It goes without saying that we are living in a digital world and I am a digital girl. We carry computers in our back pockets with more processing power than we used to go to the moon. And as the Internet becomes even more intertwined with every minute of our lives, it becomes increasingly important and just plain practical to be easy to find online.
One easy way to do this—without committing to purchasing a bunch of domain names and paying hosting fees—is by creating a Google Site. There are tons of ways to use Google Sites to make your life easier, but listed below are just five of my favorites especially for writers.
1. Compile a digital story bible for your and other authors’ reference.
When you’re planning to write a long-running series with scores of characters weaving in and out of the narrative, it is easy to forget details. Or entire plot points. Or entire sub-plots!
This is where having a story bible comes in handy. Character bios, descriptions of settings, overarching outlines, and much more can all be stored in one organized place. Why fuss with (or spend money on) binders, printing notes, adding sticky notes, and moving things around when you could take the whole thing digital and never forget it at home ever again?
And if you’re working on a multi-author series, I’d argue that having something like a Google Site wiki is downright essential for keeping everyone on the same page. I remember using Google Sites for group projects in college, and what is a shared world but the ultimate group project? All you’d have to do is invite your fellow authors to edit the site—done by clicking the “Share with Others” icon in the upper right corner.
Here’s an example I made using the Help Center template.
2. Design a sleek new link-in-bio site.
You have no doubt seen creative uses of the singular link-in-bio social media sites like Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok (when you get up there in followers) let you have. Now it’s your turn to level up your link, too!
The benefit of having a dedicated website for your link-in-bio—which, generally speaking, is like a list of buttons that take the visitor to other social media profiles, where to buy your books, and so on—is that you can tailor the experience to whatever you want it to be, whenever you want. You can even get creative and add videos like a book trailer!
Here’s an example I made using the Student Portfolio template.
(Pssst! If you need to shorten your site’s link to get it to fit a certain character limit, but can’t afford to or don’t know how to connect a domain name, try using a URL shortener like TinyURL. FYI: we go over attaching domain names in the course!)
3. Create a hub for all of your bonus content across every series.
We’re writers. Our cups of creativity overfloweth. The good news is that readers love any bonus scenes or prologues you can dream up, along with other extras like recipes, maps, you name it!
Typically, you might have these extras delivered to readers in a newsletter, or added to your newsletter’s welcome sequence. That’s all well and good, but that also means you’ll have to update your sequence or resend these files every so often to make sure everyone in your list gets them. You know what’s easier than that? Keeping a link to a bonus content hub in the footer of every email you send.
Here’s an example I made using the Portfolio template.
4. Enrich your series by sharing an in-universe website.
If your series revolves around a particular setting (like a restaurant or a bookstore every couple visits in your romance series) or a particular character (like a private investigator in your thriller series), having an in-universe website might be a super fun way to introduce the world of your story to your readers. You can give readers an overall feel for your stories’ voice and vibes, give fun little details people who only read the books wouldn’t see, or even drop hints about upcoming titles.
Here’s an example I made using the Restaurant template.
5. And, of course, there’s your author website.
Having your own corner of the Internet not only makes you feel like a “real” author (whatever that means), but it’s also becoming increasingly necessary as we see social media sites spring up only to later crash and burn. You need a place where your readers can find you—and your books—no matter what.
If you’re on the fence about whether you’re ready to have an author website, you can read this blog post to clear things up. But if you’re sure you’re ready to take the leap, I have a new course on building your author website using Google Sites that I think you’ll love. I’ll walk you through it all, step by step, from zero to dot-com.
