Author websites: what to put on your About and Contact pages
Hello! This is the final post in the series I’ve been sharing to offer tips and advice on what each page of your author website needs. Last time we talked about your Books page, and the time before we covered your homepage. This time, we’re going to cover your About and Contact pages….
What to put on your About page
On your About page you should have your official author biography and headshot.
I recommend writing your bio in the third person so that journalists and bloggers can find it and easily copy and paste it.
You can also have a more informal bio if you wish, or a Q&A, or anything that you think your ‘ideal reader’ would like to know about you!
Again, it's worth thinking about the tone of and market for your books, and crafting something that fits alongside it. If you write fun uplit, then you can use a more quirky tone of voice. If you're writing literary fiction, you probably want to go for something a little more in keeping with the feel of your novels.
If you're not sure, play it safe and imagine this page as the covering letter to your writing CV.
You also need a suitable call to action at the end of this page, so that website visitors don't simply click to go off your site one they've read it.
Good calls to action for this page include: 'Contact me', 'Discover my books', 'Read my blog' and my favourite one - 'Sign up to my newsletter'.
Essential About/Bio page elements checklist
a high quality headshot where you are looking at the camera
optional: other casual photos of you, or photos that suit the themes of your novels
an official author bio you would be happy to see pasted elsewhere on the internet
copy that includes connection points with your ideal audience
share your story - link to your blog if relevant (for example, if you have a post about how you got your book deal, you could include a link to it here)
a call to action - what action do you want them to take from here? View your books? Read your blog? Contact you?
testimonials - these are good to have 'sprinkled' throughout your site
What to put on your Contact page
You don’t need much copy here. Just a few lines inviting people to get in touch.
I recommend using a built-in form (platforms such as Squarespace handily provide these for you) rather than listing your email address. This helps avoid any spam.
You can also set up a specific email address just for contact from readers, and have any form submissions automatically directed to there for you to reply from, so that you never have to reveal your private email address to the public.
If you get bombarded with messages from readers it might be a good idea to include a little FAQ on this page to answer any questions you might get asked a lot. You can link to blog posts from here too that might also address common enquiries (such as 'where did you get the inspiration for X book?')
Don't forget too to list all your business contacts on this page, such as your agent, publicist etc.
Finally, I’d also recommend drawing people’s attention to your social media platforms here too, as well as including a prominent link to subscribe to your newsletter.
Essential Contact page elements checklist
a form that has all the information you need in order to respond
links to your professional contacts such as your agent, publisher, publicist, TV/film agent
FAQ section
a thank you message when they fill out your contact form - you can include an estimate of when you will reply
links to your social media accounts
prominent call to subscribe to your newsletter (after all, if they're on this page, it means they want to hear from you!)
Hope these posts have been helpful. You can read my post all about the content for your homepage here, and the content for your Books page here.
You can also download my entire Author Website Content Guide right now by signing up to my newsletter!
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