What should an author website include? A page-by-page guide for UK authors

Most author websites fail in one of two directions. Some are so thin that a curious reader can’t tell which book to start with. Others are stuffed with widgets and stale news, plus every review the author has ever received. Neither one helps the person who has just turned the last page of your novel and wants to know what to read next, and that person is the reason an author website exists at all.

Below are the pages worth building, roughly in the order most authors need them, and what to put on each.

Who is an author website for?

Start with the visitors, not the pages. Four groups turn up on author sites:

• Readers who’ve just finished a book and want the next one, or want to know when it’s coming out.
• Browsers trying to decide whether your books are their kind of thing.
• Bloggers, journalists and podcast hosts looking for a bio, a photograph and someone to contact.
• Festival organisers, libraries and bookshops who want to book you or stock you.

Each page should do a job for at least one of them. If you can’t say which, you probably don’t need that page.

What should go on an author website’s home page?

A visitor gives your home page a few seconds. In that time it has to tell them who you are, what you write and where to click next.

• Your author name, big and easy to read, with one line on what you write.
• Your newest or best-known book, cover and buy button included.
• A newsletter sign-up with a reason to join.
• Links to your series or your full list of books.
• A design that tells people your genre. A crime writer’s site and a romance writer’s site should feel different before anyone reads a word.

How should you lay out your books page?

Readers use this page more than any other. Sort it out first.

One page per book

Give every book its own page. Put the cover on it with a short blurb and a handful of strong review quotes, plus the series name and the book’s number in it, then buy links for each format and retailer you sell through. Search engines also find separate book pages more easily than one long list.

A clear reading order

Writing a series? Then a reading-order page is one of the most useful things you can put online. List every book in sequence with its cover, and say whether each one works as a standalone.

Buy links for everywhere

Don’t push every reader towards a single shop. Link to each retailer you’re on and to the audiobooks. If you sell direct, link to your own store as well. A reader outside the UK should be able to find their own local store just as easily.

What should an author’s about page say?

Readers are curious about the person who wrote the book. They don’t want your CV. Keep the tone warm and easy, and tie your life to your writing where it fits: where you live, why your subject pulls you in, what you did before you started writing.

Use a good author photograph. Readers, journalists and organisers look for it almost straight away, and a tired old selfie drags down everything around it. Our guide to author photos that sell books covers how to plan the shoot, and brand photography can give you a set of pictures that work on the website and the books as well as in the press.

Why does the newsletter page matter so much?

Your mailing list is the one audience you own outright. That’s why people so often call the newsletter sign-up the most important part of an author site.

So give it a page of its own, and keep a form on the home page too. Tell people what they’ll get and how often. Then offer something for signing up: a free short story, say, or a prequel, or a first look at new covers.

Get consent right. In the UK you generally need specific consent before you send marketing emails to individuals, and each email has to include an easy way to opt out (ICO). Keep a record of how and when each person signed up.

Do you need a media or press page?

Yes, if you’re after interviews, festival slots, library talks or bookshop events. It stops you emailing the same attachments over and over. Put these on it:

• a short bio and a long one, both in the third person;
• high-resolution author photos and book covers people can download;
• some interview topics or talk subjects;
• past events, interviews and notable reviews;
• a contact for press, events and rights.

Video earns its place on this page. A brief interview or a reading lets an organiser see how you come across in a room, and brand videography can give you clips for the website and for social media.

What other pages are worth having?

Page	When it’s worth it
Events	When you do regular signings, talks or festivals
News or blog	Only if you’ll update it; otherwise use your newsletter
Extras	Maps, character guides, deleted scenes or book club questions for engaged readers
Shop	If you sell signed copies or direct ebooks
FAQ	When readers keep asking the same questions about series order or release dates
Contact	Always: a simple form or address, with routes for readers, press and rights

What legal and technical basics do UK author sites need?

This isn’t legal advice. These are the basics to check against the official guidance.

First, a privacy notice. If you collect names or email addresses, say what you collect and why, and how long you hold on to it.

Second, cookie consent. According to the ICO, non-essential cookies need consent given by a clear positive action, and they shouldn’t be set until the visitor agrees, though strictly necessary cookies are usually exempt (ICO). The ICO says this guidance is under revision, so check the latest version.

Third, your own domain, in your author name. A .co.uk suits authors who mainly sell in the UK. Avoid a domain named after one genre or one series, because you may well outgrow it.

Fourth, phones. People open links from social media and emails on their phones more often than not, so look at every page on a small screen. And keep the site light. Huge uncompressed images and a pile of plugins will slow it down.

Do you need all of this at once?

No. Just starting out? A single page with your name and books on it is plenty, as long as it also carries a newsletter sign-up and a short bio with your contact details. Book pages and a reading order can come later as the list grows, followed by a media page. Still unsure whether you need a site at all? Read do you need an author website if you’re self-published?

Once you want something more considered, a personal brand website built around your books and author brand pulls it all together, with a design that matches your covers and copy that sounds like you.

How we can help

We started out as the in-house team for our founder, USA Today bestselling author Jack Cartwright. We designed and built his author website and J M Dalgliesh’s too. Today we design and build author websites on WordPress with the copy and SEO foundations included, and we can add author photography and video. We agree the scope and fee with you before any design work begins. Websites are one part of our book marketing services for self-published authors.

Frequently asked questions

How many pages should an author website have?

Only as many as it takes to do the job well. A new author can get by with one page. If you have several series, you’ll usually want a home page plus book and series pages and a reading order. Then add about and newsletter pages, with media and contact pages alongside. Add more only when readers need them.

Should I put reviews on my author website?

Yes, but pick a few short, strong quotes for each book instead of pasting in the lot. Quotes from publications people recognise, other authors, or readers with a clear source carry the most weight. Keep every quote accurate and attributed.

Should my author website have a blog?

Only if you’ll keep it up and readers want what you’d write there. Plenty of authors find a newsletter does the job better, because it lands straight in the reader’s inbox. For most, an occasional news page is enough.

Do I need a separate website for each pen name?

Usually, yes, if each pen name writes for a different readership. Crime readers and romance readers want different things. If you’d sooner link the names openly, one site with clearly separate sections can work, but ask yourself whether readers would get confused.

What’s the most important page on an author website?

For most authors it’s the books page and the newsletter sign-up. The books page turns curiosity into sales. The newsletter turns a one-off reader into someone you can tell about your next book.

Sources

• ICO: Electronic mail marketing
• ICO: Cookies and similar technologies
• 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.