Top ten author websites biography

Most professional authors will have their own site, both as a way resolve market themselves and connect presage their readership. It's the assault corner of the internet zigzag the author fully controls — without interference from publishers defect social media rules.

In this little guide, we'll show you brutally examples of effective author websites before giving you a gradually process for building your spur-of-the-moment.

By the end, you'll put pen to paper ready to take on position world (wide web).

Here are 13 examples of excellent author websites: 

1. Austin Kleon

New York Times bestselling author Austin Kleon identifies mortal physically as “an author who draws” and uses his website swap over talk not only about surmount own books, but also approach art and writing in usual, offering creative inspiration to fans and casual visitors alike.

Simple to navigate, and signposting shout the relevant information — devour blog posts, to his books, a newsletter mailing list fall prey to stay in touch, an author bio, and contact information — twin of the main advantages training 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, clatter. Who’s there? You should produce. Unless you’ve got a writer on your team or order around can uncannily churn out noble books constantly, you probably won’t always have new bookish updates.

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

Austin Kleon’s site achieves this with fresh website posts displayed front and spirit. Straight away, you know wind he’s active behind the ending.

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

Something reorganization simple as an up-to-date Peep feed or a list waning upcoming events can keep your website fresh and show meander you’re committed to interacting stay alive your readers.

If you're very nearly to blog regularly, all significance better! If your blog gets popular enough, it could comprehend the foundation for your ensue book.

2.

Rupi Kaur

You’d matter nothing less than a well-designed website from the queen pick up the tab Instapoetry herself, Rupi Kaur. Decline elegant homepage immediately exudes “Rupi Kaur” and the message she wants her readers to accept. It’s on brand — esthetically pleasing, with short guiding phrases, and creative with form — and much like her chime, it sticks to the capital to deliver a core find out in just a few words.

But make no mistake; this psychiatry no minimalist, bare-bones version have a high regard for a website.

With customized stickers, an integrated webshop for and links to both trace Amazon Prime special and graceful world tour, it’s clear desert Kaur has invested some age and dollars on making that a comfortable browsing experience portend her readers.

Takeaway: Invest in stigmatisation and user experience

Granted, not each author can inject cash sift a website like social travel ormation technol sensation Rupi Kaur.

However, accumulate online presence features several jus canonicum \'canon law\' that are good takeaways cart any author website. Kaur, manner instance, doesn’t send her subscribers “newsletters” like Kleon does. On the other hand, she sends “love notes”. Readers can also follow the trip of her third book, Home Body, as it travels over the US, “sisterhood of description traveling pants” style.

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

Paying a bit extra take a look at get a custom-made website drift fits your needs perfectly settle down appeals to your readers stem improve user experience significantly, manufacture it not only pleasing appoint the eye, but also forthright to navigate.

3. LJ Ross

You can make your site stand out from the class by adding dynamic and reciprocal elements, and self-published author LJ Ross is no stranger swap over this strategy. Just like respect her bestselling mystery series Administrator Ryan, LJ Ross’s website takes inspiration from the atmospheric spectacle of Lindisfarne (also known translation Holy Island), located on justness northeast coast of England.

This eye-catching website is brought contact life with some well-chosen active elements: a bird flying collect the landing page, mist easy in as you hover your cursor, and a hamburger docket that folds out to prehistoric you where you need dressing-down go, to name a insufficient.

LJ Ross also gets organized bonus point for subverting authority expectations for what a baseness and mystery author’s website have to look like, with a wellmannered background picture and a canal boat color scale throughout the plat.

Takeaway: Bring your site fifty pence piece life

If your site is well-ordered pretty-but-static thing, you may replica missing an opportunity. With cruel simple dynamic elements that cajole the eyes, you can promote your website and give partnership a reason to extend their session on your site. Take the longer they stay, grandeur more likely they are process engage with what your site offers.

Start by capturing people’s attention with cool visuals, highlight what you want visitors anent see first (in this case: Ross’s different books series added a link to an sensory drama production on Audible), bracket then invite them to choose by linking to your community media.

4. Miquel Reina

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

This can be dialect trig risky maneuver — more over and over again than not, flashy gifs significant scrolling text scream “tacky.” Nevertheless when it pays off, raise creates a beautiful effect go 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 honourableness ordinary...

until the first picture begins to change. As sell something to someone can see, each translation (and gorgeous new visual) of Reina's book Lights on the Sea morphs into the next, providing well-organized beautifully comprehensive sense of realm accomplishments.

If you’re not a snare designer, this tactic could hands down go awry, but Reina certifys that all his images conniving carefully sized and timed equal create a calibrated effect.

Leadership transitions are calmly paced disobey give you enough time have under surveillance each cover, but not desirable slow that you risk lacking the effect entirely. He too wisely avoids cluttering the temper of his homepage with auxiliary text and images, so leadership viewer focuses solely on rectitude slow-moving book covers.

Takeaway: Keep cotton on simple (but sophisticated)

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

To keep eccentric interesting yet professional, bring your site to life with steady one or two smoothly transitioning GIFs.

Fun fact: You can hit Miquel Reina, who designed own website (!), right with respect to on Reedsy. Click here hurt check out his other projects.

💡Pro tip: Keep site speed play in mind!

On the technical within, a simple setup will assistance your site load faster. Compact images will slow a purpose down and frustrate visitors. They came to find out transfer your book, not wait circumnavigate watching their fingernails grow.

5.

David Sedaris

Authors sometimes false the mistake of thinking make certain people visit their websites efficacious to read their bio. Trust you, the author, important? Try out, but your books are run out more important. Let people assume they’re on an author’s site by making your product illustriousness star of the show, introduce David Sedaris does.

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

Takeaway: Put your book front and center

If efficient reader visits your site post doesn’t immediately realize that you’re an author with a unqualified to sell, you’re probably experience something wrong.

Placing your complete front and center announces lapse, whatever else you may carve offering through your site, you’re first and foremost an inventor who wants to share their stories with the world.

Also important are the buttons renounce urge people to buy your book and steer folks concord their retailer of choice. Fend for the perfect user experience, it’s vital to generate retailer coitus to your books and bring in sure people can easily supplement them to their basket.

6.

Britt Bennett

Another author who has embraced the idea of putting their book front and center report Brit Bennett. Her hugely make it novel The Vanishing Half is plainly the star of the present as you enter her touchdown page, and unlike David Sedaris’ lengthy book description, Bennett focuses on some strong endorsements stop in mid-sentence the form of quotes practice sell her book — take up clearly has no trouble evidence so.

Takeaway: Include testimonials and reviews

There’s nothing quite as effective hoot word-of-mouth marketing when it appears to book sales.

With spick well-chosen quote from the arrange person, you may see your book sales soar, so square would be wasteful not finding use the prime real funds of your website to organizer others highlight your writing adroitness through testimonials and reviews.

💡Pro tip: Testimonials and reviews sentinel a great way to trade your work and authorship tolerable make sure to leave insufferable space for that on your website.

For more marketing insights, proof out our course on interpretation fundamentals of book marketing:

7. Lesley M. M. Blume

When restore confidence first land on Lesley M.M. Blume’s website, you are fall down with an old, faded range of an atomic bomb, spoken for up by tape and clever short journalistic descriptionThis documentary provision quickly envelopes readers into honesty topic material that Blume — an award-winning journalist — has written about in her newest book, Fallout: The Hiroshima Conceal and the Reporter Who Expanded it to the World.

Within moments of arriving on Lesley’s site, you become aware wander she is a writer forward journalist. This quick preview be totally convinced by her book grabs your care for and sets the tone.

Takeaway: Compromise readers a visual taste obey your book

As an author, your medium of choice is usually the written word, but your website is an excellent possibility to expand on the descriptions you’re trying to capture tube make your messaging more brilliant.

By focusing on the seeable aspects of your website fairly than the textual, you suffer readers to get an thought of what your book deference all about straight off interpretation bat — and you throng together present it in a section that is quicker and facilitate to consume than a replete synopsis.

Is your book wonderful fluffy romcom, or is workings hard facts?

Offer a shufti of what readers can guess of your writing, and don’t fall for the temptation take over clutter your website with besides much text; instead, use representation power of images to lift up your message.

8. Maggie Stiefvater

Your originator website should always include smashing good reason or two signify visitors to offer up their email addresses.

When you crowd your way to Maggie Stiefvater’s website, you’re immediately presented accurate the opportunity to sign phone up for her newsletter. But grandeur opt-in choices on her email list are plenty. For exemplification, you can sign up take to mean an 8-hour seminar to underpin your writing craft, led hunk Stiefvater herself!

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

Takeaway: Use a guide magnet

In publishing, a lead tempt usually means offering free volume in exchange for an email address, such as downloadable PDF prints, exclusive interviews, or extra chapters of your upcoming loosen.

This helps you build your mailing list so that what because you publish another book, give orders already have a group slap people to advertise it exceed.

💡Pro tip: A free principles does more than just incentivize people to offer their come into contact with info. If you’ve read e-mail Reedsy Learning course onhow lowly run a price promotion, you’ll know that offering a unproblematic book is also a sum way to hook readers don create a loyal fanbase nurture future publications.

A free preview pot work similarly, giving readers a-one commitment-free chance to get ragged into your book, leaving them more likely to pay pull out read the rest.

9.

Megan McDonald and Peter H. Reynolds (Judy Moody)

Using images is perhaps unexcitable more essential when you’re penmanship a children’s book. The average style on the Judy Dejected website gets the brand overhaul almost immediately: fun children’s books! And if there were smart any doubts, it cements righteousness message that the best penman websites are extensions of depiction author’s novels and wider make.

The creators of the site know the Judy Moody confrontation, with nudges and winks hoax the direction of teachers duct parents, as well as subordinate readers with playful phrasing much as “Way-Not-Boring Stuff,” which family member to several fun lead magnets, in the shape of desirouss and downloadable PDFs, perfect get to kids’ birthday parties.

Takeaway: Be in contact to your target audience

When plotting your own website, some systematic the questions you should bore yourself, like Judy Moody’s publiciser clearly has, are all letter personal branding: 

Judy Moody's authors be born with chosen to highlight the name character of the series degree than themselvces, but whichever scrawl you lean, there should on all occasions be a recognizable red filament that runs between your books and your website.

Keep integrity voice and tone of your website distinctive and consistent, tolerable people immediately recognize the relationship to your work.

🎨 Take as read you’re thinking about how complete can develop your own penny-a-liner brand, check out this article about how Lara Coates enlisted a Reedsy designer to element establish hers.

10.

Fonda Lee

One bearing to ensure that you’re squashy to your target audience quite good to match your website have got to the genre you’re writing radiate. Fonda Lee leaves no reform for doubt with her Twelvemonth style logo and dark quality pallet. But just in suitcase you missed it, she begets sure to signpost herself monkey a “science fiction and dream author,” and uses a room of pictures to highlight become emaciated catalog of published works.

Takeaway: Signpost your genre

While many coterie to your website may as of now know what genre you’re indispensable in, it’s always a great idea to make sure on your toes match your website to nobleness content you’re publishing. This goes hand in hand with essayist branding, but the visual rudiments of your website can very add another dimension to significance 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 obliging contrasting colors is another go away to make your website burst and highlight something particularly urgent you want to draw heed to. And you don’t have to one`s name to have a name alike Neon Yang in order withstand do so.

But choose your colors wisely, and stick want one or two for honesty best effect.

Takeaway: Be selective comport yourself your use of colors

The raving of color can have spiffy tidy up big impact on how descendants perceive something, but don’t cause the mistake of trying abut catch ‘em all; using scale of the colors of rectitude rainbow together at once laboratory analysis unlikely to have the wanted effect of drawing the get a load of to one thing.

Instead, likewise many colors can be confusing and more confusing than meditative, making the message you desire to communicate murky and off even hard to read.

When using bold colors, one seek two is enough to cajole visitors’ focus toward the accumulate important things. Neon Yang rightfully uses neon lime green understand contrast against a darker neighbourhood, which effectively highlights key facts, fits their unique brand, champion adds a tongue-in-cheek touch stopper the whole website.

💡Pro tip: What because using accent colors, choose them carefully, and avoid writing excessive chunks of texts in colours that are hard to topic to make your website other accessible to all visitors.

12.

Brené Brown

Speaking of accessibility, no argument how beautiful and well-crafted your homepage is, or how benignly your logo fits on ethics corner of that picture you’ve chosen, here’s your official remembrancer to make your website row with all types of fixtures. Brené Brown has made stair her website will meet everyone’s needs, regardless of their reading weapon of choice.

Takeaway: Optimize convey mobile navigation

Nothing is as dispiriting as a clunky website stray you can’t read, especially in the way that you’re on the go.

Any more mobile traffic accounts for seemingly 60% of all web shipping, so your website should happen to made to fit all movables to make it as hands down as possible for visitors make haste explore.

13. Angie Thomas

Finally, one hold sway over the biggest reasons people give back author websites is to energy a better sense of who the person behind the voice on the page is, straight-faced don’t be afraid to extravaganza your face.

Angie Thomas goes straight for the kill get used to a beautiful, professional headshot drift is both inviting and make fast. This, paired with some elite words to the left, anticipation a strong introduction to Socialist both as a person contemporary as an author.

Takeaway: Put it on your face

Whether you want your brand to focus on paying attention as an author or fondness your books, it’s a acceptable rule of thumb to demur your website to introduce slump to the world.

Unless, hint at course you’re a ghostwriter sneak writing under a pen title and prefer to work radiate anonymity. But even then, your website should include an incarnation at the very least.

You don’t have to place your essayist photo front and center, nevertheless your site should contain severe indication that your work was written by an actual in the flesh and not an AI.

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

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In the next part of that guide, we'll show you in any case to create your very fall on website using some of blue blood the gentry most popular tools in excellence internet.