laptop, desk, chair, coffee | Best Author Websites (Including Unpublished Author Website Examples) #awesome author websites #best author blogs #best author websites #best website hosting for writers #great author websites #writers websites examples

Hey friends! I often recommend setting up an author website, and I get a lot of questions from people who can’t figure out what to put on an author website if they had only published one book—or if they hadn’t published anything yet.

The truth is, you could have one of the best author websites out there, even if you’re still writing the first draft of your book. I’m going to talk about why it can be a good idea to have one and address a few basic questions, and then I’ll give you some links to great author websites.[spacer height=”20px”] Pin or bookmark the post for future inspiration!

computer, coffee | Best Author Websites (Including Unpublished Author Website Examples) #awesome author websites #best author blogs #best author websites #best website hosting for writers #great author websites #writers websites examples

Why Are Awesome Author Websites So Important?

If you’re querying agents or editors, they might Google you, and a polished author website can make a great first impression. If a reader Googles your name, a website or blog gives them the opportunity to get to know you and make a better connection with you.[spacer height=”20px”]

What’s the Best Website Hosting for Writers?

WordPress.com is extremely easy to use and inexpensive. Although any new project has a learning curve, most people have no trouble setting up a WordPress.com site for themselves. You would pay for the domain name—I believe it’s $15 a year. You pay a little more if you wanted “penname.com” rather than “penname.wordpress.com,” and the former is a little nicer. I believe the hosting costs $4 a month, and many of the “themes” or design looks are free.

If you use WordPress.org like I do, it’s quite a bit more expensive, and you may sometimes need technical help with some aspects unless you know how to write code or you want to learn. There are some advantages, such as being able to install a popup window to invite people to join your newsletter.

I’ve heard great things about Wix, though I haven’t used it personally.

Author Website or Author Blog?

Most authors don’t want to blog—in other words, write posts on a regular basis. Even though I love blogging, I don’t recommend it to anyone who doesn’t have a real passion for it.  It takes a ton of work to build up an audience, and most authors would rather spend that time writing books. Blogs that don’t have any fresh content for months can be a little depressing for the blogger and for visitors.

The best author blogs have new posts on a more or less regular schedule. If you think this would be lot of fun, you can have an author blog instead of a traditional author website, or you can have a traditional author website with a section for blogging. The latter is probably more common.

What Does—and Doesn’t—Go On an Author Website

Lots of people want to know if they can publish their own work on their website, and the answer is: it depends. If you are hoping to traditionally publish, you probably want to limit this to short passages and snippets. However, there have been a few authors who have broken this rule, with great success (see Andy Weir, below.)

If you’re an indie author or not publishing, you can share as much as you want. (Your work is copyrighted whether you file for U.S. copyright or not, though U.S. copyright does help in pursuing an infringement claim.)

Elements that can definitely go on an author website include:

*a picture of yourself (you can read here about how to get a good author photo)

*an author biography

*information about the author’s work, published or not

*a signup for a newsletter (it’s never too early to start building a list!)[spacer height=”20px”]

Notes On Design

Design elements can convey your personal brand. Do you, personally, want to be perceived as warm and friendly? Sophisticated and original? Dark and edgy? Keep these things in mind with your color choices and design.

Don’t mix too many different font types, and make sure the body copy is readable. Tiny light gray type will make a lot of people bounce.

Require as few clicks as possible. “Enter site”? No, how about you just let me in automatically?

Best Author Websites

Let’s look at some great author websites! Click on the author names to see their websites. These were some of the best writers’ websites I could find when I was researching this post, and I tried to include a variety. However, there are hundreds of thousands out there, so if you have suggestions for other awesome author websites, I’d love to hear them!

Beverly Jenkins

This is a truly great author website designed by The Page-Turner Network and worthy of a romance author legend. You don’t have to have a professional designer or a ton of content, the way Ms. Bev does, to have a beautiful limited color palette that makes an instant positive impression.

Jim Butcher

This website used a free WordPress theme: Suffusion. Unfortunately, Suffusion is no longer available, but I’m pointing that out to say that you can get great professional results from free WordPress themes! I really like the use of the evocative illustration at the top.

Caren Lissner

The stunning images and evocative messaging drew me in and made me want to know more.

Ellery Adams

Adams write cozy mysteries, and her website really captures the feel of her books. I’ll admit to wanting to crop off the top half of her author photo because she’s only in the bottom half of it, but this is one of the best author blogs I’ve seen in the cozy mystery genre.

Andy Weir

Weir’s mega-blockbuster novel The Martian famously started as a series of blog posts, so it’s no wonder he’s got a sharp-looking blog. I think it shows that you can keep things very simple and still be appealing. The bold font and background convey a sci-fi feel. He’s got a tab for each of his projects, a good bio and an author photo that conveys his personality, and invitations to sign up for the newsletter. Are you noticing how big the authors’ names are on some of these sites? Get into a best-selling author mentality and don’t be shy about the size of your own name.

Thrity Umrigar

I’m sharing this one as an example of someone who does a lot of different types of writing, because I know some of my readers are the same way! Umrigar writes novels, but she’s also a journalist, a memoirist, and a children’s book author. She’s brought everything together very nicely here. This website was built on Squarespace, and it looks really good.

Amor Towles

The author of A Gentleman in Moscow features a book trailer right on the home page, which is something I would probably do with my book trailers (see here and here) if I had a more traditional author website instead of or in addition to a blog. By the way, if you’re interested in book trailers, you might want to read my post on How to Make a Book Trailer: 5 Steps, Plus How Much It Cost. 

Unpublished Author Website Examples

Emily Rae

I love it that Emily’s picture—with a big smile—is front and center in this website. Her friendliness and sense of humor comes across, and the blog portion of her website has sharp and engaging visuals.

Sarah Lynn Burnett

This writer who hasn’t published a novel yet, though she’s published shorter pieces. She’s based in the Caribbean, and her location set the tone for her splashy website.

Apple Plotnick Jannotta

This website features the author’s completed, unpublished novel (which sounds terrific, by the way.)

If you’re building up your author social media presence and it includes Instagram, you may also want to check out my post about the 200 best Instagram hashtags for writers! Hashtags are a great way to get discovered.

And if you’re an author with a website you’re proud of, feel free to share a link in the comments! (I only ask that the websites be G- or PG-rated…otherwise, I will remove the link.) I think we’d all love to see more published and unpublished author website examples! I know I only have a handful here. If you want to link to some of the best author blogs or websites, or share your opinions on how to make awesome author websites, I know we’d all appreciate that, too.

I’m going to be doing more posts about social media presence for writers, so subscribe to the blog, if you haven’t done so already (there’s a place to sign up on the lefthand side of the page). And if you’re in the middle of writing a novel that’s becoming a little messy..or you’re ready to start a fresh new project…be sure to check out my book Blank Page to Final Draft, a step-by-step guide to planning, writing, and editing your novel.

Blank Page to Final Draft by Bryn Donovan ebook free pdf

Thanks so much for reading, and happy writing!

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