Collate your work

There are many writers and journalists whose work I value and enjoy. But one thing that frustrates me is that some don't have websites of their own, where they post what they've been working on. If I want to understand and follow the person's oeuvre, I have to hop around different publications and rely on increasingly terrible search engines to surface their work. It's too incovenient and I simply give up. Life is short. We're all busy. Don't make me work to find your work.

I understand that there may be restrictions about publishing in more than one place. That's fine. But can you at least tell us you did the thing and link to the relevant publication so we can seek it out, should we so wish? It's not enough to post on social media because I don't want to wade through the cacophonous dross of algorithmic feeds to find what I'm looking for.

I also understand why an author might focus on income generating sites. That's fine too. Bills need to get paid. Put a paywall on your personal website, and let us decide whether the price of admission is worth it. Just please, collect everything together in one place to help us find it. While you're at it add an RSS feed to your site. Otherwise, you're missing out on potential readers who may want to engage with your work but fail to, because seeking it out is a significant barrier and time waster.

If you need a decent website, get in touch. I'm happy to help. I'm not offering to make a quick buck. I honestly find it so frustrating that at this point, I'm willing to do it as public service. To me, the benefits of collating your work, on your own purpose-built site, are obvious and manifold.

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