A well-optimized author website is an important marketing tool that provides readers, publishing professionals, and the media vital information about you and your books, in a space that you own and control. But designing a good website can be overwhelming — and on top of writing and other marketing activities, remembering to update a website regularly can seem like a chore.
When you pick a platform to host and design your author website, make sure it’s intuitive and easy to update, optimized for mobile devices, and supports the content and features you need.
So what are the most important elements that every author website should include?
- Information about your books
- Your author bio
- A custom domain
- A way to build your mailing list
- A way to get in touch with you
We’ll break down why you need each of these elements and share examples of author websites that do a great job with these website basics.
1. Information about your books
Your author website should make it easy for readers to learn about all of your books, including where they can purchase them and how individual titles are related to each other. Each book displayed on your website should have:
- A book cover (or a placeholder if you don’t have a cover design yet)
- A book description
- Retailer links to purchase in all available formats (print, ebook, and audio)
- Series information and reading order
Erik Larson’s latest release is the focus of his website home page, with links to learn more or purchase:
One of the biggest mistakes we see on author websites is letting book information grow stale — it’s important to add your newest releases and keep your covers up-to-date so they match what readers see on retailers. Our new website builder platform, Author Websites, makes it a snap to add, update, and display book information — you can import book data and our platform will automatically format the book cover and description, create buttons for retailer links, and sort books by series, making it easy for readers to discover connected titles and reading order.
Tessa Cross created her website with Author Websites, showcasing her book covers at the top of her home page and displaying the reading order clearly on her series page:
If you’re not published yet, share any details you can that will help agents, editors, or future readers learn more about you and your upcoming work — a brief description or synopsis, the genre, and your publishing plans.
Debut author Florence Knapp keeps the focus of her website on her bio, but includes links to preorder her upcoming book:
Isabelle Engel uses a placeholder cover for her upcoming release, letting readers know when her debut novel will be available:
2. Your author bio
Tell your website visitors about yourself! An author bio should be written in the third person, but you can get creative with the content to communicate your unique voice and perspective as an author. For inspiration, check out this collection of great author bio examples.
In addition to an author bio, many authors also have an author photo or other image to establish their author brand and identity. This could be:
- An author headshot (with photographer credit, if applicable)
- An illustrated author photo (with artist credit, if applicable)
- A logo that represents your author brand
Etta Easton’s author bio shares charming personal stories and details that reflect the romance and joy readers can expect to find in her books:
Marguerite Wood’s bio establishes her expertise and experience with the topics of her nonfiction books:
Grady Hendrix has an entertaining bio that showcases his sense of humor while sharing the breadth of his writing experience, accolades, and background:
3. A custom domain name
A domain is the web address used to access your website. It’s the unique URL that will be associated with your author website so readers can find your site online, so it’s a key part of your website presence and author brand.
Many website hosting platforms offer a free domain name that includes their brand name in your website domain, but we encourage authors to invest in a custom domain name. It’s more professional, more memorable for readers navigating to your website, and can even help express who you are as an author.
Many authors use a straightforward domain name like firstnamelastname.com or authorfirstnamelastname.com:
- Stephen King keeps it classic: https://stephenking.com/
- Elana Johnson adds the ‘author’ modifier to her domain: https://authorelanajohnson.com/
You can also consider including your book title, genre, or other identifying details in your domain name:
- John Scalzi has a distinct and memorable domain: https://whatever.scalzi.com/
- Richard A. Carr uses the name of his middle grade series for his domain: https://landofmuya.com/
4. A way to build your mailing list
One of the most important functions of an author website is to grow your audience by encouraging visitors to follow you for updates about future books. Collecting email addresses is the best way to stay in touch with your biggest fans, since email gives you direct access to those readers.
You should also provide easy options for readers to follow you on their preferred social media platforms. In addition to a form to collect emails, include links to follow you on any social platforms where you are active.
Susan Mallery’s website has a header prompting readers to subscribe to her email list and icons with links to all her social media pages and other reading platforms (including BookBub!):
Nikki Weber describes what readers can expect to receive if they sign up for her newsletter, including a sign-up form on her home page and a link in her website nav:
Amal El-Mohtar puts her newsletter sign-up front and center on her website:
5. A way to get in touch with you
The final element all authors should include on their website is a way for readers, booksellers, journalists, or other publishing professionals to get in touch with you or your team. Making yourself available to contact can not only foster connections with readers, but also open the door to potential career opportunities.
If you’re represented by an agent or work with other professionals who help manage outreach, include their contact information on your website, too.
Robin Wall Kimmerer has a form for readers to reach out to her, with a kind note setting expectations about her ability to respond, as well as contact information for her agents:
B.A. Richards’s contact page invites site visitors to reach out about their books or the writing classes they offer, while sprinkling in some humor and personality:
Laila Lalami’s website contact page includes an email address to contact her directly as well as contact information for her literary agent, film agent, speaking agent, and publicists:
Optional things to include on your author website
Once you have these five essential elements on your author website, think about other ways to personalize your online presence, attract readers, and provide helpful information to website visitors.
Some additional elements authors may want to add to their websites include:
- A blog to share updates, personal stories, writing inspiration, and more
- An event calendar so fans can easily discover local book signings or other opportunities to connect with you in person
- A press kit to help the media or bookstores easily learn about you and your books
- Reader reviews or other praise for your books to demonstrate the quality of your work
- Free content (also known as a reader magnet) to incentivize website visitors to sign up for your mailing list
