What goes into your author’s website:

Every author needs a website that serves as an online “home.” You don’t need to include everything on this list, but you will want a basic site to let readers and the press know who you are, what you’re doing, and how to reach you.

Think about including this information:

• About your book (one page for each book)
• Reviews and blurbs
• Links for purchasing your book(s)
• A list of upcoming events
• Your blog
• A place for readers to sign up to be on your mailing  list
• Contact info (email)
• Links to your social media profiles
• Your author’s bio (short and long versions)
• Downloadable high-rez images (your book’s cover, a headshot)
• Awards you’ve won for writing
• Information about your availability as a speaker, instructor, panelist, etc.
• Your online media kit (which contains some of the same info listed above)

For more ideas, check out some of your favorite authors (choose ones who are represented by a big publishing house), and see how they do it. By the way, many authors ask whether they should have a separate site for each book. I don’t think that’s necessary. The site should focus on the author. That way, you can build an audience (and search engine “juice”) that works for all your books.

If you’re also supporting yourself with writing-related services …

such as copywriting, writing articles, editing, proofreading, or coaching, you might want to include information about that, such as:

• Your writer’s resume
• A portfolio of sample work
• Testimonials
• Services you offer

If you build it …

By the way, if you’re doing it yourself I recommend using WordPress to build your site, for a whole host of reasons, including:

• It’s relatively easy to learn.
• It’s full of powerful features.
• Lots of people know how to use it, so there’s an incredible support community.
• There’s an endless variety of excellent themes to choose from.
• There are lots of useful plug-ins to customize your site.

But there is newer software for building websites, and some of it looks pretty darned good. You might want to check out The Grid and SquareSpace, for example. The most important things to consider are price and ease of use (you want to be able to update your site yourself). Here’s a website called How to Make a Website with info on choosing a platform (they recommend WordPress), domain name, and a host; installing WordPress; blogging basics, and more.

Here are some best practices for building websites.

Back to Start now. Back to Your media kit.