*(Plus: When You Should Launch Yours)
If you’re serious about building a lasting career as an author, your website should be the foundation of your online presence.
While social media, podcast appearances, and guest blogs can all help you get discovered, your website is the one platform you truly own. It’s your digital home, your hub for marketing, and a powerful tool for attracting and keeping devoted readers.
Here are the top 5 reasons every author needs a website.
1. Establish Your Author Brand
Your website is your chance to define your author identity on your terms. It's your creative space, your online "home" where you can show the world who you truly are—as an author, and as a person. It’s where your books come to life, and where readers can connect with you on a deeper level.
Think of it as your digital business card and storytelling platform rolled into one.
- Are you a wellness coach writing motivational nonfiction that needs to sound authoritative and grounded?
- A sci-fi author building immersive worlds for die-hard genre fans?
- Or a historical fiction writer who shares deep research insights to draw readers into another time and place?
Whatever your niche, your website gives you the space to reflect your voice, tone, style, and unique value as an author. It sends a clear message to readers, reviewers, and industry pros: you're a professional, and you're here to stay.
2. Build an Email List—Starting Now
One of the most valuable assets you can have as an author is a mailing list. Unlike social media followers—who may or may not see your posts due to algorithm changes and the shifting popularity of different platforms—email subscribers actually receive your messages.
Email is consistently one of the highest-converting marketing tools for book sales. We’ve seen at Tertulia that our authors’ pre-order campaigns perform 10x better via email than social media. And the earlier you start building your list, the better.
Your website gives readers a place to sign up, download a freebie (like a sample chapter or short story), and stay in the loop about your upcoming releases and events.
3. Lay the Groundwork for SEO
Google and other search engines are still one of the primary ways people discover content online. Even if AI tools like chatbots or search assistants are increasingly providing answers to questions, they still pull from the indexed information on the web—websites, articles, blogs, and more.
SEO is how people discover you when they type your name into Google. And one of the biggest factors in SEO? Time.
The sooner your website goes live, the sooner it starts getting indexed by search engines, gaining authority, and climbing the ranks. Think of it as planting a seed: it takes time to grow, but the earlier you plant, the stronger your foundation will be.
4. Create Buzz for Your Books (Before They Launch)
You definitely shouldn’t wait until your book is published to start generating excitement. Your website lets you tease upcoming projects, share behind-the-scenes content, post early reviews, or blog about your writing journey.
It becomes a platform where fans can follow your progress, build anticipation, and feel like they’re a part of the journey—which can lead to more pre-orders, reviews, and word-of-mouth buzz when your book finally drops.
5. Sell Books—Your Way
Your author website is also your storefront. You can direct readers to your preferred retailers, advertise promotions, or even sell books through Ingram Spark’s Share and Sell, where you can set your price and earn more on every book you sell. Your site is where all your marketing efforts should point—and where the sales magic happens.
When Should You Launch Your Author Website?
Hint: As soon as you know you want to publish a book!
Seriously. You don’t need to wait until your book is finished, edited, or even titled. If you know you’re going to put your work into the world, get your site online as early as possible.
At a minimum, aim to have your website live at least 3–4 months before your publication date to give readers, reviewers, and media enough time to find and follow you.
But if your book is already out or about to be—don’t panic. It’s never too late to establish your digital presence. You can start out with your bio, book listings, and an email sign-up form and build out your content and design over time.
Tertulia has special rates available for IngramSpark customers
