Building Your Author Platform: Creating Your Author Website

For my most recent college course, I was tasked with creating my author platform. Prior to this class, I had no idea what an author platform consisted of, much less how to start building one. For those of you who also don’t know, it involves creating an author website and professional social media accounts to help establish yourself as a serious writer and to reach your target audience. Over the course of the term, I discovered many resources that greatly helped me establish my platform and authorial identity. The following is the first of a three-part blog series listing resources that have been invaluable for me in establishing my online presence as a writer.

Creating an Author Website:

• “Ten Author Websites That Really do the Business” by Simon Appleby – This article is great for getting inspiration about what you want your author website to look like. It breaks down the websites of ten bestselling authors and explains what components of their design, layout, content are the most appealing and effective, as well as what doesn’t work and why.
• “11 Author Website Must Have Elements” by Kimberley Grabas – When you’re ready to start building your website, this is a must-read article about all the components you should include on your site. In addition to offering advice on basic website design, it describes eleven key features your author website should have and explains the benefits of each.
• “Author Website: Examples, Templates, and How-To Build One” by Tim Grahl – This article is an all-in-one guide for creating your author website, from examples of famous authors’ sites to step-by-step instructions on how to build your website and what to include on each page. You’ll find more technical information on how to choose a domain name and web host in addition to using website themes. It also lists what pages to include on your website, what to have on each page, and how to maximize your website’s layout.

Other Helpful Resources:

• “10 Tips on How to Make an Author Website (+ Bonus Checklist)”
• “6 YA website tips for Young-Adult Authors (with examples)”
• “The Complete Guide to Creating an Author Website”
• “6 Things Readers Want from Your Author Website”
• “13 Author Websites That Get It Right”
• “10 Tips for a Successful Author Website”
• “6 Author Website Tips for Success”

Check for the next post in this blog series to be posted in two weeks, featuring helpful resources for setting up your author social media accounts!