Did you create your own author website? Asking for a friend …

Every author needs a website. I’ve had one since 2014, and based on what people I contacted on Reedsy said, it apparently dates back to the Stone Age.

So, new book or not, I need to update my site. The lady I hired more than 13 years ago was nice as can be. She built the website from scratch and it’s currently hosted on HostGator. And when I go to review the code, I see things like this:

HTML <<44 smfjoeodm xxxxx fdsoirms.fne>>

<tm> PL ^##skjed <crush> uuz # TML.

And there are HUNDREDS of those rows! I have no idea what any of that is, as I’ve never learned to code. And I hope I never have to. I could go back to the designer, but that would cost more. That’s fine. Or, I could hire someone to build a new website. I’ve gotten quotes on Reedsy ranging from $750 to $800, which I find reasonable. And I’ve gotten ones for thousands of dollars.

If you get to Squarespace, it’s quite intuitive. Meaning, in theory, I could build my own website without knowing any code.

I’ll have to renew HostGator in March, which will cost money. Or I could sign up with Squarespace and take the plunge (and still spend money, but it’s far less than $800).

I don’t need anything fancy. I just want something functional that looks nice and professional. I don’t need animations with dragons swooping across the screen. And if you’ve ever thought about going indie, you’ll need not just a good book cover, but a great one. That will cost over $1,000, likely more. (I got a quote for $10,000!) I won’t spend that much, but I will certainly invest in a great book cover because, let’s face it, some indie book covers look unprofessional. And this isn’t a knock on any author or artist. People choose what they can reasonably afford and what they think looks good on them. Heck, I had small presses (that are no longer in business) make excellent covers and, frankly, cringy ones. It’s the way it is.

But if you’re going indie, you want the most professional-looking product possible, both inside and out. That will cost thousands of dollars. Can it be cheaper? Sure. But it won’t look good. You and I both know it.

So, if creating my own website can save me money that can go toward a cover (I’ve already had it professionally edited, and that was pricey but worth it), I figure, why not try it? If I screw up, I can always go back to the professionals I originally contacted and see if they’ll take me on.

So, I’m curious. Did you build your own site?

Query Tracker: Hating rejection, but admiring Agents who ask questions …

If you’re a querying author, you must know about Query Tracker or else you have no idea what you’re doing. It’s a helpful author resource for writers to query agents representing their genres and easily keeps track of to whom you’ve submitted, and also archives who’s rejected you, and who’s requested material, and whether you’ve received an offer of representation or publication. Publishers (mostly smaller, independent ones) also use it.

That’s the love part. Not long ago, writers either emailed their material (and some agents still require this; it’s made clear on their profiles) or snail-mailed their queries with a SASE. One of QT’s popular features is a form many agents use, allowing authors to enter all pertinent information and requested materials (synopsis, first chapter, query letter).

Then there’s the hate part. The rejections. If you’re an author who’s been through the query trenches, you understand rejection comes with the territory. Those agents who use the QT form tend to reply, and mostly use form rejections that are emailed to you with QueryTracker in the subject line. And whenever I see that in my inbox, I get this sense of doom. Why? Because I know it’s a rejection. I’m going by experience here. And I’m not complaining. This is the business I have chosen. You simply delete and move on because the agent’s already done that with you. That’s the harsh reality because most reputable (and disreputable) agents receive hundreds if not thousands of queries a month.

But you must do it. I received a material request from an agent I found on QT, but it didn’t work out. So, there can be a positive outcome, if not the desired one

Some agents ask for the bare basics: Name, email, Book Info, Query, and sample material.

Other agents pose several questions for the author to answer (some are optional). That was my experience with an agent I queried recently. I was asked: How long have I been a writer? What’s my biggest strength as a writer? What’s my biggest weakness as a writer? What genres do I plan to write in the future? What inspired me to write my manuscript? What is my favorite part of the story? Why do I feel this agent is the right fit for me?

Personally, I love the agents who ask these questions (not many do, and this agent asked by far the most). Some authors might be put off by this, like, why does the agent need all this info? What’s the point?

Those authors are idiots. Does answering them require more thought and time? Yes! But I found that answering them made me think about why I started doing this in the first place and got me to reflect on my good and bad experiences in the publishing industry. Never has an agent asked me about my favorite part of the story, and it got me thinking. I answered honestly and enjoyed it because I remembered writing the dialogue and laughing along the way! And most importantly, putting in the time and effort to answer all the questions made me believe in my work even more. Corny as that sounds, it’s true.

I hope the agents who ask these questions read all the answers before rendering judgment because writers personalize themselves more if they take the questions seriously, and give an agent a clearer picture of the querying writer.

In the end, do I think the agent will ask for more material? My gut tells me no simply because it’s been my experience. I’m a grim realist, and I attribute this to living in New Jersey.

But whatever the case, I’m glad I was asked, and if answering those questions can help tip the scales, by all means answer them!

Be professional, take the time, think about what you’re typing, and don’t cut and paste generic answers you might have concocted for simplicity’s sake!

In the end, you can and will get your book published. Be it traditionally, indie-trad, or full indie yourself. The journey might have bumps along the way. Learn from them. And keep moving.

How many followers do you need in publishing?

The disheartening truth of modern publishing, it seems, is that your social media follower count dictates your probability for success.

I saw a tweet from a writer saying an agent loved the book but declined to take on the author because of too few followers.

I don’t know if this is true, but I’m inclined to believe it. That’s bad news for those of us who don’t like social media and prefer not to be on it because it’s unhealthy and time-consuming. That being said, I understand its importance but fear it’s relied upon too much by the publishing industry.

If a book is solid, people will buy it, and word will spread. Yes, social media helps this, but there was a time when it didn’t exist, and books still sold.

This doesn’t bode well for modern debut authors who might not have any following whatsoever. The way to gain followers is to publish a book that garners readers who want to learn about the author. You don’t need followers for that, just an account for people to find and follow

Regardless, that’s modern publishing, and you must adapt. I’m trying. I’ll follow you if you follow me. But it likely won’t be out of sincere interest on either part, only out of necessity to boost numbers.

So, how many followers is enough?

Alex Honnold gets paid $500,000 for not falling to his death …

Just when you thought The Running Man would never become real television–because watching hunters murder human game show contestants might be unseemly–Netflix screams, “Not so fast!”

Now, the streaming giant didn’t greenlight a dystopian, murderous gameshow that, if you added snow, might resemble present-day Minneapolis, but it managed to pay Alex Honnold, a professional mountain climber, $500,000 to scale a tall tower in Taipei.

The catch: Honnold won’t wear any climbing or safety gear. He falls, he dies.

And, boy, did people watch, with 6.2 million views of “Skyscraper Live.” I wasn’t one of them. I find it ghoulish watching what is ostensibly entertainment, knowing full well the star entertainer might plummet 1,667 feet to his death. Netflix had the dignity to put a 10-second delay on the program in case that happened.

Can you imagine if it did? Now, I’m thrilled it didn’t. But I envision Alex somewhere on the tower, and then all of a sudden, you cut to an image reading, “Technical Difficulties.” They would not have broadcast Alex falling and then cut away before the splat. Netflix is classy that way.

First, if you don’t know who Alex Honnold is, watch Free Solo immediately. It documents how Honnold climbed the 3,000-foot-tall El Capitan at Yosemite National Park in 2018 without a rope. Or anything. It was him, some sturdy shoes, and a bag of chalk for his hands.

Second, Alex Honnold, 40, is a lunatic. He’s mentally sound in almost every way, except that this married father with two kids climbs tall things for a living without anything to prevent him from dying should he fall. It’s called Free Soloing. And climbers absolutely have died in this manner.

If you think you’ve ever had a bad day at the office, like, some typos wound up in your boss’s PowerPoint presentation, just imagine what Alex’s bad day might look like. You’d need a human-sized spatula.

Alex Honnold is the best at what he does, no doubt. He’s freakishly strong and controls fear in ways I cannot comprehend. But all it takes is one crumbling rock, one spooked bird darting from a mountain crevice, and that’s the ball game. I imagine his life insurance policy has some hefty premiums, and his family will be well compensated should the unthinkable happen. But to inflict that on your children and wife strikes me as cruel. Just hang it up, man. Or wear ropes! It’s no longer all about you.

There was a minor kerfuffle over Honnold receiving “only” $500,000 to scale that tower. This is silly. Nobody forced Honnold to accept half a million dollars in exchange for the possibility of him splattering on the pavement. Maybe hire Scott Boras, of baseball agenting fame, to represent you. He’ll net you a fortune.

But this presents the ghoulish prospect of a bidding war to get Honnold to climb something else incredibly tall and dangerous to entertain the masses. Chances are, that’s already in the works because of Honnold’s success in Taipei, and because there’s an audience for it. But I’m not in it. For the sake of decency, I hope I’m not the only one.

#Questpit is this Friday! Why the heck not?

Never heard of #Questpit before, but it’s this Friday on X. Just check out @questpit in X for the details.

Basically, I’ve got my one-sentence pitch ready to go, and a few other tidbits. No idea what reactions it will get, but I suppose it can’t hurt.

What I hope doesn’t happen, and what I recommend everyone do if contacted by someone about their work: Do your research.

Predators lurk during these events to sway you to their services. Beware.

When writing ideas hit you in the shower …

When you’re writing a book, novel or nonfiction, it’s always on your mind. What can I do next? How can I improve it?

And when those revelations come, they don’t always arrive when you’re sitting in front of a monitor.

You could be in the shower, as I was, when an idea hit.

“Yeah, I can do that! That would work, and I can incorporate this character into it. Perfect!”

Those are the fun moments, and you can’t wait to start typing; otherwise, you’re bound to forget.

Anyway, onward.