Even if you haven’t yet published your first book, an author website is an important piece of your platform to build as early as possible. 

Having a home base on the internet that you actually own and fully control can help you create a rock-solid foundation from which you can grow when your publishing journey officially takes off. And when the foundation is strong, it makes every phase of your publishing career that much more stable and rewarding.

Give Readers Somewhere to Go

You don’t need anything overtly fancy or complex to start—the goal is to provide a centralized, controlled space to send future readers to learn more, which they will absolutely want to do.

It might be hard to believe, but even before your book is published, people want to learn more about you and your journey as an author. This is because writing a book is intriguing and aspirational for so many people, and avid readers are always voracious for the next new book to discover.

An author website gives people:

• A single, reliable link to click that can be used anywhere
• A clear introduction to who you are and what you’re working on
• A way to stay connected as you make progress on your book

Whether those people are friends, family, beta readers, community connections, or organic future readers who learned about you through social media or other platforms, they won’t be able to take this journey alongside you if you don’t give them a reliable way to do so.

Start Building Your Newsletter

Your email newsletter is one of the most powerful tools you have as an author, but you don’t need to wait until you have your first book available to start building it.

Even with zero books published, a newsletter lets readers:

• Follow your writing journey
• Get updates about your upcoming book
• Feel invested in your progress (and thus be more likely to click “Buy”)

Your website is the natural home for your newsletter sign-up. It’s the first place people will think to visit when they decide they want to stay in the loop about when your book comes out. By putting a simple newsletter sign-up form on your website and linking it to your preferred email platform (like MailerLite, Klaviyo, or Kit), you can start growing your reader list with an easy, automated process. 

Then, when launch day comes, you’ve already got a warmed-up list to announce your book to, assuming you’ve been emailing them about it to that point. A primed audience like this is that much more likely to convert to real buyers.

Connect All Your Online Spaces

If your author website is your central hub of information and activity about you and your books, think of other platforms, like social media, as satellite extensions of your hub.

If you’re already working on building your social media presence ahead of launching your first book, whether it’s on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or elsewhere, all roads should always lead back to your author website.

Anyone who engages with you on social media should be given the option to learn more about you, so providing the link to your website can further help them:

• Find all your social accounts in one place (for even more engagement)
• Sign up for your newsletter list
• Stay connected even when social media algorithms change

But it’s even okay if you don’t have social media yet. Your website can stand on its own as the hub where people can learn what they need to about you and your book. 

Build a Great Foundation

One of the biggest advantages of starting early is the flexibility you’ll have to easily mold your site into anything it needs to be as your author business progresses, rather than trying to tackle a much more complex build later on.

A solid pre-published author website:

• Starts with simple, clean design and functionality that accomplishes the few tasks you need it to right now
• Is constructed so that you can easily add, remove, or adjust pages, sections, and content as you evolve
• Teases future growth for visitors too, by letting them know you’ve got exciting things planned to stick around for

Launching your first website as a pre-published author isn’t about being “done.” It’s about being present. And your website doesn’t need to be complex to provide a sense of presence. You can even start with one, singular goal you’d like your site to achieve, and focus on that first.

While many authors realize a website is a must-have once you’ve got your first book published, it’s incredibly beneficial to also see the value of creating one before then. By doing so, you’ll already have an environment and platform for yourself, your books, and your readers well under way that can make your first book launch even stronger.

If you’re looking for a website builder created with authors and their publishing businesses in mind first, check out The Bookshelf. It was created to take the pain points out of the process and support authors at every phase of their publishing journey.

Related Questions

When should I create my author website?

There’s no time like the present! Even if your first book is still in “draft” mode, creating a website where people can learn about your work-in-progress and connect directly with you as early as possible can provide an excellent boost to your first launch. If you’re already published and don’t yet have a website, it’s recommended to create even just a basic one as soon as possible and start linking out to it wherever you can.

How much does it cost to set up an author website?

This most often depends on what platform you decide to use and whether you decide to build your website yourself or hire some professional help. Basic websites built on your own through some builder platforms can be under $100 per year to set up and maintain, costing you more in time than money. More advanced sites with full design services can range into thousands of dollars, with little manual effort by you. And there are plenty of middle-ground options (like The Bookshelf) where the subscription costs and the built-in tools strike a more well-rounded balance.

How much does a domain name cost?

Many website hosting services offer free or highly discounted domain names for the first year you use their site. After that, domains can often range between $5 per year to $20 per year depending on their complexity, availability, and if multi-year purchasing is utilized. The Bookshelf offers most domains free for the first year, then a discounted rate for every year after that.