An Interview With The Author… Ruthanne Reid
Indie author, Ruthanne Reid, wears a lot of hats. Publicist, editor, graphics designer and an amazing webmaster. Read more for an exclusive interview with the author…
At Midphase, nothing makes us smile more than happy customers. Every once in a while we get one that is an obvious shining star. Self-published author, Ruthanne Reid, owns and runs the stunning website AmongTheMythos.com. She caught our eye with this blog post (you really need to read it, she is not only talented but hilarious as well) and we instantly knew we needed to get to know her better. Read on for an interview with the author for advice on how to create a successful website for your project:
Thank you so much Ruthanne for letting us ask you a few questions. First of all, what can you tell our readers about yourself?
“I’m a sci-fi and fantasy author. I’m also independently published, which means I’m a publicist, an editor, a webmaster, and a graphics designer. Suffice it to say I don’t sleep much!”
Your website is absolutely beautiful, it’s amazing that you run it by yourself. What does having a website add to your writing?
“It’s the primary bridge between me and my readers. Book information and sample chapters, all store information, newsletter, forum, contact, blog, and social media all need a place to live, and my website is that place. Essentially, it’s my bullhorn.”
What advice do you have for those just starting out?
“Make sure your site is mobile-friendly and loads quickly. Use plugins like WP Rocket to cache your page, and test it via sites like GTMetrics. A quality design is absolutely crucial; a small menu and ease of navigation are far more important than a thousand options. Your site and product may have a thousand options, but if you present those to your visitor up front, she won’t be able to find the one option she wants.”
Can you tell us a little bit about what you have been working on lately?
A massive, intimidating, fabulous epic covering 15,000 years of history through the eyes of the father of all vampires. It’s part horror, part romance, part sci-fi, and entirely melodramatic fun. The main character, Notte, is completely over the top, and I’m having a blast writing him.
Okay, well we want to boast just a little bit, especially after the great things you said in “A Tale of Two (or More) Web Hosts”. Can you tell us about an experience you’ve had with Midphase?
Just picking one is a challenge. The-host-that-shall-not-be-named-in-this-interview left my site with a thousand and one problems, and this is where Midphase’s people proved their worth.
I jumped onto the 24/7 chat and asked for help, and to my amazement, I got it. I got polite help. I got rapid help. I got answers to all my questions, and even help with WordPress and phpBB. The remarkable thing? I got help that didn’t once make me feel dumb and never indicated impatience.
I’ve worked in customer service, so I was very impressed with this.
Everyone I’ve spoken to at Midphase has been honest, helpful, and unusually knowledgeable. On top of that, my site’s speed and performance have never been better – and I’ve been using my own domains since 2000.
In the big picture…
I’m trying to reshape the world one book at a time. If my website fails, that’s failure to launch.
This is a digital age, but in the land of web hosting, promises run high and delivery falls short. I know this sounds silly, but follow me here: Midphase is essentially being a good world citizen by going that extra mile. Forget the low bar set by hosts-which-shall-not-be-named. Midphase shattered those expectations, and in the process, redefined what web hosting ought to be.
For a complete list of Ruthanne’s books as well as excerpts from her latest works visit her website: AmongTheMythos.com
Thank you Ruthanne! We love to give our clients a first-hand look at the amazing benefits you can gain by having a website. For more information on getting started with a website from Midphase visit: Midphase.com. If you have a website hosted with Midphase that you would like to have featured on our blog, let us know on Twitter @Midphase or send me a message @KellyKirkham4.