Before anything can be built, there are a handful of small but important decisions to make so that you have everything you need to build your platform without losing momentum.
The questions below are meant to help you gather details and make intentional choices as you move toward creating your author website.
Hopefully, you’ve thought through the big-picture questions about why you want an author website and what role it will play to support your writing goals or author career, great! Now you can move on to some practical decisions.
What domain will you use?
Deciding on your domain name feels like the natural place to start and (good news!) it is.
Your domain is often called your “web address.” It is the yourname.com that you’ll use to direct people to your website.
A domain can be your author name (or pen name) your business name, a book title or even a series name. What you decide probably depends on your long term plan. The good news is that domains are not very expensive in the broader scheme of things, and you can change your mind later without having to rebuild your entire website.
Learn more about domains and how to register yours in my article: How to get a domain for your author website.
Once you decide what you’d like your domain to be, you’ll need to check if it’s actually available. It’s wise to have a couple of backup options ready. Most authors prefer to use their full name, but it is possible someone else with the same name might have already registered it. In that case you can create variations, like JaneSmithWriter, or AuthorTomJones.
A domain is necessary. You use it not only for your website but also for your email address. Which leads me to…
What email address will you use for your author platform?
I recommend having at least one email address that uses your domain. This means not a gmail or yahoo account, but an email address that uses your domain after the @ symbol.
It’s more professional and will improve the deliverability of your newsletter or other emails.
With a custom domain email, you get to choose the “username” — the part before the @ symbol. It’s common to use your first name, but some authors prefer something like books@yourname.com or novels@yourname.com.
You can, of course, have more than one email address. Over time, you may want one for direct communication and another for tools and account logins. This is especially true if you eventually hire someone to help manage parts of your platform.
Learn more about using an author email address in my article: Why Authors Should Use a Custom Email Address
Do you want automated replies for email signups?
An automated reply means that when someone subscribes to your email list, they automatically receive a welcome message thanking them for joining. Often, that message delivers a freebie — such as a sample chapter, short story, or prequel.
This is important to decide up front because it may determine which plan you need with your email marketing tool. Some platforms reserve automation features for paid tiers. In Mailchimp, for example, you must be on a paid plan to send automated sequences.
Even if you’re not ready to build out a full email strategy, knowing whether you want an automatic welcome in place will help you choose the right setup from the beginning.
What postal mailing address will you use in your email marketing?
You must, by Federal law, have a real postal address on all of the emails that you send. There is no getting away from this.
Email marketing platforms like Mailchimp will ask for a postal address when you create your account. That address is automatically added to the footer of your messages — including your newsletter, updates, or event announcements.
The address can be your home, an office, or a P.O. box. It simply needs to be a real, valid mailing address where you could receive correspondence.
How will you handle your privacy law requirements?
Privacy laws are now in effect in more than 20 U.S. states, and if you have a website, they apply to you — even if you’re “just” an author collecting email addresses.
If your website collects any kind of personal information (such as names and email addresses through a contact form or newsletter signup), you are required to have certain policies in place. At minimum, most authors will need a privacy policy that explains what information is collected and how it is used.
Learn more in my primer: Website Policies for Authors and Small Businesses
Do you need a dedicated credit card for your author platform?
Whether you open a new credit card just for your writing business or simply dedicate one you already have is entirely your choice. It depends on how you prefer to manage your finances.
However, if you plan to take meaningful steps toward launching your author career, there will likely be expenses beyond domain registration and website hosting, such as email marketing tools, design services, editing, and advertising.
Having those expenses separated can make tracking and budgeting much simpler. It’s not required, but it’s worth thinking about before accounts start multiplying.
Get an overview of the expenses to plan for with your author website: What are the costs involved in an author website?
Do you need new photos?
Do you already have author photos you’re comfortable using, or will you need new ones?
Your website should include an “About the Author” and that’s the natural place to feature a professional photo. Readers connect with faces. A clear, approachable image helps build trust and makes your website feel more personal.
You don’t necessarily need an elaborate photoshoot, but you should have at least one high-quality image that reflects how you want to present yourself as an author.
Do you have author-ready social media accounts?
To build visibility and grow an audience, it’s helpful to have a presence on at least one social media platform. You don’t need to be everywhere at once. To start, it’s better to choose one platform and use it consistently than to stretch yourself too thin (or be overwhelmed by possibilities.)
Once you’ve chosen a platform, make sure your account is set up appropriately for your author work.
For example, don’t rely solely on your personal Facebook profile to post about your writing career. Creating a Facebook business page allows you to access additional features, such as analytics and the ability to run ads in the future. The same is true for Instagram: switch to a professional account rather than keeping it personal.
Whether you choose TikTok, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or another platform that fits your genre and personality, take a few minutes to review the difference between personal and professional accounts. Setting things up correctly now will save you hassle later.
What contact method(s) will you use?
Every author website should include a clear and simple way for readers, agents, media, or event planners to reach you.
Your website should have a dedicated contact page. That page might feature a contact form, a direct email address, or both. It should include links to your social media accounts so visitors can follow you there.
And of course, you should make it easy for someone to subscribe to your email list.
Don’t make people hunt for how to connect with you. Decide in advance which methods you’re comfortable offering and present them clearly on your contact page.
Looking Ahead
What will you send to your subscribers, when the time comes?
Don’t wait until you have your entire newsletter strategy mapped out before you begin collecting subscribers. You don’t need to have everything figured out to get started in this way.
Even if you’re not ready to send regular emails yet, take a few minutes to consider what you might eventually share. Will it be a monthly newsletter? Occasional updates? Blog posts? Behind-the-scenes writing reflections? Poetry or short fiction?
Giving this a little thought now will make it easier to step into email marketing when you’re ready.
Will you want to sell directly from your website now or later?
In most cases, writers just getting started with a website don’t have books available yet to sell.
However, it’s helpful to think ahead. If you do have a book (or will in the near future), selling directly from your website is one option to consider. That choice can influence the type of website platform you select and the features you’ll need.
If you’re hiring someone to build your site, let them know whether direct sales are part of your long-term vision. Even if it’s not an immediate need, it can affect setup decisions and overall costs.
Conclusion
All of these decisions can be adjusted later, and you don’t need to have every detail perfectly mapped out. But when you’ve thought them through ahead of time, your website build becomes a focused project instead of a series of interruptions.
Thinking through these practical details now can save you delays, and unnecessary changes down the road.
If you’d like clarity or advice when planning your website, contact me for a free 30-minute consultation.
