We’ve been working with a variety of authors over the past couple of years and as a greater proportion of marketing for books takes place online, authors are finding their websites invaluable places to connect with their audiences and to promote their latest and upcoming work.

While Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and GoodReads are huge avenues to reach current fans and potential readers, having a central website to point people back which is totally in the author’s control and is SEO-friendly isn’t to be overlooked. It’s hard to search through old content on Facebook and Twitter, and author blog posts written in GoodReads aren’t currently exportable from there.

Examples of author and book websites:

Here’s some of the author and book websites we have designed:

Author website showcase

Laura M. Prager Food Politics Mandela's Way The Climate War Juliette C. Mayers Douglas Kennedy Good to Great to Gone The Million Dollar Race Simone Joyaux Sarah Maizes

I always struggle with finding lovely examples of other author and book websites, but here are a few. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

What does a typical author’s website have on it?

Author websites typically have the following pages:

  • Homepage – often a landing page with an overview of the author and their work, along with prominent social media offerings, newsletter subscription and latest blog posts, but sometimes this is just in blog format.
  • About – author bio with recent headshot.
  • Books – this could be a simple page showcasing their work or multiple pages, depending on the number of books and amount of information. Standard details include: book jackets, purchasing links, reviews, excerpts, sample chapters, readers’ guides, interviews, trailer videos, FAQ and supporting material (often as downloads).
  • Articles – if the author writes for other publications, these can be listed as links, excerpts or in full (depending on what’s allowable).
  • Press/Media – often a gallery layout or blog format. List of press coverage of their work, media appearances, reviews, photos, videos etc.
  • Events – often in calendar format or blog format. List of upcoming and past appearances, talks, book readings, book tours etc.
  • Photos/Videos – these can be separated out into their own respective sections, integrated with the rest of the site, or cross-references in both places.
  • Blog – the key reason to drive people back to the site regularly: fans want to get an insight into the writer’s life or writing process, others will be referred to the blog first and then convert to readers and fans of the book. Posts can be automatically connected to go out to Facebook, Twitter and GoodReads.
  • Shop – some authors sell books directly or have an embedded Amazon store to get affiliate commission. Others sell all forms of merchandise.
  • Contact – some authors have all their content details available, others just provide their social media links and their literary agent and publisher’s details.

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