do you think? What’s the perfect website for a book? Can there be too much content? What annoys you? (I was going to do one of those quizes, like “Which Character in Agnes and the Hitman are you?” and then realized I’d completely lost my grip and stopped.)
Help. Before Mollie gets a look at all of this content and strangles me, what do you want and need on a book website?
I think you should split to at least two levels: one two grab the casual browsers, and a “do you want to know more?” for those already hooked. Personally I’d even prefer a third “beneath the skin” level with the author’s stuff since that’s not limited to this particular book.
Anette, the Great Dane
I would be most excited about the recipes. When I see a recipe used by a character in a book I love, I want to make it! (I think she should have one good drink recipe, too–something she knocks back when too many bullets are flying).
I think you have to ask yourself which audience are you making the website for? The casual book buyer who has never read you before? A Cherry? A Cherry writer?
As a casual reader what I want most from an author’s book website is a description of the book and a first chapter. Just make it easy for me to find that.
As a reader who maybe read the book and fell in love with it, then yeah, I would want the Cranky Agnes columns, recipes, deleted scenes. I want to go back to that world and roll around in it like a dog with a good scent.
As a great writer in training…OMG I love the thought processes and the snarky back-and-forth with Bob.
I guess you could ask yourself what sells more books? But that answer may be counterintuitive, because I came to your writing throught the DLD page. It was the back-and-forth with Bob that made me want to buy DLD and also explore both of your backlists.
Well, I’m not very helpful, am I?
High on my list of Things I Want To Know is definitely book tours.
I loved the character profiles in the DLD Web site, so definitely do those again. And a recipes link would be fun! Not like you don’t have enough to do already, but I’ve seen entire cookbooks based on recipes used in a novel/series, so there would defintely be a demand for it.
Event schedule!! I sure want to know if you are coming to Houston.
First Chapter.
A little background on the characters.
List of other titles w/ blurb of author(s).
Top on my list would be: Outakes, Agnes’ Articles, Contests and Comments.
But then I’ve followed along on your second adventure. If I was new to the book, then I would want the blurb, cast and setting too.
As for reviews - I already know I’ll love the book, and a review that’s on the authors’ website is only going to say good things about the book, right? So that interests me the least. But probably your publisher would approve.
For me, the more content, the better and I love all the ideas you have thus far.
I know the point of having a book website is to sell the book but nothing frustrates me more than for an author/book website to be just about making the sale. Most of the people who will be visiting are people who are already enamored of your writing and the collaboration–who already look for that sort of thing from you and Bob.
And for those who aren’t the quickest way to sell the book (for my part, anyway) besides a killer blurb, is to draw the reader in. Make him/her feel included–almost as though they have a vested interest in the novel as a whole.
I know the original HWSW blog did that for me. I was excited and anxious to read the novel before I was even certain what it was all about.
Just my two cents.
As a reader and a fan, I will be interested in seeing all the book details you put up. As a hopeful writer, I’ll be interested in all the collaboration details. As a consumer, I’ll buy stuff off the website.
But I don’t think I’ve ever bought a book based on anything on a website. I’ve always based my decision on the author and/or the synopsis on the back of the book. (This will change with UMF, but only because I’ve been reading the website all along, not because I ran across the marketing website when the book was released.)
Your fans will be delighted with anything and everything you put up on a website. ;=) I would ask a question from a different direction. What is the anticipated life of this website? Since it deals with only one book, there will come a time when there is nothing new to post and the website will probably be taken down. You might want to ask how much effort is too much effort based on anticipated life span.
You will get different answers from each of us as to what we all want to see. Not much help I don’t suppose, and l’m always up for another website to distract me when I’m bored at work, so ultimately, my answer would be, “Include anything that Mollie will let you get away with.” ;=)
I like the idea of having it all. But I usually only search out the website for books I already have read, and want to find what fun things the website has in store for me.
I say the more, the merrier, especially if the website is launching a month or two before the book is released. With a lot of content, I could come and go as I wanted, knowing there was more to see to tide me over until I could actually read the book.
Or as a reader who buys the book after its release and then finds the website, what a fun way to pick and choose how to explore the world of the book she enjoyed!
If you’ve got the ability to create the content without detracting from your other work, then put it all in, I says. I’m not sure I’ve every been turned off by finding a ton of content on a website (unless, of course, it was poorly organized or hard to find).
I would visit every thing on your list so I’m not much help. I do think a blurb, a first chapter, and character bios are necessary at least for those readers who are unfamiliar with Cranky Agnes. I agree with Egads that extras like recipes, columns, and deleted scenes would be fun for someone who’s already read the book.
And if there’s a Cranky Agnes wallpaper with flamingos and bullet holes I would be all over that.
I’m with Shawn - include everything that Molly will allow.
It makes sense that there should be the easy to find the Story, and Chapter 1. But we know that Chapter 1 is great, so that would lead to wanting more. (The stuff you’ve included in your list would be an amazing gift to your fans.)
And, as long as you make the site a link on you author site under “book list” or something, it would continue to have value even as newer books are released.
As a devoted CB - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE include outtakes and collaboration snippets.
Hey!
Jenny, I do quick checks on favorite blogs and don’t click many links, but it doesn’t annoy me if stuff is there for others who may have more click time. Just the number of comments you get suggests there are tons of people who would be very grateful for whatever you & Bob offer.
I liked Egads different layers. What annoys me in any website is to have everything on one page - links are our friends. I think if the book info (chpt 1, release date, tour schedule, synopsis) is on the main page with a nice sidebar of links to the outtakes, columns/recipes, Jenny and Bob/Bob and Jenny collaboration snark and your other websites so the reader can pick and choose. I love websites that have lots of layers that I can dig in to.
I don’t need to take a quiz to see which character I am. I’m cranky, I cook, my level of homicidal rage depends on how badly the men I work with have pissed me off that day and I’ve adopted the phrase “Don’t make me hit you with a frying pan” as my motto in life.
Clearly, I’m Shane.
I tend to skim cast and setting descriptions, because they’re often written in a style different from that of the book, and they don’t get me into the story. Even when a cast list is printed in the book itself, I treat it like a…prologue.
Hey!
What sells me on a book: the story blurb and Chapter One.
What I value from an author I admire: events list, outtakes, collaboration snippets, and links to other sites featuring the author.
I’m going with Egads and Office Wench Cherry. Personally, the only thing I don’t negociate it the excerpt. So, as Egad suggested, put it all in layers. Office Wench is also very right that layers are our friends.
Ex: the book page will present the characters. Add a comment that says something like “Why did I ever think Agnes should be a blond?” and that will be a link to another page with the early stages of drawing Agnes.
See, something like that. Make it a treasure hunt…though very obvious to even the most myopic reader, of course.
You’re Jenny. You’re Jenny and Bob and we love you. How can it be too much?
Swing wide.
Just because it’s the internet, doesn’t mean it’s not retail.
Why can’t you just update the existing Crusie/Mayer web site? Add pages to what’s already there and put covers or cover place holders on the front page to show what you’re promoting this time? I don’t know about others, but when it comes to keeping track of what my favorite authors are working on, I prefer one-stop-shopping. Link jumping gets annoying after a while.
Right now, it looks like Molly is cloning the last web site and changing some graphics here and there. The graphics are awesome and eye catching, but it’s not enough. I find cookie cutter web sites about as memorable as cookie cutter books. They also feel disposable and should include a “best read by” date in the header.
I want constantly changing content in one place, not a long favorites list that I have to weed out periodically. As for what I want to see on a web site pushing a book…
Core Site Info (AKA: Clonable info)
Home Page
Bios
Event Schedule/Book Tour (just update as needed)
Related Sites (Just update as needed)
Collaborating
Contests (just update as needed)
——
Book Specific Info That I Look For When Buying A Book (AKA: The Essentials — just add page(s) to the web site):
About the Book
The Story (Blurb)
Chapter One
Reviews
———–
Fun Stuff (aka: It’s not necessary but it will keep me coming back if things are added in installments):
Cranky Agnes (I assume this is the food column)
Early Agnes
Outtakes
Comments
Downloads
What we’ve found is that it makes more sense to do a book site and then use the link on our solo sites and on the collab site to send people there. So you can get there by typing http://www.agnesandthehitman.com or through any of our three websites. Since most people just type the name of the title, it becomes a navigation tool, and the organization of the material becomes easier.
Especially if you’ve already got 42K of it.
All those look great! I wouldn’t necessarily read everything in one go, but I’d probably come back and poke around.
I’d also love to see the collage on there. Even the various iterations it went through.
I think if you’ve got a lot of info mostly people will just come back to go through it. Isn’t that what you want, to have people coming back time and time again? Perhaps having additional info added as time goes on is the key?
I’m still struggling with the revisions of my own site so I sure don’t have all the answers :/
I nodded throughout Jana’s post. I hate going to a site and it feels like someone’s trying to sell me a book. I want to like the author for some strange reason as a reader. I can’t tell you how many people got me to buy their book by just reading their blog.
I liked their voice, I liked the background info that went into making the book, they seem like a cool person so I’m assuming they are going to write characters and a story I’m going to love.
And after I’ve read the book I want to visit every now and then. I’m not ashamed to say I click links just to see where they take me. As far as reviews are concerned if I like the author I’m going to buy the book, if the character’s are interesting I’m going to buy the book, and if I can get Wallpaper that’s any variation of “Hanky Panky”, I’m going to buy the book. Maybe I’m just very easy to please.
The one thing I always want to see on author/book websites and frequently have trouble finding is the event schedule and tour dates. Then I like to see the book blurb and an excerpt, and then I want to hear what the author(s) is/are working on next. Beyond that, everything else is cool but really just icing on the cake. This site sounds amazing, though, and like something I could probably waste hours on.
Typically, when I look at an author webiste, I’ve already read the book or read something else by the author. I’m only looking at the site to bask awhile longer. I don’t know that there is anything on the list that you could cut and still appeal to the variety of audiences that will frequent the site. I think you’re just going to have to protect yourself against Mollie’s wrath and give us the whole shebang.
You can’t put too much “Jenny and Bob” info on a web site.
What you have listed is great…and any more that can be added.
Looking forward to “Agnes and the Hitman”
Egads: “I want to go back to that world and roll around in it like a dog with a good scent.”
Exactly. When I finish a book I really love, there’s a period of mourning the end of the experience. So then I get on-line and go to the author’s website and see what else there is to see and what other books of hers I haven’t read, etc. (This is how I discovered your website(s!) in the first place. So, all of the content you’re describing sounds like heaven to me. The more the merrier.
I also agree with the layers-just the essentials on the first page for the casual surfer, with the rest more of a treasure hunt for those of us who crave more.
“Hey” made me laugh a lot. My Dad insists on writing “Your Dad” in the subject line of EVERY email he sends me-just in case I wasn’t sure. Even when he hits reply, he deletes the re: and puts “Your Dad.” Oy with the poodles already.
One other item that needs to be included. Upcoming collaboration between Jenny and Bob will be:
Tell me you are going to work on the hotel caper now. Or soon. Or something. Don’t leave me hanging now that you have given 2 books to the cause.
When you say “Purchase Links” does that cover Shameless Exploitation through Merchandising? Because really, I won’t be happy unless I can buy at least a mug. And an apron. And stuff.
I think you’ve done this enough times now to know what all else needs to go into it. Pretty much all of the above.
Poor Mollie.
Bob and I are discussing a new collab. We’re both up to our ears in solo books, and I keep playing around on Dogs and Goddesses, but we’ve started with out usual too-far-apart protags (he’s a hot shot ex-Green-Beret hostage recovery specialist, she’s a librarian who tries not to go outside) and we’re shifting things trying to find a middle ground. Story of our collaboration. I did find out working on the website that we starting brainstorming/wargaming Agnes on Nov. 27 of 2004 and finished it in January of 2007. So it takes us awhile.
Personally, I love the extras and the banter and the Personality. The stuff that is totally Jenny and Bob. But the chances that I will come across a book based on its website are slim, so I will visit when I know the author, or love the book itself.
I imagine a collaboration with Bob would take a while. And several keyboards. But as long as we can get our fix eventually, its all good.
Meanwhile, I have a visit to ME to plan. By the time I get there, she should have arcs of a couple of books I have been waiting for.
I raise my hand in favor of the layers concept - make it easy to get to the nuts and bolts (story blurb, chapter 1, author info, tour schedule, etc) and then sublayers: fun stuff, collaborating/process, links, shopping, etc.
Personally I like to see new content - doesn’t have to be daily (wouldn’t that be fantastic?!) but maybe monthly. Such as a monthly post for Cranky Agnes or new recipie. Something to look forward to rather than being overwhelemed by it all at once.
I think it’s all been said and more eloquently than I could, but has that ever stopped me? Heh. Listen to Mollie she’s a savvy gal, if she says it’s too much, it’s too much.
Keep it simple and easy for a new viewer to access. Keep it fun for your longtime fans and give them something to keep them coming back. And links, yes links otherwise it can be overwhelming.
The thing that caused most to return again and again to HWSW was the feeling of a TV sitcom. The banter between you and Bob was what made the HWSW Blog so entertaining. So I’d say a joint blog like you have with the ladies for TUMF. It wouldn’t need a blog entry more than once a week. What you are is a collaboration, a couple who write together but don’t always see eye to eye and that’s where the entertainment is for the fans, you need to keep that going rather than seperate blogs. The humor is the thing that keeps everyone coming back and you two have that.
I was intimidated by the weightiness of your blog and the Cherries and the JCF and all that stuff. I would never have joined except HWSW folded. I’m so glad it did because I’m here and I’m not leaving, unless of course you revoke my privileges.
So, have you thought about reactivating the old site and keeping all of your collaborations under that one heading of HWSW?
Addendum to above, *grin* ’cause that didn’t make sense.
The Jenny Crusie Forums is where I ended up when HWSW folded and I’m thrilled to have discovered this community because it’s a place to ask questions and discuss writing. I know it will also fill the void when the writing workshop ends later this year. But I miss the fun of HWSW.
Also, I meant the Crusie/Mayer website that you had before, reactivate that one with the HWSW blog. That way all books you collaborate on would be under the one website. Geez, I’m scatterbrained today.
What it sounds like is great fun for us and far too much work for you. Unless it is done already, and you just hand Mollie a pile of files and folders and say “all this goes in somewhere, you organize it, you’re a freaking genius” (only the honest truth here).
Like Egads, really I just want to roll around in Crusie/Mayer-land for a little while longer. It won’t make me buy the book, I’ve already done that, so you’re supporting fans but not additional sales. But swag? I definitely want a mug. And an apron (and I never wear aprons). And I STILL want an almond cookie, from several books ago.
Hrm - more behind the scenes stuff as well as all the yumminess already in place. Top-ten lists can be trite and perhaps facile, but trite and facile can be virtues with sufficient snark… like a list of “Ten Most Creative Curses” used in collaborating, or “Ten Most Common Fluids Spilled On Keyboards” while reading your partner’s revisions to your scene. Perhaps “Ten Favorite Revenge Fantasies” when you find out your editor liked your partner’s version of the scene better (Mom always liked you best). Wow, I can go on… maybe I should rethink collaborating with my husband.
Yep, a re-do of Crusie-Mayer is on the list so that it’ll serve a clearing house that tells people about the collaboration and then sends them to the Agnes site, this blog, Bob’s blog/site, my site . . .
As for HWSW again, nope. We almost killed each other writing that one. I think Mollie’s going to try to import it to a site that’s still readable–the links are wonky on it now–but that and the writing workshop are all we ever planned on doing. It was a great year, but nobody could keep up that kind of blogging forever. I think we’re probably going to do dueling blogs for the week we’re on the road with the short Agnes tour, but other than that, we’re just going to work.
But thanks for saying nice things about HWSW and the Forums (g).
I would love to be able to go back and reread some of those blogs. Especially the bed and breakfast one.
I like all the options for the site. If I was a total newbie to you/ bob/ Agnes there would be enough to get me started, but also stuff to come back to once I had read the book. things I could enjoy afterwards to keep the feeling alive until the next installment.
Sorry - I want it all.
Yeah, I know. Not helpful
Just my two cents - Keep it simple. Make it easy to navigate and seriously, don’t over do it. A few pages and a few links. Just the fact’s ma’am kind of thing.
The easier you make it for everyone, the better. I guess, just the bare bones, but nice. Links to all the other places you and Bob hang out. A blurb and pic of the book. How to buy the book. Where we all can find your for autographed copies. Maybe a sneak peek page. Beyond that - if you ask me - it would be overkill. Too much. But hey, I’m simple. No frills kind of gal. I like simple.
I think someone way up-thread had it right — I never bought a book because of a website. BUT, what you are doing is “stroking the fans” — and they go out, all buzzed, and spread great word of mouth. So, the website is important.
The recipes idea is *great*!
As long as everything is well organized, I think it’s hard to have too much. I only want to see about 7 to 10 choices at a time, and go through three clicks to see what I’m getting. I can’t do the math on that. But one click would get you 49 separate “articles.” And two clicks would be seven times 49, right? So three clicks would be 49 times 49, right?
(-: The quizzes sound fun, too. But it’s a cost/profit ratio there. If you have minions (ie: fan club presidents) to do the quizzes and recipes, very cool! But if not, I’d much rather see another book from you than a huge website.
Then again, if it’s fun for you, do it.
So far, I have visited six blogs/websites related to Jenny Cruisie (I think — and I know there are all the forums, too). Right now, I don’t visit your regular homepage, and of course HWSW is over now. And, I feel confident and fine in my navigation of those. However, it may get to the point where there are too many blogs/websites, and you might want to think about condensing. OTOH, a lot of these sites are limited — the book sites finish after the publishing day furor dies down, the workshop is only for one year (IIRC), etc.
BTW, you guys might consider doing a collaboration workshop next year. I think a lot of writers WOULD like to know the nuts and bolts of collaboration. Little weekly chunks may help with the eye-glaze thing.
I think all of this is absolutely amazing. I feel proud of myself for keeping up this much (-:. I can’t imagine having to generate all of this and the dead-tree stuff too! Thanks!
I’d suggest:
Lose the comments.
Lose the contest.
Combine Early Agnes and Outtakes.
Lose the setting.
Lose the reader’s guide - will people really want that before they read the whole thing?
Combine the Downloads, Cranky Agnes column, and maybe the contest if you’re totally married to it in one Fun Stuff page.
Combine Story + Cast. Throw Setting in there if you must.
Combine bios with contact info.
That leaves you with a slightly more manageable navigation, and somewhat less content:
Home Page
The Story (which includes cast & setting)
Chapter One
Collaborating
Early Agnes (includes Outtakes)
Reviews
Fun with Cranky Agnes (columns, downloads, contest)
Event Schedule/Tour
Related Sites
Purchase Links
Bios/COntact
I think that if it’s easier to navigate, the ton of content won’t be as bad - and it’ll be easier to navigate if you have a smaller top-line TOC.
This assumes you’ve already created all the content… if you haven’t, I’d cut it off where you’ve got it. 42,000 words is a hell of a lot of words for a web site.
Also, Victoria’s onto something about the constantly changing content. You could hold on to some of the fun content and spring it on people in a more measured way - once a week after you hit your pub date. That would make people come to the site more often.
But the bottom line is: will that sell books? You might get some word of mouth out of it, but will it become viral? Can you do some kind of treasure hunt in South Carolina with a big prize at the end?
Where the hell did my other comment go? I reorganized your site for you, combined a bunch of stuff, got rid of a bunch of stuff (reader guide - do people really want a reader guide before they read the book?, setting, contests, comments). Damn it!
From memory:
Home page
Story (includes cast, and setting if you must)
Fun stuff (columns, recipes, contests if you’re set on having contests, etc)
Old Agnes (outtakes, early Agnes, collaboration stuff)
Events
Where to Buy
Related sites
Bios/Contact
IMO, keeping the top-level nav simple will help people focus on what they want. And if you do the revolving-content thing, your site will be refreshed regularly.
Really ready to read this book!
I don’t care about recipes and would worry, if they were mine, that people would make them and then not like them. But, then, I eat Tofurkey and provolone sandwiches every meal till the supplies run out, then hit the oatmeal.
The point of Agnes is the house, right? Could the website be analogous to the house? Even with something like the hidden basement or hidden basement door. True, you are not designing a game here, but, oh, well, I’m a maze fan, so that’s me. In my world, you’re a celebrity, and you and Bob are a celebrity couple, of sorts. Or out of sorts. Your collaboration is my 21st Century version of the Days and Nights of Molly Dodd or Frank’s Place.
Definitely show us some outtakes. If you have a blooper reel, put that in, too. Just never have anyone pan down. Panning is a horizontal movement. Tilt is vertical.
And, whatever you finally decide to do, if it’s your usual MO, it’s above and beyone what you have to do, so thanks in advance.
It all sounds great.
But if you’re asking what I as an existing fan most want to see, it’s outtakes and Cranky Agnes columns. And the short story where Agnes is getting rid of the body (please - I really want to know how she does it!). I want more story, in effect.
The only thing I’d drop is the Reader’s Guide, but I don’t go to reading groups so I’m not your target audience for that.
If I stumbled across the site as a new reader, the first chapter is what would draw me in and make me most likely to buy the book. I’m a first-chapter kind of woman, not a blurb woman.
If a site’s easy to navigate, there’s no point where I say there’s so much I won’t look at anything. I’m sure Mollie and Mara will layer it beautifully.
But all that said, if it’s a choice between you writing website content or another book or the AATH website, I’d much rather have the book. That includes Dogs and Goddesses, which is great so far.
The mechanics of collaboration are very interesting to me, since I might like to try it myself. It’s a scary idea, though, so being able to see how someone else did it is important. Instructive, even. Most writerly advice on collaboration is vague and rooted in fantasy, I think. You and Bob are the only writers I know of brave enough to show us the clockworks. More and more established writers are collaborating–wonder why?–but there doesn’t seem to be much sunshine on the process.
Will you show us the AATH collage?
So many comments yet, but I’ll go with Reb. Definitely outtakes and more stuff about Agnes. If I read a book and like it, I’d appreciate to know more about it.
But do as you like. Us addicts need to come back anyway.
Brooke, one of your posts was hanging out in Akismet with the viagra and the cialis people. I saved you.
You can’t forget the image of Bob in the skirt. Classic stuff that.
I raise my hand to the classics from HWSW. That blog was priceless. While it didn’t sell the book for me(I always was on the look out for the next Crusie) it generated excitement for it. Also, I was unfamiliar with Bob Mayer, Robert Doherty, Greg Donegan, Paddy O’Mayer. It served a dual purpose in selling your solo books as well.
Outakes, yes. I will never view cole slaw as a mere food item again.
If I’ve just read a completely wonderful book that inspired me to go to a Web site for more information, I want to know when the next book is coming out, what the next book is about, what books are already available and a little bit about the author. If that’s not there, I get cranky. Everything else - while fun - is superfluous.
-Michelle
Gimmee Gimmee Gimmee!
Sorry, couldn’t control my inner child.
On a more serious note, websites and marketing don’t affect my purchasing choices. Either I go to the store with a specific mission in mind, ie Crusie or Harry Potter, or I browse leisurely.
If I enjoy a book, then I might take a look at the author’s website to browse the backlist, and then I’m looking for two things: the story blurb, and the author’s comments about the book.
If I’m infatuated with a book, or a world, or an author, I can spend hours playing on the website, and I appreciate any little gifts the author and web coder have to offer.
But I think others have a good point about layers.
Is there anyway St Martins can get you booked onto a cook/chat show like Rachel Ray?
What I would want to know right off: When the book is going to be available. When you’re coming to see me. (Ha!) List of your other novels with a paragraph or so on each. First page or chapter of new novel.
What keeps me coming back: Stuff like HWSW, Agnes blog, D&G blog, Fortune Sisters blog, how to write.
Fun stuff: Outtakes, B&J banter, opinions (reviewers who don’t read the novel they’re reviewing), behind-the-scenes stuff (D&G blog)
Don’t care: Recipes, reader guides.
Huh? What contests? Well, except for Me’s Hanky Panky, etc. Yep, I like those, especially if you’d pick me.
Extra, but nice: If I could click either at the top or bottom of a topic to see/add comments.
Reader guides don’t interest me. If I’m enjoying a book, I’m too immersed in the story to be bothered dissecting it. But I know that book clubs are very popular, so if having a reader guide will encourage others to read it, go for it. I’m all for anything that encourages people to read.
I second what BCB said about buying goodies.
Lilyblues: Now I’m picturing Bob with Rachael Ray. I think he’d kill her with the nearest spatula. HA
And, the Green Beret-Librarian thing sounds fabulous. I see hijinks involving an quiet, agoraphobic woman in the swamp (who knows what the plants are only because she’s a reference librarian, not that she’s actually seen them before) with a short-tempered John Wayne-type who eats grasshoppers for breakfast. Don’t mind me, I’m just amusing myself over here.
I like the idea of a house motif: there can be different “room” styles, and recipes can go in the kitchen, info on the authors/ backlists in the library, collab stuff in the office/ study, blog/chatting in the family room/ parlour. There’d be a menu bar and when you run over a room name, a pull-down menu, um, pulls down. Dunno what you’d put in the bedrooms/ bathrooms, I’ll leave that up to you.
Is there any of this you could delegate to others? Perhaps it’s faster to do it yourself than to read through loads of suggestions, but there may be some things for which it isn’t.
We love all the content you give us, but (some of us) do feel guilty over pressuring you to work EVEN HARDER! Not OH, though, I don’t think.
Dear Jenny. Up above at June 14th, 2007 at 10:43 am your comment includes an unintentional link. Although it is rather interesting what comes up when you click on it. Nurse strangles hit man?
Doh! Sorry bout that. But now you know EXACTLY how I feel about your site. And hey, how could that be bad?
Holy crap you have a ton of responses already! Mine is probably superfluous at this point, but here’s my cents worth (surely not even two).
I don’t even know what Cranky Agnes is and already I want to read it. I love the comment (somewhere in the vastness above) about rolling around in the world a little longer, b/c I feel the same way when I find a book and characters that I love (case in point - Temptation). I want to stay there a little while longer and learn more.
I’d enjoy the outtakes too; like extras on a DVD they’d further enhance the experience of reading the novel. I’m not keen on downloads and contests or recipies b/c they’re not my thing (unless they’re microwave recipies, as I am the queen of the redux meal [ew - not that way]), but I’d love the early agnes and cast bios and all the creative stuff that again, lets us roll around in your worlds for a little longer.
I’d like to read the communiques with Bob b/c frankly, it sounds like a riot, but the collaborating process is of less interest. Also reviews aren’t too interesting as I’m gonna buy your book regardless of what they say.
Basically, I don’t like visting a site and only finding sales and marketing for the upcoming book, or just wallpapers and backlist info. I like a site that has nuggets of goodness to share, that will enrich my reading of the novel, my sense of character and place, plus some behind-the-scenes goodies of your creative process for example and inspiration as well as just good, wild, guffawing kinds of fun.
Eh - maybe half a cents worth.
McB, all I got was a faulty link, which I fixed. Nurse and Hitman?
And thank you all. This has been great. Mollie’s gearing up now. Stand back, world, website coming through.