All about author websites
Okay maybe not ALL about them, but SOME about them
A while back, I saw a discussion about whether it’s necessary to have an author website, particularly if you’re not going to directly sell books through it. Does anyone even visit static websites anymore? All the book/event information is on social media, anyway!
And the answer is . . . yes.
You need an online location that’s easy for people to find when they search your name. Not just your socials — those will change as the social media landscape continues to fracture (plus, not everyone has every social platform out there) — and not just your newsletter. But an actual domain that belongs to you. It needs to be something you control.
Side note: Wait, you might be thinking. What about something like Substack, where you can have different pages, in addition to the letters? Isn’t that close enough?
Nope. I mean, maybe short term. But I’ve been on Substack for a little more than a year and it’s changed a lot in that time, particularly with the addition of (and increasing focus on) Notes. It’s not just a newsletter service; the app and its networking features make it a social platform all of its own. Think LiveJournal, if you’re an Old like me.
The thing an author controls — and can easily take with them — is the subscriber email list. (I save mine to my computer every week.) The option to add static, non-email pages is nice, and if you have something to put there, use them! But they’re not a substitute — in looks or function — for a website you own and control 100%. Plus, what if you leave your newsletter service?1 That’s just another thing to take with you.
Okay, so we’re agreed. You need your own domain and host.
Now we get to the meat:
What kind of stuff should go on your author website?
Your website doesn’t need to be fancy, with tons of extras and gizmos, but I’d suggest having five main pages. Add more as needed.
Most of these are pretty self-explanatory, but just in case you want more details, here’s what I do:
HOME
This is your landing page. The main page. The first thing people see when they’ve typed in your URL or searched you. So use this space wisely.
I like to update mine with my newest release (or upcoming release). A short description of the book, a photo with the cover, some buy links, and maybe some author blurbs or pull quotes from trade reviews.
Personally, I like to add a newsletter signup here, too, where people are likely to see it. I know a bunch of you subscribed to this newsletter directly from my website!
And finally, you want to make sure navigation is clear, with menu links to all your other main pages. If someone can’t find your navigation bar, they can’t find your books.
ABOUT
This should include a photo of you (your author photo, ideally), and a short bio about you, the same thing you’d have on the back flap of a book. Aim for 100-200 words. These are the professional “about the author” items.2
I like to have a more casual bio, too, where I share a bit about my reading/writing journey, some other things I like (yarn, cats), or whatever. It’s also not long. But it’s not as formal as my professional bio.
You might also put together an easily downloadable media kit and add that here. (I haven’t done this yet. Maybe 2024 will be the year I finally get around to it.)
BOOKS
This is the page where you list all your books. Duh. You can have individual pages for individual books (or series) and link to them here, or nest them in the menu bar somehow, or whatever feels right. Just make it easy to navigate.
Regardless, you want somewhere a reader can easily find a list of all your books, plus information about each of them. Include buy links! (Include Bookshop.org and any local bookshops you partner with, as well as the bigger retailers.)
If you don’t have books for sale yet, that’s okay. You might not need this page yet. But you will at some point.
APPEARANCES
This is just a list of your upcoming events. Add and delete items as needed.3
If you do school visits, presentations, or other professional speaking gigs, you can add information about that here. I included a little information about the types of presentations I do, plus some testimonials (used with permission) from librarians and teachers who’ve had me visit them before.
CONTACT
And finally, you need a contact page. Add your email or a contact form — some way for people to get in touch with you. If you have an agent, list them here. Add your newsletter sign-up again, maybe. Personally, I’ve also included a link back to my Appearances page, since this is a natural place for people wanting information about speaking engagements to look. And I added a bit about how I handle blurb requests.
OPTIONAL PAGES
You don’t necessarily need these, but you might consider adding a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, if you tend to get the same kind of questions a lot. Maybe a “for writers” page, with some tips about writing? Or “for readers” if you have digital goodies your fans might like.
For a while, I had a “book recs” page, where I shared books I’d blurbed and books I’d enjoyed, but it got unwieldily, so when I moved website hosts, I didn’t take it with me. But it was a nice way to support other authors, and I might do something like that again: “if you like my books, try . . .” sort of thing.
I also have a hidden page, a link of links page, which I use as my “link in bio” instead of something like Linktree. This ensures people are on my website, not yet another service, and makes it easy to update my links as needed, without trying to remember another login. On that page, I include my website (yes, again), newsletter, and links to my search-results page on retail sites like Bookshop, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon. (I tried a universal book link service briefly, but it didn’t capture everything, so I didn’t use it. Plus, with as many books as I have, it’s actually less work to link several retailers instead of a link for every book.)
And if you go to my website, you’ll see that I also have a Fiber Arts page. I have a couple of free patterns available there, plus a list of the patterns featured on my site, with links to where another knitter might find them. This one is obviously more niche than the other pages, but since this is such a major aspect of what I share online, it makes sense to have it there. It’s a little more of my personality to share with readers. So if you have something like that, it might be nice to add.
OTHER THINGS TO REMEMBER
Make sure your website is mobile friendly! If you use a website builder like Squarespace (this is what I use) or Weebly or something, they will probably automatically have a mobile-friendly version of your website created along with your desktop version. But if you’re building the website in some other way, you’ll need to double check this. But considering how many people use mobile for everything, this is vital!
Equally important: make sure your website is accessible. Here’s a quick checklist.
It might take a little extra work, but making sure everyone is included goes a long way.
Okay, that’s all I’ve got for you today! If you have something to add, please do! What do you like/dislike on author websites?
Like a lot of folks, I’ve shopped around in the last few months, to see what — if any — other options I can afford.
Wait, you may be asking again. Doesn’t your official bio say you want to be a ferret when you grow up? How is that professional?
Why yes, it does say that. Thank you for noticing. A bit of humor is allowed if it’s right for the audience and your (sigh) author brand. And considering I write for teens — and several of my books are comedies — it makes sense for me to include something fun. Plus, you cannot imagine the joy I feel when I’m at an event and the presenter is reading my bio aloud for the first time . . . and they pause for a second like they’re just realizing what they read. It’s a great icebreaker.
Yes, I try to remember to add my appearances to my newsletters, but not all my readers subscribe to my newsletter.
I am always really grateful when an author has not just a website but also a newsletter. I despise social media and only have a secret fake FB account so I can use Marketplace. But for many authors, if you don't follow their Insta or whatever platform they prefer, you have no idea when they are on tour or coming to your area, etc. Even if I didn't hate most social media, I do not have time to scroll through 5 different feeds on the off chance I might catch an author's post that I could conceivably miss anyway if I scroll at the wrong time of day or something. Really grateful for authors like you who still do newsletters via email which you can read at your leisure AND which ensure you don't miss important info 💜
From a reader, THANK YOU! Earlier this week I read a novel that I really enjoyed, and when I went to look to see if the author had other books, I got very confused. Amazon's algorithm was showing me all sorts of books by other authors, and I couldn't easily figure which were theirs, perhaps under other pen names, and which were being pushed at me under Amazon's dubious "if you liked this" formula. So I went looking for the author's web site, and found one -- they own their domain name, but there's nothing there except a bio and a lot of generic web template placeholder (since 2022, according to the site). No list of books, even, yet from the author's note in the book I read, this author has published books in multiple series and different genres. This author definitely lost a sale here, maybe more than one.