Monday, October 24, 2005
ReaderWebs.com - Coming Soon!
As an avid reader, in addition to running Writer Webs, I have noticed that there's a few sites geared towards bringing authors and their readers together. However, so far I haven't seen many that are as exciting as I would like.
The benefit of the Web is the ability to bring these communities together and offer some interaction.
Therefore, I've been talking with many authors as well as readers to create a community that can tie all these concepts together. The result will be Reader Webs!
ReaderWebs for Authors
ReaderWebs will be a host of information, reviews, entertainment, stories, biographical information, and links to authors. It will help sell your book and promote your name! In addition, it allows me to build a focused presence for Authors with WriterWebs as well. I plan on introducing an easy-to-understand pricing structure for ReaderWebs and WriterWebs - a monthly fee that will include ReaderWebs promotion, site hosting, design, maintenance, and search engine optimization! Be sure to watch for more information, as this will be announced here before officially on the WriterWebs site.
ReaderWebs for Readers
There are places on the Internet for readers. However, they are either too specific, or too broad. ReaderWebs will offer a direct focus, without an ego, to help readers find more of what they like, spend less time looking for authors, reading shelves, or flipping through pages. In addition, it will have forums, interaction with authors, reviews, and much much more!
Call for Editors, Staff Writers, Marketeers!
I've created large communities before from nothing. I know how to create the site, promote it, and make it successful. However, to make it grow, I need a handful of quality editors/reviewers/marketeers. If you are interested in any of the following, please contact me through the WriterWebs site and I will follow up with more details:
The benefit of the Web is the ability to bring these communities together and offer some interaction.
Therefore, I've been talking with many authors as well as readers to create a community that can tie all these concepts together. The result will be Reader Webs!
ReaderWebs for Authors
ReaderWebs will be a host of information, reviews, entertainment, stories, biographical information, and links to authors. It will help sell your book and promote your name! In addition, it allows me to build a focused presence for Authors with WriterWebs as well. I plan on introducing an easy-to-understand pricing structure for ReaderWebs and WriterWebs - a monthly fee that will include ReaderWebs promotion, site hosting, design, maintenance, and search engine optimization! Be sure to watch for more information, as this will be announced here before officially on the WriterWebs site.
ReaderWebs for Readers
There are places on the Internet for readers. However, they are either too specific, or too broad. ReaderWebs will offer a direct focus, without an ego, to help readers find more of what they like, spend less time looking for authors, reading shelves, or flipping through pages. In addition, it will have forums, interaction with authors, reviews, and much much more!
Call for Editors, Staff Writers, Marketeers!
I've created large communities before from nothing. I know how to create the site, promote it, and make it successful. However, to make it grow, I need a handful of quality editors/reviewers/marketeers. If you are interested in any of the following, please contact me through the WriterWebs site and I will follow up with more details:
- Reviews - Reviewers will be giving a simple set of guidelines to make sure all reviews are targetted. This will be a checklist of sorts. Reviewers are not paid, but will receive copies (and potentially advance drafts) of novels, short stories, and non-fiction based on their specified preferences. This is a great opportunity for other writers to study the craft and network!
- Editors - Editors will be responsible for content creation, editing, and moderation of their selected genre/sections. Currently, there is no official payment opportunities, however, once ReaderWebs becomes profitable, the editors that help it grow will receive a percentage of the income ReaderWebs generates. If you are looking to become a part-time editor for a web community, this is a fantastic opportunity to get started with. Once ReaderWebs is generating profit, only the best will be hired. So get started on the ground floor and secure your position based on your quality, not your credentials.
- Writers / Columnists / Humorist - Submissions will be accepted for publishing on ReaderWebs at each "issue" based on themes. However, if you are a writer/columist/humorist and would like to discuss an opportunity to be considered as a "staff writer", please contact me and submit three samples of your work. Articles should be 1-4 pages max and focus on issues that READERS want - while we will publish some industry information, ReaderWebs is a site to help and entertain Readers, so please keep that focus in mind. If selected, staff writers will have the potential to earn a percentage of profits from ReaderWebs once it becomes successful.
- Marketeers - This is an interesting position available with the launch of ReaderWebs - a marketer will be responsible for coordinating the ReaderWebs advertising campaign, as well as finding new venues to work with (publishers, writers, etc.) and communities for announcement (forums, mailing lists, etc.) - We will not tolerate spammers, and only seek to follow guidelines at any of the communities with which we work. If you're interested in becoming involved in the industry, making connections, and networking to help ReaderWebs (as well as yourself), please contact me. I have no details as yet to as to how marketers will be paid, it largely depends on your ability to generate traffic, but I'm willing to negotiate depending on your qualifications, interest, and passion in the field.
Why would I want to work for free?
It's important for me to mention that the call for editors and staff writers is not volunteer work. However, ReaderWebs can't pay its staff until it develops income. If you're looking for part-time work (a few hours a week, generally), this could be an exciting opportunity.
Since WriterWebs is already working with a large number of authors, promotion for ReaderWebs is already guaranteed. The sky's the limit as to how far it can reach. Some of the moderate size Internet communities are generating thousands of dollars each month from advertising. There's a wonderful market for ReaderWebs that is unsaturated and filled with opportunities. A small, focus, quality staff taking a percentage of monthly profits could potentially make a very nice side business for little work and a large amount of creative freedom.
If you're interested in becoming on staff for the launch of ReaderWebs - please contact me through the WriterWebs contact form. I will respond and ask for examples of your work. If you are interested, but have not published or written any articles, you can create a mock-up article of your potential work. Once I've selected potential staff writers/editors, I will contact you to discuss details of future payment, target dates, deadlines, and all other details.
-Brandon
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Bringing Things Up To Speed
Since I just created this blog, I thought I'd go ahead and make a large post to update what I've been working on.
Before I even started Writer Webs, I designed my wife's new web site with this business in mind. Hers was a success and you can visit it at http://www.leslieanndennis.com. She wanted something kinda playful to fit her personality, and it worked out well I think!
Then I explained my new business to the group at Romance Writers Unlimited and quite a few of them signed up. I'm still working on some of these projects, but many have been launched already:
Romance Writers Unlimited - http://www.rwunlimited.org
A simple, elegent approach for a community of romance authors. This was designed to look stylish and not intrude with the content, since it's primarily a forum.
Katherine Allred - http://www.katherineallred.com
Kathy's a multi-published romance author. The questionnaire helped greatly because I came to understand how she enjoyed fantasy, so those elements were worked into her site.
Shelby Reed - http://www.shelbyreed.com
Shelby is truly up-and-coming, she has some fantastic reviews across the board, even at Amazon (which has a tendency to be picky sometimes). She wanted something inspiring, and I think the asian-influenced, jewel-styled site fits her to a tea.
Hunter Cole - http://www.writerwebs.com/romance/huntercole
Hunter wanted a photo-realistic typewriter page with mono-spaced font. To enhance the design, I placed a handful of images that fit him on the back to make it look like a work area.
Paisley Scott - http://www.paisleyscott.com
Paisley liked the photo-realistic style of Hunter's site and wanted to take it a step further - one comment on her site was how it seemed very "Chick Lit" and I couldn't agree more. It definitely fits her personality.
I have a handful of projects I'm currently working on:
Cate Rowan, Amber Green, Gina Ardito, Gregory Benford and Benford-Rose. In addition, I have three questionnaire's out, so those projects will be added to my to-do list as soon as I receive them.
The Magic Of The Internet or How things sometimes just work out!
After launching Writer Webs, I started contacting a very select sites and communities to see if they were interested in working together. I had fantastic response across the board - a lot of places that freely added a link to Writer Webs as a resource for authors, and a couple that were interested in me providing articles for their newsletters, etc.
I also decided to contact my favorite author, Gregory Benford, to see if I could have the ability to work on his site with him. Dr. Benford works as a professor of plasma physics and astrophysics at the University of California, but he's also a fantastic author with well over 20 published books, including many Nebula and Hugo award winning novels and stories.
I was thrilled to receive a response where he was thoroughly interested in working with me. He called me this past weekend and we talked about his web site and the focus of it. I sent him a questionnaire (as I do with all my clients) to get a feel for the style of design he would like.
In addition to his fiction work, he is doing a series of essays with Dr. Michael Rose for Amazon Shorts (a lot of people aren't as familiar with the Amazon Shorts section). So we'll be launching a Benford-Rose site as well to promote these essays in conjunction with some promotion that Amazon will be doing.
It's wonderful to be in a business where you can not only truly enjoy what you're doing, but have the ability to get a personal phone call from someone you admire and respect! I hope this will help promote more science fiction writers to take a larger interest in their web presence. The genre sure could use a nice Internet community boost!
-Brandon
Before I even started Writer Webs, I designed my wife's new web site with this business in mind. Hers was a success and you can visit it at http://www.leslieanndennis.com. She wanted something kinda playful to fit her personality, and it worked out well I think!
Then I explained my new business to the group at Romance Writers Unlimited and quite a few of them signed up. I'm still working on some of these projects, but many have been launched already:
Romance Writers Unlimited - http://www.rwunlimited.org
A simple, elegent approach for a community of romance authors. This was designed to look stylish and not intrude with the content, since it's primarily a forum.
Katherine Allred - http://www.katherineallred.com
Kathy's a multi-published romance author. The questionnaire helped greatly because I came to understand how she enjoyed fantasy, so those elements were worked into her site.
Shelby Reed - http://www.shelbyreed.com
Shelby is truly up-and-coming, she has some fantastic reviews across the board, even at Amazon (which has a tendency to be picky sometimes). She wanted something inspiring, and I think the asian-influenced, jewel-styled site fits her to a tea.
Hunter Cole - http://www.writerwebs.com/romance/huntercole
Hunter wanted a photo-realistic typewriter page with mono-spaced font. To enhance the design, I placed a handful of images that fit him on the back to make it look like a work area.
Paisley Scott - http://www.paisleyscott.com
Paisley liked the photo-realistic style of Hunter's site and wanted to take it a step further - one comment on her site was how it seemed very "Chick Lit" and I couldn't agree more. It definitely fits her personality.
I have a handful of projects I'm currently working on:
Cate Rowan, Amber Green, Gina Ardito, Gregory Benford and Benford-Rose. In addition, I have three questionnaire's out, so those projects will be added to my to-do list as soon as I receive them.
The Magic Of The Internet or How things sometimes just work out!
After launching Writer Webs, I started contacting a very select sites and communities to see if they were interested in working together. I had fantastic response across the board - a lot of places that freely added a link to Writer Webs as a resource for authors, and a couple that were interested in me providing articles for their newsletters, etc.
I also decided to contact my favorite author, Gregory Benford, to see if I could have the ability to work on his site with him. Dr. Benford works as a professor of plasma physics and astrophysics at the University of California, but he's also a fantastic author with well over 20 published books, including many Nebula and Hugo award winning novels and stories.
I was thrilled to receive a response where he was thoroughly interested in working with me. He called me this past weekend and we talked about his web site and the focus of it. I sent him a questionnaire (as I do with all my clients) to get a feel for the style of design he would like.
In addition to his fiction work, he is doing a series of essays with Dr. Michael Rose for Amazon Shorts (a lot of people aren't as familiar with the Amazon Shorts section). So we'll be launching a Benford-Rose site as well to promote these essays in conjunction with some promotion that Amazon will be doing.
It's wonderful to be in a business where you can not only truly enjoy what you're doing, but have the ability to get a personal phone call from someone you admire and respect! I hope this will help promote more science fiction writers to take a larger interest in their web presence. The genre sure could use a nice Internet community boost!
-Brandon
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Writer Webs Philosophy
Without the trouble of an investor, I plan to make Writer Webs successful by building on quality and mutual respect with my clients. Here I thought I'd share some of my business philosophy to reinforce my dreams of what a quality web design company is, and should always be.
In choosing a niche market (authors), I will involve myself in the industry. I will gain knowledge and partner with publishers, communities, e-zines, e-publishers, and as many authors as there are genres.
I will offer advice and support, as much as possible, freely to any who need it. I will publish articles to communities and journals with little bias to help increase the quality of author web sites across the board.
I would love to see high quality web sites of writers everywhere, even if they don't use Writer Webs.
I will continue to find ways to make quality web sites affordable to writers of all levels. I am as interested in working with the yet-to-be-published authors as I am with the multi-market published ones.
I will respect all authors I work with fully. I won't use high profile authors simply for the purposes of selling my services. My portfolio should speak for the quality of my work, and I encourage people to check with my previous clients if they're interested in how I have worked in the past.
In addition to continuing to gain knowledge in the fields of web design and writer markets, I will continue to provide the little touches to all sites I work on. I despise bad code and short cuts, even if the client wouldn't know the difference. I will not publish a site unless I feel it meets my expectations.
I will not negotiate prices. But I will keep my prices as affordable and reasonable as possible for the amount of effort and quality involved. In addition, I will work with those that are interested, but lack the funds, to find payment plans or solutions so they can have a web site.
I will even support my competition, as long as their quality is worthwhile. There are far more authors than there are quality web design companies. An increase in marketing and knowledge in the field will help me as much as it will help my competition, and authors everywhere will reap the benefits.
-Brandon
In choosing a niche market (authors), I will involve myself in the industry. I will gain knowledge and partner with publishers, communities, e-zines, e-publishers, and as many authors as there are genres.
I will offer advice and support, as much as possible, freely to any who need it. I will publish articles to communities and journals with little bias to help increase the quality of author web sites across the board.
I would love to see high quality web sites of writers everywhere, even if they don't use Writer Webs.
I will continue to find ways to make quality web sites affordable to writers of all levels. I am as interested in working with the yet-to-be-published authors as I am with the multi-market published ones.
I will respect all authors I work with fully. I won't use high profile authors simply for the purposes of selling my services. My portfolio should speak for the quality of my work, and I encourage people to check with my previous clients if they're interested in how I have worked in the past.
In addition to continuing to gain knowledge in the fields of web design and writer markets, I will continue to provide the little touches to all sites I work on. I despise bad code and short cuts, even if the client wouldn't know the difference. I will not publish a site unless I feel it meets my expectations.
I will not negotiate prices. But I will keep my prices as affordable and reasonable as possible for the amount of effort and quality involved. In addition, I will work with those that are interested, but lack the funds, to find payment plans or solutions so they can have a web site.
I will even support my competition, as long as their quality is worthwhile. There are far more authors than there are quality web design companies. An increase in marketing and knowledge in the field will help me as much as it will help my competition, and authors everywhere will reap the benefits.
-Brandon
Serendipity
I've worked in the web design field for over 10 years. I ran my own web design business (Scenic Blue, LLC for you history buffs) and sold $20-$50k projects to well-known large businesses.
However, I lost inspiration in the design aspect. For some reason, the business of business often interferes.
Not that I consider myself an artist unable to work under pressure. It's just that I wanted something more.
I had registered writerwebs.com years previously, hoping to work with it in some fashion. As fate would have it, I became more involved with writers. Primarily through the wonderful group at Romance Writers Unlimited. With their support and interest, I started working on author sites. And shortly thereafter, Writer Webs was born!
Now I've found my niche. I find my design work to be more inspired than earlier, I find it to be enjoyable, and I have found working with authors to be thought-provoking and entirely fun! There could not be a greater group of people than those who put pen to paper.
Here's to the journey and a toast to the success of Writer Webs and its authors, everywhere!
-Brandon
However, I lost inspiration in the design aspect. For some reason, the business of business often interferes.
Not that I consider myself an artist unable to work under pressure. It's just that I wanted something more.
I had registered writerwebs.com years previously, hoping to work with it in some fashion. As fate would have it, I became more involved with writers. Primarily through the wonderful group at Romance Writers Unlimited. With their support and interest, I started working on author sites. And shortly thereafter, Writer Webs was born!
Now I've found my niche. I find my design work to be more inspired than earlier, I find it to be enjoyable, and I have found working with authors to be thought-provoking and entirely fun! There could not be a greater group of people than those who put pen to paper.
Here's to the journey and a toast to the success of Writer Webs and its authors, everywhere!
-Brandon
