Category Archives: PD Martin website

June 1, 2013

SEO for an author…really?

Filed under: PD Martin website — Tags: , — PD Martin @ 7:18 pm

A short blog today….

I rarely use my blog to voice a gripe—in fact, I think today is a first! But I’ve just hit the tipping point in terms of emails (spam) from web developers offering their SEO (search engine optimisation) services.

The email usually starts with something like: We’ve noticed your great design, but unfortunately your website isn’t optimised for key search words in your field. They try to word the email like they’ve checked out my site, yet clearly they haven’t. I mean, what good are search words for a crime fiction author? Or am I missing something?

Although you may know this already, search engine optimisation is set up so that if you type in a related key word search to Google or another search engine, your site comes up as close to the top as possible. So if you sell chilli-flavoured bubblegum, when someone types “Chilli-flavoured bubblegum”  you want your website at the top of the list.

But does anyone who’s thinking of trying a new author search in Google for “crime fiction author” or “FBI thriller” or “mystery novel”? I think not! Yes, they may do this type of a search on an online bookstore (e.g. Amazon) but I certainly don’t expect to gain any new readers via a random search on a general internet search engine.

In my mind, an author’s website is more about giving existing readers information about you, your characters, other books you’ve written, etc. So really, the only search terms I need to worry about are “PD Martin” or perhaps “P.D. Martin”, and “Sophie Anderson”.

Feel free to chime in…do you ever search for a new author on Google? Or what is your current most annoying marketing/spam email?

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November 6, 2009

New blog features, Melbourne Cup, hitman manual

Filed under: PD Martin website,Research,The Killing Hands — Tags: , , , , , — PD Martin @ 9:20 pm

Today I’m launching my new blog features! My web guru has incorporated WordPress into the site, which gives me some of the more standard blog features such as the blog roll, an RSS feed and a comment field.

So go ahead, write something! Yep, scroll down and type. You can do it! And click on the RSS feed button on the left to sign up for the blog feed.

Onto writing…or maybe not….

I have to confess, not much went on this week in the way of writing or author-type activities. I did, however, back Crime Scene in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup. How could a crime author not put a few bucks on a horse named Crime Scene? And I wasn’t alone, so congrats if you were enough of a crime fiction fan to back the horse.

This week I’ve also fixed up the formatting for The Killing Hands case file. So if you’re interested in some behind-the-scenes info, visit the case file and my references (which includes the somewhat bizarre Hitman Manual for Independent Contractors). One of my favourite extracts is below:

‘Because of their uncanny ability to get into places and situations a man might find hard to duplicate, because of their deceitful, “game-playing” natures, and because a woman can be twice as vicious as a man, a woman can be a better hired executioner than a man.’

So guys, beware…and don’t forget to be nice to your wife this weekend!

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October 31, 2009

Big week

Filed under: PD Martin website,The Killing Hands — Tags: , , , — PD Martin @ 5:54 am

It’s been a big week…The Killing Hands official release date in the US and Canada, the release of my very first book trailer and I’ve been continuing work on my website – including the case file section for The Killing Hands and a new section on safety for women and how you can protect your children from predators, online and offline.

The case file for The Killing Hands is almost done (actually, it is finished but I’m having problems formatting the page so it looks pretty bad at the moment!). However, the other new section of the website will be about a month away.

In case you missed it during the week, you can view the book trailer for The Killing Hands at:

The Killing Hands

I think the producer’s done a fantastic job and lots of people are saying it’s one of the best book trailers they’ve ever seen. Hopefully new people will keep logging on and viewing the 35-second video in the coming weeks.

Finally, next week the blog will be different – with comments and some other standard blog features enabled. Like I said…it’s been a big week!

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October 9, 2009

Page proofs and case files

Filed under: Kiss of Death,PD Martin website — Tags: , , — PD Martin @ 5:44 am

Well, the page proofs are now sitting on my desk, ready for action! That’s right, Kiss of Death, book 5 in the Sophie Anderson series, is almost ready for the printers here in Australia – sorry, quite a bit longer until press time in other countries :( 

My job now is to do a final proof of the typeset pages and write the acknowledgements – that’s it. Can’t believe it’s almost done. A huge sense of both relief and fear; relief that I’m finished and fear that it’ll soon be entirely out of my hands.

Coming soon – case files

This week I’ve been looking at ways to improve my website and have decided to put up “case files” for The Killing Hands and Kiss of Death. These case files will include photos and videos of the crime-scene locations (taken during my 2008 visit to LA), character lists, research info, references, etc.

I’m aiming to get the case file for The Killing Hands up in time to coincide with its North American release on November 1. I’ll keep you posted!

I’ll also be adding RSS feeds and a comment feature to my blog in the next few weeks.

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October 1, 2009

Who’s got time to write?

Filed under: PD Martin website,The Killing Hands — Tags: , — PD Martin @ 5:40 am

Killing HandsUS-10percentAnother week? Gone already? Yet again, no writing or editing this week, but I’ve managed to get some book-related work done.

After some umming and ahhing, I’ve finally chosen the video producer for my book trailer. He’s Aussie-based and has done some recent work for Pan Macmillan Australia, my Aussie publisher. You can see a few of his book trailers at: www.youtube.com/user/PanMacmillanAus

I’ll be working on two book trailers with him, the first will be for the North American release of The Killing Hands (November 1). It will give readers and potential readers a quick snapshot into the book. I’ll let you know when it’s ready!

Next up will be another 30-second trailer for the Aussie release of book 5 in the Sophie Anderson series, Kiss of Death (release date is 1 January 2010). Again, I’ll post it on my website once it’s ready.

I’m still finding the book trailer ‘thing’ very interesting – obviously it’s a marketing tool but will it have the desired effect and bring new readers to Sophie? Only time will tell :)

And yes, that is a sneak peak of the North American cover for The Killing Hands on the left!

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May 5, 2009

Launching the new website

Filed under: PD Martin website — Tags: , , — PD Martin @ 12:32 pm

Bringing together this website has been a significant achievement and I thought it only fitting that my first blog should cover my new website. For anyone involved in the web business, you know how long it can take to build a new site.

My first task was to think about the website specification. This was quite an informal, short document for me, but obviously with a large, corporate website the spec can be a massive document and must be extremely detailed. My spec covered the new site structure, what I was (and wasn’t) looking for in the design, the website functionality/areas and what I needed from the site’s content management system (CMS).

For the design, I set up a competition at 99designs.com. On this website you post your project, and designers and developers within the community submit a mock-up or two. I was lucky enough to get some great designs, and after much deliberation I went for the design you see on this website. Thanks to Aaron Snowberger for the great design!

Next was the development or back-end of the website. I wanted a CMS so I could add my own content, images, etc. whenever I wanted to. Plus I wanted to expand on the functionality in the old pdmartin.com.au, adding new features to the front end (e.g. a video section, blog, etc.) and to the back-end (e.g. email notification when I answer a reader’s FAQ). This amazing work was done by Gillian Ramsay. Thanks, Gillian!

Next was the content. Handy thing about being a writer – I can write my own content! I was able to use some of the existing content, but also made sure I updated it and added new content as necessary.

The final step was bringing my content into the CMS and testing the website. This process actually took a couple of weeks, partly because it came right in the middle of my final few weeks on the first draft of book five, Kiss of Death.

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