An author’s website is a place for the author to reside permanently and can be an avenue for the author to showcase their world of creativity without any restrictions placed by other bookselling websites.  An author’s website is crucial for them in building relationships with their audience and it is a place for readers to visit at their convenience.  The website acts as a portal into the author’s world and it can also benefit them in the publishing aspect of books. The author’s website should be a culmination of a resume website, a personal website, a portfolio website, a gallery as well as a place to get exclusive access to the author.  As we can see that authors are slowly transitioning into building their custom websites and this is helping them in this tech-savvy age. 

Here is why every author needs their website.

Independent control –

This is a combination of factors because an author’s website acts as a tool for building the brand of the author as well as giving them independence over the sales of their books and greater control over the showcasing and brand image of the author.  In addition to them having a website, authors in this day and age must have a great degree of social media presence as there is no better way to build a connection with the readers.

 

Fandom –

gone are the days when others had to use pen names to publish their books and be secretive to their reader base.  An author’s personal website acts as a plugin to all their social media handles and all their social media activity and can act as an exclusive point for readers to engage with their fan base and interact and even collaborate with them.  In this age of literal face value, it is not practical for the author to go out of the norm and not have a social media presence or an online presence with their website because they will fall out of demand and will not be able to create a lasting image. 

 

Sales –

websites like Amazon and other books selling websites are great because they already have the audience footfall present for the authors book to shine and their infrastructure is already in place for them to become a great book publishing hub. However, websites like Amazon and Flipkart also have to earn money and therefore they charge a certain percentage of the actual profit of the book and there is also the charge for their delivery which is a standard rate and if you add up the costs there is actually very little profit for the other to gain. Personal author’s websites on the other hand are a place where the author can sell the book directly to the reader without having any middlemen like Amazon to dictate the terms of the sales.  And the author can even organize book-signing events and promotional events and publicize them right in the website without having to pay extra money to E-Commerce websites for promotional content.

Now that we have established the fact that every author needs a website, we can go over the tips to create a perfect author’s website-

Details –

details such as a proper contact information section and bio as well as proper keywords that depict the genre and category of the books are important as it assists the website to be organically discovered in a Google search.  Along with that, details to an easily accessible payment gateway and login section for the readers must be present so that they can view their purchases from the author’s website.  Other details such as all the plugins for the author’s social media handles as well as other places the author is selling the book must also be present along with proper hyperlinks so that the visitors of the website can go to wherever the author wants to direct them.

 

Responsiveness and attention –

the website must be responsive and the UI easily navigable so that the readers may not find it difficult to go from one book to another as well as other sections that the author has decided to include. The website must be optimized for mobile view. There must also be a section for blogs that the author writes because it will beneficial for the website’s discovery online.  There must be a dedicated team making sure that the website gets updated as frequently as possible with all the new details of new book releases and other content that the author has created along with every social media interaction and every interview and other social events that the author has partaken in as well as a place for the media to get material such as the author’s pictures and book cover pictures for use in the press as well as updated banners with press coverage of the author as well as upcoming events that the author will partake in.  This will also be beneficial to Google search results because Google search algorithms identify the website as responsive and organic and relevant. 

Here were a few why’s and how’s for a successful authors website. However, this is a lot of work for a single author to do all by themselves. Here is where we come in hand, we at Orange Publishers, India’s most loved self book publishing house in India, will not only publish and promote your books but also handle all other aspects including designing a website for you.