Before we get to the 10 best WordPress themes for authors, let’s get one thing out of the way.
Yes, you need an author website!
Too much enthusiasm? I think not. Over the years I’ve seen way too many authors miss out on opportunities to engage with their audience and even sell more books because they don’t believe that they need a website, or they feel that being on social media is enough. Or, they don’t want to be on the internet at all. I kind of understand the reasoning behind the last one, but you still need a house, even if you’re never at home.
Now let’s talk about the best WordPress themes for authors and finding the best one for your author website.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the best WordPress themes for authors and consider the following:
Why WordPress?
I’ve been using WordPress since 2006 and, hands down, it is still my favorite platform because it’s easy to use (once you get it set up), budget-friendly (starting with FREE), and has so many templates to choose from that you’ll never get bored.
Here are some more benefits of the platform (both hosted and self-hosted):
- Mobile responsive
- Active community
- Scalable
- Integrates with other platforms
- Plugins available to increase functionality
- Easy to update
What’s the difference between hosted and self-hosted WordPress platforms?
WordPress offers two options—WordPress.com, which is a “done-for-you” hosting platform where everything is already set up for you. You just have to sign up and customize your website (there are both free and premium versions available).
WordPress.org is a self-hosted platform that’s free to download but you have to secure your own host to use the framework (some web hosts offer single-click WordPress installation, which makes getting set up much easier). WordPress.org offers more flexibility, so if you are adventurous and want to have maximum control over the look and feel of your website (highly recommended), go with the self-hosted option.
For this article, we’ll focus on the self-hosted version of WordPress, but before you can use any of the templates below, you’ll need to:
- Sign up with a website host, like GoDaddy, BlueHost, or Dreamhost. There are several quality website hosts to choose from and most of them make it super easy to set up WordPress for your website.
- Secure your website address (domain name). Most hosting platforms offer an option to purchase your domain through them but check around for the best pricing. Just keep in mind that a good deal this year may double in price when it’s time to renew, so make sure you read the small print.
What Makes a Great WordPress Theme for Authors?
When it comes to author websites, any ol’ template won’t work. As writers and authors, we have specific needs that not every template provides. For this list, I selected themes that met the following criteria:
- Multiple layout options: You don’t want your website to look like your author neighbor across the internet street.
- Shop/Store option: Having an easy way to sell your books directly to your readers built into the theme (even if you don’t need it at first) will make life easier.
- Theme Support: It’s tough when you have questions but can’t find anyone to answer them.
- Blog style options: An author has to write, so please give her some options.
- At least a 4 out of 5-star rating (at the time of this article.)
- Regularly updated
- Detailed documentation
- Specifically designed for authors and writers
(All theme descriptions below were pulled directly from the product pages)
10 Best WordPress Themes for Authors
1. Auteur
Theme Description: Auteur is a gracefully crafted WordPress theme created specifically for writing authors, bloggers, reviewers, publishers, book distributors, book stores, anyone whose work concerns writing and other book-related services.
Why I like this theme: This stylish theme is author-friendly. It offers multiple home page layouts. The one shown is “Introducing the Author”, but you can switch it out for a homepage that introduces your book, shares a review, or a shop page. The blog page is customizable with multiple blog layouts and post formats.
Price: Reg. $60 (At the time of this writing, this theme is on sale for $29)
2. Book
Theme Description: Book is a single fully responsive WordPress theme. This Theme is perfect for people who are Selling Ebook. It is designed with Newsletter integration, working Contact and Twitter feed, One Page Navigation, Font Awesome Icon Font, Google Map, Tabs and much more
Why I like this theme: For authors who don’t want to fuss with a multi-page website, single, landing-page style themes, like Book, give you everything you need. This theme offers two landing page styles—animated and standard. It offers a live Twitter (X) feed and integrates with Mailchimp. Since it’s one page, there’s no store option, but “Buy Now” buttons are displayed prominently throughout the page.
Price: Reg. $59
3. Printpress
Theme Description: Printpress is a modern and functional WordPress theme created for Book Stores, Publishing Houses, Book-Author official websites, Literary Clubs, Digital online stores and Libraries.
Why I like this theme: The Printpress theme offers a lot of features for the career author with multiple books to display. It’s a substantial website theme that needs a lot to fill it. It might overshadow a single-book author who is just starting but could be ideal for a more established one.
Price: Reg. $59
4. Writer and Journalist Blog by Ancora Themes
Theme Description: Stylish & trendy Writers and Journalists Blog with Bookstore WordPress Theme has a modern and functional design. It was created specifically for writers or professional bloggers. Also, the theme has an interface which is most conducive to showcase the talent of authors and copywriters.
Why I like this theme: Similar to the previous theme, this is a fully loaded theme that works well for authors and publishers who have a lot of books to display. The website is clean and easy to navigate. Its blog and store come with multiple design options.
Price: Reg. $69
5. Novela – Book Landing and Reading Theme
Theme Description: Novela is a WordPress Book Landing and Reading Theme for authors and writers that includes an awesome book preview for reading online. The perfect theme for showing a preview of your e-book or its full content and directly selling it through your site with the incredible Easy Digital Downloads plugin.
Why I like this theme: New authors, take note. If you are looking for a comfy, cozy website theme where you can share your new books, engage your reader with excerpts, and sell your book directly on your website, this theme is for you. Share details about your characters, your author bio, and sell your book(s) directly on your website.
Price: Reg. $59
6. Chapter One – Bookseller Publisher Theme
Theme Description: Start the first chapter of your successful online career with ChapterOne, a theme we built for all modern bookstore and book publisher websites. ChapterOne provides you with all your bookstore can need and puts the creative power in your hands. Pen your masterpiece today!
Why I like this theme: Quirky and fun was my first impression of this author theme. It offers a customizable template with lots of personality. The layout pictured is called “Bestselling Author,” but they also include one for children’s books, audiobooks, and more. It also includes a blog, shop, and events pages.
Price: Reg. $79
7. Leona
Theme Description: Designed specifically for book writers and authors, Leona offers a sleek, modern design and is equipped with invaluable features that will present your books in an effective and impressive way while elevating your web presence.
Why I like this theme: This theme has a modern feel. The design is simple but stylized, so it doesn’t look like a cookie-cutter template. The light and airy feel would work well across multiple genres. The theme includes a blog, shop, and multiple pages, including “coming soon.”
Price: Reg. $64
8. Belletrist
Theme Description: Introducing Belletrist, a beautiful place where every story is truly worth reading! We designed Belletrist for all modern writer blog websites as well as bookstores, and equipped it with every template and functionality a contemporary blog can ever need. Beautiful assortment of exciting single post and blog list variations, full Elementor Page Builder compatibility and tons more awaits inside! Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover – welcome to Belletrist!
Why I like this theme: My first impression of this theme was that it would make a great website for a memoir or personal essay writer. Everything about the theme feels up close and personal. There are other just as compelling layouts available with this theme, but this one is a standout compared to mainstream author templates. Like the others, it offers a blog, shop, and other useful pages.
Price: Reg. $79
9. Author (Sydney) by AThemes
Theme Description: Elegant websites that are easy to customize and fast to load. Sydney is the perfect starting point for all your big ideas.
Why I like this theme: Here’s another elegant WordPress theme. A great author website is genre-specific. When the page opens up, you should be able to tell which genre the author writes in without seeing the book. An easy way to do this is to find themes that convey a certain tone or feeling. This theme would work well for the genres of romance, poetry, personal essays, and memoirs.
Price: Yearly subscription starting at $48.
10. Book Landing by Bridge
Theme Description: BRIDGE is a responsive retina multipurpose WordPress theme perfect for just about anyone. Whether you are a creative, a corporate team, a lawyer, a medical doctor or a freelancer looking for a modern portfolio website or a personal blog, Bridge is your best option.
Why I like this theme: Last but not least on this list, this beautiful theme by Bridge has all of the bells and whistles you’d want in an author website. From reviews, promos, and order pages to elegant typography, it is spacious, professional, and aesthetically pleasing. You also have the option of creating a single-page or multi-page website.
Price: Yearly subscription starting at $69
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for the perfect theme for your author website, WordPress has a seemingly never-ending supply of theme options to fit every style and budget. Although I believe I shared some of the best premium WordPress themes for authors on the market, there are so many other themes to explore, and new ones are being uploaded regularly. There are also a lot of free themes available, though the quality varies widely between them, and free themes generally don’t include support from the developers (which can make them more difficult to use for authors new to WordPress).
When searching for the perfect one for your website, bypass the cookie-cutter themes and opt for something with a bit of personality. Your book is not mediocre, your website shouldn’t be either.
