Quick note: I’m reworking the site. Things might get a bit rubble-ous for a bit. Front page is in beta. What do you think?
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
The comic book-ish style is wonderful; it makes finding things nice and easy, the page itself looks MUCH cleaner…heh. I like it! Can’t wait to see what else you do with it!
I’m all for a redesign, being a web geek myself (I redesign every several months!) and I really like the comic book style. It’s great seeing pictures of you right off too. Looking forward to the rest of the re-do.
Love the pics, Holly. For the longest time I wondered “What the heck does this woman look like?!”
Yikes!
I do like it, but it just surprised me when I got the first glance. Your site has always been fairly traditional in design, and this is quite a change. Different and attention-grabbing, also easy to navigate. Looking forward to seeing what else you do with it.
It’s shocking, and certainly eye-catching.
My only bit of advice is to, if you want to maximize your chances of selling books, put info about your most recent release or two on the front page like you did before.
I think it’s great. I enjoyed the podcast too.
B
It’s… wild. I’ll be honest, it’s not my cup of tea, and I don’t find it very professional-looking, either.
Still missing your seasonal color changes on FM, though.
I agree with Arain about putting your most recent works out, but mainly as a reminder to your fans–I mean, I dunno the numbers, but I imagine that most of the people coming here are your fans to begin with.
I’d have to disagree, George. I came across Holly’s site as a writer looking for advice, and I’ve ended up buying close to ten of her books (and counting, whenever I can find more in a bookstore).
I like it a lot. The whole comic book thing is funny, and the picture of you… Well I won’t say anything, in case it wasn’t supposed to be funny. The only complaint I have is that everything else seems shoved off to the side.
The page is really cool, Holly! I was really surprised. Yesterday, the site was basically the same way I’ve seen it for a long time and then BOOM! it was changed. And I like it, it shows your humorous side, and it’s easy to navigate! Way to go, very cool.
Umm… it’s out there, I’ll give you that! But I don’t think it’s right for the type of books you write.
The idea is sound, I just don’t see you as the comic book kind of writer. Maybe the same front page but with covers or your books instead with each category?
The only thing I really don’t like is the column with the blog excerpts – it just seems like too much in what would be an otherwise sound design. As long as you’ve got the link to the diary, the clutter of replicating the actual entries themselves doesn’t feel necessary.
But no matter what you decide, nice job!
I really love the old design. It’s easy on the eyes, easy to navigate, and it’s professional. I definately think the new design is a major step backwards. I vote for keeping things as they are – it’s the best design I’ve seen on any site, home-made or “professionally done”. :-)
To be perfectly frank, I prefer the old layout. It was easier on the eyes and a lot simpler to navigate. This one looks, I don’t know…wacky.
I like it. Yes, it looks very different from the former design and thus maybe strange to some. But I think it’s fresher and responds to new features like the podcast writing course.
Though I agree with Rick that the excerpts from the blog aren’t necessary.
Hehe, must be website revamping time, I just prettied up mine as well. And now I’m getting ambitious and will try for an entry page with some mini movie or so. Just for the fun of it. :)
The new layout doesn’t mesh well. I mean, it looks like a picture in one collum, a block of text and another block of text. There is no coheision. I think you might be able to make it work, but as it is now it looks really unprofessional in my opinion.
Honestly? It doesn’t really look like you. The columned layout is fine–but the graphics….hmmm. I was thinking something as simple and classy as, say, the cover of Talyn. So when I saw it, I was a bit shocked.
I like it ! I think reinventing oneself is something that creatives have to do every once in a while, or we get stale.
I think the most important thing is navigation and that is great.
You can always change it again :-)
The only thing I really don’t like is the column with the blog excerpts – it just seems like too much in what would be an otherwise sound design. As long as you’ve got the link to the diary, the clutter of replicating the actual entries themselves doesn’t feel necessary.
But no matter what you decide, nice job!
—-
I agree; the diary text kind of clutters everything. Maybe you could just display the latest headlines?
No, no, please don’t stay with this one. The comic-book thing is too chaotic for my taste, and I don’t feel it’s indicative of the wonderful work you do, Holly. There’s also way too much white. I’ve loved the color scheme you’ve used on your site for years. It looks like you’re keeping that for the secondary pages. If you must make changes to the home page, please keep trying! :-)
I really liked the old layout better. Things were easier to find. This one actually makes me feel weird when looking at it. It doesn’t seem to fit you. It reminds me of when I com across amateur websites. I liked your old one better. The other one looked more professional. I think new readers would be turned off by the front page and not take you seriously. But it’s your page and I know your serious so it won’t stop me from coming.
The new layout looks great, but I have to agree with what’s been said: the old one was easier on the eyes and more professional. The new one *is* fun, though.
And question: I wrote my first book and it felt lacking, but I started the editing drudge anyway. I also started planning the next one with the same characters, etc, and realized that it would probably work well as a trilogy instead of three standalones about the same people. Would you recommend I keep editing the 1st (after planning the next books) with that in mind, or write the rest of it and then edit it as a whole piece? Thanks.
Thanks to everyone for the comments on the front page beta. I didn’t allow myself to think too much about it while I put it together; it was my version of a Rorschach blot — something that would allow me to break out of my preconceived notions of what a website should look like, and something that would let me find out at the same time what worked and what didn’t with my current design.
Your comments have given me answers to all of that, and more. I’m in progress designing the new layout, based on what you’ve said.