Saturday, April 27, 2024

15 Outstanding Author Websites Examples and Best Practices

author website design

This will help the average reader online to quickly understand what the author and their site is all about. Nearly all website building systems make it easy to update your site as you have new ideas or new ways of communicating what you do. Don’t expect to get it perfect the first time; expect that you’ll improve the site incrementally the longer you live with it. You’ll visit other authors’ sites and begin to pick up on subtle details you never noticed before; you’ll want to incorporate their bag of tricks into your own site.

Takeaway: Bring your site to life

The best author websites we’ve seen also incorporate excerpts from the book itself, which further entice visitors to read. Anything from typical, Taylor Tyng’s well-designed author website makes for a pleasant browsing experience that keeps users engaged. High resolution animated images add a unique and exciting effect, telling the visual story of the writer’s journey. These colorful images provide a powerful visual contrast to the dark grey background and white text. BB is a fiction and non-fiction writer from Boston with a sincere message and a visually pleasing website.

Wix: An Easy-To-Use Builder That Can Foster Your Creativity

author website design

We can't stress this point enough – as an author, you are the brand, and you should be treating this just as any other business treats their brand development. There will be a certain personality and tone to how you communicate as an author. Generally, your books/articles/works will already have a strong taste of this personality, and the brand that you develop around that will be based on this tone.

Building an Author Website: The Ultimate Guide with Examples

Besides their abhorrent marketing practices, they will do their best to trick you into buying products and services you don’t need. If you already have domain names with them, you can easily switch them to If you’re hoping to stand out and build a truly unique website, using ready-made templates risks creating something that looks too similar to other author websites, which could damage your brand. An author website is a must for any writer who wants to be taken seriously. It’s the best way to present your work to the world, and an important marketing tool to grow a readership and sell more books. Luckily, you don’t need to be a tech wizard to make a beautiful site — with a bit of guidance, anyone can do it.

Choose the right platform

Trevor Cosson’s website design is minimalistic, notably for the excess negative spaces used to draw users’ attention to the text displayed on the site. The message icon at the center of the footer section is his main contact feature and leads visitors directly to his mailing option. You can simply reach the author via his email and he will respond as soon as possible. In terms of navigation, the menu header at the top of the web page serves as navigation, helping visitors access his other pages. Visitors can access his author page by clicking the author CTA button in the header section, distinguishable in white font.

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In terms of web design, they take care of domain registration/transfer, security, and maintenance, to name a few services. They use WordPress software and, even if you might not know how to use a website, they provide educational guides that will help you understand the process. Express build, Pro build, and Strategic build are the three packages you can choose from, with the first one being the most accessible for authors who have a strict budget. Founded by Andrew and Rebecca Brown over a decade ago, Design for Writers is a UK-based company that specializes in author website design, cover design, and book layout. Both Andrew and Rebecca are passionate about books, and they want their clients to benefit from high-quality services at affordable prices. She has worked with numerous authors, such as Jessi Elliot or Melissa Hope, and all of them were very happy with the results.

Claudia Rueda is an author and illustrator with more than 30 books attributed to her, translated, and sold in different languages worldwide. Cover images of her profound works are the hero image for her author's website. Travis Brown as a horror writer uses a website design that speaks to his niche with a rather haunting web design. The black and purple color scheme displayed makes the foggy forest background image all the more pleasing. The Meet the Team section helps visitors put perspective on her writing process. I love the chat feature that readily provides visitors with answers about the author and her works.

How to connect with successful authors

They took time, effort, and website-building expertise to get it just right. There are many author websites for you to derive inspiration from. Stephen King’s website is a great author’s website example if you are looking for a simple but attractive web design.

Best Website Builders for Authors and Writers in 2024

The content of the lead magnet can be anything you want, as long as it’s valuable to your readers. If you write fiction, it could be a short story, or perhaps the first book in your series. If you’re writing nonfiction, it could be access to an exclusive online course, or a free chapter of your book. Whatever you decide, make it worth your readers’ time (and email). As soon as this website loads, you’ll be greeted by the cheerful smile of this New York Times bestselling author. Various engaging effects, like cascading photos and scrolling text messages, keep you feeling good as you browse her website.

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.

Jake Knapp is a software engineer and the creator of Gmail and Microsoft Encarta. It’s hardly surprising that he has one of the cleanest built websites I’ve ever seen given that he writes in his spare time. I encourage you to click the site and take inspiration from Jake’s web design if you enjoy basic yet effective design. We check all comments within 48 hours to make sure they're from real users like you. In the meantime, you can share your comment with others to let more people know what you think. Based in Murrumbeena, Victoria, Jin & Co. is a company founded by Jin Wang.

Many author websites have a very simple page structure, and you may never need more than a handful of pages. While an attractive design is essential, functionality should not be compromised. A website should be designed to achieve specific business results and goals. This means that a website that serves your readers’ needs will deliver better bottom-line results.

Kate’s extensive work experience allowed her to discover her passion for working with writers, which is why she specializes in author and book websites. As she collaborates with clients from all around the globe, Kate is no stranger to diversity. Keyword search engine optimization (SEO) is important, but so is sounding like a human being. People expect authentic communication, not marketing copy packed with keywords that are great for search engines but less ideal for human readers.

She has published dozens of successful books while still being a busy wife and mother. Based out of Columbia, Claudia has more than 30 books that have been translated and sold at a global level. She acts as author and illustrator on most of her books but also collaborates with other writers as well.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to creating an author website design. It means you can experiment and find what works best for you and your audience. A big step you can take to establish your online presence and connect with readers is launching your author’s website. However, to make sure your author website design launch is successful, you need to have everything in place and a plan for promoting your site. In addition, we will look at some practical ways to promote your website.

Brittany’s website design process involves three steps – firstly, she communicates with the client in order to establish their goals and gathers the content needed to complete the project. Secondly, she uses Wix.com to create the website and requests feedback to make sure the client’s needs are met. Lastly, she provides the author with training videos which will help them manage the website successfully. There are four packages from which you can choose, and their prices vary between $199 and $499. You can also opt for addons, such as a writer’s resource page or a FAQ page – here, prices vary from $99 (1 page) to $317 (4 pages). Residing in San Jose, California and Portland, Oregon, Kate McMillan Anchev started her website design business in 2000.

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Author Website Design: Inspiring Examples

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