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How To Create A Brilliant Author Website

By on January 20, 2016

If you are serious about your writing, whatever kind of writing you do, it is important to have your own author website. A website is a platform to showcase your work, and if you maintain it properly can be used for all sorts of marketing efforts, is a place to direct interested customers, or potential publishers/ editors to, and generally looks professional and like you mean business. But if you have never created a website before knowing how to set one up, and what it should contain can be daunting. Let us take a look at what exactly goes on an author site, and the easiest way to get you started.

Find a suitable domain name and host

If you are setting up your website on your own you need to buy your domain name, which is the URL for your website. We recommend using your own name where you can, if this is taken try yournamewriter or yournameauthor which will still work well. Remember this is your brand so it is important to keep it consistent. Buying a domain name is super easy to do, you can simply look up what you would like it to be, check someone else isn’t using it, and if not then purchase it through a reputable site. Secondly you must find someone to host it. There are many companies out there competing to offer their services, and the best bet is to look at comparison sites and read reviews to see what you think depending on your needs. Once you have these you can begin to build your website. Again this is mostly self explanatory, you choose a theme (the style and colour) and can add new pages, pictures and text very easily. Author websites don’t need to be all-singing, all-dancing ones. Keep it stylish, simple and clear.

So now your website is set up, what should you put on there?

The following pieces of information are essential for any author website:

Your professional bio. This should be a 2-3 paragraph introduction to who you are and what you have done professionally in the writing world. Adding a professional photograph of yourself is also a good idea.

If you have written any books, upload the cover images along with a 50-100 word description of their contents. Make sure the images are as high res as possible, and can be clicked on and enlarged too.

Long descriptions of each book. This would be the synopsis similar to what you might find on the back of your book.

Links to where you can buy it/ them.

If you are a freelance writer you need a portfolio page/ pages showcasing your work and explaining who you have written for in the past. You can also include a testimonials page if you have pleased clients who are willing to write one for you.

If you have an agent or publicist it is a good idea to include their contact details, otherwise create a contact page with your information, including any links to social media profiles you have set up, and a link to an email newsletter signup - which you should create and send out regularly to those interested in any events, book signings and new work you have coming out.

Another great idea is to start and maintain an author blog. This not only adds personality to your website, but will give readers an idea of your writing style and author journey. A good blog can do well and can catch attention of people from all over the world which means you can start to increase your fan base and get your name out there.

Creating a good author website is paramount if you want to continue writing successfully. Just make sure you keep it simple, engaging and up to date and it will be a great asset to your brand.

Bethany Cadman -contributor

Bethany Cadman -contributor

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