I have looked at many…. MANY…. authors’ sites in order to get this website put together. The websites that I enjoy looking at are the informative ones, not the cutesy ones.
What do I want when I look at an author’s website? I want a little "blip" about the author’s qualifications as a writer. I would like some information about the author’s "previous life"…. Did the author study writing in college? Did the author hone his/her skills as a journalist? Did the author write a different type of book before deciding that cozies (mysteries) were what he/she is passionate about? If the author had a previous occupation, did he/she write as part of his/her duties?
I cannot tell you how many websites I have gone to that do not offer a decent biography…. in which case I have to go to places like Amazon, and try to scrounge up some information about the author. (Amazon sometimes has a little "blip" about the author under the book’s description.)
Another important thing that I am looking for is a list of the author’s books. I want the list to be a chronological list for each of the author’s series… not a mish-mash of chronological publishing dates, regardless of what series the books belong to. I want the lists to be similar to the lists that I try to offer… easy, concise lists that will help me when I go to either purchase or check out the book.
What I really dislike is when I get to an author’s website and see the "BIOGRAPHY" as just a paragraph of "I have always loved writing…" (Do you know many writers who don’t enjoy writing? Well, maybe there are a lot out there…. but take a look at the internet…. there is a reason there are so many blogs floating around…)
Fortunately, most of the websites that I have found have been informative… AND, to top that… a lot of the really informative websites have also been fun … almost cutesy!
Molly says
Yes!!! The bit about the chronological list of when things were written is SO much nicer than one with the publishing dates. Lots of times when I discover a new author (to me) or read about book number 4 in a series I’d never heard of, I’ll go to the library website to look up and reserve books. The library lists their stuff in the web catalogue according to publishing date, and if someone has a lot of books, and they’ve come out both in hardcover AND paperback AND were published elsewhere and then here, it’s a total nightmare to figure out what book 1 is in the series. I always go to the author’s web page in hopes of finding out what to reserve first, and it’s SO frustrating when I can’t figure it out even from the website.
linda says
One of the libraries that I visit, the Shelby County Library in Sidney, Ohio has a darling of a librarian that puts little number tags on the spine of the books that are in a series in chronological order! Isn’t she a sweetheart!??
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Molly, I’m with you!
Years ago, I remember going to the library and physically having to look through the actual books (if they were on the shelves) to see if they were later editions of the originally copyrighted dates. Very Frustrating!
Jan says
And we appreciate all the work you do! Thanks so much!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you! Glad to do it…