I’m a wee bit odd, but unless you’re new here, you knew that already. I like websites that don’t exist. I don’t just like them, I own some. (This is where you ask “Why would a usually semi-half-sane writer want to own fake domain names?”)
(And this is where I answer such an insightful query)
I own, of course, the domain name for my website www.tgmreynolds.com, plus a Canadian version, www.TimReynolds.ca. There’s also my self-publishing imprint, www.CometcatcherPress.com, and my Blog, www.TheTaoOfTim.com.
“But that’s just four,” you point out so astutely. Quite right. The other three are what I wish to discuss here, briefly. When you’re writing modern fiction, actually using the website URL within your story can give it a touch of realism. “Pull up the website, Sam. It’s ‘eRomance dot ca’.” rather than “He clicked on the link as Bob had written it down”. If the website plays a major negative roll in a story (my killer finds a victim through eRomance.ca), you don’t want to use an already existing company name or domain, because you will then open yourself up to lawsuits.
What I do is create a domain name and purchase it through GoDaddy there are other places to buy domain names, I just don’t use them). It’s not that expensive ($9.99 to $19.99 a year), it’s an allowable business expense, and you can redirect it to your author webpage, even creating a specific page within your main site for the project once it is published.
These are three of the domains I own which exist only in my fiction. Of course, book launch swag can even include a logo I’ve created with the URL.
The three products seen here were created through VistaPrint.ca, who do wonderful work. I might not give away a briefcase, but it can be a conversation starter, that’s for sure, especially when I add the title of the book after it’s published.
In Waking Anastasia, the hero Jerry even has his own twitter account, and each chapter begins with one of his music-related tweets. https://twitter.com/TheTaoOfJerr
You can even create a simpler name for your blog and just direct it to the actual blog. www.TheTaoOfTim.com is cleaner on a business card than thetaooftim.wordpress.com, and if I change blog site providers, then the domain name simply gets redirected again.
That’s it, that’s all. My rambling for the week. Leave it or take it.
Ciao for now,
T-Bone.
The Tao of Tim 
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