It’s really hard to describe how to make a great author website, so I made a video critiquing 15 real-life examples. These aren’t *perfect* author websites, but they are representative of the type of websites most authors have. If you watch the whole video, you’ll learn a lot about setting up a website for authors. However: None of it really matters …

I made a big mistake with my author website, which I rectify in this video: I chose a “clever” tagline for my website that wasn’t clear, didn’t have any keywords, and didn’t offer my ideal readers the benefits they’re looking for. In this video I talk about branding, keywords, search visibility, getting and keeping traffic, and making sure you’re offering …

Today we did an awesome live class on building a bestselling author website, including topics to writing about, content marketing, getting more traffic and email subscribers, and design and branding. One of the things I recommended was to write articles, then turn those into Powerpoints for SlideShare, then record yourself talking about it for YouTube, then breaking them into individual …

I made this infographic to help authors figure out their author websites. If you like it, share it on Pinterest/Twitter/Facebook/Everywhere! Want to split a castle with me? At least once a year I spend a few weeks at an exclusive writing retreat in a European castle... and one lucky author gets a free spot. Sign up to win!   Want …

Today I’m stalking authors. I want to get my giveaway for YA authors shared more widely. So I’m chasing hashtags on Twitter and finding YA author lists and communities and direct messaging people. Normally, I wouldn’t do that: but I’m sharing a contest that will benefit YA writers, rather than promoting my own books, so I feel like it’s OK. …

Hopefully you’ve figured out that you want your authors website to sell books. Maybe you also know you need to get people to sign up to your email list somehow. But here are 5 other important things you’ve probably never thought about. 1. Get out of the way You’re a writer, not a photographer or a sculptor or an artist …

If you are publishing a book and thinking about getting an author website designed, you probably having something fancy in mind – something glossy and sleek and professional, fully customized to match your brand and genre and book. Something totally amazing. Because that’s what all the bestselling authors with big platforms have. And so author website making companies usually offer something …

I wrote recently about why you should use WordPress for your author website. Now allow me to recommend some themes that might work for you. But first, let me make sure you’re in the right place: #1. You are not a celebrity If you are, then you can make a totally personalized expensive website with bells and whistles, because your …

Over the last couple of years my mission has been to improve the quality standard for self-published book covers, and after helping thousands of indie authors, I know I’m making a dent. But authors still face two huge challenges: author marketing, and having a decent author website. Although I talk a lot about book marketing, I’ve said before that I …

I’ve done a handful of author websites but don’t do them often (since I prefer book covers). But your author website is a big piece of your sales funnel, so soon I’m going to be doing a case-study where I makeover 5 author’s WordPress websites – which range from ugly to mediocre – to see how much a new website …