To Web or Not To Web, That is the Question...

I was recently informed that a web site is a very important tool for ALL writers; published and unpublished alike.

The very sweet and very informative Patti Steele-Perkins made an appearance at one of our LRWA meetings. She was in town visiting one of our members who happens to be one of her first clients. She said that when she gets a query from an author the first thing she does is google them to see if they have a website. If they do, then she scans it and takes a look at any info they have.

I've taken it for granted that once published, a website would be a must. However, I hadn't thought it would do much for me before that time. In fact, I sort of figured that it would be like this blog, something else to distract me. :-). But according to Ms. Perkins, a website can at times make a big difference. She explained that it shows that an author is willing to work and put herself out there. Often, a website gives an agent or editor more info than they would have otherwise had. For instance, if all the agent or editor permits you to submit is a query letter, having excerpts on a website means they may actually read something of yours.

So I guess I need to give this website stuff some more thought. Argh! I have a website for my day job and I manage everyone else's but it's done through a hosting service that provides industry related templates and tools. Very little html knowledge necessary. I've built a very rudimentary website before when I was learning html basics. But I don't know how to do anything that would represent me well. I guess I need to look into some of the template services.

Any recommendations?