Jon Hirst (@generousmind), account manager at Novo Ink (@novoink), identifies the problem of non-working Web URLs linked to by authors in their ebooks. He says, “With the instability of links on the Web, I am finding that many of the links that authors share in their books do not work even a short time after their book is published.” Among the solutions he suggests:
- The first and most obvious is to discipline yourself to use references and citations from major organizations or Web sites that will be more stable than “Joe’s Favorite Founding Fathers Quotes.” You know that if you use Wikipedia, The New York Times, American Heart Association, etc. you will be more likely to present a valid resource to your readers.
- When dealing with links to connect with the author, the publisher should encourage the author to centralize all such links to the URL they are most likely to keep over time. Many times this ends up being the author’s name or the name of their organization. Book websites seem like a good idea when the book launches, but after five years many of them are gone and that contact is lost.
Read other solutions he offers.
Provide your suggestions in the comments below.