If you want to know how to market yourself as I writer, I recommend that you check out Kalisha Buckhanon's website, www.kalisha.com. Buckhanon has written two successful books, Upstate (2006) and Conception (2008). She received her MFA at the New School and was taught by Sapphire, the author of Push. I love the sleek and contemporary look of her website--the sans-serif font and the black, red, and white color scheme are great aesthetic choices. Buckhanon uses her website as platform to promote herself as a writer, speaker, and educator. The website has links to Buckhanon's videos on You Tube, which include Buckhanon reading an excerpt from her book, Conception, and giving sound and useful advice to writers.
Another website that is worth checking out is Marita Golden's website, www.maritagolden.com. Golden is best known for her fiction, non-fiction, and anthologies. She wrote the memoir, Migrations of the Heart: An Autobiography (1983). She is also the founder of The Hurston/Wright Foundation. I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of the greenish-blue background, but other than that, the website is a great model as to what a writer's website should accomplish: inform the audience about upcoming events, information about your work, and the services you provide other than writing.
Okay, now I'm going to talk about a website that isn't that effective. Can you guess? Junot Diaz's website, www.junotdiaz.com. Gasp. I know there will be some people out there who are mad that I wrote that, but it's the truth. For those of you who aren't familiar, Diaz won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Literature for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007). And I'm by no means, a hater. I stood in a long line to get my book signed by Diaz, and I can honestly say he seems humble and down-to-earth. Having said that, I think Diaz' website doesn't reflect how dynamic a writer he is. Diaz's work is fun, experimental, and daring, yet his website doesn't reflect that. Even though I found Diaz's site to be a bit dull, I will say that if you want to know where to meet Diaz, there is a list of upcoming events. Other than that, I didn't learn anything new about him on his website, but hey, no one's website is perfect, right?
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