Build Your Author Website - Easy with WordPress

Claim your domain name and set up hosting to establish your web property. Learn how domains serve as addresses, hosting stores site data, and WordPress acts as the interior design.

Choose a domain name based on your author name rather than a book title. Check availability on who.is or name.com and keep it short with a memorable variant.

Choose a web hosting plan and connect your domain to WordPress with Bluehost, then begin building your author site by creating an email list and header image.

Master a professional author website color scheme using a five-color palette with dark and light tones, generate and export hex codes, and tailor the palette to your genre on WordPress.

Choose a WordPress theme that supports your blog, using appearance themes to browse, filter for blog features, preview, install, and activate, or explore premium options from ThemeForest.

Create a simple, professional header image for your author site with Canva templates or custom dimensions. Customize colors and fonts, adjust alignment, and optionally add your photo.

Create essential pages: home, about, books (all and single book pages), and contact, and build a main menu with drop-down items and optional pages like blog and newsletter sign up.

Set up your author email list with a trusted email marketing service, integrate it with your site, automate welcome messages and lead magnets to turn visitors into fans.

Install and activate WordPress plugins, including Akismet for spam protection, Jetpack for performance, and All in One SEO, then set up Breezy and Mailchimp for WordPress with your API key.

Design your home page to inform visitors who you are and showcase your books. Lead with a lead magnet or book cover to hook readers and grow your mailing list.

Build your WordPress home page with the Breezy page builder by adding a header image and a menu, then save the header block for reuse.

Create a lead magnet on the home page by overlaying a map background for readability and embedding a Mailchimp sign-up form to offer a free worldbuilding mini course.

Add a mini bio block to your home page with a professional headshot, a concise credentials blurb, and a learn more button linking to your about page to hook readers.

Create a footer for your author website in WordPress with social icons, color, and a copyright notice; set links to open in new tabs and save the footer for reuse.

Reorder home page blocks by dragging and dropping, and optimize for desktop, tablet, and mobile with image size, colors, and visibility controls.

Design a cohesive WordPress about page with a header, headshot, engaging bio, and clear sections for books, blog, and sign up, using concise text and consistent styling.

Create a WordPress books page with a three-column layout of book covers, brief descriptions, and learn more or buy buttons linking to book pages and Amazon.

Let readers know you are an author by sharing an upcoming book. Drive readers to your email list and post short content like stories or field advice.

Create a domain-based email for your site to keep personal addresses private and appear professional, using your hosting provider to set up to five addresses with manual server settings.

Create your author website's contact page in WordPress by editing a breezy contact form block, customizing fields and color, routing messages to your email with the subject author site, and adding a footer with social links.

Create an email signup page in WordPress to collect addresses and convert visitors into potential book buyers by embedding a MailChimp form.

Explore whether authors should blog on their site, examining how blogs create shareable content, drive regular visits, establish authority, and boost search visibility, plus potential downsides.

Explore what you can blog about as an author on your WordPress site, from sharing your writing journey and reviews to interviews, curated lists, and fiction or non-fiction tips.

Change your blog theme via the WordPress dashboard, browse and add themes, and customize the theme called customer fi to align your blog page with the rest of your site.

Create and format a WordPress blog post by adding a new entry, entering a title, pasting the draft with quotes and media, and applying the all in one seo pack.

Launch your site by turning off the coming soon status on the Bluehost dashboard, fix the domain to link author dot com, and make the site live for visitors.

Discover how Jetpack shows site stats and strengthens security with Akismet anti-spam. Set up the free plan, connect your WordPress account, and use plugins to keep your site healthy.

Create a professional author website with WordPress by following the step-by-step videos; customize the site's style to reflect your flavor and turn online visitors into long-term readers and fans.