Writers connect with readers on the Web

These days, writers such as mystery author Ace Atkins are interacting with readers on the Web.

By MIKE WILSON, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 31, 2002

At first, mystery writer Ace Atkins was reluctant to create a Web site to promote his books. Many of the author sites he'd seen were put up by self-published writers who meant well but seemed a little desperate for readers.

Some of their sites looked cheesy, Atkins said.

"You really have to be conscious of the way your Web site is presented so people know you're a legitimate author," he said by phone from Austin, Texas, where he was promoting his latest book, Dark End of the Street.

But soon Atkins saw that some of his favorite writers had sites of their own. Dennislehanebooks.com. Jameswhall.com. If they could do it, why couldn't he?

Click on aceatkins.com today and you'll find synopses of his three novels, a Q&A, information about Atkins' favorite cause -- and, of course, links to online stores where you can buy his books.

The site, paid for by Atkins and his publisher, HarperCollins, has been up for only a few weeks, so Atkins doesn't know whether it will increase sales. But he knows he's reaching people.

"I'm getting e-mails from people who were not even aware of the first two books until they looked at the site," he said.

Once, most authors were mysterious, faraway figures, reachable only by letter, if at all. But these days, more and more writers are interacting with readers on the Web. Among the St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading authors with their own sites are David Amram, Bruce Feiler, Sarah Ban Breathnach and James Swain.

For authors, the sites are a way to let readers know where they'll be appearing or when their next book is coming out. For publishers, author sites are yet another weapon in a publicity arsenal that already includes news releases, author tours and TV appearances.

"Everyone from people in academia to 4-year-old kids are using the Internet, so theoretically every author can have an audience online," said Julia Bannon, online marketing manager for HarperCollins.

And booksellers think author sites help drive sales. Go to brucefeiler.com and with a couple of clicks you can buy a book from www.barnesandnoble.com.

"We really love that. It's always a kick when you go to the author's Web site and they're linking back to us," said Brenda Marsh, vice president of content for the online store.

In June, barnesandnoble.com created a link called "Meet the Writers," where shoppers can read brief biographies of their favorite authors. Of the 250 featured so far, about 80 percent have Web sites to which barnesandnoble.com links.

The bookseller doesn't mind sending people to other sites because "98 percent of the time, when they go away, they link back to us when they want to make the purchase," Marsh said.

Atkins, a former St. Petersburg Times correspondent and Tampa Tribune reporter who lives in Oxford, Miss., directs his online visitors to barnesandnoble.com and booksense.com, the consortium of independent booksellers.

But mostly, aceatkins.com focuses on Atkins and his work. (You have to click through several screens to find a link to a bookseller.) One link leads to the first two chapters of Leavin' Trunk Blues, his second novel. Another offers a Q&A in which Atkins describes his main character, Nick Travers, as "the big brother I never had."

The "dogs" link shows pictures of Atkins' pets and urges readers to adopt abandoned animals through petfinder.com. "That was kind of my penance for having a commercialized Web site that was really all about the books," he said. "I wanted it to have a component that would actually do some good."

Like many author sites, Atkins' gives an e-mail address. With his latest book just out, he's getting 40 to 50 notes from readers each day. Compared with the ones he got as a crime reporter in Tampa, these e-mails are easy to respond to, he said.

"I used to get letters from people who thought they were Jesus," he said, "so I can certainly answer a woman in Des Moines who liked my book."