A month ago, bestselling author Naomi Novik decided she needed a new website.
Naomi and I have known one another for a number of years. When I first read His Majesty’s Dragon, the first book in her Temeraire series, I was hooked. It was a type of fantasy I hadn’t read before, taking history and shaping it with fantasy elements. I loved it… and I wasn’t alone. Naomi quickly gained a large readership around the world, wrote five more novels, and caught the eye of director Peter Jackson who purchased the rights to Naomi’s series.
I eventually met her and found her to be absolutely delightful. I knew then if I got the chance to work with her I would do it without question.
So when she asked me if I’d develop a new website, one with a higher level of functionality than her original website, I was thrilled. I enjoy web development as much as a painter enjoys brushing oils onto a canvas, I would imagine, and it’s that creative outlet that stirs me from bed every morning. I spend a great deal of time writing but it’s nice to break away and do something different like painting a computer screen.
It’s not that different though. I still approach the creative process of designing a website like I do writing a novel. I let the idea percolate for sufficient time. I outline. I revise. I do a draft. I revise. I then show it to an “editor,” usually the person who owns the website, and then revise again using their suggestions. By the end of the process, it is a website I’m proud of and one the author is happy with.
For Naomi’s website, I knew I wanted to use the fantastic artwork that graces her US covers. The art is done by Dominic Harman. I wanted to keep the great branding he has helped achieve with the covers—artwork that has become a fan favorite—and put it on the website.
And of course, add an exclusive excerpt from Naomi’s new graphic novel, Will Supervillains Be On the Final?, which is released early next week!
Here are some of the screenshots of the new website:
The new website bio page for Naomi Novik
The new Ask Naomi section of her website!
The Will Supervillains Be on the Final? page of Naomi's new website!
The excerpt for Will Supervillains Be On the Final?!
If you are a Naomi Novik fan, ignore the screenshots and just go look at the real thing! Got a question for Naomi? There is now an Ask Naomi section where you can pose two questions a month and after the month she will answer five of them, to be posted on the site. Want to learn more about Will Supervillains Be On the Final? graphic novel? Click HERE to read an excerpt and read reviews!
For me, it’s on to my next assignment. A redesign of the Terry Brooks website!
Onward and upward…
