Books on the Website: Part Two
Jul252010
So we’ve been working on the website behind the scenes here, and this is what I think we’re going to do, based a lot on the feedback you gave us after the last website post.
There’ll be a picture of the cover to the left, and on the right we’ll have the title, the pub date, the tagline, and one line from a review.
Under that will be “The Story” which will be a paragraph or so describing the story, more of a teaser than a synopsis.
Under that will be a link to the first chapter.
Under that will be The Story Behind the Story, a one paragraph bit on writing the book.
And under that will be links to the “More Stuff” part of the website to specific pages that showcase details about the book, to blog posts from here on Argh that talked about the book, and to interviews and other info about the book on the web. The tentative topic list for the More Stuff section is:
Animals
Collages (Paper-and-Glue and Computer)
Covers (North American and Foreign)
Lists
Objects of Interest
Quotations and Allusions (Books and Movies)
Recipes
Reader’s Guides (for Book Clubs) (Warning: Contains spoilers).
Reviews
Settings (Photos, Maps, and Floorplans)
Soundtracks
Research Sources (Secondary Bibliography)
Titles
Very Old Stuff
We’re still pondering the Buy buttons, but I’m leaning toward them because the poll votes were so overwhelmingly in their favor and because I’d want them on another author’s site. We’d have to have Amazon, B&N, Borders, but at least one independent should be on there, I think. Books & Co. doesn’t have a buy link on their website, but Joseph Beth does. I’ll have to call both and check to make sure that’ll work. Four choices should do it, right? Small buttons?
Really trying to get this into shape before the book comes out, but this novel I have to write keeps getting in the way. Argh.
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41 Comments to 'Books on the Website: Part Two'
On July 25, 2010 at 7:11 am Egads said...
Sounds nice.
I think Powell’s Books is another independent bookstore – http://www.powells.com/
On July 25, 2010 at 7:49 am BJ said...
Sounds good, but I’m confused about the difference between Category Novels and Single Title Novels. Also, the date is missing from The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes. In addition to having the Booklist, will you have a link to your full Bibliography? You should. I previously accessed it at http://www.jennycrusie.com/books/bibliography/
On July 25, 2010 at 2:22 pm Jenny said...
Category novels are those that are issued like magazines, in a line, once a month.
Single Title novels are those that are issued on their own, no line, whenever the book gets done.
I had the books divided into Category, Collaboration, and Single TItle and then decided to dump the Collab category since those were single titles, too, but I think Mollie had the right idea in her Bib: all of them together.
On July 25, 2010 at 6:32 pm BJ said...
I agree – now that you’ve explained (thanks!), I think a single list in chronological order is fine.
On July 25, 2010 at 7:57 am BJ said...
And Yes to the assortment of small Buy buttons.
On July 25, 2010 at 8:24 am Ingrid said...
As you are redoing things, you might appreciate a nitpick: in the intro to “Lists” you are both “I” and “she”.
On July 25, 2010 at 2:19 pm Jenny said...
That’s because sometimes Mollie writes things (“she”) and sometimes I write them (“I”). We will fix that.
Basically the whole site is being retooled and in many cases rewritten. Keep up the eagle-eyed good work, we need to know the flubs so we can fix them.
On July 25, 2010 at 9:06 am bernie said...
I think the list sounds pretty good. I love throwing in an independent book store buy button. Very excited about the floor plans and recipes, but that is just me… I am weird like that.
On July 25, 2010 at 11:14 am Merry said...
Powell’s is an independent, but they have a speciest policy of not allowing dogs in their place. (Yes, I know that no dogs are allowed in an online virtual bookstore, but that’s not the point.I have principles.)
Kepler’s will let you bring your dog into the store with you while you browse, so I like them much better. Plus, they need the money.
http://www.keplers.com/
On July 25, 2010 at 2:18 pm Jenny said...
Powell’s was not romance friendly the only time I was there. Or maybe just not Crusie-friendly. I got the distinct impression I was bringing down the tone of the place. Of course that could have been one snotty bookseller, but then there was the time they sold an ARC of mine as a trade paperback. So that TWO . . .
On July 26, 2010 at 12:27 pm jessie said...
That is true. In a store of about a zillion square feet there is one shelf about 6 feet long for romance (I don’t remember if it includes historical and other types of romance) but of course, they may do a lot of internet sales. However, near the romance is an aisle that has nautical and erotica books. First time I saw it, I read it as “nautical erotica” and thought it was a special section for guys.
On July 25, 2010 at 11:54 am Diane (TT) said...
I only said that I didn’t care if there was a “buy” button because I already own all of your in-print books, so I don’t need one. Otherwise, it would be convenient to have a button. I, too, like the independent bookstore notion, but since there currently isn’t one in this town, I don’t have one to suggest (would you believe that an indie-finding site actually suggested Follett’s, the huge college bookstore chain as an indie in this town? Hmph.).
On July 25, 2010 at 2:23 pm Dayle said...
I second Powells being a fantastic independent store! A full city block, and hugely welcoming to authors.
On July 25, 2010 at 2:38 pm doris in munich said...
Bernie, you’re not the only one who’d appreciate floor plans and recipes! I’d love to find those on the new website, too.
Great idea!!
Also a wonderful idea is to include links to the first chapters of the books. More than once a first chapter made me crave the book from an until then unknown-to-me author. Not that Crusie would fall into the unknown category, but getting a thorough glimpse into a new story is always great!
Plus aye to the “buy” buttons. Sometimes those bookseller pages have additional information or the opportunity to e.g. listen into some pages of the audiobook. Also a great way to get a gist if I could stand to listen to the reader (not always the case).
Thanks for putting that much work and thought into the new website.
On July 25, 2010 at 8:12 pm bernie said...
Doris, nice to know someone likes the floorplans as much as me! Particularly because right now my recurring fantasy is to sell my place here in IL and relocate to New Orleans. Am loving the real estate sites and learning what “shotgun” and “camelback” houses are. So what’s a little mold damage for the trade off on living some place as awesome as New Orelans.
On July 25, 2010 at 8:57 pm Jenny said...
Stay away from the Surprise Me! button on the Amazon site. It gives you the climax of the book.
On July 26, 2010 at 5:47 pm Jenny said...
Okay, evidently it’s a random choice from the book, so the good news is, I was the one to get the random choice of the climax. I hope. Grrrr.
On July 25, 2010 at 3:38 pm Deborah Blake said...
This all sounds great. I can’t believe you’re allowing a little thing like writing to get in the way of creating a kick-ass website
Where are your priorities, woman? Oh, wait…I want to READ the book…
On July 25, 2010 at 3:58 pm Annie said...
How about an Indie Bound button? That’s a bunch of independent bookstores, so you don’t have to choose one…
On July 25, 2010 at 6:55 pm toni said...
oops, didn’t see this ’til after I posted below.
On July 25, 2010 at 5:22 pm Eve said...
I really like the new lineup – it all sounds great, user-friendly and very organized! Keep up the good job
On July 25, 2010 at 6:54 pm toni said...
Jenny, you can do an Indiebound link for your specific title — the person can put in their zip code, (I believe) and find an indie book store in their area which carries your books. You could always do one of the bigger indies that you know specializes, but why not give everyone the chance to buy near their home, if they can. It’ll make the local indies more aware of you because there’ll be more traffic.
I have to say, not having a buy button annoys me, as a reader. I cannot tell you how many times I have gone to a website and bought based off the excerpt right there on the site and lo, there was a buy button, and wow, that was easy. I don’t want to have to stop and type it in, I just wanna get it, especially if I’m fresh from the glow of the read off the excerpt. Don’t make me start thinking in that moment.
On July 25, 2010 at 8:59 pm Jenny said...
Indiebound it is, then. Thank you both, Annie and Toni, for this.
On July 25, 2010 at 8:04 pm Mary Stella said...
All of your plans sound fantastic. I have one question. How did you figure out the secret to adding more hours to a day?
On July 25, 2010 at 8:59 pm Jenny said...
I sleep most of the day and work all night. It’s not healthy but it’s what my body likes and nobody bothers you at 4AM.
On July 26, 2010 at 12:12 am toni said...
Yep. Best time in the world to write, is mid-night ’til about 4. People aren’t even emailing or tweeting much. Lots easier to focus. (I am so much a ferret sometimes, I get easily… oh, look, something shiny.)
On July 26, 2010 at 2:40 am Verona St. James said...
This is kind of my body’s natural inclination as well. Unfortunately I have roommates who don’t like to listen to me clicking away at 5am, and also classes I have to be at at 9:30 in the morning. *sigh*
On July 25, 2010 at 8:59 pm KellyJ said...
Your list sounds perfect.
On July 25, 2010 at 9:47 pm Kelly S said...
Sounds good. You may have answered this on the other post, but which book cover will you choose for each book – meaning, all of them, the most recently published version of it, the first published version, … that sort of answer.
Oh how I would love to keep your hours. The best job I ever had, time wise, was one where I worked from 2 pm to midnight, Monday thru Thursday. I had a 3.5 day weekend every week and it allowed me to stay up to 2 and sleep until noon M-Th. It was sweet!
On July 26, 2010 at 6:44 am Jenny said...
I’m not sure which cover. Probably the latest. Have to ask Mollie.
On July 26, 2010 at 1:32 pm CrankyOtter said...
Serious envy. Those hours sound great. I need a job outside my home to keep me sane and moving forward, but I long for a 4 day a week job with hours that lean toward the vampiric rather than the 5 day a week job that wants me here at 8. (Fortunately my boss is understanding and “8″ slides a little.)
On July 26, 2010 at 7:01 pm Kelly S said...
I can’t complain too much about my current job. Hours are flexible. I try to get in by 10 or at least within the 10 o’clock hour and leave correspondingly late. It is primarily a challenge on days like today where had to get up at 6:45 am to be at a conference 78 miles away by 9 am. Two more days to go w/Wed. needing to be here by 8:30 am. Argh.
On July 25, 2010 at 11:21 pm Barbara (you don't have to call me Barb) said...
Jenny, my schedule shifted around this summer to where I stay up most of the night writing, too. I love it since there is no one to bother me. So far it’s been very quiet here. God help anyone who comes to the door and wakes me up.
On July 25, 2010 at 11:54 pm Jill said...
Is it possible to link to the Jo Beth in Cinci ? And would it be possible to get signed books from them ? Don’t know how that would work but it would be nice .
On July 26, 2010 at 6:45 am Jenny said...
I always sign stock for them, so that’s a good idea. I’ll check into it.
On July 26, 2010 at 2:50 pm Clever Cherry aka Judy Long said...
My body likes the night hours, too. In fact I’m letting that be my reason for procrastinating right now. I work 8a to 5p Th, Fr, St. So you would think I could write for 4 days. Noooo. Instead I take at least 2 days to come out of the trance that having to get up & be at work at 8am for 3 days puts me in. Nuts.
On July 26, 2010 at 3:21 pm Pat Rice said...
Book Depository is a good resource for your international readers. Don’t know anything about installing Buy buttons though…
On July 26, 2010 at 5:22 pm juneb said...
I got my copy of RT Book Reviews today, and MTT has 4 1/2 stars and a Top Pick.
On July 26, 2010 at 5:49 pm Jenny said...
My previous agent just sent me a copy (she’s still a close friend and she’s repping MTT). I’ll put it up in a minute. Just woke up.
On July 26, 2010 at 9:17 pm Kelly S said...
Must say, thank you for planning on including the pub date on the same page ans the list of all the books. I just visited a new-to-me author’s site as I had started listening to what was listed as book 1 in a series. Well, I could tell by the way the background was given for a character in ch. 2 that it seemed he had a story already told. So, I visited the site. Yep. He had appeared in 3 books prior and it wasn’t even mentioned that he was in this one. She has least has a section of characters who cross-over between books. Turns out the hero of this 1st book in the series actually was in an earlier book too. So, I want to know where I start so all characters come in when they were first introduced, which I’m cautiously/recklessly assuming will be true if I follow publication dates. I know, not a guarantee, but she doesn’t list a handy-dandy chart for me. Anyway, the point, all the books are on 1 page with cover and title and are links to more. So, I’ll have to click thru 23 links to figure it out. I think I’ll see if someone else has done it for me on another site.
On July 27, 2010 at 3:05 am Reb said...
Wow, the Book Depository is less than half the cost of buying the book in a shop here. Thanks, Pat!