Why does an author need a good website? And why should they pay for one instead of using one of the many free ones? Or isn’t it easier to use Facebook or the writer’s blog they have been using? However, the best answer for writers is to have a website is yes. Unlike social media and blogging, an author website means you will spend time building your writing platform. Every author’s online platform is their most significant asset, and creating one is vital for your long-term success.
Of course, some writers may point to using their profiles on Facebook, X, Instagram, or other social media sites because they have friends following them. Yes, there is value in social media profiles for writers. However, social media platforms come and go. Just ask anyone who used MySpace or AOL. With your website, you will always have control over whether it lives or dies. You will work to keep it alive, as that is the one stationary spot for potential readers who are searching online to run across your website.
More reasons for having a website:
You get to control what messages about you and your writing projects go on your site. Even if your site is filled only with static pages, you can decide what content goes on those pages.
You can write your own content, provide readers (and other media and publishing professionals) with the best way to contact you, share links to your social media profiles, give information about your writing projects and books, and much more.
You have to figure out how much to invest in your website. It may start with you locking down your domain name. Next, it may be creating an essential static website. As your writing career expands, you may want to invest more time and money in the website.
Besides readers, some companies will find out about you through your website, and you might get contacted to do a three-day weekend book signing, like what happened to me this year. Busch Gardens Williamsburg, an amusement park, contacted me a few months back to schedule a weekend in October to sign my books at the park. I agreed and signed a contract. The event gave me the opportunity to meet potential readers.
So, go ahead with that Facebook page, Instagram, or other social media, but think about a website. As that is where your author brand will shine the best as a beacon of light on the internet.
Pamela K. Kinney gave up long ago ignoring the demanding voices in her head and has been writing ever since. Her horror short story, “Bottled Spirits,” was runner-up for the 2013 WSFA Small Press Award and considered one of the seven best genre short fiction for that year. She has various short stories and poems published in fiction and nonfiction anthologies, magazines, and online zines, a science fiction novella, an urban fantasy novel, five nonfiction ghost books, and a nonfiction cryptid book. Her horror poem, “Dementia,” got her mentioned in Best Horror of the Year, Volume Thirteen. She has stories and poems in two horror anthologies to be released in 2024, plus a YA dark fantasy novel, Demon Memories, first book in the Moon Ridge trilogy.
I completely agree with needing a writer/editor website. As you mentioned, I have complete control over what goes on what page and when. I have a storefront to sell my products. And I have a multi-page writing sample to show to prospective clients that won’t go away on someone else’s whim. Great post.