The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Writer #14

A dot.com boon?

Today’s post is a bit of a deviation from the trend that has been established up till now but I wanted to share something with you that might prove of some benefit.

Think about building a website dedicated to your book.

Now I know I’m in a different place from many readers in that I am now published (still something of an alien concept). However, I always thought that the novel would benefit from a supporting online presence and had done quite a bit of work on one. Then my publisher and their publicist encouraged me to upload it.  As I’ve developed it over the last month or so, it’s become clear that there are some real, tangible advantages.

First, you can do it for free.  I believe there are a number of sites out there that facilitate building a simple site. I used Weebly which, for a non-technical person like me, was something of a doddle.  I’m not endorsing it as such, only saying that it worked for me.

Secondly, you have complete creative rein over the content.  So you can illustrate it with whatever images you think will help make it seductive and exciting, and write it in any style you wish.  Basic content management systems make it dead easy to change, purge or grow.

Thirdly – and, I think, most importantly, at least for me – is that the length of an ideal web page forces you to articulate succinctly the core properties and values of your project. Let’s face it, we can all bore for England when we get started talking about our work. The discipline of the web means that we have to reduce our ravings to relatively short sections.  Why are we writing what we are writing?  How to encapsulate what is probably years of thinking, crafting, challenging into a few pithy paragraphs. What’s it all about?  Who we are?  And so on.

Fourthly, it can be a great tool when you’re out there networking or selling your talents.  Slipping someone a URL or including a hyperlink in an e-mail, tweet or Facebook is a game-raiser in the eyes of a recipient.

Fifthly, it can be a living, breathing resource that’ll enable you to blog about your writing, talk about books you love and, generally, vent (if that’s what you need).

I’m not saying www.grossefugue.com is in anyway perfect.  But I do find myself thinking about things I want to say about it and, perhaps, to engage with readers as they’re working their way through it or once they’ve finished it.  It’ll also be nice to blog on a wide range of subjects that may even be relevant to the book.  I’m ambitious; I want Grosse Fugue to have a long shelf-life and be something significant.  I think a website will further and foster that desire.

Anyway, I hope the idea may appeal to some readers and they’ll investigate the possibilities.

Ian Phillips is a freelance writer for businesses whose first novel, Grosse Fugue, is being published by Alliance Publishing Press. Further information is now available at www.alliancepublishingpress.com. The website dedicated to the novel is at www.grossefugue.com and  Ian’s tweeting developments @Ian_at_theWord.