Lisa, something tells me you’ve already seen the documentary Helvetica. *g*

I've been designing web sites for 10 years now, and I can tell you that people don't want to hear that less is more, but it's true.

Between work and play, I’m reading websites about four hours per day, so you’re preaching to the choir. But the “less is more” dictum is even truer for the internet than it is for architecture.

sometimes when I make a change to the site, it defaults back to the blue theme and I am just not aware of it. It should have the red stamp, a cursive Dear Author, a page green border, and red lines around the sidebar header items.

The numbers are on the left side, right by the names, but out of the grey box.

Green border? huh… no. And I see “new post” instead of home…

Is it my browser?

As far as authors websites, I like… nacht, I adore the content in Suzanne Brockmann’s site–countdowns to each book release, short stories, all sorts of extras. But then I’m familiar with it, so I can find the stuff. It’s not what you’d call “new user” friendly.

I had the same problem when I went to Julie Garwood’s site. Broken links, taking forever to load, etc. Just make it functional so your readers can get the information that they’ve come to get. It shouldn’t be harder than that, right?

My favorite author site is Nalini Singh. She has so much information, it’s easy to navigate, and it loads pretty quick.

My website is guilty of many of your complaints. There were so many things I didn’t realize as a new author when I had my website set up, like how book titles in graphics don’t get picked up by search engines, and computers that have Flash disabled might not even be able to read half my website content (just to name a few). My graphics-heavy site *looked* cool on the mock-up, however, and that was enticing when I was site shopping.

Ah, well. Live and learn – and spend more money on redesign :).

Thanks for the kudos on my site. I passed it on to my designer — Austin Design Works, along with the wish for a work in progress link to be made more accessible! I love my new site, so I’m tickled that others like it as well.

Oh, and it wasn’t done by the same person who did E Hoyt’s. I think Dream Forge Media did hers.

The numbers are on the left side, right by the names, but out of the grey box.

Simple fonts -’ I like Tahoma more than Helvetica, and Helvetica more than Times New Roman.

Tahoma is a bit softer than Helvetica, which is why I like it too. Times New Roman is a serif font, which often doesn’t work as well as sans serif fonts (like Tahoma, Helvetic, Arial, Verdana) for screen reading. However, the opposite is true for print.

White text on black backgrounds is too contrasty; try a brown background instead, or pale-yellow text. Black text on a white background works well for me, though I understand other readers might have problems.

A high contrast ratio makes for better legibility, and black text on a white background has the highest contrast. If you’re going the opposite with white text reversed on black, font choice is vital.

Regarding web sites vs. blogs. I think it’s more consistent branding to have both the web site and the blog on the same URL, instead of existing as two separate entities. With free tools like WordPress you can easily use it to manage your whole site as well as run your blog. For the most part it enables a site owner to update her own site within her budget. Many people use blogs as a kind of diary, but I think for an author it works better if it functions as the site’s news section. With clearly defined categories and “stickie” posts, finding out what the next book is should be easy. There should also be pages (as opposed to blog posts) for books and, like others have said, it should be clearly labeled BOOKS. Don’t make readers try to translate esoteric section names.

I was OK with the old DA site design, but load times are a valid consideration and the new layout is very clean, which is always a good thing. I’d like to see a way to browse reviews by author last name, even if it’s just categories set up for A-E, F-J etc. The search works well, though, which what I’ve been doing when looking for a specific author.

Someone mentioned surfing sites on mobile devices. Certainly a site’s design should “degrade elegantly,” but if the intent is mobile viewing, you really need a separate design to load for those users.

My reading preferences have never, ever been determined by the savviness of an author's self-promotion. Far as I'm concerned, it's all between the covers, baby.

I read this comment with a huge amount of nostalgia. 25 years ago, I lived within walking distance of 4 great independent bookstores and a central well-stocked library. There was time and place to browse through books picking and choosing from a wonderful selection.
The lone survivor of those independent bookstores closed this fall and my current library branch is small – books have to be ordered through interlibrary loan. So I seldom linger in a physical bookstore or library now. I find book recommendations everywhere and bless authors with wonderful websites. Their websites replace the physical joy of flipping through a book. Once, I browsed through books reading excerpts, introductions, dedications, back-cover copy; now, I hope to find the same information online. I don’t want contests, message-boards, daily blog entries or discussion suggestions for bookclubs. I want a glimpse into old, current and upcoming books.
I don’t have enough time to read the all of the books that say “yes, read me” and I have overflowing wishlists everywhere of books that said “maybe, maybe-not”. But I thank all of the authors that put time and thought into their websites because it can be the smallest comment or phrase that turns “maybe” into “yes, read me”.

The structure of a website is of great importance, and one that’s developing its own discipline: information architecture. I have to access dozens of college/university websites every day for work, and I’m astounded at the seemingly-random organization on some of them. (The academic calendar is in the “Parents” section instead of the “Current Students” section? Why?)

In terms of author sites, I need book information, either on the front page, or a clear link to the information on another page. A backlist is important, and the ability to see it by publication year *and* series is important, too. I have issues with the aesthetics and organization of Suzanne Brockmann’s site (no menu at the top; you need to scroll to the bottom and follow links in a reader’s letter from Brockmann), but when you do get to her backlist (one click), she has a full list of every book she’s published (in chronological order), then lists of the books by every series, and then lists of books by publisher.

Having accessed countless websites over the years, I have a clear preference for simple-and-clean designs. No watermarks. Solid-color backgrounds. Simple fonts — I like Tahoma more than Helvetica, and Helvetica more than Times New Roman. White text on black backgrounds is too contrasty; try a brown background instead, or pale-yellow text. Black text on a white background works well for me, though I understand other readers might have problems.

And also: MENU. As in, please have one. On the left or at the top. Please label these with common-sense phrases like “Current Books” or “Backlist” or “Biography,” not cutesy code words (Dara Joy used to have things like “Tavern” and “Town Crier” and “The Library” with no explanation of what those terms meant. She’s since added explanatory captions). When it comes right down to it, your author website is mostly business, designed to drive sales. Yes, you can use it to forge connections between you and readers, but above all, it should be quick to load, easy on the eyes, and easy to navigate. If you’re a new author without a big backlist, etc., just have a clean, simple site listing what you have done. It’s much more honest than trying to distract me with clutter.

Oh, and your website should be updated regularly. I cannot emphasize that enough. If you hire a designer to make your website, please be sure to have them make it easy for you to update.

Oh, ps, I’m on Firefox and I do see the search. But I’m on a Mac. Or maybe you fixed it!

That said, Jane, you need some bubbly, for working extra hard this New Year vacation. Hee.

I’m using foxfire 2.0.0.11 with noscript and adblock plus turned on but I’m not getting any signs that you are running anything that these add-ons might block.