The Ever-Widening World of Websites
Shannon Maughan -- 12/8/97
Authors and illustrators are increasing their presence on the Internet
As the number of computers in America's homes, schools and libraries continues to proliferate, teachers, parents and children are increasingly turning to the World Wide Web for information about their favorite children's authors and illustrators. PW recently did a bit of surfing on the Net and discovered a treasure trove of author-illustrator-related websites -- some fun, some flashy and all fact-filled.
At the outset, finding specific information on an author or illustrator seems a daunting task. But there are several search approaches that can help narrow down the choices. One of the first places to check for author-illustrator information is a publisher's website. While the depth of information varies from site to site, most major publishers supply basic data about new books and author tour/event dates, and many provide author biographies and teacher resources as well. In addition, most provide a search engine and sometimes give links to authors' individual sites.
A second place to look for author information is on the burgeoning number of special-interest sites that focus on children's books. Among these, the depth of information and number of links vary. Inkspot provides practical tips for writers and an index of a few authors' published books, while the Fairrosa Cyber Library provides links to such places as the Randolph Caldecott Society of America and the de Grummond Collection, where the papers and works of many noted authors and illustrators are housed.
Thirdly, Web users can go directly to the growing number of sites posted by individual authors and illustrators. These sites are by far the most detailed and distinct of the bunch, usually wearing the subject's personal touch. For author-illustrator Jan Brett, having a website has allowed her to communicate more directly with kids, parents and teachers about her books. On Brett's heavily illustrated site, she describes her research behind each of her books' characters, setting and artwork and includes anecdotes about travel and family as she explains how her various projects have taken shape. "Everyone has a different creative process and to be able to share that is great," Brett said. "I can't go into the kind of detail in a letter that the site d s -- it's so luxurious to be able to send kids there."
Author Virginia Hamilton said she "thought a long time about whether to have a Web site, because you're making yourself very public." But in the end, she discovered a number of advantages. "The site is a way for people of all ages to know me and know my work," she said. "I make personal connections to people all over the world."
Rodney Alan Greenblat, author-illustrator of such titles as Aunt Ippy's Museum of Junk and Uncle Wizzmo's New Used Car (both HarperCollins), also appreciates the Web's global reach. "It's a hub where people can talk to me," he said. Via e-mail, Greenblat has discovered a fan base that extends from New Jersey to Denmark to Japan. He receives very little mail from children; much of his correspondence arrives from other artists and animators, which has turned into a form of cyber networking. "The site is great as a living press kit," he noted. Visitors can experience his boldly colored alternative world through such small animated vignettes as a spoof on a nature show which Greenblat designed specifically for the site.
According to J. Otto Siebold, the site he and his collaborator and wife Vivian Walsh have created is "a cross between our own low-watt radio station and a Technicolor answering machine." The site, Siebold explained, "is an extension of the characters in our books," which include Mr. Lunch the dog, the monkey from Monkey Business, and newcomer Olive (from Olive, the Other Reindeer). "Our site is a labyrinth to move through," Siebold said. "We love to create secret-mind-tunnel kinds of things for people to explore."
Jan Brett also finds a sense of creative freedom on the Web. "I feel like I can work outside the boundaries of a professional artist," she said. "My books have a lot of detail and folk art elements, but on the site I like to use my more lighthearted, cartoony stuff. It's a perfect way to satisfy that itch."
Keeping Sites Fresh
Though visualizing and designing a Web site can be great fun, the commitment to updating and maintaining the site never ends. "I did a lot of fooling around with many different designs and concepts," Greenblat said, "and it took a couple of months of putting things up and looking at them. But I think you have to think of a Web site as an ongoing process. It's dynamic, not a portfolio." Greenblat added that he tries to update his site biweekly, but admitted, "It's easy to forget about it when you're involved in other projects."
Hamilton had a clear idea of what her site should look like, but she sought the help of computer designers to put her thoughts into Web-site form. "I say 'this is what I want,' and they figure out how to do it. They make it easy to have exactly what I want," she said. Some of the more personal items Hamilton has posted are a photographic journal of a recent trip to South Africa and photos taken at book signings and speeches. She has even included a photograph of her mother, juxtaposed with some of her mother's memorable sayings. Hamilton said she adds new things to her site every two months or so and updates it thoroughly every four or five months.
Brett's husband designed her site to be "unfussy, uncomplicated and with strong interaction," said Brett, "so that teachers and kids would find it easy and fun to use." A "Piggybacks" area for teachers suggests classroom activities related to Brett's books and invites discussion and ideas from other educators. Another area allows kids to interact with a character called Hedgie the Hedgehog. Kids recently voted on which Halloween costume Hedgie should wear, and Brett then drew the costume that received the most votes. Brett also encourages the downloading of animal masks, reproducible coloring and activity sheets, and other illustrated goodies on the site.
Though copyright infringement remains an issue on the Internet, most authors and illustrators PW spoke with don't mind the downloading of materials, within limit. A general rule of thumb (usually spelled out on each site) is that visitors may download one copy of anything on the site for private, personal use. The images are not to be publicized or used in any commercial way. "If people want to pull images off the site and print them, we say 'permission granted,' " Siebold commented. "Our lawyer d sn't like us to say that," he joked, "but we think it's okay."
Another perpetual concern is the volume of e-mail that arrives at the individual sites. At this point, the authors and illustrators interviewed by PW have managed to answer each communication they receive, noting that an e-mail response is much quicker to process than a handwritten letter. Brett still maintains an extensive mailing list for her snail-mail newsletter, but answers e-mail using a laptop, even when she's on a book tour.
Book promotion, obviously, remains the key ingredient of most author-illustrator Web sites. Authors and illustrators usually post calendars of book signings and events and include listings of all their titles and where to purchase them. Hamilton, among others, has an agreement with Amazon.com, and visitors to her site may purchase some of her titles directly from the online bookseller.
Authors with specialized titles that often get lost in the promotional shuffle can shine on the Internet. Writers like Mary E. Lyons, who has written books on such noted African Americans as Zora Neale Hurston and Harriet Jacobs, can create for themselves a book promotion showcase in cyberspace that far exceeds the reach of minimal -- or nonexistent -- promotional materials from a publishing house. Even well-known authors can use a Web site as a place to air their views on specific subjects. For example, Judy Blume posts an editorial on censorship on her site as a response to the many challenges her titles have received over the years.
How do publishers feel about authors and illustrators taking book promotion by the reins? "Any exposure for children's books is excellent," said Tim Moses, publicity manager for children's hardcover books at Penguin Putnam, "and an author website means that much more exposure." An area on Penguin Putnam's site, called Read Along Express, provides a variety of activities focused on children's books and links visitors to author-illustrator sites like Jan Brett's when possible. According to Moses, the Web is "a very valid, though still new, form of publicity. It's getting to the point where with the Web you can expose more people to a book in a day than you can using television."
"I think it's a fabulous idea for authors and illustrators to have their own websites," stated Virginia Anagnos, publicity manager for HarperCollins Children's Books. "We can only provide information on the titles that we publish. Authors are really the best resource for information about all their titles."
Many authors and illustrators are also using their websites to promote more than just books. Siebold and Walsh market and sell T-shirts that they've designed. Brett plans to use her site as a key component in a silent auction of her artwork next fall. Greenblat, who has put his designs on household items and other products, says his Web site allows fans to see the other kinds of work he d s. "I don't really market the stuff," he commented. "But I can show samples of things I've made. No one can order them from me yet, but who knows? The Web is always changing."
And for fans, change is one thing they can expect from the forward-thinking authors and illustrators who have boldly moved onto the World Wide Web.
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