Dipping Another Toe in the Social Media Pool

I am not afraid to admit that I am not one of those people who dives head first into the deep end of the cold clear pool.  

No, I am the one in the shallow end, on tip toe, wading in slowly.  Sometimes shrieking, or at the very least sucking in short, gasping breaths, until I finally submerge myself.  So this analogy has followed me as I wade into the writer’s pool of social media.

Now I am a Boomer, which means I am not as adept with technology as my children. For instance, my daughter set up this blog for me.  Off she went to college, so I was forced to set up my own Facebook page, much to her chagrin. 

But as I went over those lists of must dos for the emerging writer, I noticed having a website was at the top of the list.  The idea was that agents and editors would be surfing the web looking for me.  And they better be able to find me.  

So last week I delved into the make and publish your own webpage world.  Let me just say without all the wonderful information and supported offered through my various email loops and writer’s blogs I never would have attempted this.  

However, being that I am under-published - no book yet. I had no idea what I would put on my author/writer website. 

So I looked to my writerly friends again, and their websites. The imagination and variety on their webpages fueled my creativity.  I decided to let go of what I lacked and have fun with this project. 

So far I have spent about 6 hours building and tweaking my site.  It is a work in progress and if ,when I have a book published I may want a more polished look, including my book cover.  But for now I can cross “author website” off my social media to do list.

If you don’t have a website yet and are contemplating building one.  Here’s what I did.

1.  Start with a free site and play.  I used Weebly but there are others out there.

2.  Surf other writer's site and see what you like.  What could you adapt and adopt for your site?

3.  I wanted something simple, easy to build, and to navigate.  And I didn’t want to spend too many hours on the process.  I still need to be spending my time writing and learning the craft.

4.  As far as branding goes, I haven’t got that far, but I knew I wanted to project the “children’s writer aspect” on my site, as that is where I am having more success. So I tried to make the site playful, friendly, and fun.  And I chose one of the free backgrounds that I thought portrayed this.

5.  Then I let go of my perfectionism and just pushed the publish button.

So, as the saying goes, if I can do it, anyone can.  

With very little time, no money so far, I built a website and you can too.  You can view it here 

suzannepurvis.weebly.com

Feel free to comment on your website building tips, or dramas.