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What makes an author website great?

February 6, 2024 /

One of the first pieces of advice new authors get is to create a website. Our websites are our homes on the internet, a space we control and can use to promote ourselves and our work (unlike social media, over which we have little control–ask anyone who spent years building a following on the Site Formerly Known as Twitter only to see engagement plummet under He Who Must Not Be Named). But what makes an author website great? One way to answer that question is to provide examples of great websites and talk about what makes them work well–and that’s exactly what I’m going to do in this post.

Insecure Writer's Support Group badge

But first: this post is part of the Insecure Writers Support Group (IWSG) blog hop. On the first Wednesday of every month, we IWSG-ers share our doubts, fears, struggles, and triumphs. Our awesome co-hosts this month are SE White, Victoria Marie Lees, Cathrina Constantine–and me! I’m so excited to be co-hosting IWSG for the 4th time. If I keep co-hosting, I’m going to become as insufferable as Alec Baldwin talking about the number of times he’s hosted SNL (17 in case you’re wondering). If you’re new here, check out my first two co-host posts (here and here) for an introduction to my crazy little corner of the interwebs, affectionately (and accurately) known as Camp WTF.

Each month our Fearless Leader (Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh) gives us an optional question to answer. This month’s question: What turns you off when visiting an author’s website/blog? Lack of information? A drone of negativity? Little mention of author’s books? Constant mention of books?

I’m going to spend most of this post talking about what I like in author websites, because I’d rather take a positive approach, but I’ll go ahead and answer the question first.

My author website turn-offs

First, I want to be clear about a couple of things: Not everyone has design skills, technical skills, or a big budget (My tech skills are OK, but I have zero design skills and a limited budget). Fortunately, there are some good options for folks like that–free WordPress themes and sites like Wix that make it easy to design a simple yet attractive website. I will never criticize someone for making do with what they have.

Now, about those turn-offs:

  • A cluttered design. Zillions of book covers, badges all over the place, a mish-mash of colors, lack of a clear menu, animated gifs for that 1996 Geocities vibe… please, no. I’m easily distracted and overwhelmed by too many options, especially if those options are not clear.
  • A dated design. Your site doesn’t have to be trendy, but if it looks like it hasn’t been updated since the Obama administration, you have a problem.
  • BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK! Of course you should advertise your books. But don’t just shout at me to buy them. Give me covers, blurbs, maybe a quote or two from reviews, and one or more purchase links. You’re going for well-designed store display, not used car salesman on bath salts.

What I love to see in author websites

All right, that’s enough negativity. Here’s what makes an author website work for me:

  • A clean, simple (and maybe elegant) design. Your front page, above the fold, should tell me who you are, what you write, and what I can find on your site. You don’t have to write paragraphs here. A headshot and tagline will tell me who you are, your visuals and aesthetic can tell me a lot about your genre and the mood/themes/tone of your books, and a well-designed menu will tell me what’s on your site.
  • Something about you as a person. You don’t have to spill your guts on the internet (and really, that’s probably a bad idea, even though I do it on this blog all. the. time.) but a little of your bio and personality goes a long way to humanize you and make me want to connect with you.
  • Current, not dated. I want to know that you’re still maintaining your site, so I can have confidence that what I find there is still valid.
  • A clear call to action. What do you want me to do? Buy your books? Sign up for your newsletter? If I’ve sought out your website, there’s a decent chance I’m interested in supporting you, so tell me how I can do that. (My call to action: sign up for my newsletter. Pretty please? I’ll even bribe you with a free short story.)
  • How to connect with you on social media. In addition to my personal social media, I manage social media for a local author organization, so I’m always looking for authors in that genre to follow and interact with on that account. Help me find you so we can boost each other!

Examples of great author websites

I’ve always found examples to be the most effective teaching tools, so let’s look at some great author websites. Some of these sites inspired me when I was redesigning my own site.

Fancy, professional designs from established authors

If you’re a big-name author–or just have a big-name budget– you can do some cool things. Here are a couple of sites from famous authors that work really well.

  • George R. R. Martin – The man who gave us Game of Thrones has a site with a clean, easy to navigate design that conveys a high fantasy vibe without being over the top. Check out his For Fans menu–this is an author who knows what his fans want and appears to support them wholeheartedly. He even includes a directory of fan sites. His site is built on WordPress.
  • Beverly Jenkins – Jenkins combines design, color, and images to convey her brand–African-American romance–immediately. Her site is both ornate (her header image is *gorgeous*) and easy to navigate. It’s also built on WordPress.

Simple designs from established authors

You could create sites like these using DIY templates or fairly simple WordPress themes. If you lack design or tech skills, you might have to hire someone, but you won’t need to take out a second mortgage to pay them.

  • Jennifer Weiner – A simple, clean site from a big name. It puts her books up front, including blurbs and quotes from reviews, and uses a simple menu to allow visitors to navigate to other areas. She includes resources for book clubs and even some advice for writers. Weiner’s site runs on Squarespace.
  • Faye Snowden – Snowden puts her headshot right up front in a way that feels welcoming. The rest of her top-level page features her books, including award nominations and review quotes. The imagery conveys a sense of the mood and setting of the books (noir set in Louisiana). Her site is built on Wix.
  • Elizabeth Spann Craig – The instant Spann Craig’s site loads, you know she writes cozies. Fonts, colors, images – all reinforce her brand and genre. Her site runs on WordPress.
  • Jenna Bennett/Jennie Bentley – Another example of a clean, easy to navigate site with great graphics that reinforce the author’s brand. She also sells books from her site using a clearly-named link (Buy Direct & Save). Her site runs on WordPress.
  • Marty Wingate – There’s something about Wingate’s site that draws me in. The English countryside vibe, the simple yet elegant design… this is such a great website. She uses a free, open WordPress theme (GeneratePress) and makes it shine.

Sites from emerging and pre-published authors

  • Rachele Baker – I’ve admired Baker’s website since before her first book was published. She writes cozies set in the Lake Tahoe area, and the imagery on her site conveys that fact immediately. The design is clean and features her books right up front. Her site runs on Wix.
  • Emily Rae – I found Rae’s website in an article on author websites, cited as a good example of how to do a website when you’re pre-published. (I think she signed with an agent last year, so hopefully she’ll be published soon.) She includes her headshot front and center with a short bio, immediately followed by her newsletter signup. She includes information about her books in progress, illustrated with mood boards. Her site also includes a few short stories so visitors can get a sense of her writing. Her site runs on WordPress.

Building a new website? Get help from… the web!

If you’re looking to create or overhaul your website, I recommend doing some online research. There are some great resources out there. Here are 2:

What do you, dear reader, look for in an author website? Do you have any favorite sites to recommend as examples?

The memery

Even in my more serious posts, we must have memes.

Me when I should be writing:

And then when I do write, this happens (only WordPress is a much worse offender than Word):

Is it any wonder we writers are a little strange? Speaking of which:

Spoiler alert: the people in my small town have known I’m weird since I was in second grade. And they made sure I knew it too.

And finally:

My imaginary friends are jerks. I think I’ll go kill off a couple of them.

Happy IWSG Day to all who celebrate!

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72 Comments

  • Joanne

    February 7, 2024 at 4:44 am

    I like a nice clean author space with pretty book covers and short little blurbs.. and please, please, please if you write a series of books let me know what order they should be read in!! I blog with blogger and it does the exact same thing with copy/paste! It drives me nuts. I find that if I log into a post I created and saved on the computer with my phone it makes all the photos right justified and short of deleting them and re-uploading them I can rarely get them to move again!

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 8, 2024 at 7:25 am

      I used to use Blogger, and it was a huge pain. WordPress is better… usually, when it doesn’t get buggy for some random reason.

      You make a good point about listing the order of series. That information should always be easy to find.

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 8, 2024 at 7:27 am

      How cool! I’m reading a collection of short stories by her now. It’s quite a departure from the usual murder and mayhem I read, but I’m enjoying it.

  • Nancy Gideon

    February 7, 2024 at 8:31 am

    So glad you mentioned my buddy Bev Jenkins. We “grew up” in the biz together and she’s great at self-promo built on interaction. Thanks for co-hosting!!

  • Jacqui Murray

    February 7, 2024 at 9:02 am

    What a great post. Absolutely agree about ‘cluttered design’. It’s like strobe lights from a flashlight–I can’t look! Love the weird writer stuff.

    Now where’s subscribe on this blog… Oh! To the right!

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 7, 2024 at 8:43 pm

      Thanks! And I really need to declutter my sidebar so that newsletter box is more prominent. Or maybe I could set up a pop-up (kidding! I hate those things.)

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 7, 2024 at 8:42 pm

      Honestly, I feel the same way about my site. I don’t have time to mess with it right now though, so it will have to continue being not-perfect.

      Thanks for stopping by!

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 8, 2024 at 7:28 am

      My pleasure! And it wasn’t too hard. I still had all my bookmarks from when I redesigned my site last year. It was great to be able to put them to good use.

  • Esther O'Neill

    February 7, 2024 at 9:24 am

    Hi Janet, and thanks for co-hosting,

    This year, definitely, no more excuses, just a simple no-frills website.
    Shouldn’t be a problem, not just an extra day on the 29th, but the William Morris calendar
    I bought yesterday in Barnardos delivers sixteen month –
    two at the start, two at the end, Incredibly useful, so it passes the Morris test…

    Website, definitely, – and another first, maybe join a writers group and go to the next meeting too..
    Perfect excuse used to be their total absence and now there is one.
    Imaginary friends not talking ? Love the moment when they take on a life of their own, t
    houghts, actions, and a book

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 7, 2024 at 8:39 pm

      You can do these things! I love being part of a writer’s group. At some point I need to find a new critique group. In the meantime, I’m active in a couple of local writers associations, meeting people and making friends.

      I too love it when my characters come to life in ways I never imagined when I first conceived of them. It’s one of the coolest things about writing fiction.

  • Carrie-Anne

    February 7, 2024 at 10:35 am

    I always pause for a moment when I encounter a website that’s designed like something from out of 2000 or even earlier. Haven’t you felt the need to update in all those decades, or do you not see anything even a bit outdated and hard on the eyes about that old style of formatting, typography, and layout? On the flip side, I hate sites with way too many huge, obnoxious graphics and blinking gifs. It’s bad enough when I encounter them in book reviews.

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 7, 2024 at 8:36 pm

      Right?! Though I do kind of want to create a site that captures that vintage Geocities vibe just for fun. Also, can we bring back MySpace?

      Sheesh, why am I (a total 80s child) nostalgic for the late 90s and mid-oughts?

  • PJ Colando

    February 7, 2024 at 10:43 am

    What an informative, thorough, well-done post, Ms. Co-host. Your description was novel (to me) and spot-on: “Our websites are our homes on the internet” Thanks for the links to websites you like.

  • Loni Townsend

    February 7, 2024 at 11:04 am

    Excellent post. I agree on the clean design being the most enticing, and I love your memes, as always. Thanks for co-hosting!

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 7, 2024 at 8:32 pm

      My imaginary friends talk to me when I’m in the shower or when I’m driving. And of course I forget what they said by the time I get to my computer. They really are jerks.

  • Victoria Marie Lees

    February 7, 2024 at 1:00 pm

    What an excellent post, Janet. Thank you so much! And thanks for co-hosting. I went to each example and understand what you are talking about. Wonderful websites. Your website is perfect as well. Bravo for your mystery coming in second in the Arizona Mystery contest. Way to go!

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 7, 2024 at 8:31 pm

      Oh, my gosh—thank you so much for the kind words! I’m glad you enjoyed the posts and links. I learned so much from looking at these and other great author sites.

    • Steven Arellano Rose

      February 8, 2024 at 6:01 pm

      I look for authenticity of content in an author’s website, and so content backed up with facts even if those facts aren’t directly referenced. If the content is based more on the author’s opinion, then I expect sufficient details that support and explain that opinion. I also look to see if the posts are consistent with the websites overall subject matter. If too many post go outside the subject, then I dont bother with the site. And I look to see if the sites appearance supports its overall subject matter or genre. I talk more about this last point in my IWSG post.

      Thanks for the great tips, Janet! Also thanks to you and the others for co-hosting!

      • Janet Alcorn

        February 8, 2024 at 7:07 pm

        I do this with sites focused on providing factual information. And kudos to you for knowing how to evaluate the quality of online information. It’s a critical skill too many people lack.

  • pjmaclayne

    February 7, 2024 at 2:00 pm

    For those of us that spend far too much time in front of a computer screen, an uncluttered website is a blessing.

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 7, 2024 at 8:29 pm

      OMG yes! After hours of Zoom meetings, email, Teams, Slack, and the zillion other programs I have open all day, just give me something easy on the eyes and easy to navigate.

  • Arlee Bird

    February 7, 2024 at 2:25 pm

    Ditto from me on the peeves and pluses of author websites. My blog hasn’t changed much over the years, but for me it’s just a blog for now and I’m not promoting much of anything of my own. You offer some excellent suggestions and website examples. Thank you!

    Lee

  • Melissa Maygrove

    February 7, 2024 at 2:49 pm

    Great post! Very informative, and I enjoyed visiting the websites.
    Thanks for co-hosting.

  • mlouisebarbourfundyblue

    February 7, 2024 at 3:37 pm

    Thanks for co-hosting today, Janet! I’m going to visit the author websites that you shared. I’m always looking for good examples. I hope that you’ve had a fun time visiting around today!

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 7, 2024 at 8:23 pm

      I hope you find the links helpful. I’ve been having a blast making the rounds, even found a couple of blogs that were entirely new to me. Thanks for stopping by!

  • SE White

    February 7, 2024 at 5:38 pm

    Thank you for co-hosting today! The memes were on point, as usual. I loved the example websites you linked. Beverly Jenkins does have a gorgeous site, doesn’t she?

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 7, 2024 at 8:22 pm

      Thanks! And yes, I *love* Beverly Jenkins’ site! It’s beautifully designed and conveys her brand perfectly. I wish I had the design skills to create something that awesome.

  • Miffie Seideman

    February 7, 2024 at 7:02 pm

    Agree with the overbusy, over colorful pages and the incessant “buy me” mentality. I am learning the balance of posts vs marketing now with my new release, and can only hope I’m finding a happy medium. Thank you for co-hosting this month and congratulations on the award. BTW- I’m an Arizonan, too!

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 7, 2024 at 8:20 pm

      Howdy, fellow Arizonan! Thanks for your kind words.

      Congrats on your new release! I think it can be tricky to get the balance right with promotion vs other content. Our websites are great marketing tools, but some authors overdo it so that their site is just a jumble of ads.

  • Lidy

    February 7, 2024 at 9:52 pm

    Thanks for co-hosting today!
    You had me cackling at ‘used car salesman.’ Two of my main turn offs made your lists. A cluttered site and a site that’s hard to navigate.

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 8, 2024 at 7:30 am

      Those two points seem to be on almost everyone’s pet peeve list. And I’m glad my used car salesman joke landed. Always good when I can make people laugh. Thanks for stopping by!

  • 3mpodcast

    February 7, 2024 at 11:51 pm

    That escalated quickly at the end, LOL. Great examples of websites, thanks! I’m incredibly behind on updating the look of my website, so need to get cracking.

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 8, 2024 at 7:32 am

      One of the best things about writing crime fiction – I can kill people whenever I want, perfectly legally 🙂

      I’d like to do more work on my site, but that’ll have to wait awhile. Site redesigns are like home improvement projects. You start out with a small thing you want to fix, and pretty soon you’ve spent 17 weekends tearing everything apart and making a huge mess.

  • Jemima Pett

    February 8, 2024 at 7:05 am

    Thanks for co-hosting this month, and for all the great examples. I shall spend the rest of the day checking them out and making (more) notes 🙂