Your author website has one job social media cannot do: it turns a passing reader into a subscriber, a buyer, or a booking. Amazon owns your book page. Instagram owns your followers. Your website is the one place online you fully control — and the first place a podcast host or journalist checks before deciding if you are worth their time.
So which author website pages do you actually need? Seven: homepage, books, about, newsletter signup, contact, blog, and media kit. Five are non-negotiable from day one; the last two matter as your career grows. This guide — part of a book marketing strategy that keeps working after launch week — walks through each page, the single job it has to do, and the mistake that quietly wastes it.
What Pages Does an Author Website Need?
Seven pages cover nearly everything any visitor wants from an author. The mistake is not missing a page — it is building pages without knowing what each one must accomplish. Every page needs exactly one primary call to action: the homepage pushes email signups, the books page pushes purchases, the contact page pushes media inquiries.
| Page | Its one job | Must include | Most common mistake |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homepage | Who you are, what you write, what to do next | Newest book cover, one-line positioning, one CTA | A biography dump |
| Books page | Turn interest into a purchase | Covers, descriptions, buy links for every retailer | Amazon-only buy buttons |
| About page | Turn interest into connection | Two versions of your bio, professional headshot | A CV instead of a story |
| Newsletter signup | Capture the email before the visitor leaves | A reader magnet, a clear promise, a simple form | A form buried in the footer |
| Contact page | Route the right message to the right inbox | Form with a subject field, a response-time note | Personal email in plain text |
| Blog | Give readers — and Google — a reason to return | Substantive posts, at least monthly | Announcements-only filler |
| Media kit | Make it effortless to feature you | Downloadable headshot, bios, covers, talking points | No page at all |
Start with the first five and add the blog and media kit as your career develops — readers first, press second.
How Should Your Homepage and Books Page Work?
Your homepage is a 30-second pitch, not a landing page for everything. Within seconds, a visitor should know who you are, what you write, and what to do next. Lead with your most recent book — cover and title, front and centre — a short bio of two or three sentences, and one call to action: newsletter signup or a free first chapter.
Your books page
The books page is the most transactional page on your site, so keep it clean, image-forward, and easy to navigate. List every published book with its cover, a description, and links to buy wherever you sell — not just Amazon. An Amazon-only buy button excludes readers on other platforms and hands your marketing attribution to a retailer. If you write a series, list the books in reading order with clear numbering.
Each book also deserves its own dedicated page — the page Google serves when someone searches your book title, and the page your marketing should link to instead of Amazon. A good book page answers one question fast — is this book for me, and where do I get it? — with the cover at full size, your retail description, buy buttons for every format, a sample chapter, and short reviews. For nonfiction, add who the book is for and what they will gain. Since the title and subtitle do much of the selling here, get them right first — see our guide to choosing a book title and subtitle that sells on Amazon.
Why Is the Email Signup Page Your Most Valuable Page?
Your email list is the only audience you own outright. Social platforms change their rules and their reach; Amazon controls your author page. An email address collected on your own website is yours to keep. That is why the newsletter signup page is the highest-priority conversion page on an author website — and the one most authors build last, if they build it at all.
Give the page a single, specific offer. A reader magnet — a free chapter, a bonus story, a discussion guide, a printable resource — turns a vague "join my newsletter" into a reason to hand over an email address. The page should live at a standalone URL, yourname.com/free, with no navigation competing for attention: the offer, three benefit bullets, a simple form, and one sentence about email frequency.
Email capture is not a single page, though — it is a system woven through the whole site: an inline form on the homepage above the fold, a form at the end of every blog post, a well-timed pop-up for visitors about to leave. Each placement catches a different visitor at a different moment, and the difference is large: ScribeCount reports that a properly built capture system converts 3–6% of visitors into subscribers, while a single form buried at the bottom of the About page converts under 0.5%. ScribeCount's anatomy of an author website is one of the clearest blueprints for the architecture — it maps the four jobs a website does and how the components connect.
What Should Your About Page Say — and Not Say?
The About page is typically the most-visited page on an author website — it converts interest into connection. Readers who land here already care about the person behind the books, so write for them — not for agents, publishers, or a hiring committee. That means a story with personality, not a CV.
Prepare two versions of your bio and use both. The short version, 50–100 words, sits at the top and doubles as the bio you hand to press mentions and programme notes. The long version, 300–500 words, sits below it and tells your story as an author: what you write, why you write it, and what readers get from your books. Include a professional headshot at high resolution that press can download — a blurry phone photo makes you look like a hobbyist.
What does not belong here: a full work history, childhood detail unrelated to your books, and your personal email in plain text. Keep the page focused on the reader's question — who is this person, and why should I trust their book? — and let your author brand do the rest elsewhere on the site.
How Do Media and Readers Reach You?
The media kit is the page most author websites are missing, and its absence frustrates exactly the people you want to impress: journalists, podcast producers, and event organisers. When someone wants to feature you and cannot immediately find a professional bio, a high-resolution headshot, and press-ready covers, they move on to an author whose materials are ready. A complete media kit contains a downloadable high-resolution headshot, your book covers in high resolution, two or three versions of your bio — long, short, and one-line — sample interview questions, press coverage, and a contact form for press requests. Once the page exists, link it in every query, media pitch, and podcast booking email you send. Tertulia's guide to what to include on an author website makes the same point: if you are pursuing publicity or speaking, a simple media page makes it much easier for people to cover you.
Your contact page serves four audiences — readers, media, librarians and bookstore buyers, and industry professionals — so build it with all four in mind: a contact form with a subject category field, a note about what kinds of messages you do and do not respond to, a response-time expectation, and a link to your press page. Do not publish your email address as plain text: bots harvest exposed addresses and add them to spam lists, which damages the deliverability of your newsletter.
Do You Really Need a Blog — and How Fast Can You Launch?
A blog does two things nothing else on your website can: it gives search engines fresh content to index, improving your long-term organic visibility, and it gives repeat visitors a reason to return. The content that performs is substantive — deep dives into your subject, research notes behind your book, and reader Q&As. If you cannot commit to substantive posts at least monthly, a blog is optional — a static website maintained well is better than an active blog maintained poorly.
A weekend build plan
With a platform like Squarespace or Wix and your content prepared, a working five-page site fits into a single weekend. Here is a realistic schedule, based on XpressPublisher's complete 2026 guide to building an author website:
- Saturday morning (2 hours): register your domain in your author name and set up your platform. Your name is the durable identity — titles change, and your name stays consistent everywhere.
- Saturday afternoon (3 hours): build the homepage and the books page, including an individual page for your lead title.
- Sunday morning (2 hours): write the About page with both bio lengths and your headshot, then build the contact page.
- Sunday afternoon (3 hours): build the newsletter landing page with your reader magnet, then the media kit page with downloadable assets. Finish by connecting Google Analytics and Search Console, linking your Amazon Author Central profile, and testing every form and buy button.
Key takeaways
An author website needs seven pages — homepage, books, about, newsletter signup, contact, blog, and media kit — each doing exactly one job, with one primary call to action. Your email signup page is the highest-value page on the site, because an email list is the only audience you fully own. Your books page should link to every retailer, not just Amazon, and every book deserves its own page that Google can serve by title. Your About page needs two bios — 50–100 words and 300–500 words — plus a downloadable headshot. A media kit page is the page most authors skip — and the one that decides whether press and podcast hosts feature you or move on.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does an author website cost?
According to XpressPublisher's 2026 guide, a domain costs approximately $10–$20 per year, plus $12–$35 per month for a platform or hosting. Squarespace bundles hosting and the builder for $16–$33 per month and is the most common choice for first-time author sites. WordPress.org needs separate hosting ($3–$15 per month) plus a domain. A custom-designed site typically costs $1,500–$5,000 upfront — rarely necessary.
Should I use Squarespace or WordPress for my author website?
Squarespace is the better choice for most first-time builders: professional results quickly, hosting and security handled automatically, no technical knowledge needed. WordPress.org (self-hosted) is better if you plan to blog heavily, want strong SEO control, or intend to sell books directly without paying commerce fees. Both produce credible author sites — pick the one that matches how much control you want.
Do I need an author website before my first book?
Yes — ideally, your author website should be live before your first book launches, not after. It is your pre-launch home for newsletter signups, ARC reader recruitment, your cover reveal, and your press contact point. Authors who build their site after launch miss the highest-engagement moment of the process: launch week, when readers are most actively searching for the author and the book. A simple five-page site built in a weekend is enough to launch with.
Seven pages, one job each, and a weekend to build them. Authors who launch with a finished site capture the readers launch week sends them; the rest spend months chasing them. If your book is still being written, the website can wait — but not long. And if you would like the book itself handled the same way — written in your voice and published on KDP — take a look at our ghostwriting services or get in touch for a free sample chapter.