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The Lure of the Quick-Fix
by Dawn Seewer

For the author, the ability to share information instantly and communicate with others from the privacy of our own home has great appeal. Not only do we begin to wonder how we ever did without email or those wonderful online groups, we begin to hear the promise of worldwide exposure. That sweet whisper of a promise that consumes our thoughts until we finally give in to that subtle seduction and jump head first online. Then we toss and we turn and we wonder and we wait. We check our counters every five minutes and hold our breath and pray for the fan mail to start pouring in.

Then that big dark cloud of disappointment rolls in. Looming over us, as the doubts and questions settle in. Where are the masses that were supposed to flock to our site? Where is the flood of new sales? Where is the heap of fan mail? That once sweet promise of instant, global exposure leaves us with nothing more than the taste of bitterness on our tongues.

We’ve been seduced by the beast, lured in for the capture and fallen prey to it’s broken promises. Despite all the "instant 1-2-3 and you're online" programs, pop-up infested sites and galleries of clipart, creating an author website isn’t something that can be done on a whim when you have a free moment. Don’t let that little voice of promise (or the marketers of the three-step website package) tell you different. It takes time to learn, time to plan and time to create.

There are more and more authors jumping on the web each and every day. Most, admittedly, having been seduced by the lure of the quick fix, the easy road, the three-step process. And while in the end they may have something that resembles a web site, they will ultimately be disappointed by the outcome. Without a good understanding of objectives, without defining a clear message, without developing the proper blueprints and without properly promoting the web site there will be very little traffic, very little draw and very little success online.

You must understand that creating or enhancing your author website requires a commitment to yourself, to the process and to your readers. It takes time, considerable thought, a great deal of work and patience -- much like crafting a novel.

HINTS...
Do your homework before you sign up with any site creation or hosting service. Find out who your friends use, ask for recommendations and go with someone you can trust.

Copyright © 2004 Dawn Seewer

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