Seekerville: The Journey Continues

 

Happy Friday, Seeker villagers! As an avid reader, reviewer, book blogger, and book marketer, I spend a lot of time on author websites. Like... a lot. Ninety-nine percent of the blog posts I publish on Reading Is My SuperPower require me to visit an author's website. And I would say at least fifty percent of what I do for JustRead Tours also finds me there too. 

Picture this all-too-common scenario with me: I am doing a review for your debut novel, so I don't know a lot about you as an author yet. I search for your name (plus the keyword 'author') on the interwebs, click the link it regurgitates at me, the website loads .... and .... I sigh with disappointment. I can find almost no helpful information that I need to finish building my blog post. In fact, it doesn't even look like you want readers to connect with you at all.

What does this mean for you? Well... if it's me on the other end of that click, it means that I'm going to scrounge up what I can find elsewhere because I'm stubborn. But an interested reader who looked up your website may get frustrated and go away, no longer invested in you or your books. 

So what are some basic, easy-peasy-to-do must-haves that every author should include on their website to tell readers & media everything they need to know?

1. Author Bio

Ideally, you should offer a short bio and a medium-length bio. Both bio options should be in third person (I cannot stress that enough!!!) Our very own Mindy Obenhaus has two perfect bios to choose from on her website. My recommendation would be one paragraph max for the short bio & no more than three paragraphs for the longer one. 

Oh - and please keep your bio updated! If I go to an author's website and their bio says something like "Her latest book releases in March 2017", but I am posting about her actual latest book that released in October 2021, I am going to be hesitant to use the bio on her website.

2. High Resolution Head Shot

You can have a variety of head shots to choose from or just the one - that's not as important as the fact that the photos you include should be high resolution and professional-looking. Note: I'm not saying you absolutely must invest in a professional head shot (though I do recommend it) but at least make sure it's high quality and cropped well. I also strongly suggest that you be looking at the camera and smiling. Look friendly and open and "buy my book & you'll have fun". But the most important thing is that it's high resolution and doesn't look like my six-year-old nephew took it and/or cropped it.

Why does this matter on a website and not just a book jacket or media interview? Well, because graphics matter to most book bloggers / marketers. See the two examples below. This a graphic template I use often on RimSP - I have lost count of how many times I've had to hunt down a higher resolution or more professional looking head shot because the one on the author's website looks more like the 'please, no' sample than the 'yes, please' one. 

I know I'm spending a lot of time on this point but can you see the difference a professional looking photo can make? It sets a first impression for readers that can reflect negatively (whether true or not) on the assumed quality of your writing. So if you're going to spend some time and money on one thing, let it be this!

3. Updated Book Information 

This is similar to the 'keep it updated' note I mentioned in the section on your author bio. Your latest release should be easily discoverable on your website with a high resolution front cover (don't only include the whole cover spread - book bloggers don't use those) and a variety of purchase links. It's also not a bad idea to link to your publisher's page for your book. In other words, make it a piece of cake for people to find your book. (And now I want cake. And to read a book.) The fabulous Becky Wade is a great example of putting this 'must-have' into practice. Her latest release is super simple to find, and she also has a book list in a separate tab, organized by series. You can click on each book cover for the blurb, ways to purchase, fun behind the scenes info, quote graphics and more. Super fun for readers & super helpful for book bloggers / marketers.

PS - Need to know how to tell whether an image file is high resolution or not? There are some very technical descriptions that go over my head but as a general rule of thumb, if it's under 1MB in file size then it's probably not high resolution enough.

4. Social Media Links 

Let readers know how to connect with you!!! If we love your books, we are definitely going to want to follow you on social media and learn more about you & your life & what you're reading too. And if we find that we have things in common, well then we're all the more invested in you as a person and as an author. Personal investment from readers makes you an 'auto buy author' for them ... which translates into consistent sales. If they're coming to your website, they want to know more about you. Don't miss those opportunities! Our dear Mary Connealy has the icons readily visible no matter where you click through on her website AND listed out in her media kit too. Super helpful!!

5. Mailing List Sign-Up

While we're talking about connecting with your readers, you really need to have a way for readers to sign up for new book alerts and other email newsletters you might send throughout the year. This should be - you can probably guess what I'm going to say - easy to find on your website, whether it's a separate tab or a pop-up or a prominent place on your landing page and/or media kit.

Which brings me to the part of this post where it all comes together. If you've clicked on any of the authors' websites I linked to above, you may have noticed that they all have one thing in common - their media kit pages. A media kit on your website is a godsend for bloggers / media / marketers because all the info they are looking for is all on one page - can I get an amen?! But again... keep it updated. It's useless to us if it's 5 books old. (By the way, the 2021 Christy Award finalist Erica Vetsch did a terrific post on media kits a while back.)

Optional Fun Things To Also Include

I polled some bookish friends (aka Beth & Rachel) for some other ideas of things that aren't must-haves but do also appeal to readers. These are optional, but they really are a lot of fun to have!

• a printable book list (example: Jody Hedlund)
• charts of interconnected characters/books or family trees (example: Melanie Dickerson)
• book club kits (example: DiAnn Mills)
• other fun extras like character profiles, recipes, playlists, etc. (example: Dani Pettrey)

The possibilities of what you can do are endless... have fun with it & your readers will too! But don't get overwhelmed. As long as you have the top 5 must-haves I covered in this post, your website will be an incredibly useful tool to establish connections with the people who will read & promote your books.

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Carrie Schmidt is an avid reader, book reviewer, story addict, KissingBooks fan, book boyfriend collector, and cool aunt. She also loves Jesus and THE Story a whole lot. Co-founder of the Christian Fiction Readers' Retreat and JustRead Publicity Tours, LLC, Carrie lives in Georgia with her husband Eric.

She can be found lurking at various blogs and websites (because she can't stop talking about books) but her main home is the blog she started in 2015 - ReadingIsMySuperPower.org.

 

What about you?
Authors, what questions do you have about your author website?
Readers, what makes you want to hang out on an author's website?

Comment below for a chance to win this super fun reading journal from Ink and Willow!
(US only)

Do you read cozy mysteries?
If so, who are some of your fave authors? What do you like most about this genre?
If you haven't read one yet, what intrigues you about this genre?

~*~*~*~*~

 

• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston 
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville

• They immediately grab your attention. Maybe you're chuckling at some poor soul being voluntold for horrors unknown, unfortunate Eustace Clarence Scrubb of the almost-deserved name, or a crime-committing mama raccoon. Maybe you're captivated by the clever (or poetic) wordsmithing. Maybe you're just plain intrigued by what comes after that first line - where could it go from here? Regardless, each of these twelve first lines definitely (and immediately) has you committed to discovering the rest of the book. 

• They are a bit vague. By that, I mean that a captivating first line raises more questions than it answers. Who was voluntold for what? Who is Ishmael & why do we care? (spoiler alert - we don't.) Why did poor Eustace almost deserve his name, and why only almost? What caused that 'swell of instant silence and intense heat'? This immediate need for more information again engages the reader's full attention & keeps them reading. 

• They can be poetic. The first line from Pepper Basham's The Thorn Keeper is one of my very fave first lines because it's so beautiful and wistful and a bit sad, too. Reading a first line like that - or the one from Beth Troy's Lu or quote #5 in the game list above - tells me I must keep reading to discover what other poetically beautiful gems are tucked inside this book!

• But they don't have to be. Lines like the ones from The Cupcake Dilemma by Jennifer Rodewald or More Than We Remember by Christina Suzann Nelson (and even #4 from our guessing game) are more humorous and maybe a little bit snarky. That doesn't necessarily mean the rest of the book is written in that tone - though it might - but yet again it keeps me reading to find out. 

Hello, friends! Beth and Carrie here! Since our identities have frequently been mistaken for one another, and we practically live on the same brainwave to the extent that we might actually be sharing a brain, we’ve decided to join forces today and y’all can just use your imagination to figure out who says what.

We mustache you... who is who? (see hint)

Stories have our hearts (well, Jesus AND stories but since He told stories it’s another reason to love them)! A life with books is far richer than one without them. Perhaps storytellers feel the same way about penning their tales. We’ve even read that avid fiction readers possess more empathy than the poor souls who don’t read (we truly feel awful for them, bless their hearts).

Perhaps we're feeling a bit sentimental since celebrating our blog birthdays last month on Faithfully Bookish and Reading Is My SuperPower (4 and 5 years, respectively) but now, more than ever, we realize life is always changing. We’re learning, we’re growing (older, stronger, wiser, softer, you name it), and we’re constantly, even subconsciously, adapting to the dynamics of the world around us.

We want to encourage y’all despite or perhaps because of the uncertainty surrounding us, to embrace the story. Good times, bad times, different times, make time to read (or write), and may the Holy Spirit minister to your story-loving heart no matter what season you find yourself in.

That said, we’re sharing some ways our reading/reviewing/blogging/publicity-ing worlds have changed over the last few weeks, some helpful workarounds if you’re in the same floating-aimlessly boat, and a bit of insight for authors who are wondering why certain formerly dependable readers seem to have fallen off the book planet. :)

Reading 

The world has shut down, we are staying home, we have endless reading time, right?! Unfortunately, no. Introverts have been social distancing since before it was celebrated as a life-saving act and those of us who work from home are literally professionals. Not only do we need to continue doing our work (more about that later) but we now have the added distraction of additional people or inevitable cabin fever to contend with. If you are reading more right now, we are delighted for you and if your reading time has taken a hit, know that you are not alone.

We recommend injecting stories into your day with audiobooks (these are also great for those “distracting other people” as well) or set aside time for a mental health break (yeah, that looks like reading for us). Need a family activity? Gather everyone around (on the couch or via video chat) and read aloud to each other!

There’s a binding of hearts and something healing about sharing stories during stressful times. Too tired for something new? Revisit a book on your “favorites shelf.” Give yourself permission to avoid certain titles due to emotional fatigue (or author pictures with poultry) or stinky binding adhesive.

Reviewing

Let’s be honest, writing reviews can be challenging under any circumstances. How do we find words to express the beauty of a reading experience? The swoofness is elusive, y’all! (btw, we’re talking about “Squeezing Words Out Of Feelings” if this is the first time y’all have heard of swoof) If a reader who shall not be named happened to be devouring books as a coping mechanism to diffuse stress caused by an inability to swoof, well… it’s a vicious cycle, friends. Heaven sakes, I’m stressing myself out just thinking about it! Talk me off the ledge, Carrie!

(Repeat after me, Beth. The swoof will return. Trust the swoof.)

Let’s all take a moment and just breathe deeply. We need to give ourselves permission to read a book and occasionally only leave a couple-sentence review on retail sites. Something like, “This book is so beautiful I can’t even put my feelings into words. Except to say, ‘Read it. You’ll thank me.’” Not every review has to be a full swoof, friends. If you’re reviewing on your blog and need to fill in more space than 2 sentences, talk about a couple of favorite quotes to flesh out a longer review. In other words, employ the Dory method - Just keep swoofing!

Blogging

We love to introduce our fellow readers to books and authors but it’s not as easy as Carrie makes it look! (Note from Carrie - ha! Not easy at all!) There’s so much to learn and consider with search engine optimization and social media promotion and giveaways and updating old posts and site navigation and newsletters and sometimes this introvert gets stuck in overload. Have you ever heard of stress paralysis? (Where are my Moms’ Night Out fans?!) It’s a thing.

One of the first things my big sister blogger taught me was the “my blog, my rules” principle, and years later, it’s still a good reminder. If you’re struggling, know that you’re not alone and give yourself grace and permission to have fun or step back as needed. Throw together some spotlights or quick lists if you’re all out of creativity or time but still want to show love to some authors & books.

You may find, like our book sisters Rachel (@bookwormmama14) or Annie (@justcommonly), that bookstagramming will get your creative juices flowing. A little less writing, a little more space for artistic expression, and a whole lot of cover love, Instagram is quickly becoming one of the most popular platforms for spreading the book love! Whether you bookstagram as part of your book blogging or instead of (even for a season), we think you’ll continue to benefit and bless the bookish community with your enthusiasm.

JustRead Publicity-ing

Even the world of online book promotion is not immune to Covid19. At JustRead (and I’m sure other tour groups would say the same thing), we’ve had to cope with various shipping issues & delays in getting books to our instagram hosts. There have also been several delayed release dates which means long-ago-planned tour dates have to be shifted around and squeezed in on new weeks in an already-full calendar.

Communication snafus are inevitable in a world where everybody else is now adjusting to working from home too. All of these are necessary adjustments in this ‘new-for-now normal’ on top of all the ‘still normal’ to-do tasks involved with running a publicity company. And of course, we are willing to do whatever is needed right now to support the authors & books & publishers we love so much. But if we seem more frazzled than usual (because let’s face it, we’re always a bit frazzled), that’s why!

Here are a few tips which apply now more than ever! Schedule early and keep the lines of communication open. Please meet deadlines; publicity companies must juggle several tours in various stages of planning at once in a neverending cycle so the domino effect of not having what we need when we need it impacts your tour and other tours and our sanity in unattractive ways.

Play This or That with us! 

Let’s check your reader life pulse! Share your answers in the comments.

Carrie and Beth

Carrie Schmidt is an avid reader, book reviewer, story addict, KissingBooks fan, book boyfriend collector, and cool aunt. She also loves Jesus and THE Story a whole lot. Co-founder of the Christian Fiction Readers' Retreat and JustRead Publicity Tours, Carrie lives in Kentucky with her husband Eric.
She can be found lurking at various blogs and websites (because she can't stop talking about books) but her main home is the blog she started in 2015 - ReadingIsMySuperPower.org.

Beth Erin is a Christian fiction enthusiast, book reviewer, blogger, and JustRead Publicity Tours co-owner. She strives to edify and connect with readers and authors at Faithfully Bookish and on social media.
Beth also contributes to the Seekerville, Hoarding Books, and Diversity Between the Pages blogs. She is passionate about promoting authors and their entertaining, encouraging, and redemptive stories.

The idea behind these tours is to get your book in front of people over and over and over again, so when they see it online or in a store they'll feel a connection to it and be more likely to buy it. But it won't happen overnight. It's a cumulative process, which I'll address more in a minute. 

Plan ahead. 

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. 

Have all your ducks in a row.

 

Share and support.

 

Just Read. 

Happy Fri-yay, Seekerville!! I am delighted to welcome Elaine Stock to the blog today - I love her heart & her books, and it's always a pleasure to hear from her. 

Before I turn it over to Elaine, let's take a look at her new book, When Love Blossoms... 

The journeys in life take you to unexpected destinations. The love of a good person brings you home.

Kierra Madden, proprietor of the Kindred Lake Inn, struggles for stability after her engagement ends, family strife continues, and business slows. When her mom, sister and teenage niece move in with her, life becomes a lot more complicated. There’s certainly spare room…until one guest arrives…on his bicycle. Ryan Delaney is fit and trim…quite the eye candy.

Ryan, a TV news anchor on a leave of absence following a horrific incident, enjoys the peace long-distance biking offers. Only in town to mend his strained relationship with his teen daughter, he never expects to fall for Kierra fast and hard. Despite her policy of separating business and pleasure, mutual attraction pulls them closer until unforeseen consequences threaten to wedge between them.

Surrounded by springtime beauty, will the temptation of desire bloom into a more powerful and lasting love? 

Won't you join me in giving her a big Seekerville welcome??

 

How to Keep the Romance in a Romance Novel
By Elaine Stock

1. Keep the hero and heroine in the limelight. This is their story. It helps to limit the Point of View to only his and her perspectives.
2. Like descriptions of surroundings, sensory perceptions, and many other etceteras, all secondary characters are secondary including their premise, plot, turning points, and conflicts, yet…
3. The hero and heroine must be seen engaging with these secondary characters (for me, it’s typically family, though you may have another association in mind). For instance, can your heroine ask for advice from an older brother? Will the hero’s aunt, the one who raised him but then disowned him, step back into the picture and wedge between him and this woman he’s falling madly in love with?
4. If your secondary characters’ sub-story is strong enough to impact the hero and heroine then keep their plot line, descriptions (physical, emotional, likes, dislikes, the way they act) to a minimal. They must not take over the story and take away from the romance. Keep the romance in the reader’s mind at all times.

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Which of Elaine's tips most resonated with you today?

I will pretty much gravitate toward any book that claims to be a retelling (for all the reasons I've already mentioned) but allow me to take a moment to share some of my favorites. This can definitely act as a syllabus of sorts for anyone wanting to do more research!


She knows women are expected to marry, cook, and have children, not go to war. Can she manage to stay alive, save her mother, and keep the handsome son of a duke from discovering her secret?


When Mulan takes her father’s place in battle against the besieging Teutonic Knights, she realizes she has been preparing for this journey her whole life—and that her life, and her mother’s, depends on her success. As the adopted daughter of poor parents, Mulan has little power in the world. If she can’t prove herself on the battlefield, she could face death—or, perhaps worse, marriage to the village butcher.

Disguised as a young man, Mulan meets the German duke’s son, Wolfgang, who is determined to save his people even if it means fighting against his own brother. Wolfgang is exasperated by the new soldier who seems to be one step away from disaster at all times—or showing him up in embarrassing ways.

From rivals to reluctant friends, Mulan and Wolfgang begin to share secrets. But war is an uncertain time and dreams can die as quickly as they are born. When Mulan receives word of danger back home, she must make the ultimate choice. Can she be the son her bitter father never had? Or will she become the strong young woman she was created to be?

This fresh reimagining of the classic tale takes us to fifteenth-century Lithuania where both love and war challenge the strongest of hearts. 

2. Worth the Wait. This often goes hand-in-hand (or lip-to-lip?) with 'emotion' but each of these kisses was fueled by a need that had been continually repressed for one reason or another. Whether it is because they've been kept apart by distance or misunderstanding, or because the hero (or heroine) is trying to do the noble thing and resist the relationship. Whatever the reason, once the decision to smooch has been made, there is no longer any holding back! (And when I say 'no holding back', I'm still just talking kisses here. No bedroom shenanigans!)

3. Cherished. Passion notwithstanding, these kisses come from a heart that cherishes the other person, the relationship, the emotion, the act of the kiss. It's not so much about taking as it is about giving, about somehow telling this person without words how much he/she means to you. Because you can't find the words to adequately describe your heart toward him/her (back to 'emotion' again)

4. Passion. Yep. I went there. These aren't mere brushes of the lips (although there's certainly a place for that too). These are 'pucker up and turn on the a/c' kinds of kisses. The kind that make you want to say "WOWZA" out loud while you're reading. (And sometimes you do and then you get funny looks.) Now, please don't misunderstand. A passionate kiss doesn't have to be hot n' heavy and full of sparks and sizzle. Sometimes, the most passionate kiss is the one that comes from a gentle heart full of more love than that heart can contain. But it still has passion, no matter how quiet.

Again, take my advice with a grain of salt. I'm just one reader with her own preferences. But I will say that these four kisses always come up in 'favorite kiss discussions' and not just from me haha! So there is something about them that appeals to a wide variety of readers, and I think these four characteristics (Emotion, Worth the Wait, Cherished, Passion) are a good start in figuring out what makes them so memorable.


Let me know in the comments & you'll be entered to win ONE BOOK of your choice from one of the four books I featured today in my fave kisses.

Giveaway is open internationally, provided Book Depository has the book of your choice and ships to your location. Void where prohibited by law.

1. Falling in love hits HIM in all the feels. Obviously, it needs to hit me in the feels too (I still have not recovered from Vance's redemption or Charlie's sacrifice) but when it makes the hero's voice go husky, his throat tight, his control fray... these things are sure to have me swooning right off my fainting couch (also known as my trusty recliner). For example, watching tough, cocky, bullrider Ty Porter or smoldering, flirty James MacDonald fall hard in love is truly a swoonilicious pleasure.
2. He's not afraid to share those feels, when appropriate. I'm all for macho heroes but there's something particularly yummy about a guy who isn't afraid to tell a girl how he feels. To tell her he's scared, too. To tell her that he's trying to rein in his desires because he respects her, but also to tell her that he has those intense desires to rein in. To let his voice get all raspy and his jaw tight. I'm all a'swoon just thinking about it! (But please, for the love of all things swoony, don't make him smarmy!! If a guy's every thought is some sort of innuendo, nope. He can express desire but right on its heels must be respect. Vance Everstone & Wes Harrison are great examples of this desire/respect balance.)
3. He is a man of integrity and character...Eventually. He can be a bad boy at the start but the process of redemption must be a key element to his story. I'm telling you right now, there is nearly nothing as sexy (am I allowed to use that word??? Where's Julie Lessman when you need her? LOL) ... anyway, there is nothing quite so swoonilicious as a redeemed rogue. If you look at each of these 5 heroes, you'll find a bit (or more) of redeemed bad boy in each one of them.
4. He is a protector at heart. A shirt-worthy book boyfriend doesn't have to be a Navy SEAL or an FBI agent or a First Responder (though, now I'm swooning at the thought) but he has to have some sort of protective instincts. If someone tells him to stay put when his woman is in danger, he better not stay put. And if he's forced to stay put because he's stuck in a hospital bed with a possibly-mortal injury of his own... well... then he at least needs to be growly about not being able to come to her rescue. Even if your book is not a suspense novel, this protective side can come out around kids, dogs, and the heroine in other ways that are just as meaningful. Worthy of note is that none of my 5 shirt-worthy book boyfriends are in a suspense novel. But if you've met Charlie Lionheart, you can't say he doesn't have protective instincts!
5. He's a goooooood kisser! Ok, this last one isn't essential but y'all there is something to be said for a kiss that has you using your book as a swooning fan. (Please be cautious of using your kindle in the same manner... it doesn't have quite the same cool-air effect and a miscalculated swoosh could leave you a bit bruised. Don't ask me how I know this.) We'll talk more about what makes a gooooood kiss the next time I'm on Seekerville! (July 13th, if I did my math right.) 

Now, take this advice with a grain of salt because every reader has her own preferences. Some like flirty heroes. Some like brooding Mr. Darcy-types. Some go for the nerds. Some get weak-kneed over the bearded lumberjacks (I'm looking at you, Beth Erin!) and others prefer a scruffy cowboy or a dashing Brit. It also depends on what kind of chemistry the hero has with the heroine, and the overall quality of the story.

Dear readers, the stuff of fairy-tale romance and happily-ever-after is in our soul's DNA. God has set eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and I believe this is one reason we crave the Prince Charming who comes riding in on a white horse to defeat evil and whisk away as his bride. Sound familiar? Yes, that's basically the plot of every fairy-tale and nearly every romance ever written. But it's also THE plot. It's the story God has been telling from the beginning!

One day Jesus WILL come riding in on a white horse as our Prince of Peace to defeat evil and whisk us away as His bride (Rev 19) to the ultimate happily-ever-after (Rev 21). As we wait for it play out in reality, we read little reflections of it in the meantime. This is why we collect book boyfriends... and this is why certain heroes make it onto my shirt. Because in their stories, I see The Story. They remind me that THIS is love, that someday my Prince will come... in a tale as old as time.

Until then, I'll keep collecting book boyfriends and adding them to my shirts. I've already got a list going for the next one ;)

Authors: What do you find most difficult about writing a swoony hero?
Readers: Who are some of your fave book boyfriends?