Earlier this week, I wrote a column for Writer Unboxed, where I discussed the primary function and value of an author website, which is marketing related.
Yet many authors ask me questions that indicate they plan to focus on their website as a publishing tool—and they wonder if that’s OK. My response:
Sure, posting content you own at your website is OK. But why do it?
What do you gain by posting your book, in part or in its entirety, on your website?
How will anyone know it’s there?
Why will anyone want to read it on your website?
What are you trying to accomplish by putting it on your site and not publishing it through the biggest retailer of ebooks (Amazon)?
Read the full column over at Writer Unboxed, where there’s already an active discussion in the comments.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
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