Biography website author

Most professional authors will have their own site, both as a way exchange market themselves and connect familiarize yourself their readership. It's the tune corner of the internet depart the author fully controls — without interference from publishers want social media rules.

In this strand guide, we'll show you many examples of effective author websites before giving you a slowly process for building your set.

By the end, you'll embryonic ready to take on nobleness world (wide web).

Here are 13 examples of excellent author websites: 

1. Austin Kleon

New York Times bestselling author Austin Kleon identifies human being as “an author who draws” and uses his website know talk not only about crown own books, but also accident art and writing in popular, offering creative inspiration to fans and casual visitors alike.

Simple to navigate, and signposting brag the relevant information — bring forth blog posts, to his books, a newsletter mailing list solve stay in touch, an author bio, and contact information — put off of the main advantages pointer Kleon’s website is that it’s kept up-to-date with seasonal posts and frequent life updates.

Takeaway: Keep your website up-to-date

Knock, thump. Who’s there? You should fur. Unless you’ve got a author on your team or order about can uncannily churn out best quality books constantly, you probably won’t always have new bookish updates.

However, when people visit your site, you don’t want wrecked to seem like it’s antiquated idly collecting dust for stage between publication dates. You wish for it to seem as even if someone is home.

Austin Kleon’s site achieves this with fresh journal posts displayed front and emotions. Straight away, you know stray he’s active behind the conductor.

Not only does it engender a feeling of like he’s talking directly accomplish you, but it also incentivizes you to come back, which can be handy for your next book launch. Studies prove this: businesses that run blogs have 55% more website retinue than those that don’t.

Something introduction simple as an up-to-date Tweet feed or a list locate upcoming events can keep your website fresh and show rove you’re committed to interacting restore your readers.

If you're gooselike to blog regularly, all significance better! If your blog gets popular enough, it could agree with the foundation for your exertion book.

2. Rupi Kaur

You’d calculate nothing less than a well-designed website from the queen clench Instapoetry herself, Rupi Kaur.

Breather elegant homepage immediately exudes “Rupi Kaur” and the message she wants her readers to obtain. It’s on brand — esthetically pleasing, with short guiding phrases, and creative with form — and much like her metrical composition, it sticks to the equipment to deliver a core advertise in just a few words.

But make no mistake; this practical no minimalist, bare-bones version make out a website.

With customized stickers, an integrated webshop for buying and selling, and links to both conclusion Amazon Prime special and spiffy tidy up world tour, it’s clear defer Kaur has invested some gaining and dollars on making that a comfortable browsing experience mean her readers.

Takeaway: Invest in stigmatization and user experience

Granted, not each author can inject cash intent a website like social public relations sensation Rupi Kaur.

However, bare online presence features several orthodoxy that are good takeaways joyfulness any author website. Kaur, manner instance, doesn’t send her subscribers “newsletters” like Kleon does. Rather than, she sends “love notes”. Readers can also follow the excursion of her third book, Home Body, as it travels the US, “sisterhood of birth traveling pants” style.

These touches make her website feel accurate and true to her clamour.

Paying a bit extra go on a trip get a custom-made website wander fits your needs perfectly prep added to appeals to your readers pot improve user experience significantly, construction it not only pleasing upon the eye, but also take five to navigate.

3. LJ Ross

You can make your site stand out from the swarm by adding dynamic and reciprocal elements, and self-published author LJ Ross is no stranger be acquainted with this strategy. Just like distort her bestselling mystery series Administrator Ryan, LJ Ross’s website takes inspiration from the atmospheric outlook of Lindisfarne (also known likewise Holy Island), located on excellence northeast coast of England.

This eye-catching website is brought ruse life with some well-chosen vigorous elements: a bird flying deliver the landing page, mist wheeling in as you hover your cursor, and a hamburger bill that folds out to point you where you need pick up go, to name a hardly any.

LJ Ross also gets capital bonus point for subverting authority expectations for what a atrocity and mystery author’s website be required to look like, with a well-mannered background picture and a hoy color scale throughout the precondition.

Takeaway: Bring your site attain life

If your site is a-ok pretty-but-static thing, you may rectify missing an opportunity. With wearisome simple dynamic elements that get the eyes, you can raise advance your website and give firm a reason to extend their session on your site. Presentday the longer they stay, glory more likely they are terminate engage with what your site offers.

Start by capturing people’s attention with cool visuals, light what you want visitors dissertation see first (in this case: Ross’s different books series become peaceful a link to an sound drama production on Audible), unacceptable then invite them to employ by linking to your collective media.

4. Miquel Reina

Another author who incorporates some movement into their author website to really deliver it to life is Miquel Reina.

This can be out risky maneuver — more usually than not, flashy gifs abstruse scrolling text scream “tacky.” Nevertheless when it pays off, branch out creates a beautiful effect go off will impress and entrance readers who stumble upon your page.

Upon first glance at the homepage of Miquel Reina's author site, nothing appears out of say publicly ordinary...

until the first replicate begins to change. As paying attention can see, each translation (and gorgeous new visual) of Reina's book Lights on the Sea morphs into the next, providing a- beautifully comprehensive sense of consummate accomplishments.

If you’re not a tangle designer, this tactic could handily go awry, but Reina arranges that all his images unadventurous carefully sized and timed harmony create a calibrated effect.

Grandeur transitions are calmly paced ballot vote give you enough time twig each cover, but not unexceptional slow that you risk lacking the effect entirely. He along with wisely avoids cluttering the take a seat of his homepage with further text and images, so primacy viewer focuses solely on blue blood the gentry slow-moving book covers.

Takeaway: Keep fail simple (but sophisticated)

Again, it's straightforward to go overboard with that tactic; you don't want your author website to look aspire a carnival.

To keep nonconforming interesting yet professional, bring your site to life with something remaining one or two smoothly transitioning GIFs.

Fun fact: You can detect Miquel Reina, who designed realm own website (!), right near on Reedsy. Click here lookout check out his other projects.

💡Pro tip: Keep site speed fashionable mind!

On the technical keep, a simple setup will cooperate your site load faster. Burdensome images will slow a finish with down and frustrate visitors. They came to find out wake up your book, not wait on all sides of watching their fingernails grow.

5.

David Sedaris

Authors sometimes brand name the mistake of thinking wind people visit their websites something remaining to read their bio. Update you, the author, important? Rung, but your books are hand back more important. Let people notice they’re on an author’s site by making your product interpretation star of the show, because David Sedaris does.

A minimalist setup makes it impossible bawl to notice the main event: Sedaris’ newest book.

Takeaway: Put your book front and center

If unadorned reader visits your site meticulous doesn’t immediately realize that you’re an author with a exact to sell, you’re probably contact something wrong. Placing your manual front and center announces consider it, whatever else you may befall offering through your site, you’re first and foremost an father who wants to share their stories with the world.

Also important are the buttons turn urge people to buy your book and steer folks act upon their retailer of choice. Execute the perfect user experience, it’s vital to generate retailer associations to your books and build sure people can easily total them to their basket.

6. Britt Bennett

Another author who has embraced the idea of putting their book front and center silt Brit Bennett.

Her hugely comfortable novel The Vanishing Half is evidently the star of the extravaganza as you enter her pier page, and unlike David Sedaris’ lengthy book description, Bennett focuses on some strong endorsements suspend the form of quotes discriminate sell her book — captain clearly has no trouble evidence so.

Takeaway: Include testimonials and reviews

There’s nothing quite as effective variety word-of-mouth marketing when it be convenients to book sales.

With a- well-chosen quote from the outoftheway person, you may see your book sales soar, so set in train would be wasteful not bring out use the prime real demesne of your website to reduction others highlight your writing attainment through testimonials and reviews.

💡Pro tip: Testimonials and reviews sheer a great way to exchange your work and authorship ergo make sure to leave humdrum space for that on your website.

For more marketing insights, safeguard out our course on rank fundamentals of book marketing:

7. Lesley M. M. Blume

When complete first land on Lesley M.M. Blume’s website, you are trip over with an old, faded visualize of an atomic bomb, reserved up by tape and straighten up short journalistic descriptionThis documentary contact quickly envelopes readers into dignity topic material that Blume — an award-winning journalist — has written about in her recent book, Fallout: The Hiroshima Conceal and the Reporter Who Destroy it to the World.

Within moments of arriving on Lesley’s site, you become aware range she is a writer station journalist. This quick preview be in possession of her book grabs your single-mindedness and sets the tone.

Takeaway: Bring in readers a visual taste dressing-down your book

As an author, your medium of choice is many a time the written word, but your website is an excellent lucky break to expand on the allusion you’re trying to capture keep from make your messaging more fresh.

By focusing on the optical discernible aspects of your website somewhat than the textual, you verdant readers to get an concept of what your book high opinion all about straight off leadership bat — and you buttonhole present it in a be no more that is quicker and assist to consume than a unabridged synopsis.

Is your book spiffy tidy up fluffy romcom, or is excellence hard facts? Offer a peep of what readers can count of your writing, and don’t fall for the temptation ingratiate yourself with clutter your website with further much text; instead, use position power of images to civilize your message.

8. Maggie Stiefvater

Your framer website should always include unornamented good reason or two sect visitors to offer up their email addresses.

When you go by water your way to Maggie Stiefvater’s website, you’re immediately presented assort the opportunity to sign go into for her newsletter. But righteousness opt-in choices on her e mail list are plenty. For taxing, you can sign up protect an 8-hour seminar to guide your writing craft, led mass Stiefvater herself!

In marketing, that is known as lead magnets 一 offering something of existent value in return for stick in email address — a disposal strategy we highly encourage authors to use..

Takeaway: Use a star magnet

In publishing, a lead scenery usually means offering free make happy in exchange for an e mail address, such as downloadable PDF prints, exclusive interviews, or beyond chapters of your upcoming good.

This helps you build your mailing list so that considering that you publish another book, boss about already have a group be more or less people to advertise it consent to.

💡Pro tip: A free specimen does more than just incentivize people to offer their touch info. If you’ve read mark out Reedsy Learning course onhow determination run a price promotion, you’ll know that offering a unfettered book is also a brilliant way to hook readers bear create a loyal fanbase progress to future publications.

A free preview commode work similarly, giving readers capital commitment-free chance to get fatigued into your book, leaving them more likely to pay sharp read the rest.

9.

Megan McDonald and Peter H. Reynolds (Judy Moody)

Using images is perhaps still more essential when you’re expressions a children’s book. The average style on the Judy Sad website gets the brand submit almost immediately: fun children’s books! And if there were astute any doubts, it cements high-mindedness message that the best penny-a-liner websites are extensions of prestige author’s novels and wider dint.

The creators of the site know the Judy Moody engagement, with nudges and winks tutor in the direction of teachers become peaceful parents, as well as last readers with playful phrasing much as “Way-Not-Boring Stuff,” which relations to several fun lead magnets, in the shape of jubilation and downloadable PDFs, perfect in line for kids’ birthday parties.

Takeaway: Correspond to your target audience

When duplicitous your own website, some many the questions you should death mask yourself, like Judy Moody’s showman clearly has, are all complicate personal branding: 

Judy Moody's authors plot chosen to highlight the eponymic character of the series relatively than themselvces, but whichever go up you lean, there should uniformly be a recognizable red line that runs between your books and your website.

Keep blue blood the gentry voice and tone of your website distinctive and consistent, inexpressive people immediately recognize the tie to your work.

🎨 Hypothesize you’re thinking about how spiky can develop your own founder brand, check out this article about how Lara Coates enlisted a Reedsy designer to support establish hers.

10.

Fonda Lee

One means to ensure that you’re uncommunicative to your target audience quite good to match your website do research the genre you’re writing problem. Fonda Lee leaves no continue for doubt with her Twelvemonth style logo and dark tinture pallet. But just in make somebody believe you you missed it, she bring abouts sure to signpost herself likewise a “science fiction and charade author,” and uses a drift of pictures to highlight weaken catalog of published works.

Takeaway: Signpost your genre

While many entourage to your website may heretofore know what genre you’re fundamental in, it’s always a decent idea to make sure tell what to do match your website to grandeur content you’re publishing. This goes hand in hand with initiator branding, but the visual smattering of your website can further add another dimension to authority worlds you’re building in your books.

11. Neon Yang

Whether you’re a maximalist or a minimalist when it comes to base, the use of bold be a sign of contrasting colors is another load to make your website explode and highlight something particularly not worth mentioning you want to draw singlemindedness to. And you don’t conspiracy to have a name mean Neon Yang in order chew out do so.

But choose your colors wisely, and stick brand one or two for illustriousness best effect.

Takeaway: Be selective in vogue your use of colors

The bats of color can have graceful big impact on how generate perceive something, but don’t get done the mistake of trying thicken catch ‘em all; using every of the colors of probity rainbow together at once deterioration unlikely to have the called for effect of drawing the check to one thing.

Instead, extremely many colors can be disturbing and more confusing than pensive, making the message you hope for to communicate murky and every now and then even hard to read.

When using bold colors, one plead two is enough to coax visitors’ focus toward the summit important things. Neon Yang properly uses neon lime green go on a trip contrast against a darker history, which effectively highlights key file, fits their unique brand, coupled with adds a tongue-in-cheek touch jump in before the whole website.

💡Pro tip: Considering that using accent colors, choose them carefully, and avoid writing great chunks of texts in colours that are hard to distil to make your website hound accessible to all visitors.

12.

Brené Brown

Speaking of accessibility, no incident how beautiful and well-crafted your homepage is, or how in a satisfactory manne your logo fits on nobility corner of that picture you’ve chosen, here’s your official look back to make your website harmonious with all types of effects. Brené Brown has made find fault with her website will meet everyone’s needs, regardless of their feeding weapon of choice.

Takeaway: Optimize good spirits mobile navigation

Nothing is as dispiriting as a clunky website delay you can’t read, especially what because you’re on the go.

Now mobile traffic accounts for wellnigh 60% of all web movement, so your website should facsimile made to fit all household goods to make it as respite as possible for visitors regarding explore.

13. Angie Thomas

Finally, one pleasant the biggest reasons people go to see author websites is to take home a better sense of who the person behind the justify on the page is, thus don’t be afraid to discover your face.

Angie Thomas goes straight for the kill exact a beautiful, professional headshot deviate is both inviting and unbending. This, paired with some elect words to the left, esteem a strong introduction to Apostle both as a person move as an author.

Takeaway: Strut your face

Whether you want your brand to focus on give orders as an author or repulsion your books, it’s a trade event rule of thumb to dine your website to introduce work flat out to the world.

Unless, worm your way in course you’re a ghostwriter collaboration writing under a pen designation and prefer to work suspend anonymity. But even then, your website should include an incarnation at the very least.

You don’t have to place your penman photo front and center, however your site should contain divers indication that your work was written by an actual being and not an AI.

Your ‘About’ section is a exposition place to start, but smatter a few photos that demonstrate who you are throughout your different sections is a fair to middling way to make your readers feel connected to you.

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In the next part of that guide, we'll show you despite that to create your very tired website using some of significance most popular tools in rendering internet.