Monday Author Website: All Things From My Brain

This post is first in a series on author websites.  I''m interested in what works for readers, what keeps them interested in an author (and that author's works), and how authors can use their websites to attract and keep a diverse and lively audience.

All Things From My Brain

I found science fiction author Patrick Hester's blog (and website) while, ironically, looking for information on how to prevent Scrivener from doing odd formatting things when I cut and paste text from elsewhere into it.  I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did find a number of good tips for using Scrivener, so I'll be sure to be returning.  

The addition of useful information (on whatever topic is relevant) is excellent, especially if it's updated frequently.  Patrick's Scrivener Quick Tips are a regular feature on his site, so I'll be sure to revisit Patrick's site for further tips.  And revisiting is certainly something that we want to see ... I've lost track of the number of cool sites that I visit once and never return to, either because they're static or because there's nothing there to draw me in and keep me returning.  

Of more interest, however, than Patrick's Scrivener Quick Tips, is the Writing Progress sidebar that Patrick has placed on the right-hand side of his blog, underneath the usual authorly stuff (Follow Me, links to his latest books, and an Other Stuff I've Written section).  

I quite like the idea of showing progress.  I've seen it used elsewhere, but think that it works particularly well for authors as it gives readers, waiting with bated breath for the next installment my their favourite author(s), an idea of how things are progressing, what to expect in the upcoming months, and when they might expect to see excerpts and complete works.  In some ways, it may even help keep us writers on track, knowing that we've got those numbers out there for readers to see.  

I like the graphical representation, rather than a list of dates, as it gives readers an at-a-glance view of what's coming next.  As a fan of authors who sometimes take a very long time to write (Jean M. Auel, Diana Gabaldon, and George R. R. Martin, just to name a few), I'd love to see this because then I'd know to expect something this year, or next, or even the year after.