Passionate about that Wild Midnight!

by Anna Campbell

Hey, guys, February is a HUGE month in Campbellandia because I'm launching my new website. It's taken hours of work, not just by me but by my terrifically talented web mistress Paula Roe, to create this upated version. I wanted a look that reflected the danger and the sexy elegance of the Regency world.

I hope you'll check it out. More than that, I hope you'll love it!

www.annacampbell.info

Even better, in line with the month-long GO RED FOR WOMEN theme in the lair, you'll notice red features very strongly in the design. Look at that beautiful ribbon!

While I loved the old design to pieces, I thought it was getting a little tired. I also felt it reflected the gothic flavor of my first few books more closely than the darkly sensual flavor of my more recent works.

Not everything has changed. You'll notice there are a lot of old friends that are still there like the My Favorite Things column that has always been really popular. But there are also new pages, including one for press and one that gathers all my book trailers and video interviews in one place for ease of location.

I've been saving the page for MIDNIGHT'S WILD PASSION, my May 2011 release, for the website's debut.

So it's with great pleasure that I introduce to the Banditas and Bandita Buddies my next Regency romance MIDNIGHT'S WILD PASSION!

Here's the blurb:

London’s most notorious seducer, Nicholas Challoner lives solely for revenge…

The dashing, licentious Marquess of Ranelaw can never forgive Godfrey Demarest for ruining his sister—now the time has come to repay the villain in the same coin. But one formidably intriguing impediment stands in the way of Nicholas’s vengeance: Miss Antonia Smith, companion to his foe’s unsuspecting daughter.

Having herself been deceived and disgraced by a rogue—banished by her privileged family as a result and forced to live a lie—Antonia vows to protect her charge from the same cruel fate. She recognizes Ranelaw for the shameless blackguard he is, and will devote every ounce of her intelligence and resolve to thwarting him.

Yet Antonia has always had a fatal weakness for rakes...

There's an excerpt here for your reading pleasure.

I had enormous fun writing MIDNIGHT'S WILD PASSION. By the way, if you click on the top cover, which is the one for the American edition, it will take you straight to Amazon where you can pre-order the book. The blue cover is for the Australian edition which is also out in May.

MWP is the closest thing I've ever done to a classic Regency romance so you'll find a host of favorite themes like ballrooms and false identities and elopements and duels. And a really delicious (even if I do say so myself) rakish hero in the Marquess of Ranelaw.

So clearly that's your May reading taken care of, LOL! What other books are you looking forward to reading in the next few months?

Oh, and because of the GO RED FOR WOMEN campaign, there's a giveaway for a random commenter. A signed copy of my book with a RED spine TEMPT THE DEVIL. We've also got some American Heart Association goodies going out. So comment, people, comment! Oh, and check out the new website!

We have an AHA Go Red pin for one commenter today.

The healthy heart tip for February 10th is: Still craving something sweet? Send a fruit basket to your loved one instead of the usual sugary sweets.

Romance Writers of America and the American Heart Association have partnered to raise awareness of heart disease in women and encourage you to join us in wearing red on February 4, National Wear Red Day. Visit Go Red for Women to learn how to fight heart disease.

And just in case you missed it...

Sign up for the Go Red Better U Program and receive two free romance e-books.

From Feb 1 through May 31, 2011, receive one free romance e-book when you sign up for the American Heart Association's Better U Program and one after you complete week six of the program. And look for the Eat Smart for Your Heart limited edition magazine (that features this offer) on newstands and in a grocery store near you.

Go Red for Women is trademarked by the American Heart Association, Inc. Romance novel downloads provided by Belle Books.

A Site for Sore Eyes

by Christine Wells

A friend of mine is in the process of revamping her website. I might well do the same very soon, so I've been contemplating my options.

For me, it's no easy thing to decide on a design for my home on the web. I'm much the same with designing the interior of my bricks and mortar home--I couldn't tell you specifically what I want but I have strong opinions on what I like (and don't like) when I see it.

Funnily enough, in the past this has frustrated my web designers. Ah, well, I'm a Libran, what can I say?

So the thing to do when you don't know what you want is to look at other sites to see what they do well, right? Here are some of the things I think about when I'm looking at an author webpage:

*Is the design pleasing to the eye?

*Does the design suit the tone of the writer's work? Flowers and hearts are not usually appropriate for an author who writes dark paranormals.

*Is there a well laid out home page with just enough information on it, but not too much?

When I go to an author home page I want to know what kind of book they write and the latest book they have released, maybe also the book that's 'coming soon' if the latest has been out a while. If the home page is cluttered with a thousand different messages and widgets and covers, my eyes simply glaze over and I don't read any of it.

Actually, I don't doubt some readers love that busy kind of page, especially if they're devoted fans who visit often, but my aim with a home page is to give the casual browser quick access to the information they're most likely to want. If they like bells and whistles, my guess is they'll click on a button called 'extras' or 'fun stuff' to find them.

*Like any reader, I love extra content -- this might be in the form of articles, news, a blog, facebook page, second epilogues, dossiers on characters and so forth. Blogs and social media feeds give the feeling of currency and the extra content means you're getting something special from the website that you can't get from reading the author's books. Those extras give readers a sense of the author's personality and a feeling of connection to the author.

*Book trailers -- If they're done well, they can enhance a website for me, as long as they don't take forever to load.

Here are some sites I like (not counting fabulous Bandita sites, of course!):

We all know Jenny Crusie loves collaging and the header of this site has that eclectic feel to it, along with Jenny's signature cherry. I loved her previous site, too. This has a darker, more magical tone that suits the direction Crusie seems to be taking with her fiction these days.

Susan Holloway Scott. This is simply one of the most gorgeous sites on the web, in my opinion. Everything about it shouts historical opulence and Susan Holloway Scott writes about the mistresses of kings so the tone is just right for her books. I particularly love the botanical drawings on the borders. They're different on each page and add richness and colour as well as a sense of period to the site.

Julie Garwood Usually I wouldn't recommend a home page that takes a while to load, but this one is worth it for sheer novelty value.

Loretta Chase uses an old-fashioned letter with a seal as a background for her website. I like that she gives just enough information to help me decide whether to read further, but not an overwhelming amount. See the great tagline she has next to her latest release?

Kieran Kramer is a debut author who writes fresh, witty historicals and doesn't her website reflect that? I love that she has a nice welcome and salient points about her books with links to other fun stuff, too.

So here are my questions for you, dear readers!

What is your favourite romance author website?

What do you like best about this website?

What do you dislike seeing on an author site?

I'm looking forward to hearing your answers! Thank you in advance for letting me do some important market research:)

The Great Website Tour

by Suzanne

As many of you know I recently sold my book The Surrender Of Lacy Morgan to Ellora's Cave. While waiting for the release date, I'm busy doing things like working on the next book and trying to form a web presence so people will have a place to find out about the book. (My yelling it from the mountain tops aside!)

So I've hired a young IT web designer to develop a webpage for me. She's smart and has a background in both art and design, so I'm looking forward to collaborating with her on this. One of the things she's asked me to do is review other romance authors' websites and see what details I like or want in mine and what font I'd like to showcase in the title and page bullets.

No problem. Right? I'm a woman and a romance reader. I won't mind shopping through the sites.

Do you know how many romance sites there are?!?! I stopped counting at 1500! And I was like in the P's. But undaunted, I started clicking each and everyone open.

Here's what I discovered:

1) There are a multitude of genres and combinations of what authors can write if they choose more than one.

2) Some authors like subtle colors, while others like deep, dark colors and still others choose rather wild, vibrant combinations. (My eyes are not happy with some of the neon color combos!)

3) Some authors have highly professional looking home pages, while others look as if they were done at home with a template from the 80's. And others have fancy gizmos like flash movies and scrolling banners, hearts and flowers.

4) Some work....some don't. Some just plain need to be removed because the host site is no longer in use and the reader can't access the author's webpage at all. (But that'a a whole other discussion.)

So, since many of the Bandits are in Orlando for the National Romance Writer's conference, moi included, I thought I'd keep y'all busy with a little tour to see what sites I found that I thought "worked". Keep in mind the Bandits don't do snark, so no "didn't work" sites are listed...and there have to be 2000 or more sites all together, so I picked only a handful or two to share!

First, let's get my definition of what a good website should do:

1. SELL THE BOOK.
2. SELL THE AUTHOR
3. SELL THE GENRE
4. DON'T HURT MY EYES









So, here's my first example, and it's our Anna Campbell's: http://www.annacampbell.info/
What I like about Anna's is the prominent cover of her newest book, in this case My Reckless Surrender. You don't have to look for what she's selling. She wants you to buy her newest book and features it. Also, the color and style of the site tells you it's historical but with a dark edgy feel. Anna writes Regency noir books. You know what you're getting when you look at this site.

Here's my friend Jane Graves site: http://janegraves.com/
Can you tell what Jane writes from this home page? Yep, contemporary romances. The colors are bold and eye catching, Izzy her cat adds the element of fun you can find in Jane's books. Jane has her name and newest release, Black Ties and Lullabies prominently showcased. And her photo also gives you that friendly, fun and welcoming feel you get from her books. By the way, Jane's site was created and designed by Jane, herself. Not something I'd recommend for the average author to attempt, but Jane has mad computer skills so it works for her.

Next up is our Bandita Joan Kayse: http://www.joankayse.com/home.html
What is great about Joan's is the banner. Such nice eye candy! You know Joan writes about sexy Romans's and that her website and work are historicals. Since she's waiting for a very smart editor to snatch up her great Roman-era books, this site is important because it advertises Joan and her works to potential editors, agents and future fans!

Here's my critique partner, Jo Davis' site:  http://jodavis.net/
Jo currently has two sub genres of romance to advertise. Her website does that successfully. Her name is front and center. You can't miss the books either!  The newest firefighter story, Line Of Fire, is larger than the others, which are flashing slowly beside it. The two on the right are her erotic romantic suspenses, the latest, I Spy A Wicked Sin. And the side columns with the sexy men let you know you're in for a sexy good read should you click on the books and order them.

**A side note here. Please note that while there are lots of great critical reviews for Jo's books, they're on the lower half of the page that you have to scroll down to get to. On my tour I noticed many authors putting these at the top or crowding them into the top sidesbars. Remember Suz's rule #1...SELL THE BOOK. The books should always be first! Rule #4 DON'T HURT MY EYES clutter hurts as much as neon!**

Let's look at Bandita Susan Sey's new site: http://www.susansey.com/pages.php?ID=9
First thing you see is it's light and clean feeling. A contemporary font announces it's Susan's site. Her picture is cute and tells you she's fun. Her brand spanking new book, Money, Honey, is right there for the reader to see and who could resist not looking for what story this great cover holds? The critics' comments and reviews are in the lower part of the scroll, (see the above side note). Great job, Susan!

Here's Geri Krotow's site: http://www.gerikrotow.com

I don't personally know Geri and haven't YET read her books. But her site grabbed my attention and I think it really works for her. Why? See the colors and style of her banner? Now look at the colors of the SuperRomance book she has displayed. She took the colors from the book, muted them slightly and inverted them, mirror imaging what she's selling. Her name is very visible, as is her picture, and the font is contemporary. Great marketing. Does it work? I intend to buy this book just from the website!

Bandita Trish Milburn addresses a double genre with her site: http://www.trishmilburn.com/

You know Trish writes both contemporary romance and YA romances. She chose to let the browsing reader know this by showing both her adult and YA inner selves on the front page. Her books, The Family Man and Winter Longing, the newest for each subgenre, are on the opening page, not at the top, but not too far down with the scroll! Trish lets her readers know what she's tweeting about in the side bar, but the look and feel of this isn't too cluttered and encourages all her readers to participate in both her subgenres!

**another side note. Clutter. My daughters are artists and one of the things they learned in art classes and design classes was the importance of negative space on both the art piece and the viewer's eyes. You want to focus the viewer on the important parts...the author's name and the book to be purchased. Negative space will help with this. Watch the clutter, folks!**

Diann Mills is another new author to me: http://www.diannmills.com/
Her site is unique and I think it works because of the theme. There's an oldfashioned map as the background. The personal pictures Diann uses suggests the theme of travel and adventure. Her opening letter and by line talk about adventure. And while her book covers are smaller than those I've shown you on other sites, they're visible at the bottom and it's fun to see them light up as you scroll across them. Think I'll be checking them out, too!

Let's look at Bandita Jeanne Adams updated site: http://www.jeanneadams.com/
First, it's beautiful. The colors are bold, the images sexy and those big guns...well, can we say, BOOM any louder? This is romantic supense, and not much black, a color seen on lots of the suspense pages. Nice use of negative space, great showcase of her newest release, Deadly Little Secrets. Jeanne...A+!

Here's a brand new Bandita site: http://www.inarascott.com/
Inara's debut release Delacroix Academey. The Candidates is a suspenseful YA paranormal book. Doesn't this opening page give you that feeling AND make you want to see what the book and series is all about? I'm betting many a young adult reader and probably their mother will, too! We Bandits can't wait for THIS book to hit the stands!

Author Cathy McDavid's site: http://www.cathymcdavid.com/ caught my eye.
Cathy writes for Harlequin American. Her site says American in a big bold way! The colors are red, white and blue, but so are the Harlequin American books! She's got American symbols and sexy images in the banner pictures. Her name is very easy to find, and with a short scroll, there is her newest release. Great job, Cathy!


**And yet another side note. Scrolls. Don't make me work. I might be a reader who is browsing for new books or authors during my 15 minute break at work. Don't make me have to scroll down the home page to find stuff. A home page shouldn't scroll much. No longer than one quick swipe of my finger on the mouse. I'm a big girl, I can click on the page buttons if I want to read all the other stuff you want on your site. And those pages can be longer. Rule #1 SELL THE BOOK.** (Can I get an "amen sister!" on these side notes, y'all?!?)

Okay, I've shown you some of what I like. Now it's your turn!

Take a look at the RWA list @ http://www.rwanational.org/cs/rwa_author_web_sites
and let me know who you think has a great site and why. Also, maybe you can help me. I'm looking for the following things to give as examples to my IT girl:

1. Sexy, but not porno sexy
2. Western, but no cows please
3. Strong font.
4. Great design or colors

Please copy and paste your favorite URL's in the comments so I can take a look. Tell me why you like it. Why you think it works. What you think will work for me. No negative ones, please! Remember, Bandits don't do snark! 

At this point, I'll take all the help I can get, even from that dang rooster!

I'm Somebody!

by Susan Sey

Remember that scene in The Jerk when Steve Martin finds his name in the phone book for the first time? He's overjoyed. That's him, right there in print. It's official! He's somebody! Yahoo!

I had a moment like that this morning.

You see, I've been working on it for ages but I finally launched my very first website. And now, when you type in http://www.susansey.com I turn up. Officially. That's my name, my face and my book cover right there!

I'm somebody!

Now before anybody asks, I didn't do it myself. I considered it, then realized how very attached I am to my sanity and made the excellent decision to outsource this job to professionals. I'm a big fan of all things locally grown, though, so I didn't go very far when seeking out talented people to put together something that would represent me and my writing in cyberspace.

First, I tapped my friend Noah from church. Like me, he stays home with his daughter (whom my daughters happen to adore.) Also like me, he's doing a little something with all that 'spare time' stay at homes have in such abundance. (Careful, that's a lot of sarcasm there.)

He doesn't write romance novels (though I've recommended it as loads of fun) but instead has chosen to build a little company called AugmentJ that designs and hosts websites. But he doesn't just design websites. No, either his child is better behaved than mine are or he's just smarter than I am because he's also developed his own Content Management System called Fruitful.

Now, like many of you, when I thought about building my own website, I toyed with the idea of doing something in Wordpress. I decided to go with Fruitful instead for a couple of reasons.

First, Fruitful allows me to get into the nuts and bolts of my webpages and update things whenever I feel like it. I don't have to wait for my web designer to do a monthly update for me, but (very big but here) I don't have to be a programmer to figure it all out, either.

I hear that Wordpress is user friendly after a fashion but after a bunch of comparison shopping, Fruitful won out. It struck me as far more intuitive, & that's important to me. I can't horse around figuring out a website because I'm a terribly slow writer. I need to devote all the time I can get to my WIP.

Second advantage of Fruitful? Noah taught me how to use it in person. I came to his house after school one day and our kids had a wild rumpus in his living room while he gave me the run down on updating my site. A software lesson AND entertainment for the kiddoes? I defy you to find a web guy who'll do that for you.

And whenever I have a question about why something works or doesn't work, I know I'm going to get an answer ASAP. Because if Noah doesn't get back to me, I'll see him at church on Sunday. On the other hand, if I fail to send him a check promptly, he'll see me on Sunday, too. It works both ways & I like it that way. I know exactly who I'm paying to do this for me--somebody just like me. A person with a passion for what he does, splitting the difference between pursuing that passion and being at home with the little ones.

It works for me, and I'm thrilled with the results.

The other awesome thing Noah did for me? Pointed me toward the designer who put together my banner, my colors, created my logo, etc. I sat down with this poor woman (the very talented Sarah Hellestrom Hoehn, also right here in Minneapolis) over coffee & said, "I'm rotten at colors, so I'm just going to tell you how I feel about my writing & what I want people to feel when they're reading my books. Can you translate that into color and design?"

She said she could, and she did. Did she ever. I was thrilled and amazed at what she was able to pull out of my unfocused and largely incoherent thoughts on my work. If you're looking for a designer, I'd recommend her without reservation. I'll be happy to share her info privately if anybody wants it.

But there are drawbacks. I'm Noah's first writer client, so we're learning together how Fruitful lends itself to a writer's unique needs. There are a few things that need tweaking. For example, I don't have the capacity to allow comments on my blog right now. That communication will be a one-way street for a while but I'm okay with that. Readers will hopefully want to interact with me at some point in the future, and when the time comes I'll work with Noah to develop something that'll fit the bill.

Until then, I'll make do with Fruitful's awesome ability to create gorgeous e-newsletters, run contests and collect user info in a little database that'll come in right handy when I decide to mail out postcards for my first book signing. :-)

Having a website designed was a big decision. Besides being the biggest writing related expense I've encountered aside from attending RWA's annual conference, a website is probably also the most important link between a new author and her potential audience. I really wanted to get it right, and have been so glad that keeping things close to home worked out.

How about you? Do you have a website? A DIY job, or outsourced? Any lessons learned you'd be willing to share?

You, in five words or less

by Susan Seyfarth

So I've got marketing on the brain. Websites, specifically. Every published author has one, right? A whole bunch of unpublished writers have them too. You never know when that dream agent or editor might like your latest submission enough to google you. And you never know when The Call is going to come, either.

The Boy Scouts don't say "Be Prepared" for nothing.

So in an effort to be ready for success when it comes a-knockin', I decided to research websites. And I discovered something that struck terror into this author's heart.

Tag lines.

Oh yes, the dreaded tag line. Take everything that sets your work apart from its competitors, distill it down to three to five words, then make it witty & memorable.

People can do this. Honest to Pete. Here, want proof? See if you can name the companies that go with the following tag lines:

1. The Happiest Place on Earth

2. Finger Lickin' Good

3. Every Day Low Prices

I bet you knew all of them, didn't you? (And if you didn't, check the comments trail. I'll bet somebody has mentioned them all by now.)

Now how does this apply to your favorite writers? My tour of writers' websites garnered these beauties, the ones that left me both satisfied with a job well done & kind of pissed that such a good tag line was now off the market.

Susan Donovan--Brain Candy for Smart Women
Kristan Higgins--Real Life. True Love. Lots of Laughs.
Jane Porter--Classic Romance. Modern Lit.

So I sat down to think about my goals. When I write a novel, what am I trying to do? What's the experience I want to provide for the reader? What should my books be like? Here's what I came up with:

Honest.

Emotional.

Amusing.

It's taken me some time to figure out these aren't the easiest qualities to keep in balance. I mean, I can do honest & emotional. I can do honest & amusing. I can even do emotional & amusing, depending on what kind of emotion we're talking about.

But try keeping the emotion raw & honest & see how easy it is to get the chuckle. Geez. I'm sweating just thinking about it. Susan Elizabeth Phillips does this beautifully, but I noticed her website doesn't venture into Tag Line Land, so no guidance there.

Bottom line? I'm totally stuck here & thought I'd see what the rest of you are doing.

So, now it's your turn! What's your brand? Do you have a tag line? (For your writing or even yourself.) Three to five words (preferably witty & memorably, mind you) that sums you (or your writing) up in a neat, bite-sized chunk? Let's hear them!