Redoing the site

I’m thinking of redoing my website.

Now that Thanmir War is not undergoing heavy revisions and I’m in the process of writing Isto, I think it might be time to make my website somewhat more “bookish” themed. I’ve been researching marketing and one of the articles I’ve come across is directed at author websites. I have no delusions of becoming a large name author, but if I ever do gain an audience, I don’t think pink flowers will give a good first impression about my books. Sure it represents me in my day-to-day life, but it’s a far cry from world I’ve built.

So what is representive of the world I built? Not roses, or a combination of reds and creams. That screams stock romance. Darker colors aim more toward mystery, thriller, or steamy urban seduction. Bright colors are often used for non-fiction. That doesn’t leave me with much.

I decided to look at some fantasy author designs, starting with the Terry’s. Terry Brooks and Terry Pratchett are both simple, white, splash header… very coporate. Meh. Terry Goodkind is dark and forboding. Too much for my tastes, plus the text is hard to read. Raymond E. Feist’s site is very…pretty. I’d dare say romantic. Not quite what I expected. Piers Anthony – gouge my eyes out, no! Brandon Sanderson, I like because of the muted tones, but I’m not a fan of the landing page. Patrick Rothfuss is nice. Clean, dark but not mystery genre, and simple. I like simple. George R.R. Martin, also corporate, but far more fantasy and favorable. Jim Butcher, back to Brooks and Pratchett again. Robin Hobb is, um, fancy, though I don’t like the material texture background. Neil Gaiman – modern, beautiful, and probably one-ups Rothfuss for my tastes. Steven Erikson – the words outweigh the pictures and not in a good way.

I’ve settled on a color scheme. I’m thinking dark gray background and cream colored foreground, leaning toward golden brown highlights.

But imagery? Eek! I’m not a graphics designer, which is an unfortunate shortcoming. I need a catchy header that sticks with the theme of my writing. Well, I suppose the downfall there is my lack of book cover. But I have some ideas, using a few of the homegrown images I already have.

If anyone has any “I saw this and thought of Thanmir War” ideas, feel free to shout them out. If not, I’ll be asking opinions for when I figure out the new design.