It can be challenging for many self-published authors today to naturally, break into the saturated literary market.
For them, an author’s website is probably the most powerful weapon in their collection.
A domain name that is solely theirs allows them to not only advertise their work but also engage with readers, tell their stories, and offer interesting ideas.
A good online image, a cool-looking entertaining, and professional-looking website matters today and can do wonders for an author’s chances.
This article is aimed at analyzing a self-published author’s website and 11 stunning examples to inspire you.
Each example will explain how these authors used their websites to boost their brand, connect with their followers, and market their books.
What Makes a Great Self-Published Author Website?
An author’s website that allows self-publishing should incorporate a few crucial aspects in order to stand out from other websites.
One of the most important attributes is the accessibility of the site; it should be easy to use.
A well-structured site, complete with the correct menus, provides readers access to the information they wish to retrieve, be it the author’s life story, a list of the other books by the same author, or their contact address.
In addition, with more people using mobile phones to view websites, it is important that the website has a flexible design, which also makes it appealing to desktop computers.
Content is another important factor for an author’s website. The opening page of the writer should be able to showcase his or her brand through visuals that are custom-designed for the specific genre of the author or writer.
It is important to include a biography of the writer on his website to build authority and allow for a human connection with the reader.
In addition to this, it is beneficial to put all published works on one page and provide links to them as well as relevant descriptions to make it easier to work with the materials.
It would also be good to have a blog there that would include annnouncements on a regular bases, the details of how and why the book was written, or other relevant materials.
In addition, adding new components will further enhance the functionality of the website of an author.
The option to sign up for the newsletter is a great technique to collect the readers’ emails and send them announcements regarding the new books, activities or sales.
Integration of social networks can also broaden the horizons by asking visitors to like the author on different accounts.
All these elements will enable readers to get more information about the author and appeal to them.
Key Elements to Include on Your Website
There is a broad range of aspects that should be carried in the design of your self-published author site and some do not require to be underlooked.
As for the homepage, it does require some features and among them, every image ought to be attention-grabbing to the readers.
This might be an interactive cover photo of your recent publication or a catchy line extracted from your body of work.
Actionable buttons must also be clearly labelled especially the purchasing varieties and signing up options as they are most likely to assist in making the sale.
There are also other sections of the website like the About page that are of the utmost importance.
You can introduce yourself in this section where readers are supposed to know more about you, the type of an author you are, and the circulative aspects that make you write.
Adding an image of yourself is certainly an amazing idea where the audience can attach themselves to you. Plus, it is easier for lovers of your work and other business people to contact you in case they want to discuss something with you if you provide them with your email address.
The Books section should allow for the display of all your published books. Each of the books should have its stock section consisting of its description, cover, reviews, and links for purchasing and other booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
This boosts sales and gives prospective readers adequate information about the book to decide on what to read next.
11 Stunning Examples of Self-Published Author Websites
1. Joanna Penn (The Creative Penn)
Penn’s site helps authors to self-publish, extensively at the same time; it does not skimp on working with content since it has blogs and courses.
Ordinarily, her site is of exquisite design and easy to navigate through as it is possible to see webinars, courses, books, and polls with ease.
She covers a broad spectrum of areas that are both beneficial and goal-oriented for any anthropologist who wishes to break into the literature world.
2. Mark Dawson (Self Publishing Formula)
Mark puts great emphasis on the look of the site, it needs to be simple but functional and at the same time resourceful to anyone looking to self-publish.
He simplifies looking for indie publishing essential topics such as blogs and marketing pitches by intertwining them with writing tips under one virtual roof.
3. LJ Ross (Dark Skies Publishing)
LJ Ross has got it right on the stunning side of it all, she is an author whose specialty lies in creating advertising horror fiction and she toils with her brand image so she can effortlessly mesh it with her site.
After all, it is user-friendly and allows one to look for books they wish to read or view her writing inspiration trends through her blog pages.
4. Helen Hoang
Unlike most authors, Helen prefers colorful visuals with stories, an assortment of visuals that embellish her literature and draw readers closer to those seeking novels written by her.
5. Michelle Obama (Becoming)
Michelle Obama’s website for her memoir, “Becoming,” sells different copies of her book and provides audio anecdotes that are enticing to them.
The combination of striking imagery with potent texts is endearing and connects well with readers. The organized structure allows for smooth navigation for users and provides effective promotion of her work.
6. Leigh Bardugo
A promotional carousel slider is utilized on Leigh Bardugo’s site to showcase her newly released works, links to her bio, and also the reading order guides for members who are new to the Grishaverse series.
7. Hugh Howey
The website of Hugh Howey serves its purpose as it manages to promote his works while simultaneously talking about his journey as an independent writer. The design of the site enables the fans to easily access information related to his books and the freshest news.
8. Jane Friedman
Blog written by Jane Friedman is visited by many people due to its useful content directed towards self-published authors and authors who have been traditionally published. What makes her website useful in that sense is her neutrality towards publishing community.
9. Penny Sansevieri (Author Marketing Experts)
Sansevieri’s site assists self-published authors in promoting their books without spending significantly large amounts of cash. The suggestions provided here are paramount for authors who want to remain competitive in changing times of book promotion.
10. BookWorks Community
BookWorks is more than just a blog, it also builds a community of writers from different points in their careers, so they can collaborate sharing ideas, between established writers and relatively new ones.
Read also: Author Website Marketing: 11 Strategies for Success
11. Goins Writer (Jeff Goins)
Readers who are trying to make a business out of their hobbies and fervor can find inspiration and useful ideas when through Jeff Goins’ website revolving around encouraging and in-depth content useful for authors.
Read also: Boost Your Author Website Traffic: 8 Proven Strategies
Tips for Creating Your Own Author Website
Coming up with an efficient self-published author website is a tough job as many aspects must be looked into for the author website to be effective. More than anything, choose a great platform since WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace all have their features of suitability based on how technical or artistic the user is.
In doing the aforementioned, bear in mind what aesthetic works fit well with you as an author in regards to considering what color, font, and general theme appeal more creatively to the audience. In doing so, be rest assured that a great-looking site will not only improve user dive but the experience itself.
Ensure to do frequent content updates; writing new blog articles is a great way to ensure that readers will not lose interest and also considerably improves the SEO rankings over a period of time allowing readers to find you easily when looking up authors.
Also, adding multimedia content to videos you upload about your writing journey and the support you’re getting from your fans is a great way to reach out to more and more people, to have your voice heard.
It is achievable to ascertain an engaging self-published website by integrating successful examples that were previously explored in the article, This, in turn, provides the authors an ability to build an audience globally and maintains the readers connected to their content.
Read also: How To Create a High-Converting Author Website Landing Page
Conclusion
In today’s highly digitized environment where independent authors require high exposure for success, a thoughtfully engineered self-published writer’s website provides great value. Videos, audio, compelling content, user-friendly design, newsletters, and blogs are just a few of the key components that every author needs to incorporate into their site to maximize audience engagement and interest. For all authors eager to build an audience in the digital realm whilst being unique, the stunning website designs shared throughout this article provide an engaging space for all authors to explore. Within the world of literature, imagination combined with the correct level of strategy can deliver some astonishing results.