Are you building your personal brand with book authorship and want to make sure you knock it out of the park? Your book needs a website like never before.
It’s going to be an extension of your personal brand, the hub of the content you create and a destination for each and every member of the network you’re building to share your message with the world.
“But wait,” you might say, “My book will be on Amazon. My publisher is going to handle promotion, plus I have all kinds of stuff going on in social media channels. Do I really need a website too?”
You do and it needs to be ‘ATTENTION GRABBING.”
The content you post on social media networks belongs to those networks. You need to own your brand and the ability to purposefully direct it. You do that first and foremost with your website, which allows you to:
- Project yourself the way you want, in a way you control
- Highlight the best aspects of your book
- Stand out from those you compete with
- Globalize your reach
- Create connections with like-minded people
- Create a calling card that’s far more compelling than a business card
This post showcases the best personal-branded book author websites on the market today. Be sure to let me know if I missed any this should be on this list.
Vince Frost – Design Your Life
Within only one page, author Vince Frost leverages a strong use of graphic design to capture interest. Simplistic use of black and white with occasional pops of color make his website stand out. Play the video and watch the slide show. You feel like you are getting a behind the scenes glimpse of a creative at work. His brand is clearly defined.
Jonathan Fields – How to Live a Good Life
What makes Jonathan Fields’ website stand out? It’s attention grabbing while maintaining simplicity. His photography is top notch. Not only does the yellow and black color combination visually attract a potential customer, the book’s message, and the author’s brand is clearly defined in just a few short, powerful words.
Chris Guillebeau – Born for This
This is a complex site for a book. Love the calendar of events and link to his blog, author Chris Guillebeau’s website allows readers to follow his brand wherever in the world he travels. Even better, a quick, simple test grabs potential readers and promotes the sale of his brand.
Michael Bierut – How To
Michael Bierut is a design legend. He’s worked in the design world for over 30 years, first at Vignelli Associates and then at Pentagram, where he’s been a partner since 1990. The book and the corresponding website present an outstanding example of visual design at work.
Amanda Palmer – The Art of Asking
Great use of personal branding. Take one look at Amanda Palmer’s website, and you’ll see what I mean. Add to that her artistic photography, a playlist, and links to her blog, and one could never confuse this artist’s brand with any other.
Michael Hyatt – Living Forward
Want to promote your brand even further? Offer free resources. Authors Daniel Harkavy and Michael Hyatt do just that with free templates available on their website. They also encourage brand promotion by providing exclusive offers to customers.
Barry Feldman & Me – The Road to Recognition
Here is a shout out to our book designer, Jan Moskowitz, of Studio laPlancha. Her goal was to create a distinct look and feel that followed the road theme. Her use of minimal yet distinctive color palette makes the site stand out. Both Barry & I tried to leverage our marketing and branding chops to build upon the examples showcased in this post. We wanted to project depth and gravitas, yet maintains a simple design. You’ll have to be the judge.
Austin Kleon – Show Your Work
Artist and author Austin Kleon promotes his brand beautifully. Notice, once again, the use of color and social proof. He’s speaking to his tribe. And not only can his followers sign up for newsletters and get other products like wall calendars, but Kleon makes hiring him for speaking engagements easy right on his website.
Tim Ferriss – The Four Hour Chef
Author Tim Ferriss is probably is more well known than most, but he upped his game with this site. Not only does he make striking statements coupled with bold colors, the production quality of his content clearly conveys trust and depth through the engaging pictures and visuals.
Gary Vaynerchuk – #AskGaryVee
Author Gary Vaynerchuk uses his website landing page to promote his entire brand of books. His use of bold, easy to read typography works especially well on mobile. Potential readers can easily browse each title, and ordering is made easy. He also leverages his blogpost’s, videos and podcast to help spread the word about his brand. Clearly a master promoter at work.
Eric Ries – The Lean Startup
Author Eric Ries, too, beautifully brands his message through simplicity. Big focus on ease of purchase, and also promotes his blog without having to maintain a complicated website with continuous updates.
Clara Shih – The Social Business Imperative
Keep people talking and engaged with your brand. That’s what author Clara Shih does. Although her website doesn’t promote a blog or a newsletter, she encourages her customers to join in the conversation through her preferred social platforms.
Arthur Chin – The Brand Guide
I discovered this guide during a recent trip to Singapore. Who better to provide an excellent example of book branding than the branding designers? Authors Arthur Chin, Yah-Leng Yo, Liquan Liew, Vanessa Lim, Rebecca Toh, Jovian Lim, Yvonne Xu, Stephanie Peh, and Caroline Wong put together a website that brands branding. Great graphic design and artful use of influencers within their community to establish authority.
Amy Krouse Rosenthal – A Week in The Life of Me
Author Amy Krouse Rosenthal provides another excellent example of using a name as a brand and logo. Simplistic yet creative, visitors to her site can also change it up. I love the whimsical nature of the design; you get the sense that she is having fun. Just click on the icons at the bottom for different visuals and sound.
Jay Baer – Hug Your Haters
Want to know what author Jay Baer’s brand is? He certainly makes it easy to find out with one click on his website. Not only is his message easily understood, but his use of personality, social proof and answers to questions you might be asking, is outstanding.
Frank Chimero – Shape of Design
If your book brand is about design, use great designs on your website. Author Frank Chimero does exactly that. Each chapter for his table of contents uses an image that defines the content. What an excellent way to brand your message!
Chris Smith – The Conversion Code
Here’s another example of how to successfully incorporate your brand into your website. Chris Smith, the author of Conversation Code, jumps right in with a video that begins to play as soon as you land on his page.
Ryan Levesque – Ask
Author Ryan Levesque leverages his methodology like few others. From his webpage, viewers can access his book up to the third chapter. His use of testimonials is very effective, and you get a real sense that he walks the talk.
Gretchen Rubin – The Happiness Project
Author Gretchen Rubin ingeniously uses her website to promote her “Happiness” brand. Not only are her books available for purchase, but she offers free resources, tips and quizzes, podcasts, and even live video on Facebook. Super consistent messaging helps to support all of her books.
Jeff Goins – Art of Work
To beautifully brand, make the website beautiful. Author Jeff Goins uses elegant simplicity on his webpage. He also offers additional downloads that compliment his brand, like workbooks and a video course. Goins takes his brand one step further through offering a video course and exclusive access to the author.
Greg McKeown – Essentialism
Author Greg McKeown has created a dramatic effect with a limited color palate. Once again, we see his name personalized with a unique logo. He also takes his brand a step further with access to an online workshop, videos, and the ability to join in with a discussion group.
Michael Port – Steal The Show
Author and speaking coach Michael Port has a clarity in his message that translates nicely to his website. The podcast is exceptional and a great touch of ongoing content that drives awareness to the book site. Having read the book and benefitted from his speaking training, I can honestly say that this is a site from an author that has found his calling.
John Jantsch – Duct Tape Marketing
This landing page may seem simplistic, but it is super effective. The copywriting and tasteful use of social proof make a compelling case for purchasing the book. I purchased the first release of the book in 2007, and it was this page that compelled me to purchase the updated edition. Few have leveraged a book as successfully as John Jantsch.
