Your author website is your home on the internet. A place to call your own, to control your brand the way you see fit, and to connect more deeply with your readers. 

It’s a truly powerful tool for building a strong author business, no matter what stage of publishing you might be in (yes, even if you’re pre-published!).

In the endeavor to create a website that actually supports and improves your author business, a little preparation goes a long way. Here are 5 essential steps to think about before you start carving out your space on the internet.

1. Determine Your Central Goal

An author website can do a lot of things and have a lot of fancy features. But just because it can doesn’t mean it always should. 

Before you start building your site, ask yourself: What is the #1 goal of my author website?

Common goals that many authors have for their websites include:

• Growing an email newsletter list
• Promoting a best-selling series
• Announcing an upcoming book
• Helping readers find the right book for them
• Selling books direct
• Growing social media followers

You can absolutely use your website to support multiple goals, but choosing one primary objective makes every design and functionality decision for your site easier. When you have a central goal:

• Your homepage layout becomes clearer
• Your calls-to-action become stronger
• Your navigation becomes simpler
• Your messaging becomes more focused

Think of creating a goal like crafting a great protagonist: when you give them purpose, the plot can be driven forward. So when you give your website a clear purpose, it’s much easier to then set up every part of your website to add value to your business.

Pro Tip: Once you identify your main goal, design your homepage so that the section meant to serve that goal appears “above the fold,” or as the section that will appear on screen without visitors having to scroll.

2. Understand Your Genre and Brand Aesthetic

Just as the covers of your books must clearly communicate their genre in order to attract the right readers, so must your website’s design do the same to attract the right customers. In fact, you can think of your website as the “cover” of your author brand. It should instantly communicate:

• What you write
• Who it’s for
• What tone readers can expect

The best way to achieve the above is to have a clear grasp on the expectations of your genre(s), combined with a strong vision for your author brand. To get there, ask yourself:

• What genre(s) do I write in?
• What colors, typography, and imagery reflect that genre?
• What mood should visitors feel when they land on my site?
• What do I want to communicate about who I am as an author?

For example, if you’re a contemporary romance author, you may be more likely to use warm tones, soft imagery, and inviting fonts. If you’re a thriller author, you may use dark palettes, bold typography, and high contrast. If you’re a fantasy author, then atmospheric backgrounds, textured elements, and rich colors may work in your favor.

If you write in multiple genres that don’t have similar aesthetics, instead consider:

• A neutral but strong core design
• Clear separation between genre sections
• Visual consistency in layout, even if tone varies

Clarity is key, even if the design is a more neutral one. The goal is to prevent confusion and keep readers engaged on every page of your site.

Pro Tip: Your book covers can serve as great sources for design inspiration for your website! If you’ve designed your covers correctly for your genre, pull colors, fonts, and elements from it to use across your site. Alternatively, you can always explore how successful authors in your genre are designing their websites, and adapt them to fit your own brand.

3. Choose the Right Author Domain Name

Your domain is the URL or web address that your entire site is tied to. It’s how readers find you, so, it’s important to give ample thought to what will work best.

A strong domain should be:

• Easy to spell
• Easy to remember
• Short and clean
• Instantly recognizable

If available, many authors will opt for a domain that includes their author name, for example: “janesmith.com.” If you have an imprint or publishing company you’re commonly known by, using that name can be a good option as well, for example “smithpublishing.com.”

Try to avoid:

• Long, complicated URLs
• Excessive use of hyphens
• Numbers that can confuse readers
• Anything difficult to say out loud

Remember, your domain name will appear in all your email signatures, book back matter, social media bios, and promotional materials. So it needs to be intuitive, workable, and recognizable. 

Pro Tip: If you have a common name, your preferred URL may already be taken. If it is, consider adding a clarifier like “author,” “writes,” or “publishing” to the end of your domain name. Alternatively, you can select a different suffix for your domain besides “.com,” though these can sometimes be more expensive to purchase.

4. Prepare Your Website Content Before You Build

One of the biggest time-savers when building an author website is to have all your content for it ready ahead of time. Before you start designing, gather drafts for:

• Author bio (short and long versions)
• Book and series descriptions
• Taglines (for section headings)
• FAQ section content
• Contact information
• Media or press kit details (if applicable)
• Links to social media and other sites as needed

Nothing has to be perfect on the first go-around of writing these materials; you’ll have plenty of opportunity to edit and refine every section of your website before you launch it. But for the most streamlined process, it’s a great idea to come to the table with some rough drafts or even baseline ideas on hand. 

You will also want to gather any necessary images you plan to add to your site, like:

• Professional author photos
• Book covers 
• 3D mockup images of each format of your books
• Promotional graphics
• Background images for site pages or sections (if applicable)

Pro Tip: Gather everything into an organized master folder called “Author Website Assets.” Having one location to easily pull everything you need from will make the first build and future updates that much quicker and easier.

5. Set Up an Email Newsletter From the Start

No matter what stage of your publishing journey you’re in, it’s an excellent idea to provide a way for people to opt in to hear from you. An email newsletter that people can sign up to join is an invaluable tool in helping to:

• Build direct relationships with readers
• Announce book launches
• Promote special offers or events
• Share exclusive content
• Create long-term superfans

Unlike social media platforms, your email list is something you truly own. It’s one of the most valuable assets of an author business, which makes it never too early to start building one. Every website, even if you haven’t published any books yet, should have an email signup form somewhere on it.

There are many options out there for email newsletter services, and selecting the right one comes down to your goals, budget, and very often, ease of use. Some of the more popular email services for authors include:

• MailerLite
• Klaviyo
• MailChimp
• Kit (formerly ConvertKit)
• GetResponse

Once you’ve selected a service, set up a newsletter list within it and connect it to a form on your website so that it’s completely automated. That way when someone signs up, they’ll start receiving your newsletter without you having to manually send it to them.

Pro Tip: Offering a reader magnet in exchange for someone signing up for your newsletter is a great idea! It provides more incentive to sign up and helps readers get to know more about you and your writing, enticing them to buy your books. Consider penning a short story, offering sample chapters, or creating workbook pages that you can automate to be delivered when someone joins your newsletter list.

Preparation: The Secret to a Powerful Author Website

Like writing your next great book, preparation can be the key to success.  Building an author website isn’t just about choosing fonts and uploading books covers. It’s about:

• Clarifying your goals
• Understanding your genre and brand
• Choosing the right domain
• Preparing strong content
• Building an email list foundation

The more intentional your preparation, the more effective your website will be—not just as a digital brochure, but as a true growth engine for your author business.

Related Questions

What should I put on my author website?

At a minimum, your author website should include some information about your books and you as the author and a newsletter signup form. Depending on your goals and stage of publishing, you can also consider including a way to contact you, purchase links or options, information about upcoming releases or events, or additional content related to your books.

What’s better, a landing page or a full website?

This depends on your goals! A landing page or a single-page website can achieve many of the same things a multi-page website can if it’s set up and organized correctly. There is no all-encompassing “correct,” answer here—only the correct choice for your author business.

What should I put in my author newsletter?

Several ideas include: progress updates about upcoming books, notifications about sales or events, bonus material related to your books, behind-the-scenes looks at your author life or personal life, questions or surveys for readers, or information about other authors in your genre (by way of an organized newsletter swap with that author).