[Sam Rivers]

I noticed that some of you have your own author sites.  I checked on a few and they looked pretty good.

I am new to getting novels published on Amazon so haven't figured out all the marketing angles yet. 

So I was wondering if having your own site has helped your books sales?

 

[Ilyria Moon]

I noticed that some of you have your own author sites. I checked on a few and they looked pretty good.

I am new to getting novels published on Amazon so haven't figured out all the marketing angles yet.

So I was wondering if having your own site has helped your books sales?

Couldn't say; I've only just started selling. Even this morning, I was surprised a known author didn't have a website; instead, just a free blog. I think it looks better having your own url, even if it redirects to said blog. It's all part of branding. But that's just me.

 

[Decon]

I noticed that some of you have your own author sites. I checked on a few and they looked pretty good.

I am new to getting novels published on Amazon so haven't figured out all the marketing angles yet.

So I was wondering if having your own site has helped your books sales?

Set up a blog now. I wish I had done it at least 6 months before I had published. In 2 months I have had 2,000 individual hits (4,000 page views) from all around the world. When I click on the map one guy looks to have accessed it from a boat in the Pacific ocean (probably a small Island.)

I know I have made sales because I can see when someone clicks a link to one of my books, followed by a sale on my sales report. So to answer your question ... yes, you do make sales.

Site hits
United States (US)952 United Kingdom (GB)426 Brazil (BR)242 Canada (CA)85 Australia (AU)50 France (FR)44 Germany (DE)34

Ireland (IE)17 India (IN)16 Sweden (SE)16 New Zealand (NZ)13 Italy (IT)11 South Africa (ZA)11 Spain (ES)10

Russian Federation (RU)9 Norway (NO)9 Thailand (TH)8 Europe (EU)7 Netherlands (NL)6 Austria (AT)4 Taiwan (TW)

Finland (FI)4 Philippines (PH)4 Hungary (HU)3 Poland (PL)3 Bulgaria (BG)3 Turkey (TR)2 Slovakia (SK)2

Mexico (MX)2 Kuwait (KW)2 China (CN)2 Slovenia (SI)1 Iceland (IS)1 Belarus (BY)1 Belgium (BE)1

Serbia (RS)1 Romania (RO)1 Pakistan (PK)1 Panama (PA)1 Costa Rica (CR)1 Vietnam (VN)1 Malaysia (MY)1

Singapore (SG)1 Tanzania,(TZ)1 Uganda (UG)1 Barbados (BB)1 Gambia (GM)1 Iraq (IQ)1 Cyprus (CY) 1 Portugal (PT)1 Bhutan (BT)1

Jamaica (JM)1 Senegal (SN)1 Anguilla (AI)1 Greece (GR)1

The map is in the side bar, click to enlarge. Feel free to look around for ideas. [URL=http://declanconner]http://declanconner.com[/url]

 

[ascepticalmedium]

Absolutely it helps. I have three, no four blogs and my stats are incredible. I sell books direct from my site and yes, it pays. There is a map on my page that shows where my blog is read. All those people get to see my books - hence I can sell signed copies direct at a cheaper price.

 

[Sam Rivers]

Thanks everyone that answered.

I may go ahead and set up a blog.  I don't know anything about doing it, but it might be fun and if it helps my book sales, they would be nice.

 

[barbara elsborg]

Set up a blog - because you can do that on your own, really quickly - using Blogger or Wordpress. I had a blog for ages before I had a website. I wasn't techie enough to do the website on my own so a friend eventually did it for me in return for me critting his books. My son does the tech stuff on it now. I have a  stats program on the blog and the origins of the hits are really interesting!! Loads from China.
You need a web presence to market your name if nothing else. Blogging about things other than your book is a good idea too. You don't want it to look as though that's all you care about - even if it is!