The post was in the middle of a huge thread on the NaNo boards, but I copied it. I'll drop it here. The post was written by a woman who goes by KimberlyDawn on the NaNo forums, and her critiques of query letters have been spot-on. I've learned a lot just by reading what she has to tell other people about where they're messing up and why.
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You can combine the blog into your website with wordpress. I'd recommend doing something like that--I, myself, set up a shell for my website using just one line of php. It was very easy to set up wordpress and it's easy to update.
Bottom line:
Hosting should be: no more than 10 bucks per month. (I got more in allowance than that a month =P) I have unlimited hosting myself.
The domain should not cost more than 10 bucks a year.
The design should be KISS. (Keep it simple stupid.) At max maybe 3 images. One of you. And maybe some decoration.
You can integrate your blog easily.
Your website should feature a back end Analytics for you so you can figure out your hits per month.
Examples of good websites:
http://www.mercedeslackey.com/DianaGabaldon.com
http://murverse.com/http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/http://www.neilgaiman.com/ (Though the running in of the text at the top is unsightly. ^^;; Makes the designer in me cringe.)
http://www.brandonsanderson.com/ [main feature is the bar that tells the progress on his books. the rest can use a bit more polish.]
Good author sites feature:
- Behind the scenes of making a book, but without the bitch and whine. =D
- Secret Info about the books they can't find elsewhere. Dictionaries, Profiles of the characters, wikis, etc.
- User interaction, whether through blog, game, q&A. special features, contests, or forums.
- Info about the Author in a short biography and bibliography.
- Clear updates on the progress of the books (ala Brandon Sanderson.)
- KISS designs. Keep it simple stupid.
Avoid:
Strong colors that are not soft or neutral/Earth tones.
White text on black background.
Flashing text.
Heavy graphics.
A design that only works in one browser.
Complex linking systems: Keep your links organized into one area.
Wordpress is pretty easy to install into your website shell: I do that a lot.
Setting up a website shell with a little php to make a template isn't really that difficult.
.css will save your butt from heavy loading pages and cut down on load time.