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Never judge a book by its cover—but as far as we’re concerned, judging by the author’s website is just fine. Of course, we’re kidding, but deciding to create a website for your readership is an important professional step as an author, even in a world traditionally dominated by print.
Whether you’ve already been published or you're in the middle of working on your masterpiece, this article will guide you in creating an author website of your own (if you're not sure if you need one, check out does my business need a website). We’ll briefly go over what purpose author websites serve and what should be included in one. Hint: You'll need a professional bio, and some testimonials and an RSS feed of your most recent posts can't hurt either. Plus, we’ll show you 10 examples of author websites to inspire your own website design.
Read also: How to make a business website
What's the purpose of author websites?
As hard as it is for bibliophiles to admit, every author needs an online presence. An author website leads visitors to accessible information about you and your work - which they can then use to view your published books and learn more about your accomplishments. In this way, having a website improves your visibility and cements your professional reputation.
In addition to providing background information to visitors, author websites create opportunities for increasing interest in your work and building a base of avid readers. While word of mouth never goes out of style, your online presence will put you on the map, and improve your methods for promoting upcoming books or events.
Finally, author websites can streamline the sale of your books. Adding an online store to your website means you can sell your books directly to interested readers. Alternatively, if your book is on a platform like Amazon or Kindle, your website can direct visitors straight to your account. By leveraging sales with a good online marketing strategy plus steady website traffic, you might just bring yourself to the top of the bestseller list.
Benefits of having an author website
An author website is a powerful tool for building your brand and reaching readers. Some of the main benefits of a website include:
Showcasing your work, sharing your writing process and connecting with your audience on your own terms.
Growing your online presence, attracting readers and gaining visibility as an author.
Selling your books directly, promoting upcoming releases and controlling your own marketing efforts.
Connecting with your audience through blog posts, newsletters or a dedicated forum.
Establishing yourself as a credible author with a dedicated online space to build a community around.
Learn more: AI website examples
10 examples of author websites
Before you design your own site, take inspiration from this list of the best author websites made by Wix users. These examples include all the key elements listed above, and then some:
01. Romi Neustadt
Romi Neustadt is an entrepreneur who shares her professional wisdom with the world. Her latest book You Can Have It All is an encouraging piece, guiding readers to live an authentic and fulfilled life. Romi’s author website certainly has it all. It communicates her mission as an author immediately, using impeccable personal branding and key elements that lead her to show off her mission and accomplishments.
Take a look, for instance, at the strong first impression she creates. A customized slideshow on the homepage features two powerful images. Romi’s headshot is confident and warm, embodying the vision of an author you’d like advice from. This is followed by a quality image of her latest book, which is accompanied by a short description and a strategic call-to-action button that states “Order Now”—making it easy for visitors to purchase a copy.
02. BB Writer
BB is a fiction and non-fiction writer from Boston with a sincere message and a visually pleasing website. The minimalist design and color scheme gives her website a clean feel, while the addition of images and an inspiring quote about writing enlivens the site and strengthens the writing theme.
Scrolling down BB’s author website, you’ll come upon a short “About Me” section, which allows visitors more insight into BB’s background as a writer and provides a space for her to write about what she’s currently working on.
You’ll also see that she’s added a customized logo to the site. Creating your own logo is a good idea as a writer, since it strengthens your personal brand.
03. Shannon Redmon
Authors who want to showcase a specific book should turn to Shannon Redmon's website as an example. Shannon strategically highlights her latest novel on the first fold of her site, pairing a high-quality image of her book cover with a photo of herself, helping visitors put a face to the name.
Meanwhile, her other books remain easy to find. Upon scroll, visitors can explore her other book titles. They can even find a library of video previews promoting her latest work. You can also find recordings of online discussions she's had with other novelists, dubbed the Suspense Squad.
04. Taylor Tyng (NEW IMAGE)
Anything from typical, Taylor Tyng’s website makes for a fun, engaging browsing experience. Visitors are greeted by an animated image of the author seemingly floating in the clouds. From the get-go, readers can see that Taylor specializes in "fantastical fiction."
Taylor uses fun graphics, playful typography and animation to give readers a sense of his personality. Another clever element is Taylor’s incorporation of a lightbox—the pop-up window grabs users’ attention and encourages them to sign up to the mailing list.
05. John Clarkson
The thrilling nature of John Clarkson’s novels is made palpable by his website’s visual theme. Its cohesive design theme includes a bold color scheme and the cover art taken from his book covers. As users scroll down the homepage, parallax scrolling gives the site a sense of depth and sophistication.
John’s homepage’s content is impressive while a clear navigation menu links users to even more information. Here, we have a spotlight on his latest book, reviews from critics and readers, a short bio and strategic calls-to-action placed through the page. Clearly visible links to his Good Reads and Amazon accounts encourages site visitors to purchase his work.
06. Trevor Cosson
Trevor Cosson’s site design is minimalistic, using lots of negative space to bring the user’s attention to the text featured throughout. As viewers navigate the site, they’ll be brought to different samples of his work, including his blog and examples of both creative writing and copy. With such a strong focus on text, you should choose a font that reflects your personality and is consistent with the rest of your website’s visual style. In this case, Trevor’s use of a simple serif font enhances the site’s classic feel.
Trevor’s website header also includes links to his various social media accounts. This is a strategic way to build your following as an author, helping increase your visibility and consistently engage with your readership.
07. Alan Allinger
Alan Allinger uses one of Wix’s templates to create a customized author website. The video box featured in this template perfectly embodies the goals of this crafty design element, which allows you to add overlays to your own video and frame it with customized shapes. In this case, a moving image of clouds inside of a quotation mark alludes to both the inspirational and practical aspects of writing.
Overall, the dynamic template showcases Alan’s work and experience quite well. Plus, the addition of a blog gives him the opportunity to share even more great content with his online community.
08. Evan Nicholls
Evan Nicholls is a poet whose work has been featured in various literary magazines and publications throughout the years. Evan uses his website to show off the full breadth of his work, including Holy Smokes, a chapbook of poems and collages that he authored.
His website makes a powerful statement. It gives the most real estate to intriguing collage-like graphics that, when clicked, reveal handpicked samples of his work. Evan incorporates subtle branding elements throughout his website. The repeated use of colorful triangles and scrapbook-like graphics draw visitors in and reflect Evan's passion in poetry and collage art.
09. Crawford Content
Here’s another example of a Wix website template that’s just perfect for showcasing your work as an author. In this case, the Crawford sisters work as a team, customizing this elegant design by including their own logo, images and text.
Their sophisticated style is further emphasized by the use of light colors and traditional fonts. Their one-page website makes it easy to scroll through their site, and is a web design trend that's sure to impress.
Vi Khi Nao
Author and poet Vi Khi Nao's website is anything but conventional. Featuring loud, colorful images of fruit in the background, Vi's website is impossible to ignore and hard to tear your eyes away from. Visitors may find themselves clicking through the site, just to see what's behind these curious images.
It doesn't take long to realize that Vi's artistic choices are a reflection of her mission as a writer: to work across multiple genres, languages and art forms to tackle meaningful, sometimes uncomfortable, topics.
What should an author website include?
Websites are personal in the sense that they reflect your distinct taste, so the design and content of each site varies depending on the author. Start by choosing a web hosting platform and choose a template that incorporates the features you want to include. Keep in mind that you can always customize these templates to evoke the style of your written work.
Once you’ve set up your foundation, be sure to include the following elements on your website.
A professional domain name
First, choose a domain name that’s professional and easy for visitors to remember. It’s good practice to stick with something short and on brand. For example, you might choose to include your name and perhaps the words “books” or “author."
Pro tip: Try to use your author name instead of the title of one of your books. That way, if you plan to create new work in the future, you won’t need to worry about changing your domain. This is also helpful when establishing your brand identity as an author.
An About page
An About page gives you the chance to tell visitors about yourself, your professional accomplishments, and your sources of inspiration as a writer. Here, you’ll want to include a headshot of yourself, a list of notable awards you’ve won over the course of your career, and of course, a professional bio. We’re not talking about a full-length novel—keep your bio short and sweet. For many visitors, this page will be their first impression of you and your work.
Your books
Perhaps this goes without saying, but you should dedicate a section of your website to your books. The purpose here is to give visitors an overview of your writing and entice them to purchase something. Include a high quality image of each book’s cover, along with a succinct description of its contents. The best author websites we’ve seen also incorporate excerpts from the book itself, which further entice visitors to read.
You can also set up an online store to sell your books directly from your website If you do this, you’ll want to set up your website in a way that encourages visitors to purchase. Adding call-to-action buttons such as “Buy Now” and linking them to your shop is a seamless way to create an easy buying experience.
Read also: How to start a business, Best business websites
Should you include books that you haven’t finished writing yet? Absolutely. If you have a title already and can create a preview of what the book is about, this will generate hype around its upcoming release.
Positive reviews
Be sure your website incorporates positive feedback about your work—either from readers, notable publications, or other writers. Adding reviews and testimonials to your website is not only encouraged—it’s expected. Books with reviews are more likely to be read, since they familiarize potential readers with your book’s content and exhibit the general reaction of those who have already finished it. An author website is the perfect place to amplify positive responses and prove your book is worthwhile.
Add a contact form
As an author, you want to keep your fans updated on your career, book releases or special events surrounding your work. In order to do this, you need to capture their contact information and steadily build your mailing list. Help users sign up by adding a well-designed contact form to your website and use effective email marketing to increase engagement with your readership.