Recently I decided I wanted to add some exclusive content to my website blog...just your basic world-building, behind-the-scenes geekery that often populates the back matter of fantasy novels.

I've had all this detail swimming around Scrivener for years, dusting it off now and then for curious readers, but I really wanted to make this content available for anyone who wanted to see it. Digital content that is accessible and user-friendly. I mean, old-school appendices are great and all, but they definitely have their limits.

So I started working on my first "digital appendix" — a blog post about the magic system in The Madness Method. But after a while I realized that the basic blog post wasn't what I wanted either. It just wasn't...wow...enough.

I wanted something with navigation. Tables of contents. Cross-references. Pictures. Fancy-shmancy detail boxes that feature the most important information on a topic.

I wanted...a wiki.

So after doing a lot of (futile) research about how to add a wiki to my website (none of the options did what I really wanted it to do), I realized that I could get exactly what I wanted at Wikia.com.

Maybe it's kind of gauche for an author to start their own wiki there, but really, it's the perfect place for all that wonderful detail that readers sometimes want to know, and authors always want to share. Interactive, community-driven, editable content that can let readers get involved...what's not to love?

It's a lot of work, though. Maybe that's why they're community-driven. I've enjoyed building up the bones of the wiki (and spent way more time than I probably should have on it!), but I'll really feel like it was worth the effort if readers get involved and start contributing to the site. And the beauty is, you don't even have to be a Wikia.com member to edit stuff on the site!

If you're an author, you might consider starting a wiki for your project too! Maybe you would find it a valuable way to connect with your readers, too, and let them explore the worlds you've created. Or maybe you're lucky enough that you've already got readers creating their own wikis for you. If so, props to you. I salute you, and stand in awe. :)

Anyway, if you want to poke around and see what I've put up so far, visit the site at http://madness-method.wikia.com