I’m currently swamped with work right now, so I thought I’d turn the “blogable” file upside down and see what falls out. Here are some great links which, though they may not be the newest thing on the internet, are still especially amazing.
A robot that does calligraphy? Affirmative. This robot is rewriting the entire Bible, one character at a time. Next up: outsourcing all things that take patience to robots.
Unfortunately this post was not easy to write. Sadly many authors these days still don’t even have websites (Tom Clancy – where you at?) and those that do often have very poor ones built long ago using outdated code, tables and animated gifs (best-selling author Ken Follett has a pretty poor showing). However, as more and more authors realize how important a presence on the web is new author sites are being built, and they’re getting better. A great author website reflects the nature of the writer’s style, helps fans get to know the author better, provides an easy way for authors to connect to their audience, and remains easy to navigate.
If you are an author and you need a better website (one that would make this list) please contact me today. I can help you create a custom-designed site that is easy for you to update yourself. Let’s not let this industry wallow in 1998 any longer – its time for authors to embrace good web design!
For inspiration and to offer a bit of hope here are a few stand-out websites for authors I’ve found on the web:
Absolutely stunning site that makes great use of a minimal design approach and limited color scheme.
The enormously popular FreelanceSwitch is one of my favorite blogs/websites. I’ve always loved reading it as it continually offers the best advice for bloggers, writers, designers, developers, photographers, and more. The site is dedicated to helping freelancers (or really small businesses) become more efficient, attract more clients, and do better work. When I started my own business FSW and their self-published book helped me a lot. I continue to read the FSW blog daily and often follow advice and tips from the posts there.
My article on the FreelanceSwitch homepage
I also love helping other freelancers and startup companies and recently thought about writing a helpful article and trying to get it published on FSW. I spent some time crafting the post and submitted it. Lo and behold – FSW accepted the article and posted it soon thereafter. I was/am super-excited to be a part of the FSW team!
Here’s how the article begins:
Remember when you graduated from school or first decided to become a freelancer? You likely didn’t have much work to show and had to scramble to fill your portfolio. If you now have a few years under your belt, you’ve probably started to build up quite a collection of finished pieces.
The importance of having a professional portfolio website has been discussed on FreelanceSwitch – it is essential for the modern freelancer. But how do you decide what to include in your portfolio? If you fill your site with only your favorite work it could be focused in the wrong direction and not attract business. If you only display giant commercial projects it may feel like a sterile presentation with no heart. Somehow you need to show that as a freelancer you are both capable in your skills and able to produce high quality, creative results.
I suggest this 5-pronged approach for deciding what you want to include in your portfolio:
I’m looking forward to a continued 2-way relationship with FreelanceSwitch!
WordPress was first built as a blog platform but has now developed into a full-featured CMS (Content Management System). It is easy to design in and develop for. Add to that its easy-to-use backend and scalability and you can see why more and more sites are being built using WP. Here are a few of my favorites sites built with WordPress:
Might as well start with the best of the best. Clean and simple display of the content, with elegant and perfect design. Read More
As I spend time (ie – all day) on the web I come across quite a few interesting and amazing things. Instead of trying to write an entire post about each one I thought I’d throw a bunch at you all at once. Check out some greatness and let me know your favorite!
(via You Look Marvelous)
This article outlines one couple’s attempt. Not as easy as they would have liked, but certainly something to aspire to. I know a couple people trying this as well. Read More
Whoops. Just overworked Photoshop and crashed it all to pieces. 
