When it comes to promotion, authors must have a good online media center.

It does not matter if you are a new author, or a seasoned pro, you MUST provide easily-accessible details for media and bloggers who want to do interviews or query you for guest blogs.

Online media centers should include biographies, author photographs, novel covers, book trailers, excerpts, audio clips, links to previous interviews, a schedule of events and more. (Read more in by guest blog Virtual Book Tours: Why Authors Need Online Media Kits)

If you are just starting out, your media center will seem slim on information – but that is okay. You have to start somewhere. Post what you have, which should include a bio, photographs, book cover art and links to your social networks.

Two author Web sites with terrific media information:

Jennifer Ashley

Jennifer Ashley

What I like:

She has a LOT of information on this site, but it is well-organized. This author, who writes several different serials under three different names, also provides a list of each book in each series, so readers and reviewers know where to begin. She also has separate Web sites for each series, which gives each their own brand.

Ashley also offers links to her online press kit, speaker topics and FAQs, which are essential for any media person.

I don’t like the Web domain, JennifersRomances.com. I can never remember it and have to Google her name each time to find her site. However, terrific SEO brings this site to the top, so that is a bonus.

RebeccaCantrell

Rebecca Cantrell

What I like:

Rebecca is a new author, but her Web site provides plenty of information for interviews. You get a sneak peak of her book, A Trace of Smoke, along with a bio and what inspired her to write it. She has a photo of herself and her cover art available, as well as a prominent link to her book trailer – an item many authors forget.

I dived more thoroughly into the two sites on Monday. If you can stand listening to a woman with allergies talking while traffic runs in the background, check it out. (Yes, it was a typical Monday.)

Market My Novel: Online Press Kits for Authors from Angela Wilson on Vimeo.

Dorothy Thompson of Pump Up Your Book Promotions invited me to guest blog at her site, Book Marketing Buzz. Today, Dorothy was kind enough to post my column about the need for media centers at your Web site.

Read the full post here.