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Write now Article Tools

Are you like many writers, high on creativity but low on tech
skills? Are your children more computer savvy than you? If so,
you're missing an important method of promoting your work. Below
are a few of the electronic means writers are using to sell books:

WEB SITE

The number one electronic promotional tool of any writer is a web
site. Use it as you would a newsletter. Do you have a book

signing coming up? Are you giving a reading from your latest book
at a school? Are you participating in a panel at your local
library? Has your book received an award? This is the place to
brag.

Include something fun. Does your 'tween novel takes place during
the Revolutionary War? Use some of the background information you
gleaned to create a matching game that will challenge your young
readers. What about a puzzle? Children love puzzles of all kinds.
Don't forget to include a link with your book. Did your research
turn up some interesting pictures? Post them.

Include fun personal facts about yourself. Does your newest book
feature a cat and you're a cat-owner? Share some quirky behavior
of your pet.

Pay attention to educators who visit your site (post fees for
school visits, give a summary of available programs, suggest
classroom tie-ins for lessons or activities geared around the book,
etc.)

You can build a web site for free. However, this is often a case
of you-get-what-you-pay for. Say you sell your book and make an
announcement to all those family members, friends, and others on
your mailing list. Too many people are trying to see it
simultaneously, and, consequently, the site closes down. Of
course, all they saw was an error message, not your web site. Not
the best way to start things off with your readers.

Web sites can be as expensive or inexpensive as you choose. Buy a
domain name, using your name or pseudonym if at all possible and
keep it in place. Domain names run about $4 - $12.00 a year. A
web site is hosted by an outside service that provides bandwidth
and a server that hosts your web site pages. Some services are
free but limit you in content or actual space. Paying a host can
cost as little as $5.00 per month. (A host rents you space on the
Internet so people can see your site.)

Your web host or webmaster should be able to help you discover how
many people visit your page and how long visitors stay on
particular pages, where they connected with you from, and what
pages they visited.

Many authors choose to build their web sites on their own with such
programs as Microsoft FrontPage. You might be wary

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