Website copy examples for authors
Nine pages, ten examples each. All of it written from the same short record: your customer is a reader, an editor, a festival programmer or someone writing an introduction for you, the credential they check is published author, and what they are quietly worried about is giving a book hours they will not get back, for a writer they are not sure about.
- About us An About page has to answer one question fast: why you rather than the other three quotes. These are ten different answers to it. Ten →
- Bio A bio is read by someone deciding whether to trust a person, not a company. Length and person matter more than polish. Ten →
- Tagline A tagline earns its place by saying the one thing you want remembered. Ten angles here, not ten rewordings of one. Ten →
- Services page A services section has two jobs: help the right person recognise their problem, and stop the wrong enquiry before it reaches you. Ten →
- Homepage headline The headline is read in about a second, usually by someone who arrived from a search. It should confirm they are in the right place. Ten →
- Call to action Most calls to action fail because they ask for more commitment than the visitor is ready to give. These vary the ask, not just the verb. Ten →
- Elevator pitch An elevator pitch fails when it describes the business instead of giving the listener a reason to ask a second question. These end somewhere the other person can pick up. Ten →
- About me An About me page is read by someone judging a person rather than a company, which is why it is first person even when the business is not. Ten →
- FAQ page An FAQ page is where the objections go that the rest of the site is too polished to name. Answer the money question first or the visitor leaves to find it. Ten →
Writing for authors
What should an author’s website say that a generic one does not?
Three things, in this order. That you are published. That you understand the thing people are actually worried about, which for authors is giving a book hours they will not get back, for a writer they are not sure about. And what happens next: tell me which book you have read and what you want to ask about it. Everything else on the page is decoration by comparison.
What does a reader, an editor, a festival programmer or someone writing an introduction for you check first?
The credential, then the proof. For authors it sounds like this. I name the books and who published them. I keep the bio in three lengths, because every form wants a different one. I say what I am working on now. Put at least one of those above the fold rather than on a separate page nobody opens.
What is the most common mistake on an author’s website?
Writing about the business instead of the customer. "We have been established since 1998" answers a question nobody asked. "Tell me which book you have read and what you want to ask about it" answers the one they are actually holding. If you only fix one thing, fix that.
How long should the copy be?
Shorter than you think, except where trust is being built. An About page of 120 well-chosen words beats 500 vague ones. The exception is anything explaining giving a book hours they will not get back, for a writer they are not sure about — there, specifics earn their length.