Paged Media: Web Design for Authors http://pagedmedia.com Because authors deserve professional websites. Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:45:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 en Text Prefs http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/text-prefs/ http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/text-prefs/#comments Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:15:19 +0000 steph http://pagedmedia.com/?p=66 Continue reading]]> Text Prefs — a U.K. design firm is conducting a survey on how people like to read onscreen text. Tell them how you like it! They’ve promised to publish the findings so we can all do better at designing things people read.

]]> http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/text-prefs/feed/ Site Launch: Justine Larbalestier http://pagedmedia.com/client-news/site-launch-justine-larbalestier/ http://pagedmedia.com/client-news/site-launch-justine-larbalestier/#comments Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:39:12 +0000 steph http://pagedmedia.com/?p=62 Continue reading]]> The new site I’ve designed for Justine Larbalestier just went live. This has been a great project, and Justine’s been a joy to work with.

I did some tricksy things with WordPress to make the design work, especially on the home page. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll write about our modifications in more detail.

]]> http://pagedmedia.com/client-news/site-launch-justine-larbalestier/feed/ How-to http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/how-to/ http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/how-to/#comments Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:09:39 +0000 steph http://pagedmedia.com/?p=61 Continue reading]]> How to work with a designer and a publicist.

]]> http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/how-to/feed/ Personal Branding Using Social Media http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/personal-branding-using-social-media/ http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/personal-branding-using-social-media/#comments Sat, 21 Jun 2008 20:30:30 +0000 steph http://pagedmedia.com/?p=60 Continue reading]]> 100 Personal Branding Tactics Using Social Media — great overview of how to use the various social media sites to promote yourself. Password management is key here, since you could be signing up for a dozen services or more. Make a spreadsheet! (via our colleague, Jeremy Tolbert)

]]> http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/personal-branding-using-social-media/feed/ How to Make the Worst Website http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/how-to-make-the-worst-website/ http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/how-to-make-the-worst-website/#comments Fri, 30 May 2008 15:06:54 +0000 steph http://pagedmedia.com/?p=57 Continue reading]]> How to Make the Worst Website — featuring lots of the things we tell you not to do. Here’s one thing you can do today: if you have a splash page on your site (the kind that shows a big image and says “Enter here”), take it down. Let visitors get to the real home page immediately.

]]> http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/how-to-make-the-worst-website/feed/ Book Launch 2.0 http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/book-launch-20/ http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/book-launch-20/#comments Wed, 21 May 2008 18:19:44 +0000 steph http://pagedmedia.com/?p=56 Continue reading]]> Book Launch 2.0 — hilarious video! Are you familiar with all the sites mentioned? (via JKS Communications)

]]> http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/book-launch-20/feed/ Before Hiring a Web Developer or Designer http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/before-hiring-a-web-developer-or-designer/ http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/before-hiring-a-web-developer-or-designer/#comments Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:18:10 +0000 steph http://pagedmedia.com/announcements/before-hiring-a-web-developer-or-designer/ Continue reading]]> Before Hiring a Web Developer or Designer — These are four very good questions to ask. “The differences in website quality out there are almost unbelievable, yet from the surface, the part you see, they are equally imperceptible.”

]]> http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/before-hiring-a-web-developer-or-designer/feed/ JacketFlap http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/jacketflap/ http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/jacketflap/#comments Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:45:47 +0000 steph http://pagedmedia.com/announcements/jacketflap/ Continue reading]]> JacketFlap — social networking for children’s and YA authors and illustrators

]]> http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/jacketflap/feed/ 17 Tips For Getting Bloggers To Write About You http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/17-tips-for-getting-bloggers-to-write-about-you/ http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/17-tips-for-getting-bloggers-to-write-about-you/#comments Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:18:57 +0000 steph http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/17-tips-for-getting-bloggers-to-write-about-you/ Continue reading]]> 17 Tips For Getting Bloggers To Write About You

]]> http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/17-tips-for-getting-bloggers-to-write-about-you/feed/ An Agent Talks Websites http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/an-agent-talks-websites/ http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/an-agent-talks-websites/#comments Thu, 21 Feb 2008 02:27:52 +0000 steph http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/an-agent-talks-websites/ Continue reading]]> Agent Rachel Vater has just posted a long, informative discussion on websites for authors, both published and unpublished. She is absolutely correct. Bookmark this post! (UPDATE: She has a follow-up, answering many of the questions that came up in the comments.)

]]> http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/an-agent-talks-websites/feed/ Typetester: Screen Font Comparison http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/typetester-screen-font-comparison/ http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/typetester-screen-font-comparison/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:36:51 +0000 steph http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/typetester-screen-font-comparison/ Continue reading]]> Typetester is a handy tool that lets you compare fonts and see how they’ll look on screen. Its drop-down menus let you know which fonts are standard on PCs and Macs, but you can also compare other fonts from your own collection.

CSS Type Set is similar tool that generates CSS for you once you’ve made your selections.

]]> http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/typetester-screen-font-comparison/feed/ It’s 10pm. Do you know where your readers are? http://pagedmedia.com/diy/its-10pm-do-you-know-where-your-readers-are/ http://pagedmedia.com/diy/its-10pm-do-you-know-where-your-readers-are/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2008 03:32:07 +0000 steph http://pagedmedia.com/diy/its-10pm-do-you-know-where-your-readers-are/ Continue reading]]> Are most of your readers in the US, or elsewhere? Do you have a concentration of readers in Spokane, where your book was featured at a book discussion six months ago? Where should your publisher send you on your next tour?

How can you find out?

1. Analyze your web visitors.

Using free services like Google Analytics or Clicky, you can find out where1 your readers are.

Clicky is great for short-term (i.e. today, yesterday) views of your web traffic, but for long-term data gathering, you can’t beat Google Analytics. To get started, sign up for an account — you can use any existing Google account (Gmail, Blogger) or create one using your existing email address. The Analytics site will walk you through the setup process; at one point you’ll need to paste some HTML into your website’s files or templates. About 24 hours after you add the tracking code to your pages, you should start seeing data in the reports — not just little dots on the map, but also what search terms people used to find your site, what browser they’re using, and other invaluable (but anonymous) information.

You can even let other people see your reports, if you like. Your publicist might be interested.

2. Ask your readers to pin their locations on a map.

You can set up a Frappr map for your readers to tell you where they live (and perhaps a few other personal details). Your Frappr map will be more accurate than Google Analytics, but will contain fewer people, since not everyone will take the time to sign in.

3. Let fans tell you where they’d like you to appear.

By signing up for an account on Eventful, readers can place demands for your presence. While this site is more popular with musicians than authors, there is a literary category. To get started, you’ll need to create an account and a performer profile (fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss has a good one). Then let your readers know you’re listening to their requests. If you have a page listing your upcoming events, add a note at the bottom:

Don’t see your location here? Sign up at eventful.com and let me know where you’d like me to be.

Link that to your performer profile, and wait for the requests to come in.

No matter which method(s) you use, it’ll take some time to accumulate useful data. Why not start now?

1 To be accurate, we should mention that what you’re really finding out is where your visitor’s IP address has been assigned, and this might not correspond to their actual location in some cases. However, it’s close enough for government work. (Seriously.)

]]> http://pagedmedia.com/diy/its-10pm-do-you-know-where-your-readers-are/feed/ Building a website? Ask yourself these questions first. http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/building-a-website-ask-yourself-these-questions-first/ http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/building-a-website-ask-yourself-these-questions-first/#comments Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:02:39 +0000 steph http://pagedmedia.com/diy-advice/building-a-website-ask-yourself-these-questions-first/ Continue reading]]> Building a website? Ask yourself these questions first.

]]> http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/building-a-website-ask-yourself-these-questions-first/feed/ Using MySpace http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/using-myspace/ http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/using-myspace/#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:32:08 +0000 steph http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/using-myspace/ Continue reading]]> How should authors use MySpace? We’ve rounded up several opinions, some contradictory:

]]> http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/using-myspace/feed/ What readers look for on authors’ websites… http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/what-readers-look-for-on-authors-websites/ http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/what-readers-look-for-on-authors-websites/#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:29:24 +0000 steph http://pagedmedia.com/elsewhere/what-readers-look-for-on-authors-websites/ Continue reading]]> Over on Deep Genre, a group blog of fantasy authors, there’s a great discussion on what readers want on authors’ sites. We see the same discussion pop up pretty regularly elsewhere, but this group is unusually detailed and articulate. They describe what they look for at different stages of their relationships with authors: as prospective buyers, as returning fans, and as fellow writers.

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