Website improvements are coming. What do you think?: seanan

Website improvements are coming. What do you think?

By now, many of you will have had a chance to go browse around my website (www.seananmcguire.com), and may have noticed that it's currently oriented fairly heavily towards my musical activities. All the current content is going to remain online -- you'll still be able to access the songbook, view details on my CDs, and more -- but we're in the middle of a major reworking of the entire site. Expect exciting developments...and that's where this post comes in.

What would you like to see on my website? Be aware that some things either can't or won't be done; I can't offer entire albums for download (I don't have the bandwidth and would really like to sell the physical CDs before the cat uses them to kill me in the night), I won't start doing daily photo docudramas about my cat, but still, there are options. Are you looking for wallpaper? Forums? A more detailed schedule page? Bios? Let me know! Since there's no commitment involved in having an opinion, this is your chance to pie-inna-sky me without fear of anything more than being looked at funny.

Technology is awesome.

vaspider

May 19 2008, 15:47:24 UTC 9 years ago

New comment

Text-only or otherwise copyright-ok LJ or AIM icons for songs or books.
Ditto wallpapers.
An 'inspired by' page for user-submitted content.

seanan_mcguire

May 20 2008, 14:01:23 UTC 9 years ago

Very cool.

The only problem with the 'inspired by' page is that whole 'fanfic is of the devil' thing that American copyright has going on. So art, jewelry, poetry, all good, but anything more solid, only okay if it happens in an RP forum.

People = weird.

May 20 2008, 23:22:57 UTC 9 years ago

Well, I meant more fan art and desktops, but I am of two minds on that. I know of a couple of authors who've embraced their fannish base (as opposed to their fanbase) and have done well by it. (Cory Doctorow comes to mind.)

Certainly, a topic of conversation for the agent, no?

Deleted comment

May 20 2008, 00:09:28 UTC 9 years ago

Because I don't have a camera.

You can also search by phrases. I'll talk to Chris about alphabetizing, but it may not be available with our code base. I can't post vocal arrangements, because NO ONE ON THIS PLANET is crazy enough to actually do that much free sheet music for me. Sadly.

On the WIP page...that's both a 'yes' and a 'no'. There are a lot of details about WIPs that really can't be released until they become less 'WIP' and more 'committed to publisher X'. But I'll definitely get pages up for the major projects, starting with Toby.

May 20 2008, 14:01:40 UTC 9 years ago

*gives you a pony*

lwood

May 20 2008, 01:02:43 UTC 9 years ago

Sample chapters to help flog books?

More art?

I would argue in favor of a forum, but be aware that, just like spam e-mail, there's a lot of botnet action in forums right now. The Westria forum was getting several bot signups a day before I implemented an arithmetic test to weed them out --now automated signups fail, but the semi-automated ones that actually involve a human at any point still need dealing with.

-- Lorrie

May 20 2008, 14:00:33 UTC 9 years ago

Once we can have sample chapters, absolutely.

I'm going to get a 'With Friends Like These...' archive, especially since I'm currently working on a series called 'Seanan's Guide to Writing', which is disturbing as all hell.

We'll definitely screen for bots. You've had good forum experiences? We're strongly leaning in that direction...

May 20 2008, 16:26:27 UTC 9 years ago

Sure, I've got experience in both the technical and social sides of forum-wrangling--but if there's any real size to deal with, I'll have to appoint some help from among your fan base. ;)

-- Lorrie