Well, I've finally done it. After weeks of putting the job off I've got my website off the ground. True, there has been a glitch with regard to the domain name (which is why you will be reading this on AnthonyMorganClark.Weebly.com rather than Anthony MorganClark.com until it's sorted), but I've got the bulk of what I want for the website up and running. Like most things, it's a work in progress.
So what next? Promotion, that's what. The purpose of the website is to publicise my writing, to give those interested in me a flavour of what I'm about, and to engage readers; but also to sell books. I didn't spend all those months writing The Tor for it to sit anonymously amongst the masses of book published every day. And having written the manuscript, rewritten, proofed and edited until I could quote vast swathes of the book verbatim, I'm ready to start the next. one.
Except I'm not.
You see, creating a book is only the first stage of your involvement. There's the Facebook page, the Twitter account, Goodreads, even Pinterest. Then there's the website. Then there's pleading for reviews from those who've bought the finished product. Currently I'm researching the best people, bloggers and magazines to whom I should send review copies of The Tor, as well as deciding the best way to approach local bookstores. As I write this it's approaching midnight. I've spent the evening preparing Facebook posts for the next few weeks, searching for engaging content and eye-catching visuals. I've tinkered with the website and *think* I've sussed out why I can't publish it to the URL I purchased earlier this week (thanks to Weebly's customer service department for helping me with this). I've looked at the two short stories I'm working on, but not added anything to them. So I'm a writer, but since completing The Tor am learning very quickly that actually writing fiction comprises much less time than I'd like. That's not a complaint - I'm one of those people who really enjoys picking up new skills, and next on my hit-list is the SEO information for this website, and perhaps learning some basic coding to customise the site even further. And having released Reformed last year to very strong reviews but disappointing sales, I know the importance of doing everything you can to spread the word about the book you spend countless hours thinking about and creating. With Reformed the rush of having an ACTUAL BOOK ON SALE was enough excitement to compensate for not seeing any return on my investment of time, but this time around I'm taking the whole thing a lot more seriously. A large part of this is, I think, due to having much more confidence in myself as a writer. Over the past twelve months I garnered only positive reviews for Reformed, managed to get my stories published in a few e-zines, and even placed in a horror writing competition - the story was published in Rambunctious Ramblings Vol 1 (see the short fiction menu, above).
Anyway, that's it for this first blog post. I'm off to bed (with the notepad app on my phone ready to go!).
Anthony
So what next? Promotion, that's what. The purpose of the website is to publicise my writing, to give those interested in me a flavour of what I'm about, and to engage readers; but also to sell books. I didn't spend all those months writing The Tor for it to sit anonymously amongst the masses of book published every day. And having written the manuscript, rewritten, proofed and edited until I could quote vast swathes of the book verbatim, I'm ready to start the next. one.
Except I'm not.
You see, creating a book is only the first stage of your involvement. There's the Facebook page, the Twitter account, Goodreads, even Pinterest. Then there's the website. Then there's pleading for reviews from those who've bought the finished product. Currently I'm researching the best people, bloggers and magazines to whom I should send review copies of The Tor, as well as deciding the best way to approach local bookstores. As I write this it's approaching midnight. I've spent the evening preparing Facebook posts for the next few weeks, searching for engaging content and eye-catching visuals. I've tinkered with the website and *think* I've sussed out why I can't publish it to the URL I purchased earlier this week (thanks to Weebly's customer service department for helping me with this). I've looked at the two short stories I'm working on, but not added anything to them. So I'm a writer, but since completing The Tor am learning very quickly that actually writing fiction comprises much less time than I'd like. That's not a complaint - I'm one of those people who really enjoys picking up new skills, and next on my hit-list is the SEO information for this website, and perhaps learning some basic coding to customise the site even further. And having released Reformed last year to very strong reviews but disappointing sales, I know the importance of doing everything you can to spread the word about the book you spend countless hours thinking about and creating. With Reformed the rush of having an ACTUAL BOOK ON SALE was enough excitement to compensate for not seeing any return on my investment of time, but this time around I'm taking the whole thing a lot more seriously. A large part of this is, I think, due to having much more confidence in myself as a writer. Over the past twelve months I garnered only positive reviews for Reformed, managed to get my stories published in a few e-zines, and even placed in a horror writing competition - the story was published in Rambunctious Ramblings Vol 1 (see the short fiction menu, above).
Anyway, that's it for this first blog post. I'm off to bed (with the notepad app on my phone ready to go!).
Anthony
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