About the Author Examples: For Your Website and Official Publications
If you want to learn more about an author you’ve just heard about, their website and About the Author page are usually the first places that you’ll visit to do it. This should show you just how important it can be to have a killer About the Author page where people can find out who you are and why they should read your work.
About the Author examples pages come in several forms – and several lengths. Some appear at the end of articles, while others are at the back of published books.
Here’s more about how to write an About the Author page specifically for your website (and how to make sure you get it right).
Why Your Website?
There are a thousand more articles that could be written on the topic of just why every writer serious about their profession should have a professional website. An About the Author page is one of the reasons – when people search your name or visit your website, they have to have a page where they can learn more about the writer.
Here, you want to be personal. You want to connect with your reader. At the same time, you want them to learn something about you or your writing career up until now. (If you haven’t been published before and this is your debut, say it!)
Having an About the Author page on your website gives you a unique opportunity to connect with anyone who visits the site. As far as promotion goes, it’s one of the best things you can do – and it won’t cost you anything.
Do You Need An Image?
Some writers find it essential to have an image of themselves on their About the Author page, while others will give it a miss. This is largely down to personal preference – although it’s worth saying that most pages contain an image of the author just because it feels more personal when they read it.
Make sure your About the Author image is professionally taken. (Don’t opt for a selfie or anything that’s not the best possible quality image and representation of you and your writing!)
Also make sure that your About the Author image is centered in the correct way to display right on the website. (Not, for example, squished weirdly between the lines of text!)
Don’t Forget Tags
Writing an About the Author page for your website is a little different to writing one for the back of a book. Why? Because a page for your website is going to be indexed by search engines – and therefore has to be written with things like tags and SEO in mind.
Tags and SEO are things that search engines use to find and see your website. It’s usually also what people might search in order to get to your website in the first place.
If you’re working through a platform such as WordPress, there will be a section on your page (in your dashboard) where you can add appropriate tags. Use them!
Other useful tags that can lead people to your About the Author page includes markets you’ve written for, the titles of your books or stories and the title – of course – the header “About the Author.” All of these things are useful to search engines looking for your site.
Other Essential Website Pages
Of course, no author’s website contains just an About the Author page. A few other essentials includes a contact page where people can actually reach you, and many writers like to include an individual page for their books or a marketplace with for-sale links.