With the rise of social media it may feel like websites are a dying trend—especially as a creative who’s not necessarily selling any products or services directly—but I promise you, it’s just the opposite.
Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads, they’re all great for building and engaging with your community. But you don’t own those profiles, the platforms do. And in an instant—whether it’s because you got a little too excited and the algo didn’t like your comment spree, or the government instilled a nationwide ban—they can take it all away.
A website is something you own completely. The branding, the narrative, the user experience. It’s the heart of your online presence. A social media bio can only fit 160 characters. I know you have more to say than that.
And I get it, the idea of building a full-on website from scratch can feel very daunting. But it doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t have to code. You don’t have to be tech savvy. There are many platforms, including Squarespace (this is where I built my first site!), WordPress, and Wix, that have beautiful premade templates and all you have to do is plug in your content.
It’s not even necessary to have multiple pages. A simple, straight-forward landing page is just enough to get your author website started just as long as it has these three things:
1. Author bio
Arguably the most important piece of content 😉 Who is the person behind the story? This section provides a golden opportunity to bring in your personality. Your bio shouldn’t read like a book report. If someone asked you what do you write? IRL, how would you respond? Go on, introduce yourself out loud. Right now. Take note of your word choice, your tone, and how you express yourself. This is what’s going to help you build authenticity and connection from behind the screen.
If you’re feeling stumped on where to start, you can pull from here:
- Who you are
- Where you live
- What you write
- List any writing credentials or accolades you have
- Talk about an experience you’ve had that ties into your story or what inspired you to write it
- Give at least *one fun fact
To put a face to the name (and boost SEO) I recommend including a picture of yourself. Studies have shown a bio photo helps builds trust with your viewer and establishes credibility.
2. Book summary
What would an author website be without a summary of your book? Oh, still have 50k left to write in your manuscript? Don’t have a backlist? Fear not. The most important part of this section is that readers get a sense of what kind of story they can expect from you.
Let’s start with the basics:
- Genre: This is the main, overarching category you write in.
- A summary of your…
- Published works (if applicable): Make sure to include the links where readers can purchase.
- Current project(s): Depending on what stage of the publishing process you’re in, it’s up to you to determine how much information you want to convey here! This is a great opportunity to practice writing your book’s blurb however if you’re unsure, a short sentence stating a couple comps, subgenre, and 1-2 tropes is very impactful.
If you’re giving this section its own page, you could also include an area to display character art, your project’s Pinterest board, character profiles, and a link to your book’s playlist.
3. Contact details
So, you have your magnetic author bio and an irresistible pitch for your book(s). You’ll want to wrap up your author website with the ways in which someone can contact you. What you put in this section will vary depending on your comfort level and how accessible you want to be.
- Email address: It’s important to have a straightforward way for people to reach you—it’s not unheard of to receive emails from readers and legitimate business opportunities. To protect your privacy, you could create a free author-specific email with Gmail and list that.
- Social media links: List the 2-3 platforms where your target audience hangs out (and where you’re the most engaged).
- Newsletter sign-up: Outside of an author website, an author newsletter is the second best thing you can have. It’s one of the only other spaces you fully control, providing direct, consistent, personal, and reliable communication with your readers.
- Contact form: Most website platforms will provide this for your site. I have one, but I’m going to be honest here—I don’t remember the last time I checked the responses because when I did, this is where all the spam requests went. Go figure.
Bonus tips
Can you believe you only really need three things to get your author website up and running!? If you want to go a little further, here are a couple tips:
1. Consider having a separate page just for your newsletter form.
~65% of people will be using their phone to access your website, so it’s important to have everything optimized for mobile—especially your CTAs, the most important one being: your newsletter. You don’t want a visitor to have to go searching and scrolling to sign up for your list. The reality is, they won’t. Consider creating a separate page just for your newsletter form. That way, you can link to it directly.
2. You don’t need a blog.
I can’t decide if this is a controversial statement but… you don’t need a blog. If you’re looking to gain credibility within the industry, there are much easier ways to do it. Your website. Cough cough. Your book. But if there’s a certain part of the writing process you’re passionate about or if you want another creative outlet, then yes, of course, by all means, get at it. Just remember that in order for blogs to gain traction you need to post consistently and you need to provide value. And if you’re looking for the right space to post announcements, your newsletter and social channels are perfect for that. Don’t tack a blog on because you feel like you have to. You don’t.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post about the three things every author website needs! If you want to dive deeper into your author brand, check out this blog post that includes a free branding workbook!
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