Who Wants to Help Me Design a Website for an Online Book Fair? - The Digital Reader

Cat Napping section?

The weather person says we're going to get snow starting tomorrow, so Panzer has been busy cleaning up the Panzermobile and the garage where he stores it. Vacuuming the carpet in the Panzermobile, he found a post shoved under the floormat. Straightening it out, he discovered it was a post from The Digital Reader site.

 
Nate Hoffelder, The Digital Reader site owner, is asking for a little help designing a template for a website for online book fairs. He asking for readers to post suggestions for content in the Comments section of the post.

Panzer says, "It's going to be a free template."

 

To read the post and give your suggestions tootle over to online book fair website

HarperCollins Unveils Website Redesign - PW (Publishers' Weekly)

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to the PW (Publishers' Weekly) site. There our kitty pilot discovered some interesting news about publisher HarperCollins.

In a short post by Rachel Deahl, Panzer learned HarperCollins has now opened their redesigned HarperCollins.com website. The redesign makes the site more mobile devise friendly. It also has several new features including the "Book Finder" which helps visitors find gift books. The site is for direct book sales to visitors.

Maybe I need glasses.

Panzer says, "I have a hard enough time reading my text messages on Mom's smartphone. I don't know if I can find a new book using those little, teeny, tiny thumbnail book covers."

Note: This is a very short post. Bring a cup of tea for today's reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to HarperCollins

Design Your Own Website

You all know my bad, bad cat boy doesn't usually hang out at sites where there's no murder or mayhem. But today when he was out in the Catosphere he found The Violet Femmes blog. He immediately applied the Panzermobile's brakes because he thought it said The Violent Femmes. But it turned out okay, when he saw Maria K. Alexander's post Author Website Design 101.

No murder or mayhem? Oh, well.

You see, Panzer has been thinking of updating Cats and Crime and Maria's post has all kinds of suggestions. There are sections on your brand, your bio, your buy links, and your contact page. There's even a resource section with links to photo sites and hosting sites.

Panzer says, "If you don't have a site, this will get you setup. If you already have a site, this will get you updated."

To get the information you need for your site, tootle over to author website design

Smashwords: Smashwords Unveils Major Website Redesign

Looks good!

Panzer and I went over to check out the new Smashwords redesigned site. My bad boy is really impressed with the new look.

The changes to the author dashboard and sales reports area make it a lot easier to use. The layout and colors make it easier to read too.

From the reader/buyer's standpoint it's cleaner and nicer looking. The search bar is right at the top to facilitate finding the author or the ebook the browser wants.

If you want to see the new site, tootle over to Smashwords: Smashwords Unveils Major Website Redesign: Smashwords today unveiled our first major website redesign since our launch in 2008. We made hundreds of changes large and small.  We also...

Tina Gayle's Unique Flavors of Life: Do Author's Need A Website?

So much work to do!

Panzer and I headed out into the Catosphere today looking for some helpful ideas to freshen up the site here at Cats and Crime. We stopped in at Tina Gayle's "Enjoying the Unique Favors of Life" blog for a visit. Boy is Panzer glad we did!

Tina gives some excellent advice about constructing a website. She includes which pages to include with a description of each and some reasons for her choices. Panzer and I are going to add some of her suggestions to our pages here!

If you're looking for some help setting up your website or if like us you want to make some changes to your existing site, tootle on over to Tina Gayle's Unique Flavors of Life: Do Author's Need A Website?:  

Anne R. Allen's Blog: Is Your Author Website Working Against you? Top 10...

No more blinking?

Once again Anne R. Allen's blog has a great post for those author's who have a website/blog. She has ten tips for making sure your website/blog is a reader magnet.

It is true number one on her list is don't use gifs. We admit it. We have/do use gifs. (My favorite gif is Panzer blinking his eyes at you. Remember it?) So this blog might not pass her test!

If you want to compare your website to the ten tips, tootle over to  Anne R. Allen's Blog: Is Your Author Website Working Against you? Top 10...: I visit a lot of author websites and blogs. Most are delightfully creative. I love how so many of the sites—especially the blogs—express th...

Selling Ebooks from Your Website?

Panzer was tootling around the catosphere and he found some useful information for you.

Over at Author E.M.S. there's an interesting post about the pros and cons of selling your ebooks from your website instead of using a retailer.

The Pros? Greater gross profits for you.

The Cons? Fees. Fees. Fees.

There's also a section on Resources like Paypal, Clickbank, Cashie, and Digital Content Center that's worth checking out too.

So ... my bad boy says head on over to Author E.M.S. and see if selling from your website is for you.

Seven Elements That Can Make or Break Your Website

There are people who swear a writer needs a website. I admit I used to have one, but it's been two or three years since I took it down. It just seemed too stagnant to me.

Over at Marketing Tips for Authors it's a given that you must have a website as part of your marketing plan. Shaila Abdullah posted the  Seven Elements That Can Make or Break Your Site By Shaila Abdullah  which are worth checking out if you do plan to have a website. Abdulla gives seven elements for success and, then, gives her list of don'ts. 

I'm not sure if I could follow her rules for what not to include on the website. I mean no photos from Panzer's annual family reunion?

What do you think.?