Can I Be Bothered?
By: Olivia Pettman
Tags: Website, Writing, Writer, Cccu, Social Media

Can I be bothered? No. Let’s be honest I have two choices. Yes or no. And, let’s face it, if you’re approached by a salesman and they’re not very attractive you’d be inclined to always say no. No is easier. It also means less work.

A better question, perhaps, would be why should I be bothered? I mean, this question asks for more; encourages deeper thought and reflection. So, why should I be bothered? Bothered to get out of bed, to have a shower, to leave my room, to go to work, to go to university, to write, to make and have a website.

Since I only have eight hundred words and I’m under assignment, I will only address one of these. Why should I be bothered as an aspiring author, to have a website? Do I even need one?

For starters, I’m a full-time student, work when I’m not studying, have a part-time blog and have religious commitments. I don’t have time. I don’t have the experience or knowledge. You also hear all those horrible stories about internet thieves stealing your details and hacking into your websites. Besides, doesn’t everyone use social media now? It’s easier to use social media, because I’ve been using it for a while. Plus, I bet it’s very expensive to have your own website.

Though, with a little research I found out that over four billion people around the world use the internet (Kemp, 2018). That’s a massive amount. I’d never be able to reach over four billion people in one place in one day, the traffic alone would be ridiculous! But, even if only 0.0001% of people were to look at your website that’s still over 4,000 viewing your site!

I do get why businesses would want to have a website. It’s also a good way of getting a product out there. Promoting your products with 24/7 advertisement and marketing. You can be promoting your business while you sleep. That is a nice thought, but how does it benefit me? I’m already lacking a great deal of sleep.

I read an article from a web-page on Writer’s Edit, a website dedicated to aspiring authors, and in that it argues that “Essentially for an author, your name is your brand; and for any brand, a website is an integral element in valuable promotion.” (Edstein). They also mention, Joanna Penn, bestselling author of over twenty-five fiction and non-fiction books, and on this subject she said:

“I’ve built a multi-six-figure business off the back of my author websites… Your website is one of the most important things to get sorted if you’re serious about your author Career…It’s your home on the internet and the hub for your books. It’s how readers, agents, publishers, journalists, bloggers and podcasters judge how professional you are.” (Penn).

On closer evaluation, I decided to look up a variety of my favourite authors to find that indeed they all have their own websites, each providing wonderful detail on their novels and news on future releases. While also providing links to various social media forums to follow. It seems a website is like a source for which you can centralise your crafted creativity while also filtering condensed teasers through all forums you’re a part of. It’s all united through one medium.

It also doesn’t cost anything to have a website. Sure, to get good, personalised domain names you will need to get out your wallet; but, in my opinion, I don’t need a personalised domain name just yet. I’m still honing my craft and building up a rapport. I can learn all the while the domain name is free and gain necessary experience and skills. So that when I am ready for branching out I will know what I’m doing. Social media, I’ve learnt from my searching, is like the bread crumbs that lead potential readers to your writing home, where you can sit them down with your wonderful ideas and get them stuck to your fan base.

The only concern I had, is that there’s still the potential of hacking. But Hellen Keller once said, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” I guess you either take the leap and get the experience or you don’t and miss out on what could be life changing.

It seems to me that the answer to why I should be bothered to have a website as an aspiring author can be accompanied by a self-reflecting question: Am I serious about becoming an author? There are only two answers to that question. So, will I?

You can find my blog here.

References:

Edstein, Eloise. “Should Writers Have a Website?”. Writer’s Edit. https://writersedit.com/fiction-writing/should-writers-have-website/

Keller, Helen. P50. Let Us Have Faith. Doubleday & company, 1940.

Kemp, Simon. “Digital in 2018: World’s internet Users pass the 4 Billion Mark”. We Are Social. 30th January 2018. https://wearesocial.com/blog/2018/01/global-digital-report-2018

Penn, Joanna. “Step By Step Tutorial: How To Build Your Own Self-Hosted Author Website In 30 Minutes”. The Creative Penn. https://www.thecreativepenn.com/authorwebsite/