There are a million author websites out there, some better than others. But since we’re in the business, and we use other author websites as part of our consultation process to get yours JUST right, we thought we’d share some of the author websites we consider to be the best. Here are ten of them, in no particular order of greatness. Just click on their names and view the awesomeness.
1 Sue Monk Kidd
With and author as popular and prolific as Sue Monk Kidd, it’s no surprise she has an awesome author website. But what makes it so great? Well, glad you asked.
Her latest book is prominently featured, the website colors are eye-catching and bold. She has lovely and professional looking author headshot, and her media section is easy to navigate. And includes her most impressive media coverage.
2 Edwidge Danticat
Edwidge Danticat’s author website caught our eye because of its straightforward simplicity and lovely color scheme. It makes it easy for the eyes to rest there and linger. She also leads with her newest book, and right below she has her glowing reviews and blurbs. Her website lets the visitor know she’s a thoughtful author, and that there’s is depth in her novels.
3 Oscar Hokeah
Oscar Hokeah’s author website is also uncluttered and straightforward and we like that! He features his unique headshot at front and center. This says, this guy has a lot to say. He also has a clean and to the point navigation bar, which if you notice, features a section on his identity. Just the layout tells you so much about who he is and what he’s all about. Kudos to the creative designer behind this one.
4 Augusten Burroughs
Fitting of Augusten’s writing style and brand, the first thing a visitor to his author website sees is a colorful, moving and somewhat confusing animation. What is it? A car wash! You can bet that was purposeful. It may only be a one page author website, but the space is used very effectively and all the info you’ll need is right there. Notice he chose to focus on all aspects of his work equally by putting his navigation bar below and including images for his sections?
5 Celeste NG
Celeste NG is a shining example of a book focused author website. Her site is simple too, and her books take center stage. Why? Likely because she’s a best-selling author a few times over. The books speak for themselves. But the site is so clean and uncluttered it’s easy to find out more thanks to her understated but easy to notice navigation bar. We also like that there’s a little note on how to pronounce her last name.
6 Lauren Groff
We love the sophisticated feel of Lauren Groff’s author website. We were also drawn in by her Homepage graphics. But we especially liked how she kept her Books and Other Work pages so uncluttered and let the images lead the way. It speaks of confidence in her work, and you can see why when you read her bio and detailed accomplishments.
7 Joe Ide
We love Joe’s drop down menu for his books, so there’s no clutter. A good tactic for multi-book authors. The drop down menu allows room for excerpts from his books to entice the reader to want more. It’s also a nice, bold and clean looking website that gets right to the point—his fantastic crime novels.
Oh, and you can check out a recent interview with Joe and others via The Premise Podcast.
8 Sonya Renee Taylor
Sonya Renee Taylor’s author website is another fantastic example of an author choosing to lead with themselves as the focus. Her colors and fonts are unique and bold without being cheesy. It doesn’t hurt that she has a stunning author photo. Her personality comes through in a big way and makes us want to find out more about her right away!
9 Pam Munoz Ryan
Pam Munoz Ryan’s website isn’t flashy but it’s very effective and on brand. As a children’s and young readers author, the style and layout of the her website fits the genre and will speak to her target audience, which are likely parents. Her books are presented nicely and she has an author headshot that reflects an open and friendly nature. And she has all the elements a good author website needs to be effective.
10 Rick Ridgeway
We had to throw in one of our own here. We’re particularly proud of this author website because Rick does so much, and we got to create a really beautiful author website for him thanks to the plethora of material he provided. Because Rick’s accomplishments and projects reach far beyond his latest book, we were able to give all his work equal weight. And yet, it doesn’t feel cluttered, or like an information overload.
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