Each web site was picked because it features an case of effective and personal author marketing that you can incorporate into your own web site. Take a expect, and don ’ triiodothyronine forget to leave us your thoughts and opinions in the comments !
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Reading: 13 Author Websites That Get It Right
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otherwise, read on to get 13 more examples of scintillating author websites !
1. David Sedaris: Put your book front and center
Authors much make the error of thinking that people visit their websites just to read their bio. Are you, the writer, important ? surely, but your book ’ s more significant. Let people know they ’ re on an author ’ mho web site by making your intersection the headliner of the usher, as David Sedaris does. A minimalist frame-up makes it impossible not to notice the main event : David ’ s new book .
besides important : the buttons below “ Pre-order immediately ” that tip folks to your retailers. To build the perfect author web site, you must generate retailer links to your books. once you have a koran to sell, you need to make sure people know where to buy it .
Pro tip: Keep site speed in mind! On the technical side, a simple frame-up will help your locate load faster. Heavy images will slow a site down and thwart visitors. They came to find out about your book, not wait around watching their fingernails grow .
Takeaway: Promote your book.
If a lector visits your site and doesn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate realize immediately that you ’ re an author with a ledger to sell, you ’ re credibly doing something improper .
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2. J.K. Rowling: Add a social element
Granted, not every writer can burn cash on a web site like J.K. Rowling can. however, her on-line bearing features several practices that are well takeaways for any author web site. With Pottermore, she ’ sulfur created an interactional book world where fans can interact on-line. ( Bonus content and virtual butterbeer abounding ! ) You might consider offering a similar option for the friendly visitor, even if it ’ south just a run of your Twitter or a newsletter .
And if you ’ rhenium not on social media yet, get started correctly away ! Amongst other things, it ’ s a powerful tool for building your community of fans and supporters. At minimum, you should be providing an electronic mail sign-up shape on your front man page to pick up those contacts .
Takeaway: Make your site interactive for engagement and retention.
If your web site is a pretty-but-static thing, you ’ re wasting an opportunity. You want to engage people — and you want your interactions to be a bipartisan street .
On that note, don ’ triiodothyronine show off your social media feeds if you don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate post regularly. Your writer web site should be kept up-to-date. Easier said than done ? Of naturally — but Austin Kleon does an excellent job of it, as evidenced by his home page below .
Unless you can uncannily churn out quality books on a constant footing, your web site will probably remain inactive for periods at a time. however, when people visit your locate, you don ’ metric ton want it to seem as though it ’ randomness been idly collecting scatter for years. You want it to seem as though person is home .
Austin Kleon ’ s web site achieves this with regular blog posts displayed movement and center. Straight away, you know that Austin is about and still writing. What ’ s more : it ’ second good for occupation ! Studies show that businesses that run blogs have 55 % more web site visitors than those that don ’ thymine .
Takeaway: Give people a reason to come back.
Knock, knock. Who ’ s there ? You should be. Something a simple as an up-to-date Twitter feed or a list of upcoming events can keep your web site spirit fresh and show that you ’ ra committed to interacting with your readers. If you ‘re able to blog regularly, all the better ! And if your blog gets popular enough, it could even become the foundation garment for your following book .
Free course: Creating an author blog
Build and run a blog that will perpetually attract newfangled readers ( and make them buy your book ). Get started nowadays .
4. Veronica Roth: Go to your readers
The favored social networking locate of Americans under the age of 25 is no longer Facebook, which means that early sites have started to become more prevailing. While Tumblr may not seem like an obvious home for the blog of a best-selling novelist, it makes sense when you realize that “ under 25 ” is the exact age group of Veronica ’ second readers. [ update : Veronica Roth ‘s Tumblr page is no longer alive ]
Veronica doesn ’ thymine precisely need a branch up in terms of discoverability. however, the point remains that if you have written your fresh for a sealed market ( and authors who have done their due application will know this is essential ), then you correspondingly want to ensure you are putting your reserve and yourself out there in a manner that is accessible to that market .
furthermore, by making her presence as an writer known in an on-line space her readers already patronize, it ’ s about like she ’ mho just “ hanging out ” with them. In this way, she ’ second able to foster a better sense of connection between her and her readers, which goes a long way in ensuring future sales of approaching books .
Takeaway: Make sure you’re visible to your target market.
not all author websites need to be authorname.com. figure out where your readers spend their time on-line, and make your web site available there. In other words : go where your readers are. Don ’ metric ton wait for them come to you .
5. Jon Krakauer: Negative space is your friend
An writer web site can ’ t ( and shouldn ’ triiodothyronine ) look like a textbook. rather of cramming text into every corner, use negative space ! When you implement it correctly, negative outer space will make your visitors ’ eyes jump precisely where you want them to ( such as the “ BUY NOW ” button. )
A writer ’ s natural impulse is to stuff every bit of empty outer space with textbook. Resist that pulsation ! You may have barely written a 100,000-word novel, but those words belong in your book, not on your web site .
Takeaway: Keep it simple.
Sometimes, less text and fewer elaborate features is just more elegant — and helps highlight what ‘s most important. For exercise, one of the other elements of Jon ‘s web site is a resource page for sexual assault victims, which he installed after writing about intimate assault at the University of Montana .
6. Lesley M. M. Blume: Transport readers into the world of your book
When you first gear land on Lesley M.M. Blume ’ s web site, you are greeted by an old, fade movie of a 22 year old Ernest Hemingway. Beside it, a caption reads : “ Ernest Hemingway, historic period 22, turned up in Paris, determined to become the greatest of writers — but he could not break through. “ I knew I must write a novel, ” he belated wrote. Easier said than done. There were at least three false starts. The only option, he realized, was to “ let the press build. ”
This slither finally moves to modern picture of Ernest Hemingway in 1925, with another caption explaining the snapshot. Within moments of arriving on Lesley ’ s site, you become mindful that she is a writer, that she has written a book about Ernest Hemingway, and that the book is an intimate account of his life accompanied by photos. This quick preview of her script grabs your attention and is basically the literary equivalent of a dawdler .
Takeaway: Your website should visually give readers a taste of your book.
Allow readers to get an mind of what your book is all about right away — and confront it in a way that is quicker and easier to consume than a full moon outline straight off the bat .
7. Megan McDonald: Brand your site
The exemplifying stylus on this web site gets the Judy Moody brand across about immediately : playfulness children ’ randomness books ! ultimately, the best generator websites are the extensions of the generator ’ sulfur novels .
Are you branding yourself or a serial ? What ’ s the voice and tone of your novel ? Who is your target hearing and would your site resonate with them ? What ’ s your writer brand ? Our co-founder spills more tips on generator brand over on Book Machine.
Takeaway: Your website should be an extension of your author brand.
Keep the voice and tone of your web site distinctive and consistent, so people immediately recognize the relation to your function .
8. Anthony Horowitz: Be selective in your use of color
A beautiful generator web site does not the colors of the rainbow make ! Anthony Horowitz ’ s discussion may be murder, but the color is largely gray. As designers know, the psychology of color can make or break your web site. It ’ s not a competition you win if you manage to splash all your front-runner colors onto it .
rather, use one or two colors to draw visitors ’ focus towards the most important things. here, the discolor orange cleverly tug your attention towards two elements : Anthony ’ randomness name and besides the oeuvre of books down at the bed. incidentally, one chink will take you to an Amazon page to purchase said book !
Pro tip: You can find Liam Fitzgerald, the architect of Anthony Horowitz ’ s web site, right here on the Reedsy market. Click here to view Liam ‘s profile and plan gallery .
Takeaway: Don’t use all the colors in the rainbow if you don’t want to distract visitors.
Again, less is more, but particularly if you want to draw the subscriber ‘s center using splashes of discolor .
9. Gretchen Rubin: Make your website a “place to be”
The best way to keep people coming back to your locate is to offer them something of rate. If you can provide a short something excess, other than details about you and your book, you are more likely to build a strong on-line presence and become a resource people to which people return .
Gretchen Rubin has done this by devoting whole pages of her sites to tips-filled listicles, “ revealing ” quizzes, podcasts, and resources for applying her methods for a happy life — all of which will appeal to her self-help market and make them more probably to return to her site .
Takeaway: Offer a little something extra.
Making your site more compel and useful is more probable to create loyal fans ( and customers ) .
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10. Brent Jones: Use a lead magnet
One of our best tips for author websites is to use a lead magnet ! A lead magnet is a tactic for capturing a visitor ’ randomness contact information. In publication, that normally means offering some sort of free contentedness in central for an e-mail address. Reedsy ’ s very own Brent Jones exemplifies big consumption of a lead attraction by offering of a free sample of his script in exchange for subscribing to his web site .
however, a free sample does more than good incentivize people to offer their contact information. If you ’ ve read our Reedsy Learning course on how to run a monetary value promotion, you ’ ll know that offering a absolve book is besides a great way to hook readers and create a firm fanbase for future publications. A unblock preview can work similarly, giving readers a commitment-free find to get drawn into your book, leaving them more probably to pay to read the pillow .
Takeaway: Give readers a free sample of your book.
Lead magnets can help you build your mailing list so that when you publish another record, you already have a group of people to advertise it to. Ensure that your lead magnets offer people a concrete argue to sign up .
11. Gary Shteyngart: Give it a personal touch
Remember when we said to keep it bare and function few colors to your advantage ? Well, that remains genuine. however, sometimes there are exceptions to the principle — equitable be mindful that if you are going to go against the grain, it needs to be purposeful .
Take, for example, Gary Shteyngart ’ s web site. It has all of the necessary information : retail links, a short biography, touch information, and links to social media. But it is besides brassy, splashy, and decidedly colorful, in keeping with the blanket of his bible .
In this case, breaking the rules works for Gary. His web site reflects his satirical write with its camp, erstwhile school layout and flashy colors which about feel like they ’ rhenium poke fun at the publication industry, which can frequently be lofty with the desire to appear serious in order to reflect reason .
Upon first glance at Gary ’ s web site, you might think, “ Well, that ’ mho zany. ” But whether you realize it or not, two concrete goals have been achieved : ( 1 ) the web site has left an mental picture that ’ south on-point with the author ’ randomness brand, and ( 2 ) it ‘s given you an idea of what Gary ’ sulfur write is like .
Takeaway: Know when to break the rules.
Break the rules if you have a good reason to do so ! But if your objectives in going against the grain aren ’ t met, re-visit our previous takeaways and think about sticking to tried-and-true methods .
12. Nicole Dieker: Make it clear how to reach you
As Nicole says, “ I ’ ve been on social media since the early days, which means I ’ ve seen it evolve from a place to chat with erstwhile friends ( and make new ones ) to the hyper-competitive marketing-and-awareness channel it has since become. ”
Doesn ’ metric ton that old sociable media sound nice ? A position to chat with old friends and make new ones .
While it plays a crucial function in marketing her latest novel and her work as a freelance writer, Nicole ’ s web site besides achieves the cosy, friendly feeling that it ’ s a place to barely get in touch and catch up .
Her Contact & Follow page — one of the most important spots on any author ’ s web site — tell you precisely where you can find her, and what you will find her doing there. In this encase, Nicole is tweeting about her writing, sending our more detailed updates via her TinyLetter, and responding to general inquiries by e-mail .
These days, we have then many different ways of communicating with a person, that it about feels harder than ever fair to connect with person. not then on Nicole ’ s web site .
Takeaway: Playing hard to get is not a wise move for an indie author.
If you ’ ve achieved the great success of having likely readers, agents, or publishers land on your web site, don ’ t make it hard for them to find you. A dedicate, thoughtful, and well-maintained contact page is key .
13. Miquel Reina: Bring your site to life
finally, you may want to incorporate some bowel movement into your author web site to in truth bring it to liveliness. This can be a bad maneuver — more often than not, brassy gifs and scrolling textbook scream “ tacky. ” But when it pays off, it creates a beautiful, active impression that will impress and entrance readers who stumble upon your page .
Upon first gear glance at the home page of Miquel Reina ‘s generator web site, nothing appears out of the average … until the beginning double begins to change. As you can see, each translation ( and gorgeous modern cover ) of Reina ‘s script Lights on the Sea morph into the next, providing a beautifully comprehensive examination sense of his accomplishments .
In the hands of another network architect, this tactic could easily go awry, but Reina ensures that all his images are carefully sized and timed to create a absolutely calibrated effect. He besides wisely keep off cluttering the rest of his home page with extra text and images — adhering to the Jon Krakauer dominion — so the viewer ‘s focus is entirely on the slow-moving book covers .
Takeaway: A little bit of movement goes a long way.
Again, it ‘s easy to go overboard with this tactic ; you do n’t want your author web site to look like a carnival. To keep things interesting so far professional, bring your locate to life with merely one or two smoothly transitioning GIFs .
Fun fact: You can find Miquel Reina, who designed his own web site ( ! ), correct here on Reedsy. Click here to check out his early projects .
Final takeaways
In order to sell books, indie authors need to first invest in them. This means using as many commercialize resources in their arsenal as potential, and that absolutely includes an author web site. Each of these examples showcase best practices when it comes to author websites, but remember that your own web site shouldn ’ metric ton merely be a transcript of an existing one ! Mix and match our tips to create your own unique locate.
Read more: The Girl For Me
And if you need a hand getting your generator web site set up, head over to the Reedsy market, where we have a server of supremely talented and professional web designers. To find out more about how these pros can help you build an on-line presence ( and to get a free quote ! ), visit our Author Website Design page .
Of path, if the think of setting up an integral web site yourself is excessively overwhelm to you, you can besides consider early options — such as launching your reserve on Reedsy Discovery, which gives you a fine-looking landing page, along with the ability to reach hundreds of thousands of readers and a pond of professional reviewers. good fortune !
And if you’ve already set up your author website, drop the link in the comments so we can check it out!
