The Case Against “I'll Just Use Social Media”
It's a reasonable instinct: social platforms already have the audience, so why build somewhere new? The problem is ownership. An account can be suspended, a platform can change its algorithm overnight and bury your reach, and a service can shut down entirely, as more than one has. None of that is under your control, and all of it can happen without warning, right before or during a launch.
What a Website Does That a Social Profile Can't
A website is the one place online that's fully yours: no algorithm decides who sees it, no platform can suspend it, and it's the one link you can put absolutely everywhere — press bios, back-cover copy, podcast show notes, library catalog listings — without it going stale. It's also where a preorder link, an email signup, or a media kit actually lives; social platforms are built for discovery, not for converting a visitor into a subscriber or a sale.
What Actually Belongs on an Author Website
It doesn't need to be elaborate. At minimum: a clear bio and photo, your book (or books) with cover art, retailer links and a short description, a way to join your email list, and a contact or media page for press and event inquiries. Everything past that — a blog, an events calendar, excerpts — is worth adding once the essentials are solid, not before.
When to Build It (Hint: Before Launch, Not After)
The most common mistake is treating the website as a post-launch project. By the time press outreach and preorder pushes start, roughly 60–90 days before launch, you need somewhere to send that traffic that can actually capture it — an email signup or a preorder link, not just a bio page. Building it early also means your cover art, retailer links and bio are already finished and consistent everywhere else you use them.
Next Steps
A good author website is a fairly contained project — a handful of pages, done well — not a months-long build. If you'd like one built around your launch timeline instead of generic template, take a look at our author website design service.
