Build a Free Author Website and Newsletter

Yes. An author website on Author Websites’ Free plan costs nothing — it’s a completely free website built for authors and writers with no credit card required, no subscription, and no time limit. The only things that cost money are optional — registering a new custom domain ($15/year) or upgrading to the Pro plan ($7.99/month, billed annually). See the pricing page for the full breakdown.

The Author Websites Free plan is designed for authors and writers who are just getting started and aren’t ready to start paying for a website, but want to begin establishing their online presence. The Free plan allows authors to begin creating awareness of their work and building an email list of readers before they’ve even published their first book.

There’s no catch — the Free plan is $0 per month, with no credit card required and no limit to the length of time you can use the platform.

The Free plan includes everything you need to get started: basic website templates for authors, essential author pages like book and bio pages, a built-in email collection form, and the ability to send up to 1,000 emails per month. It’s all hosted for you so you don’t need to worry about maintenance, plugins, or security — and it takes less than 15 minutes to set up.

When you want to accelerate your growth and reach more readers, it’s easy to upgrade to the Author Websites Pro plan.

No, the Author Websites Free plan is a real free author website builder. There’s no expiration date, no time limit, and no credit card required. You can use the Free plan for as long as you want without paying. Many authors use the Free plan to start reaching readers and building their email list while they’re writing their first book.

Author Websites does offer a free 14-day trial of the Pro plan when you create a new account. No credit card is required — and if you decide not to subscribe to the Pro plan, it’s easy to switch to the Free plan at the end of the trial.

The Author Websites Free plan has all of the essentials for authors and writers who want a simple, easy-to-manage website:

• Basic website templates built for authors
• Essential author website pages (Author Bio, Blog, Contact Me, and more)
• Built-in email collection form
• Collect unlimited email subscribers and send to up to 1,000 of them per month
• Automatic book data importing
• Instant book-page creation

The Author Websites Pro plan includes everything in the Free plan plus more ways to customize your website and help you grow your audience. It offers more template options and design tools, more landing pages, reader magnets, and more email deliveries each month. The Pro plan is $7.99 per month billed annually.

To compare all the features in our Free and Pro plans, see the Author Websites pricing page.

Nothing — you can collect an unlimited number of contacts with the Author Websites Free plan. When you hit 1,000 contacts, your site will keep collecting email addresses like before.

The Free plan does have a limit on the number of emails you can send in a month. If you have more than 1,000 contacts in your account you’ll only be able to send to 1,000 of them each month. To send to your full list, you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro plan.

Free plans from general-purpose tools like Wix and WordPress.com aren’t built for authors and are hard to use as a professional author website. They don’t include built-in importing of book details, author-specific pages, or author templates. Wix and WordPress.com also display platform ads and require a paid plan in order to use your own domain. Squarespace has no free plan at all, only a 14-day trial.

Author Websites is designed specifically for authors and writers to use as a primary website. There are no platform ads and you can connect your own domain at no charge, if you have one. It’s also easy to get started: Author Websites imports authors’ book data automatically, creates book pages instantly, and includes essential author pages like an author bio page, a blog, and a contact page. Authors also get email tools in the Author Websites Free plan. You can collect as many email addresses as you want and send up to 1,000 emails per month for free.

For more on the difference between Author Websites and WordPress, see: Should you build your author website on WordPress?

Yes. Unlike most free website plans, the Author Websites Free plan lets you connect a domain you already own at no charge. A free .com domain isn’t included in the Free plan, but you can register one through Author Websites for $15/year. Alternatively, you can create a free yourname.author-pages.com subdomain.

If you already own a domain, it’s easy to connect it to Author Websites. In your Author Websites dashboard just go to Settings > Domain and select “Connect an Existing Domain”. Here are instructions to guide you through the process of connecting an existing domain.

To purchase and register a new domain, go to the Domain settings and select Register a New Domain. Here are the instructions for purchasing and for registering a new domain in Author Websites.

Yes, the Author Websites Free plan offers 3 free templates designed specifically for authors. Each template includes book pages, an email collection form, an author bio, and much more. The Author Websites template editor makes it easy to customize any template to match your brand and voice. Author Websites templates are hosted for you so that you don’t need to think about maintenance, plugins, or security. The Free plan also allows you to host your template on a custom domain.

You can browse dozens of paid and free Author Website templates at authorwebsites.bookbub.com/templates

A free website on Author Websites is easy to create before you launch your first book. It takes less than 15 minutes to create a new site and there’s no coding involved. You can get started by entering your email address in the form at the top of this page.

As soon as you sign up, we’ll import any books we find associated with your name. If your book isn’t published yet, you can focus on your author bio or writing journey instead. You can pick a template, then we’ll create a first version of your site. From there it’s easy to start customizing your site to make it reflect your author brand and voice.

No — in fact, it’s smart to create a website before you publish your first book. When you create an author website with a bio, an email collection form, and details about the book you’re working on, readers who hear about your book while you’re writing it have a place to visit and learn more. Those visitors can also submit their email address, so you’ll have a built-in audience to reach when you release your book. Find tips for growing your mailing list: 22 Ways to Grow Your Author Email List

If you’re working on your first book — or even just starting to think about it — there’s plenty you can put on your website. Many aspiring authors start with their author bio. Others publish updates on the progress of their book, write blog posts, post links to other writing like articles or short stories, and share other unique content that helps introduce themselves and their work to potential readers. For more ideas, check out our blog post: 5 Things You Need to Include on Your Author Website