Offer your readers a photo gallery page

If you’re serious about receiving media attention – either from newspapers and magazines or from bloggers and online journals – you’ll want to have a photo gallery page on your website. After you’ve been interviewed or if your book is being reviewed, that writer will want pictures of you that can be used with the piece.

Readers also will enjoy taking a peek at these pictures. Putting a face to the author’s name is like knowing a little secret about the book.

You should offer at least three and upward to six photos. They definitely should include:
• Book cover – Just the front cover is fine. This photo typically most accompanies articles about your book.
• Author’s publicity photo – A head shot is fine, but it should look professional. If it’s a snapshot or looks like a photo from a police lineup, get a new one. The photo also should be current; if you’ve changed your hairstyle, post a new photo.
• Author interacting with book’s subject matter – This should be a photo of the author doing something that relates to the book’s subject. For example, if the book is about castles, show the author in front of the Tower of London.

Other photos in the gallery might show the author interacting with fans, speaking to a group, or receiving an award. If nonfiction, the photos might be of important objects in the book, such as a map and compass if a book about orienteering.

The photos appearing on the gallery should be large enough that they can be downloaded and reproduced by the media. Their size should be at least 100,000 bytes (You can determine this by right clicking on the photo, then clicking on “Properties” on the pop-up screen, and looking for the number after “Size”). Photographers will know this is an oversimplistic explanation of how large the photo should be, but we’re trying to keep it all simple here. Lastly, the photos should be .jpegs.

Photos can be presented in a number of ways, such as all appearing on a single page as thumbnails or presented in a slideshow. You’re typically only limited by what the website template you’ve purchased and your own talents.

Each photograph you post also needs a caption (aka a “cutline”). The caption should describe the photo by answering as many of the 5 W’s and 1 H (who, what, when, where, why and how) as possible. For example, a caption showing the author at a book signing might read, “Mary Q. Writer signs copies of her latest book, “How to Make a Square Peg Fit a Round Hole with a Hammer” at Yarns and Fables Bookstore in Los Angeles on Sept. 26, 2014.” And don’t forget to include credit for who took the photo.

Simply use “Photo Gallery” as the page header. An explanation of the page should appear below the header with permissions outlining who may use the photo and under what conditions.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Atlanta, Georgia, or a small town like Atlanta, Idaho, I can provide that second eye.