Website Launch – Half a Dozen of the Other
This post is to signify the release of another website from my stable.
The website in question is a two page promotional site for a new novel by an up-and-coming author.
The site interacts with the author’s profile on the writer’s forum – www.authonomy.com – where you can also read the first twelve chapters of the book, and leave comments. If you are a keen reader it’s well worth checking out. There are literally thousands of authors on there, all promoting their novels and allowing you to read all/some of it.
A detailed discussion of the design of this website can be found below. If you would rather read a shorter version, and have a look at some screenshots from the website you can do so on my web design portfolio.
Design.
The appearance of this website is critical. As the site is only two pages long, and people really do judge a book by its cover, the impact and message has to be instant and clear.
A specially commissioned, hand-drawn illustration provides the “wham!”, and sets the mood for the website; which reflects the tone of the novel itself. The dark, muddy colours and grunged up image of Birmingham’s most famous landmark tell the visitor the book is not for the faint-hearted, nor a jolly caper.
The use of the unusual font used for the header and main links, also reflect the book’s “quirky” and unconventional style.
Structure.
Less is more in terms of the structure for this website. One page provides a short synopsis of the novel, and the second gives a short introduction to the author himself.
The other main structural feature is the many links to the author’s profile on the writer’s forum, www.authonomy.com, where visitors are able to read the first 12 chapters of the book and leave comments. This connection is important for increasing the traffic between the two sites, providing a method of interaction with the visitor, and ultimately promoting the novel.
Instead of a separate contact page I felt an appearing/disappearing box containing the author’s email address was more appropriate, and more efficient method of displaying that information. This effect was achieved using JavaScript, or JQuery to be more precise.
If you would like to visit the site then you can do so at:
www.halfadozenoftheother.co.uk
Leave comments on the website below, and comments on the book on Gavin’s authonomy.com page.
Thanks,
DA
Hi! I like your srticle and I would like very much to read some more information on this issue. Will you post some more?
Hi Konstantin,
Which aspect of the article are you most interested in?
I am about to launch another website I have nearly completed and will be writing a similar article on that one. But if there is a particular aspect of this article you would like expanding upon please let me know.
Regards,
DA