How Famous Writers Use Their Websites to Showcase Their Work
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Having your own website is such an incredible opportunity! It’s like having a virtual gallery where you can proudly showcase all your amazing creations, whether it’s your published books or Ebooks, podcast archives, Youtube collaborations, or engaging blogs.
The best part is that you can personalise this virtual portfolio to truly represent you and your unique talents. It’s like crafting a special corner of the internet that’s all about you and your incredible journey as a writer.
Your website becomes a place where your creativity can shine and where people can truly get to know the remarkable artist behind the words. Your very own bespoke gallery. A gallery that’s accessible from anywhere with an Internet connection and that’s open 24-7. How cool is that?
It doesn’t matter what type of writer you are, every Writer’s Website needs these basic parts:
- CONTACT :: A section on how to contact you or even better how to hire you!
- SOCIAL :: A section listing links to your social media accounts
- BLOG :: A blog to showcase your fresh written content (displays your writing style + personality) if you’re not keen on a blog upkeep, consider replacing it with a News/Upcoming Works section. Someone has to be responsible for keeping this section FRESH with new postings.
- GALLERY:: A section to list your published works: books, essays, poetry, articles, newsletters, podcasts, interviews, scripts, copywriting samples, landing pages, etc.
- ABOUT:: Be as cheeky or serious in this section as you want. You can throw in any Awards, special affiliations/ certification in this section.
Life is too short to waste on activities that don’t ignite your spark. Embrace your true strengths because they’re your ticket to a fulfilling and successful career. Use your website to showcase what comes naturally to you. Flex your strong creative muscles for all to see!
RESEARCH THE GREATS
Here are some very different authors and their websites. I tried to find a wide range of writers. Their websites all have the same purpose → EXPOSURE + PRESENCE.
But how they go about achieving this is as varied as pizza toppings. Did you find a particular site that resonated with your style?
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THE BRIEF OUTLINE
| Brandon Sanderson | Easy to navigate. The dark color scheme with yellow and white contrasts reflects the vibe of his books. | Love that huge Progress Bar Chart right in the middle of the landing page! Instant credibility that this site is fresh! |
| Celeste Ng | Primarily white color scheme with soft pastel accents, it has a very calm vibe. | This feels like a promotional page that Penguin House her publisher slap together from a template they had on hand. It does the job but it’s not very memorable. There is a community building tool under ‘For Book Groups’ that is a good idea to crib. |
| Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Clean and modern design aesthetic | The site integrates visually striking images and illustrations very well. Love the layout of the photo gallery section. |
| Dan Brown | A sleek and modern design with a predominantly dark color scheme | Hidden feature: click on the words Job 38:11 *hahah* I won’t say more.The embedded videos of book trailers, author interviews, or behind-the-scenes footage for the films was great! |
| George R.R. Martin | Very busy site, it gives of strong vibes that makes one think of medieval gic potion selling stores. As that’s his writing genre, it hits its mark 💯%! | His site has a very well developed For Fan section and a well stocked Merch store. That Game of Thrones Coin Currency Store is massive! |
| Haruki Murakami | Minimalist and atmospheric design aesthetic. Primarily uses a black and white color scheme, with occasional splashes of red as accent colours. | The site has a very clean and polished appearance. His homepage prominently features his latest publications. Love the book covers displayes. The best part of this site is the community section. |
| Isabel Allende | A sophisticated and elegant design aesthetic | This site uses large and visually striking images that showcase Isabel Allende and her work. As she is a prolific writer, her site is book-centric. Love clean layout of the Books thumbnails page. |
| J.K. Rowling | A rich and warm color scheme gives visitors a feel of sophistication and the details adds a touch of magic. | Love the unique messy desktop landing page! Very user-friendly flow to the site. Lots if little touches that personalizes the site like pics of her dog (can you find it?) The site has fresh content in the News section. |
| Joanna Penn | Clean and minimalistic color palette. A stark contrast to her vivid and vibrant storytelling style. | So easy to navigate the site. Visitors can instantly find resources, articles, and podcasts. Am a fan of her social media contact icons (she has 9 points of contact!!). |
| Neil Gaiman | Color palette creates a mystical and enchanting atmosphere | Love that little journal ‘post it’ on the landing page. A great spot for blog excerpts or just a little thought each week would keep the site super FRESH. |
| Paulo Coelho | A very minimalist blog site. There are only 3 sections besides the home page. | This was the most basic of all the sites I collected.1 section was a very fresh blog;1 section lead to his charitable foundation;1 section was for contact info for his agent 😅 |
| Rolf Potts | Clean and minimalist design aesthetic | Best layout yet! Great flow to this website! The visually striking travel photographs complements Rolf Potts’ stories very well. |
THE EXPANDED DETAILS
Brandon Sanderson
WHO: Brandon Sanderson is a bestselling author of epic fantasy novels, known for his intricate world-building.
WEBSITE: Easy to navigate, with a dark color scheme that reflects the vibe of his books. The yellow and white contrasts add to the overall design.
HIT🎯: One standout feature is the huge Progress Bar Chart right in the middle of the landing page and the blog post immediately underneath it that looks to be updated every two weeks, providing instant credibility that the site is fresh.
FRESH RATING: 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱 /5️⃣
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Celeste Ng
WHO: Celeste Ng is a bestselling author known for her emotionally resonant and character-driven novels, such as Little Fires Everywhere.
WEBSITE: Her website has a primarily white color scheme with soft pastel accents, giving it a calm vibe. While it feels like a promotional page that her publisher, Penguin House, put together from a template, it serves its purpose.
HIT🎯: There is a good community building tool under ‘For Book Groups’ that is worth checking out. It’s odd that her IG page isn’t included in her Contacts page of her website.
FRESH RATING: 🌱🌱 /5️⃣
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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
WHO: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian author known for her novels exploring themes of race, identity, and feminism.
WEBSITE: Her website has a clean and modern design aesthetic, integrating visually striking images and illustrations very well.
HIT🎯: The layout of the photo gallery section is particularly impressive. There is a well curated gallery of photos and videos. Adichie and her team are most active on her FB page where there is activity at least once a month. The site would be fresher if there was a section of more recent activity.
FRESH RATING: 🌱🌱 /5️⃣
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Dan Brown
WHO: Dan Brown is a bestselling author known for his gripping and intricately plotted thrillers, such as The Da Vinci Code.
WEBSITE: His website features a sleek and modern design with a predominantly dark color scheme. It gives you the same feel as his novels. I thought the section headers were too big but then again maybe those symbols are an insider’s joke for his fans?
HIT🎯: There is a hidden Easter egg at the very end – click on the words “Job 38:11” 😆. The embedded videos of book trailers, author interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage for the films are great additions. No fresh content or community section on this website but his team is very active on his FB page as there’s a post almost daily there.
FRESH RATING: 🌱🌱🌱 /5️⃣
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George R.R. Martin
WHO: George R.R. Martin, author of the bestselling series A Song of Ice and Fire, which inspired the Game of Thrones TV show.
WEBSITE: It’s a very busy website that aligns with the medieval fantasy genre of his writing. It gives off strong vibes reminiscent of medieval magic potion stores. It reflects his book 100%!
HIT🎯: Love the well-developed section for fans. The ‘Not a Blog’ section is super fresh! You need to also check out the well-stocked merchandise store, have you seen the massive Game of Thrones Coin Currency Store?
FRESH RATING: 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱 /5️⃣
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Haruki Murakami
WHO: Haruki Murakami is a Japanese author known for his surreal and philosophical novels.
WEBSITE: His website has a minimalist and atmospheric design aesthetic, primarily using a black and white color scheme with occasional splashes of red as accent colors. The site has a clean and polished appearance, prominently featuring his latest publications and showcasing the book covers.
HIT🎯: The community section is a standout feature. The large ‘Share Your Story’ compels you participate! 🔥You must look at how his ‘Author’ section is made! The Desk of Murakimi is a feature every writer should include, it just makes the author so much more relatable!
FRESH RATING: 🌱🌱🌱 /5️⃣
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Isabel Allende
WHO: Isabel Allende, a Chilean-American author known for her magical realism novels and captivating storytelling, has a sophisticated and elegant website design.
WEBSITE: It effectively uses large and visually striking images that showcase Allende and her work. As a prolific writer, her site is book-centric, and the clean layout of the Books thumbnails page is commendable. A good example of how to do a bilingual or even a multilingual site.
HIT🎯: A very beautiful site to display the works of a prolific writer. This site would be even better if there was a community building section. It looks like the author or someone on her team only actively posts on her FB page.
FRESH RATING: 🌱🌱 /5️⃣
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J.K. Rowling
WHO: J.K. Rowling, author of the popular Harry Potter series, has a website with a rich and warm color scheme that gives visitors a sense of sophistication and magic.
WEBSITE: The site provides a glimpse into the inner workings of storytelling and features a unique messy desktop landing page. It has a user-friendly flow and personalised touches, such as pictures of her dog.
HIT🎯: The News section ensures fresh content is regularly updated. There’s plenty of personal touches on each page as the theme of a working desk presents lots of opportunities to tuck in a personal touch like a polariod pic of your dog, a charm from one of your stories, a sketch of a character, etc.
FRESH RATING: 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱 /5️⃣
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Joanna Penn
WHO: Joanna Penn, is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with 35+ books sold across 169 countries and 5 languages. She writes non-fiction for authors and is also a thriller fiction author under the name J.F.Penn.
WEBSITE: The site has a clean and minimalistic website design, in stark contrast to her vivid and vibrant storytelling style. It is easy to navigate, with instant access to resources, articles, and podcasts. Am a fan of her social media contact icons that provide 9 points of contact for visitors! Nine!
HIT🎯: The blog section is kept fresh with a new post every two weeks. The Shop is very prominent in the navigation bar because of an interesting feature – she promotes buying directly from the author! So memorable!
FRESH RATING: 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱 /5️⃣
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Neil Gaiman
WHO: Neil Gaiman, a critically acclaimed author known for his fantasy and speculative fiction works, has a website with a color palette that creates a mystical and enchanting atmosphere.
WEBSITE: The color palette creates a mystical and enchanting atmosphere, just like the author’s writing style. There is even an ol’ school Message Board where the author interacts with his fans. Very direct, pretty cool!
HIT🎯: Love that little journal ‘post it’ on the landing page. A great spot for blog excerpts or just a little thought each week would keep the site super FRESH. Every landing page should feature something similar. So unique and personal!
FRESH RATING: 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱 /5️⃣
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Paulo Coelho
WHO: Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian author known for his inspirational and philosophical works, has a very minimalist blog site. He is best known for his novel The Alchemist. This book seemed pointless to me when I first read it, then the hammer between the eyes occured in the final few paragraphes. Read it. It will change your life’s view and your mindset for success.
WEBSITE: It consists of three sections: a fresh blog, a link to his charitable foundation, and contact information for his agent. Among the sites collected, this one is the most basic.
HIT🎯: There is beauty in simplicity and this site embodies this. There are only 3 sections: 1 section is a very fresh blog; 1 section leads to his charitable foundation; and 1 section is for listing the contact info for his agent.
FRESH RATING: 🌱🌱🌱🌱 /5️⃣
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Rolf Potts
WHO: Rolf Potts is an American travel writer, essayist, podcaster, and author. He has written five books, including Vagabonding.
WEBSITE: The layout has a great flow and the site has a clean and minimalist design that complements his stories well. The visually striking travel photographs add to the overall appeal of the site.
HIT🎯: The ‘Dispatch’ section is irregularly updated, but there is activity. The site is kept fresh through the ‘Podcast’ section where the author posts a fresh podcast every two weeks.
FRESH RATING: 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱 /5️⃣
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Remember to be consistent and take one baby step at a time. The important thing is that you keep moving forward! Remember these amazing writers’ Overnight Success Stories — Are Years in the Making.
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