Do you need an author website if you’re self-published?

Publish through Amazon and you’ve already got a product page and an author page, maybe a lively Facebook group too. So it’s a fair question: what does a website add for a self-published author? Look online and the advice splits down the middle. Some people say it’s vital from the first book. Others call it a waste of time.

The truth is somewhere in between. Most readers won’t find you through your author website. It’s where they go once they’re already interested, and it’s where you hold on to the relationship you’ve built with them.

What does a Limelight author website cost?

We built our founder Jack Cartwright’s author website and J M Dalgliesh’s, and we quote every author website for the author it’s for. The fee depends on how many pages you need, whether we write the copy and whether you need author photography. Features such as a newsletter sign-up or series pages come into it too.

• Agreed before we start. After a first conversation we write up a clear brief, scope and fee. Nothing creative starts until you’re happy with it, so nothing comes as a surprise.
• Start with one piece. The website can come first and everything else can follow when you’re ready.
• One joined-up team. The same people handle brand design and websites, photography and film, plus social media and advertising, so you aren’t paying several suppliers to brief each other.

Tell us where you are now. We’ll reply personally with an honest view of what you need and what it would cost.

See where we’d start with you →

Why do self-published authors need a website?

As a self-published author you rely on platforms you don’t control. A retailer can redesign your page. A social network can change who sees your posts, and an account can get restricted with hardly any warning. Your website is the one place where you decide what readers see.

There are four jobs a website does better than anything else.

First, it grows your mailing list. Email is the most direct line to readers you’ll ever have, and your site is the obvious home for the sign-up form and any free story or reader magnet you give away.

Second, it shows every book in the right order. Retailer pages often jumble series order and editions. On your own site you can lay out the reading order plainly, with links to every shop.

Third, it answers the people who look you up. Readers search for authors, and so do bloggers and podcast hosts. Festival organisers and bookshops do it too. Your site gives them a bio and photographs, plus a way to get in touch.

Fourth, it outlasts any single platform. Switch distributor or go wide, drop a social channel even: your site and domain stay exactly where they were.

When can you wait?

One book out and very little spare time? Then it’s reasonable to put your energy into writing the next one. A website won’t sell a debut by itself, and an elaborate site for a single title is often money better spent on a good cover or on editing.

Waiting doesn’t mean doing nothing, though. As a bare minimum:

• register your author name as a domain now, before somebody else grabs it;
• set up a mailing list, even if the sign-up page is the only page you have;
• keep your retailer author pages complete and up to date.

When the second book arrives, or a series, or readers start asking “what’s next?”, the argument for a proper site gets a lot stronger.

Isn’t an Amazon author page enough?

It’s useful, and you should keep it current. But it’s still a page inside a shop. It only lists the books sold there and can’t collect email addresses for you. You also get very little say over the design or what appears next to your books. Anyone who buys from Kobo, Apple Books, a bookshop or your own store won’t find what they need on it.

Treat your retailer pages as signposts. Your website is home, and every signpost should point readers back there.

What should a self-published author’s website include?

Start small. A bare-bones author site fits on one page: your name and a tagline, a newsletter sign-up with a reader magnet, your books with covers and buy links, a short bio and contact details. That’s a sensible place to begin.

As your backlist grows you’ll want a page for each book or series, a reading-order page, a media page and possibly events. There’s a full page-by-page breakdown in what should an author website include?

How much does an author website cost in the UK?

Prices vary a lot depending on how much you do yourself. The figures below are indicative ones published by UK sources. They aren’t quotes.

These are indicative prices published by UK author-website services and registrars in October 2026.

A fully bespoke author site costs more again. That’s one built as a personal brand website, with original design and copywriting, plus photography that ties in with your wider brand, and the right figure depends on scope. What pushes the price up most is the page count. Whether copy and photography are included makes a big difference too, as does how much of the upkeep you’d like to hand over.

What are the legal basics?

The moment your site starts collecting email addresses, you pick up some responsibilities. UK rules generally require specific consent before you send marketing emails to individuals (a box they’ve ticked, for instance), and every email needs an easy way to unsubscribe (ICO). You’ll need a privacy notice too, saying what you collect and why. Go straight to the ICO’s guidance, or get advice if you’re not sure.

What makes an author website actually work?

On its own a website does very little. It starts working when the rest of your marketing sends people to it.

So put the link everywhere: the back matter of every book, your social bios, your email signature. Give readers a reason to sign up, such as a free short story, a prequel or an early look at new covers.

Make the site look like your books. Readers should be able to tell your genre and tone at a glance, and that consistency comes from a clear author brand (covered in how to build an author brand readers remember) and from good brand design.

Keep it current. A “coming soon” book that actually came out two years ago tells readers you’ve stopped paying attention. And use a good author photograph, because readers like to see who they’re reading. Brand photography gets you a portrait and a set of images that work on the site and on social, and in the press as well.

How we can help

The Limelight Company started out as the team behind our founder, Jack Cartwright, a USA Today bestselling author with more than 1 million books sold and over 60 published titles. We built his author website and J M Dalgliesh’s. Now we design and build author and personal brand websites on WordPress, with the copy and SEO foundations included. Before any design work begins, we agree a tailored scope and fee with you. Websites are one part of our marketing services for authors, which also cover branding, Amazon Ads, social media, photography, video and book covers.

Sources

• ICO: Electronic mail marketing
• Price ranges for websites, photography, video, social media and branding are drawn from prices published by UK suppliers and UK price guides, checked in October 2026.