Make it Easy

The other day I was scrolling down my FB feed when I saw a link to the review of a book that sounded really interesting.  I clicked over, scanned the review, and found it more interesting.  At the bottom of the review, there were links going to various ways to access the author.  But no link to the book.

That was the first mistake.

Okay, still interested in the book, I clicked the link to the author's Amazon page.  Umm, it went to my author page.  I checked the URL and it was the general 'author page' link, not a link to that particular author.

And that was mistake #2.

So, I clicked the link that would take me to the author's Facebook page, still hoping I'd find a place where I could actually access the book in question.  And it sat there, trying to load but not actually loading.  I waited and waited...

Mistake #3 and I gave up.

While none of these mistakes are necessarily the author's fault, they lost the author a sale.  (Or at the very least a future sale because I would've at least wishlisted it.)

All of this brought something to mind, though.  I see a lot of posts where the link is broken or there is no link at all or it takes forever to load or... something.  My point is that authors need to make it easy for readers.  You put all that work into marketing your book, from creating a really grabby blurb to writing the marketing copy to creating pretty graphics that encourage readers to click through, don't waste it.  Post a link that goes directly to the place where they can buy.  OR at the very least to a page where there are additional links that go directly to a place where they can buy.

As for the reviewer thing... if you have someone reviewing your book, make sure they have all the right links.  Check their links and let them know if they're broken.  Say 'hey, thanks for the awesome review, but the link to my author page should be X' or something.  Anything.  (Of course, this only works if you know they reviewed your book.)  If you are a reviewer, check your links so you're not putting up that awesome review and then frustrating the readers.

Just sayin'.  And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go check all my links and make sure I'm not being a damn hypocrite.

Oh, and I updated the photo on my About Me page here.  Gotta remember to do that stuff every now and then.

Speaking of making it easy, I almost forgot... Blink of an I is free now through Friday worldwide.  If you haven't read it yet, now would be a good time to snag a copy.