I need a domain

[EUOL]

All right, so, I need to register a website to be the official 'Brandon Sanderson' writing website.  I'd like to have this up and running pretty soon, though the book won't come out for another year.

Some authors use their names, and 'brandonsanderson.com' isn't taken.  However, I'm not sure I like that.  

Other authors use something from their books.  Scott Card, for instance, uses 'hatrack.com'

Interestingly, 'Elantris.com' is taken.  So is 'Dragonsteel.com' and 'Sandmaster.com.'  The .net versions of all three of these are open, however.

Mistborn.com is open, and that's the book I'm writing right now.  'Thewayofkings.com' doesn't feel right to me.  However, 'Oathshards.com' (which is the name of the Way of Kings series) isn't taken.  

So, what do you all recommend?  Do any of these stand out to you?  This is kind of important, since I'd like to buy a domain name pretty soon here, so if you have any opinion at all, I'd like to hear your input.

[fuzzyoctopus]

sandersonfantasy.com

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

don't do a .net. Stick with .com

Sandersonfantasy.com might be worth it.

I wouldn't do thewayofkings.com, but maybe wayofkings.com.

Hrm... Probably I'd do sandersonfantasy.com over it. Thought about your middle initial? Or prefixing your last name with "saint?"  

[stacer]

I like oathshards.com, but you might want to have a brandonsanderson.com that links you to your more interesting name.com if you go with something that doesn't have your name. That way it could divert people to the right site.

[EUOL]

Just out of curiosity, what is the problem with the .net names?

I'm not sure I like Sandersonfantasy.com.  Not sure why--but I think you're right, I should probably buy 'BrandonSanderson.com' and have it forward.

Oh, and another one I thought of would be 'Finalempire.com,' a series title I'm going to use.  'Knightlife.com' isn't taken--though I doubt I'll ever publish that particular book.  (Or, if I do, I'd probably have to change the title, since someone--Peter David?--recently used it.)

[fuzzyoctopus]

The thing is this:  dot.net is harder to remember than dot.com    People just won't remember it as much.  And what if you name it after a book, and then that particular book doesn't do very well? What if it goes out of print, and in 10 years people are like, "Well that's a weird name for a website, why isn't it something easy to remember?"
Something more generic, preferably with your name, would be best for marketing.

Naming after a book just seems like a huge risk, unless you could get Elantris, since it's your first....


And obviously this is just my opinion.

[fuzzyoctopus]

I think sandersonfantasy.com is the best, but since you don't like it, here are a few more suggestions.

sanderson.com

stetcannister.com (if you wanted to go for something not related, or off-the-wall to attract attention)

sandersonnovels.com

reallygreatbooks.com

brandonsbestsellers.com

(ok, some of these are mean partially in jest, but most of them aren't and I'm not telling you which ones!)

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

oh wait, brandonsanderson.com IS available.  You should go with that. Seriously. You want something for marketing reason. That's really the main reason to have a web site as an author, right? What are people gonna thing? brandon sanderson. This one is most likely to get you people who haven't seen a URL and just want to look you up.

.com is the first  thing people try. It'll again pull the most people who are guessing. It's the absolute easiest to remember.  just buy brandonsanderson.com as well as whichever one you like best. Then have brandonsanderson.com forward to the other.

Seriously, brandonsanderson.com, from a marketing standpoint, is your best bet.

Now, with today's prices, if you REALLY want a different domain, get a few. Seriously, you can get like 5 for the cost of what 1 would have run you just half a decade ago. You can have them auto-forward.

[EUOL]

Okay, I'll go get brandonsanderson.com.

Here's another question for you all.  Do people really just type in names trying to find someone's website?  I always do a search on google or yahoo--I don't just think 'ah, Brandon Sanderson.  I'll try brandonsanderson.com."

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

i used to. I know people who still do (too lazy to go to google first, or too impatient). Plus there's the "I'm feeling lucky" feature on google.

[Tekiel]

No, I go to Google and "google" it.  If I don't remember the name, author, or title, I'll type as much as I can remember about it and will eventually find it.

On a side note, evilundeadoverlord.com isn't taken either.

[fuzzyoctopus]

I do google mostly, just because of the danger of getting it wrong.  Like going to whitehouse.com (pr0n site) instead of whitehouse.gov

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

well, that illustrates the risk, but come on... people should know that the President's site is going to be .gov

[fuzzyoctopus]

I'm just saying that's why I almost always google to look for the site instead of guessing.

[Maxwell]

i didnt know there was a .gov, or that whithouse.com was pr0n... weird...