3 Key Things You Need on an Author Website (with examples)

All authors should have a dedicated author website and you can find out why in this post from our archives. Once you have decided to created an author website, there are 3 key things you need to make sure you include on it.

The first is…

Make Your Most Recent Book Front and Centre of Your Author Website

The main reason for having this website is to get people reading and preferably buying your books. So, showcasing your latest release is a great way to do this. You can see in this example that the book is the first thing you see when you hit the homepage of this author’s website. There’s also some text that draws you in and makes you want to find out more.

A common mistake many website owners make, not just authors is they think they are the main character of the website. (Yes, I’ve decided to use a book analogy, it felt appropriate.) But the main character is the website visitor. You want to make them feel understood, you want to show them what it really is that they came to the website for. And on the whole people are more interested in the work you have created than you.

So, don’t launch into your biography at the top of your homepage, show people your work.

Ask People to Buy Your Book on Your Website

As I’ve already said, the main reason to have an author website is to sell your books so don’t be shy about asking people to do it. Have “Buy Now” or “Order Here” buttons visible throughout your website including straight away at the top of your homepage where you have showcased your latest book.

And make sure those buttons are specific to the action that’s going to happen. If buy clicking on the button they’re going to be taken off to Amazon don’t just have “Order Now” on the button, specifically say “Buy Now on Amazon” so that there aren’t any surprises.

A jarring experience during a sales process is likely to make people think again about buying. Some people don’t like Amazon so don’t assume everyone will be happy being whisked off there. Allow people to make that choice.

This example shows how you can still be clear and concise on your buttons while giving a choice.

Give People a Chance to Get to Know You Once They’re Ready

As I said, you shouldn’t be the main focus of your website but you should allow people the opportunity to find out more about you if they want to and an author website wouldn’t be complete without an “about the author” page.

Keep the page relevant to your work and the kind of thing that people who like your work will be interested to hear about you. Also include a really good up to date photo. You want your readers to recognise you when they come to a reading or an event you’re speaking at, so don’t keep using that one photo you look fabulous in from 25 years ago. You still look great now just in a more wise way.

This is important because the more someone really feels like they know you, the more likely they are to buy from you.

And on your about page make sure you still have a call to action, maybe to join a newsletter or to check out your other books. Don’t make this a throw away page. You want people to take action or to keep looking around your website. Sophie’s about page does this through offering a freebie and also with a simple newsletter signup box.

Other Things to Consider When Creating Your Author Website

So these are the three main things to get right when creating your author website but as your career grows it is a great idea to consider building an email list as I mentioned, this could be by signing up to hear about your new release or they could receive the first chapter of a new book when they sign up.

It’s also important to ensure you have a page of your other books for people to look at and if you do readings, signings or speaker events, include a page on your website about how people can book you for these and where people can come and see you and links to the specific events.

If you need help creating your author website, go and take a look at our websites for authors page where you can get to a demo of our author website template and book in for a chat. Our author website template can be used with both our Build Your Own plan if you want to create your website yourself or our Done For You plan if you’d like us to do the work for you.