alphabet-blog-wAnd coincidentally, mine runs on WordPress, another W word.

Webpages are one of the must haves for authors. Everyone debates the merits of Facebook, Twitter or a blog, but I don’t think anyone disagrees that an author should have at least a basic webpage. So what should an author webpage include?

An Author Bio

There are lots of options for writing your Author Bio. You can make it humorous and witty, pick a few interesting facts about yourself to include, use photos, or tell a little story about yourself. Whatever else you do though, I’d steer clear of making a dry list of your writing accomplishments. That’s not what readers want to see.

Book Info

Again, there are different ways of doing this. You can include all your books on one page, with a little bit of info about each one, organise them by series, or if you only have a couple of books yet, give them each their own page! Don’t forget to include a link to where people can buy them!

News/Blog

A page where you can post small updates on the latest news on your books or writing is useful, and stops your page from being too stagnant. These days, most people choose to do this in blog format, but that’s not the only way. (Though it is often easier to update than a static page.)

A Contact Page

If readers want to contact you, make it easy for them. Include your e-mail address or a contact form, your Facebook page or twitter profiles, or any other methods of contact you use.

Optional Inclusions

Aside from the above necessities, what you choose to include on your author wepbage is limited only by your imagination! You might like to include diary entries from the POV of one of your characters, deleted scenes, character bios, FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions), drawings you or fans have done of your characters. The list is endless.

Above all though, make sure your webpage is clean and uncluttered. Make it easy for readers to find the link they’re after. There’s nothing worse than coming to a webpage and not being able to find the list of books, or how to contact an author if you want to.

What are your must haves in an Author webpage? Have you seen any great ideas that I’ve missed?

All this month I’m participating in the A-Z blogging challenge, writing a blog post for each letter of the alphabet, on every day of the month except Sundays. Check back regularly to see what else I have in store for you.