Authors’ Websites

Authors' Websites

'It wasn't long ago that the only way readers could get in touch with their favorite author was to hope for a book tour docking nearby, or else to send a letter - sure to be tossed into a pile with hundreds of other similar missives - to the author's monolithic publishing house.

'Today, however, the loyal reader's options are many. With the advent of the Internet, as well as the proliferation of small presses, book aficionados are now seeing more variety in the marketplace than ever before. Many presses now offer chapter excerpts on the Web, as well as other enticements to get people interested in their authors.

'Some writers are taking the new connectivity a step further, developing and running their own websites, offering up such goodies as unpublished works, reading lists, e-mail addresses, and more. To have such a site is a no-brainer, as these authors tell it: They provide loyal readers content they can't get anywhere else, allow the authors to plug their friends, and lend a personal - but not too personal - connection between writer and reader.'

The Christian Science Monitor