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KARA BARBIERI (@PANDEAN)

Kara Barbieri is a twenty-two year old author with a love for the weird and mystic. Her debut novel, WHITE STAG, will be published by Wednesday Books/Macmillan in January 2019.

When I joined Wattpad, I gained a second family who were as passionate about reading and writing as I am.

ALI NOVAK (@FALLZSWIMMER)

Ali Novak is a Wisconsin native and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's creative writing program. She started writing her debut novel My Life with the Walter Boys when she was only fifteen. Since then, her work has received more than 150 million hits online and My Life with the Walter Boys has been optioned for television by Komixx Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television.

Being a Wattpad Star is the foundation for everything I do as a writer, from the behind the scenes wrangling to the big, game-changing projects.

BEN SOBIECK (@BENSOBIECK)

Benjamin Sobieck is a Wattpad Star and editor of “The Writer’s Guide to Wattpad,” published in August 2018 by Writer’s Digest Books and featuring contributions by 23 Wattpad Stars, ambassadors, and staff. His stories on Wattpad, such as “When the Black-Eyed Children Knock,” have drawn more than 1.5 million reads.

Having been active on Wattpad for several years, I knew it would be the perfect platform for a thriller with lots of cliffhangers for readers to discuss. Teen horror is my passion, so I can’t wait to be able to share Light as a Feather with other horror aficionados on Hulu.

ZOE AARSEN (@ZAARSENIST)

Zoe Aarsen is a graphic designer and copywriter. Her first paranormal YA novel, Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board, is being published by Simon & Schuster and turned into a television series on Hulu.

The Wattpad Stars Program gave me opportunities I never thought possible. It connected me to a world that I had only imagined. I don’t know how else to say it. It changed my life!

ISABELLE RONIN (@ISABELLERONIN)

Chasing Red was one of 2016’s most-read stories on Wattpad -- and that was just the beginning for this Winnipeg-Manitoba-based writer. In a single year, her explosive hit has racked up over 127 million reads on Wattpad. Newly edited and expanded, the book was split into two and hit bookstore shelves in 2017.

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In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit­hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube­shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats ­ the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill ­ The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it ­ and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining­rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left­hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep­set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river. This hobbit was a very well­to­do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained­well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.

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The ship, the stalwart vessel known as 'The Serenity Mariner,' was plunged into chaos as the sky became a swirling maelstrom of opalescent tendrils. The flying jellyfish, their bioluminescent bodies illuminating the blackened sky, descended upon the ship with an otherworldly fury. Their membranous bodies pulsated as they sailed through the air, their long, poisonous tentacles trailing behind them like deadly streamers.

Captain Anabelle "Storm-Eye" Hawthorne stood at the helm, her grip firm on the worn, salt-crusted wheel. Her eyes, the color of the stormy sea itself, narrowed as she watched the spectral onslaught. Years of navigating treacherous waters had hardened her, but she'd never faced a tempest of living, breathing creatures before.

"Steady on, lads!" she roared above the howling wind, her voice carrying a command that could not be ignored. "Don't let the sea's nightmarish ballet scare you! These are just jellyfish, no more than that!"

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Posted on Nov 19, 2018

15 of the Best Online Writing Communities for Aspiring Authors

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Reedsy's editorial team is a diverse group of industry experts devoted to helping authors write and publish beautiful books.

About Dario Villirilli

Editor-in-Chief of the Reedsy blog, Dario is a graduate of Mälardalen University. As a freelance writer, he has written for many esteemed outlets aimed at writers. A traveler at heart, he can be found roaming the world and working from his laptop.

As enjoyable and fulfilling as writing can be, the truth is that it’s often a solitary endeavor. While we might romanticize the focused artist typing away while imaginary worlds and narratives swirl inside their minds — authors know the truth: writing can get lonely. And moreover, when you’re working on a one-person project, it can be hard to remain motivated and accountable. That’s where writing communities come in.

Writing communities are the perfect place to find answers to your writing questions and to discuss the ins and outs of the writing life with people who actually understand what you’re talking about.

So, if you are tired of listening only to the voices in your head, take a look at our list of top online writing communities. (And if you're hungry for more, check out our more exhaustive list of the very best writing websites!)

Top online writing communities

1. absolute write water cooler.

With over 68,000 members, this is a large and highly active community. Here you can find threads on every genre imaginable, as well as discussions about freelance writing, the publishing industry, pop culture, writing prompts and exercises, and much more.

Perfect for: writers who are looking for a large and active community.

2. AgentQuery Connect

While this forum will come in handy for any writer, it’s especially helpful for authors who have already completed their manuscript and are wondering what to do next. The site boasts a wealth of information on publishing topics such as querying agents, self-publishing tips, and book promotion advice.

Perfect for: writers who are looking to connect with agents and learn more about the publishing industry.

3. Camp NaNoWriMo

If you’ve ever wanted to go to a writer’s retreat but can’t afford it just yet, then this site might help scratch your itch. Holding online “camp sessions” in April and July, Camp NaNoWriMo offers a digital space to encourage and empower writers at any point of their career. Here you can work on drafts, revisions, short stories, or any other writing project that involves word-count goals.

Perfect for: writers who can’t wait until November to get some writing done .

4. Critique Circle

Feedback should be a vital part of any writer’s process, and this is exactly what Critique Circle offers. This members-only site allows authors to post stories in exchange for feedback on other people’s writing. You can also find storyboarding tools , writing prompts, workshops, name generators, games like hangman, and much more.

Perfect for: writers who want honest feedback on their writing.

5. Chronicles

As the world’s largest Science Fiction and Fantasy online community, Chronicles offers writers the opportunity to get together and discuss the latest books, news, and pop culture in the Sci-Fi and Fantasy world. This is an active community with thousands of threads that include genre-specific challenges, workshops, critiques, and even publishing and industry information.

Perfect for: writers interested in Science Fiction and Fantasy writing.

6. Facebook Groups

If social media is more your style, don't miss the chance to interact with your fellow writers by joining Facebook groups in your own niche. Look for groups with a strict "no self-promotion" rules so that it remains supportive and useful to your writing goals.

There are a lot of groups out there in a variety of topics that range from genre-specific writing tips to traditional and self-publishing industry news. Here are just a few of them:

10 Minute Novelists — a group for the time-crunched writer. Calls for Submissions  — for writers looking for publication opportunities. Fiction Writers Global — a great resource for information about traditional and self-publishing. Writers Unite! — an active group with plenty of support and motivation for novice and experienced writers alike.

Perfect for: writers who prefer using social media.

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7. Insecure Writer’s Support Group

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Perfect for: writers who have doubts about their writing and are in need of encouragement.

8. The Next Big Writer

This is an international forum where writers can receive feedback on their writing and support on every other part of the creative process from drafting to publishing and marketing. The critiques are often thorough and many come from published authors. Keep in mind that there is a monthly cost associated with the membership, but it might be worth it to be able to bend the ear of published authors.

Perfect for: writers seeking in-depth critiques from an international audience.

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More than just a single writing community, Reddit has countless ‘subreddits’ where writers of all genres, interests, and levels of experience flock. While it may not offer workshops or tools, members can find niche threads that relate to their interests, critique other people’s work, and discover helpful sources of information.

There are so many different subreddits that you can get lost browsing them, but here are a few of the most popular ones:

r/writing — for general writing purposes. r/writingprompts — for user-submitted writing prompts. r/destructivereaders — beware, if you don’t like harsh criticism this may not be the best fit. But if you are willing to endure it, you will come out a better writer at the end. r/worldbuilding — user submitted fiction worlds. r/fantasywriters — for anybody interested in the fantasy genre. r/characterforge — the place to be for character building. r/writerchat — for those interested in talking with fellow writers. r/selfpublish — for anybody interested in self-publishing. r/logophilia — “the love of words and word games,” and that’s exactly what you’ll find here. r/freelanceWriters — for anybody interested in a career in freelance writing . r/books — because reading is just as important as writing if you want to be a successful author.

Perfect for: writers who want niche threads based on a particular interest or need.

10. Scribophile

One of the largest communities in the world, Scribophile offers workshops, tutorials, and critiques for authors in just about any genre imaginable. While it is free to join, only users who pay for a membership get access to all their features.

Perfect for: authors who want to take part in writing workshops alongside writers of all experience levels.

11. She Writes

With over 30,000 members, this is the largest writing community exclusively for women. Here you can find articles on writing, editing, and marketing for every genre. There are forums tailored to specific needs, like travel writers, writing about trauma, NaNoWriMo, and many other topics.

Perfect for: women writers who want a place to connect and learn from fellow writers.

12. Talentville

If your passion lies in screenwriting, then you’ll want to book a one-way ticket to Talentville. Here, you can get feedback on your writing and learn the skills necessary to perfect your screencraft. Plus, you can work on and build your network of contacts: the site is also a frequent stop for industry professionals (like agents, managers, and producers) on the lookout for new talent.

Perfect for: writers who are interested in screenwriting and networking.

13. Underlined

A writing community by Penguin Random House. While any author can find helpful information on this website, it’s geared more towards younger writers. It has a well-designed platform, quizzes, genre-specific information, the latest news on book releases, Q&As with authors, and even some giveaways and excerpts as perks.

Perfect for: younger writers looking for genre-specific information and bookish perks.

14. Writers Helping Writers

This is a free-to-register community where you can find resources for writers, teachers, and editors alike. They offer a vast array of tools to perfect your craft, no matter your level. Their extensive creative library includes webinars, free writing and marketing tools, a thesaurus collection, story maps, idea generators, and more.

Perfect for: writers, editors, and teachers who are looking to build up their writing toolbox.

15. #WritingCommunity

Sometimes, all you need is a hashtag. And indeed, Twitter's own #WritingCommunity is one of the most robust writing collectives on the web. Ask a question, and it'll almost certainly get answered (without a lot of Twitter's trademark snark). The key here is to keep your questions concise, reply often to others, and don't go crazy with other hashtags. The community can tell if you're just thirsty for RTs. Perfect for: writers who are finally ready to use Twitter for good — and not just for procrastinating.

13 responses

27/11/2018 – 22:42

Very useful post. Thanks for this. I will be linking to it on my blog.

Dr Jack Edward Effron says:

18/02/2019 – 16:40

You left out taylz.com. It’s truly free. They are not going to give you a rubbish service to make you join their pay site because they have no pay site. Your story can be 8,000 words. They are not going to force you into flash fiction of 3,000 words. One critique out, one critique in: no mucking about with “karma” or critiquing 5+ stories to get one critique. The great new idea whose time has come! And it’s British, not American.

marieseltenrych says:

08/05/2019 – 12:28

Reedsy, thank God you are here! I want to ask a question to other authors or self publishers here: I have been approached by OmniScriptum to publish my books (research) with them. I cannot find much about this company online, so wondered if anyone has published with them recently? Thanks Reedsy in anticipation. Marie

↪️ Reedsy replied:

08/05/2019 – 12:29

Hi Marie! Sounds potentially very shady to me. If you haven't already, check out our post on predatory companies in publishing. One of the rules of thumb is that if a publisher contacts you first, be very wary. I just did 20 seconds worth of Googling and found some people who had a bad experience.

Eunice Brownlee says:

I am a member of illuminate, which is a group designed around supporting women who want to share their stories but don't know how. The majority of us write non-fiction essays and memoirs, but we have a few poets and fiction writers in the mix as well. The overall goal is to support each other, especially through those harder moments of not wanting to write, or not knowing where to start. There are monthly themes and prompts, a weekly exercise inside the Facebook group, and cross-sharing of what we're working on. My favorite feature is the expert review, where you can submit any piece you're working on each month and you'll get quality feedback from one of the editors that manage the group. This group is perfect for anyone who is just getting started writing.

↪️ Brittani B replied:

11/02/2020 – 19:27

I tried the link multiple times both from this page and separately searched and was unable to access the site.

Harry says:

05/06/2019 – 07:51

Personally I think you missed out the best writing community: https://community.jerichowriters.com/ Jericho Writers is a free writing community that writers can safely share thought, make friends, swap work and get advice

Christian says:

08/08/2019 – 12:21

I only recommend Scribophile if you enjoy being coerced into groupthink. If you hope to get meaningful critique that will help you, look elsewhere. The critiques here are mostly SPAG, and it's forbidden to discuss your work on the main forums, except in the broadest, vaguest way.

Randy says:

18/08/2019 – 06:11

I have all my dads writing research and copyrights to 18 different books....all this was before the digital world .... many negatives photos ....every major story from all over the world with his .copyright . These are huge stores and his books are really well written ....what should I do with them .....incredible spy work as well

Ratih says:

27/08/2019 – 03:50

As a new writer this article is really useful for me. Thank you reedsy

Jennifer says:

02/09/2019 – 14:15

Hi guys! Great blog! Just wanted to let you know that we linked to you in a blog on the Peaceful Living Wellness Online Magazine :) It will be published on Friday, September 6th, 2019

↪️ Martin Cavannagh replied:

17/09/2019 – 09:04

Thanks! We appreciate that!

Kaylee Downey says:

14/02/2020 – 19:09

Um...what about Wattpad?

Comments are currently closed.

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Best story writing websites in 2022

What are the best storytelling websites? We’ve put together a selection of writing sites offering writing tips, help with plot and character, book publication and promo resources and more.

• Post author By Jordan
• 27 Comments on Best story writing websites in 2022

Need writing resources? Here are some of the best story writing websites. We’ve updated these resources to include writing tips, story plotting resources, publishing and book promo help, and more.

Fiction writing websites – categories

Writing tips and insights from authors, community and writing critiques, help creating plot and structure, advice on creating characters, worldbuilding and creating story settings, writing tools for planning stories, creativity, inspiration and writing prompts, editing and evaluating your writing, insights from and help finding agents, story and book publishing help, help promoting your writing, writing genres and genre-specific insight.

• Further writing resources and roundups

Let’s dive in and explore some of the best writing resources on the web. Use the links on the right (if on a desktop device) to go to the section that interests you:

The websites in this section aren’t so much story writing websites as resources offering a peek into authors’ writing process , inspiration sources and advice:

The Paris Review

The Paris Review’s ‘Art of Fiction’ series includes interviews with celebrated authors and editors.

Interviewed luminaries include Toni Morrison, Ernest Hemingway, Ray Bradbury and others. See, for example, Faulkner on why believing you can rewrite better is positive motivation for an artist.

The books section of NPR offers many interesting interviews, podcasts (with transcripts) and book picks.

The New York Times By the Book

The New York Times is an excellent website for writers generally due to the caliber of its writing. The ‘By the Book’ section of this writing website offers illuminating author interviews.

Read Ocean Vuong on bringing books to lunch dates , ‘just in case’. Although the NYT is paywalled, it’s one of the more worthwhile (and cheaper) sites to subscribe to.

Writers & Artists

UK writing platform Writers & Artists has many blog articles and interviews. Their ‘advice’ section is particularly helpful for writers.

See this article by author Michèle Roberts , Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. Roberts shares how to get over writer’s block.

The Writer Magazine

Founded in 1887, The Writer magazine offers many illuminating interviews with authors. Here, for example, author Emma Straub talks character development , writing routine, the writing process, and more.

Additional resources

Is there another website whose author interviews you love? Please share your favorites in the comments below. Read advice from eight Nobel-winning authors here .

Writing groups are a fantastic way to develop your story (as our Group Coaching writing course alumni attest). Here are places to get feedback on your writing:

We’ll toot our own horn here: Now Novel’s critique groups are home to first-timers and experienced writers alike. Members who earn our ‘top critiquer’ badge frequently and consistently give thoughtful, considered writing feedback. We’ve regularly featured in Reedsy’s list of top writing communities and other best-of roundups.

Read our article on how to give feedback that rocks here .

Develop Your Story With Support

Finishing writing is hard – get help and stay accountable to your goals.

The writing platform Medium is described as an open platform ‘where readers find dynamic thinking’.

You’ll often find interesting thought pieces, such as Katie Lawrence’s piece on writing a bestseller here , as well as readers’ engaging comments.

Absolute Write Water Cooler

Absolute Write is a free writing forum and community. Here, writers share tips on subjects from writing software to approaching agents and editors.

See the full list of writing forums , spanning basic writing questions, how to deal with having stories turned down for publication, and much more.

The /r/writing Subreddit

Reddit is the more verbal of all the social platforms, and thus a natural fit for writers. The /r/writing subreddit currently has over two million members, and there are daily discussions about writing tools and software, and weekly critique and self-promotion threads too.

Creating the plot and structure for a story is hard without a framework. The fiction writing websites below offer plot frameworks, ways to understand story structure, and tips for writing page-turning stories.

To get brainstorming stories right away, start with Now Novel’s browser-based story outlining tool , the Now Novel dashboard.

The Nashville Film Institute provides a useful breakdown of Dan Harmon’s ‘Story Circle’ plot structure template , which itself is derived from Joseph Campbell’s classic The Hero’s Journey story structure concept .

UC Berkeley teaching resources

UC Berkeley has a portal with resources for teachers that includes a wonderfully clear summary of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey . The resource includes deep dives into the hero’s journey in myth and film. Explore various ways this story pattern recurs in different media.

Screenwriting tricks for authors

Author and screenwriter Alexandra Sokoloff’s blog offers many tips on plot and story structure. See a plot structure series Sokoloff wrote for NaNoWriMo on three-act story structure, beginning with the inciting incident .

The Plot Whisperer

Author Martha Alderson offers plenty of advice on how to plot and structure stories on her Plot Whisperer blog.

See, for example, ‘ 15 tips to create a compelling plot for your story ‘.

Aerogramme Writers’ Studio

Although Aerogramme Writers’ Studio has been taking a hiatus since around 2020 from posting new content, there is still a trove of useful story plotting and structure info on this story writing website.

See teacher and author Kenn Adams’ breakdown of the ‘story spine’ , a simple, eight-step ‘fill-in-the-blank’ process to find the core focus of a story.

Plot generator

This plot generator tool churns out some pretty wild plot ideas (‘Bernadette is a killer fuelled by homophobia, who watches teachers and shaves them’.) You may find useful plot tidbits in the midst of the absurdity.

The Learning Network on the NYT

Another helpful part of the New York Times (apart from the author interview section linked above) is its learning network.

See for example 1000 writing prompts for students in this article. These could be interesting questions to ask your fictional characters, too.

The secrets of story structure by K.M. Weiland

Author K.M. Weiland’s blog has many helpful articles on story craft. Her fiction writing website includes multi-article guides such as ‘The Secrets of Story Structure’ here .

ChatGPT by OpenAI

This AI writing generator is a helpful tool for finding writing prompts, synonyms, creating permutations of lines and ideas, and more. See our article on 10 helpful uses of AI writing tools where we explore the tool’s uses and limitations.

Learning how to create characters in an ongoing process of writing, learning more about the psychology of goals, motivations, desires and conflicts, and reading great character studies. Read our best articles on creating characters , and find useful character creation resources below:

Writers Write

Writers Write, originally founded by Amanda Patterson, has many articles on character development. Read this blog post for 350 ideas for character traits .

Ian Irvine’s character how-to’s

Author Ian Irvine has a great selection of character-building advice here , which he has condensed from Writing for Emotional Impact by Karl Iglesias .

Random motive generator

Random generators are hit and miss, but this character motive generator can give you some ideas for the motive part of goal, motivation and conflict.

See more tips on creating clear goal, motivation and conflict for your characters in this extract from our monthly writing craft webinars with Now Novel coach and HarperCollins-published author, Romy Sommer:

This person does not exist

This AI-driven image creation tool composites a massive sample of images to create images of humans who do not (in theory) exist, generating characterful new people from visual data . Try refreshing the page a few times, then write a paragraph of description imagining who the person in front of you is.

Live Write Breathe

Author Janalyn Voigt offers plenty of writing advice on her blog, including this characte-building worksheet .

Worldbuilding is vital for creating believable settings that feel lived in and plausible. Read our best articles on creating settings and find worldbuilding resources for stories below:

Azgaar’s fantasy map generator

Countless fantasy novels begin with front pages showing fictional maps. Create your own with Azgaar’s fun, free browser-based fantasy map generator .

TED-Ed is the American media organization TED’s (of TED Talks – ‘ideas worth spreading’) platform for educational materials. Among the resources shared, you’ll find this rap from YouTube creator Flocabulary on why setting in stories matters .

TV Tropes offers many succinct wiki-style pages on film, TV and book tropes (motifs or devices that recur in popular culture and literature). See a post on the ‘standard fantasy setting’ that also links to TV Tropes’ page on urban fantasy.

The British national archives

If you are setting your story in England in a specific historical period, the national archives are a great resource for finding information. The collection spans 1000 years plus, including subjects such as the military, census records, famous wills, photographs of famous prisoners and more.

Writing a story set in another non-fictive country? Google for digital archives that may supply texture and detail for your setting.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has many useful worldbuilding resources. See, for example, Patricia C. Wrede’s comprehensive list of fantasy worldbuilding questions .

Planning stories and creating outlines in advance is one way to ensure that you stay on track and don’t get stuck while drafting.

Read ways to use Now Novel’s story outlining tools and find more tools for planning stories below:

Several Now Novel members have mentioned that they use this well-known desktop-based writing software in tandem with Now Novel’s own online story brainstorming tools, as each compliments the others set of features. Read more about Scrivener’s features .

Although exclusive to Apple devices, this is a popular writing app that includes features such as word count tracking, as well as folders where you can organize writing project snippets by material integrated into your manuscript, material in review and process work or scrapped ideas.

Milanote is note creation tool pitched to story-boarders working in film, advertising and novel-writing as well . Like Evernote, it has a web clipper for saving snippets of articles you read to notes.

One stop for writers – timelines

In addition to offering helpful writing advice on their blog at Writers Helping Writers , Angela Ackerman and co provide a story tool with a timeline-creation tool that you may find useful if the sequence of events in your story is important.

Trello is a flexible browser-based project-management tool with a board-based interface (similar to Milanote) that you can use to organize scene summaries (much like our own Scene Builder, which is more story-oriented). Here’s an article from Trello’s blog on ways to use it to organize your story or story research.

How do you find a story idea ? The resources below include writing prompts, resources for finding story inspiration and more:

The Write Practice blog

The Write Practice has many helpful articles for writers on their blog, including this selection of writing prompts .

The Marginalian

The Marginalian (formerly Brain Pickings) is Maria Popova’s fantastic blog about writers, inspiration, creativity and more. See for example how she unpacks complex ideas about inspiration from Ursula K. Le Guin .

Positive Writer

Bryan Hutchinson offers helpful personal accounts relating to writing and inspiration, such as how creative journaling helped his writing process .

Advice to Writers

Jon Winokur’s writing website offers ‘writerly wisdom of the ages’ in daily quotes, such as this one:

I’ve tried to figure out what good writing is. I know it when I read it in other people’s work or my own. The closest I’ve come is that there’s a rhythm to the writing, in the sentence and the paragraph. When the rhythm’s off, it’s hard to read the thing. Sebastian Junger, quoted by Jon Winokur.

Encyclopedia Mythica

Myths, legends and fables have always been fantastic sources of inspiration for new stories. Encyclopedia Mythica is a helpful wiki all about mythology and famous mythic figures.

Reedsy Plot Generator

Reedsy has a fun tool for generating plot ideas by genre that may help you find initial inspiration for something you can alter and make your own further.

Nonsense Generator

This is another idea generator tool that churns out absurd sentences. More silly than serious, you might find an image that strikes you all the same. Example generated: ‘Two-finger John set a treehouse on fire’.

Bookfox (formerly The John Fox) has many articles with writing prompts and inspiration. Here’s a list of how 50 authors prepare to write and get inspired.

Resources for editing stories will be more important to you perhaps if you are nearer the end of your manuscript. Find out about Now Novel’s editing services here and keep reading for helpful editing tools and resources:

Chicago Manual of Style’s shop talk blog

The Chicago Manual of Style is a trusted style and editing manual. Their ‘shop talk’ blog has helpful tips on grammar, style and punctuation. Also find articles such as this on using Word vs Docs to edit your manuscript.

ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid is ‘an AI-powered writing assistant’ that checks writing for style and grammar issues. See their article on why they’re a good choice of editing plugin to use with Now Novel .

Hemingway App

Hemingway is a simple, browser-based editing tool for checking paragraphs for issues such as sentence structure, reading level, and grammar.

Grammarly is another style and spelling checker that is widely used.

Oxford grammar practice resources

Practice your grammar online with these basic, intermediate and advanced lessons from Oxford University Press.

Grammar Girl

Grammar Girl is a resource that’s part of Mignon Fogarty’s ‘Quick and Dirty Tips’ network. It’s a useful resource for brushing up on grammar. Read about the different types of nouns and their uses , for example.

Once you’ve finished writing a book and edited a draft so it is good enough to send off, where do you find help writing synopses or lists of agents open to submissions? Here are some helpful resources around representation and querying your manuscript:

Writer’s Market guides

Writer’s Market publishes useful annual guides on the publishing industry. You’ll find query letter templates as well as guides to getting agency representation packed with actionable advice.

The Query Shark

Janet Reid’s blog Query Shark provides excellent insight into the parts of query letters that work and pique interest.

Association of Authors’ Representatives

Many agents belong to associations such as the AAR. These agent listing platforms provide a useful way to search for agents interested in your genre and whether they are open to unsolicited submissions or require referrals.

Querytracker

This platform provides a useful list of agents as well as individual agent profiles where querying authors comment their experiences and whether or not they received full or partial manuscript requests. It’s helpful to determine which agents are active and which tend to be more responsive to queries in a specific niche.

Agent and publishing coach Rachelle Gardner

Agent and publishing coach Rachelle Gardner offers plenty of useful advice on writing and publishing, such as this article on whether or not you should write to market .

Curtis Brown Creative’s blog

Curtis Brown Creative, a London-based literary agency established in 2011, offers plenty of advice from agents and agent-represented authors on their blog. Founder and director Anna Davis offers some excellent advice on preparing to submit to agents .

Guide to literary agents

Writer’s Digest’s ‘Guide to Literary Agents’ blog section touches on querying, the importance of perseverance in getting published, and more.

NY Book Editors

NY Book Editors have an excellent blog – the linked article on writing query letters gives plenty of good tips as well as helpful examples of strong openings and more.

Poets & Writers agent database

Poets & Writers magazine has a helpful database of literary agents where you can find agents’ contact details, the genres they’re interested in representing, and further details such as their respective agencies’ websites.

Nathan Bransford’s blog

Nathan Bransford, an author and former agent at Curtis Brown, writes a blog where he offers tips such as how to write a query letter .

Evil Editor

Evil Editor breaks down synopses and explains pitfalls writers should avoid.

Publishing is a vast subject area, from choosing between indie and traditional publishing to understanding market, Kindle store categories, what the publishing process is like, and more.

Watch a video extract from our monthly webinars below where Romy Sommer explores paths to publishing. Then keep reading for useful publishing websites:

Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly is a great resource for all things publishing-related, including weekly information on recent book deals that will help you abreast of what’s happening in publishing.

Writer Beware (the SFWA)

Writer Beware , a subcommunity of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, offers a great resource on dubious publishing tactics and would-be agents and other pitfalls to keep aware of.

Publishers Marketplace

Publishers Marketplace is another useful publishing resource (particularly for US-based writers), including information on agents, their commission rates, recent book deals and more.

Jane Friedman

Jane Friedman’s blog focuses on the publishing industry and helping authors navigate processes such as starting out as an unpublished author. See her beginner’s guide to getting published .

The Creative Penn

Joanna Penn’s blog includes podcasts and interviews with specialists in a range of niches, including book publishing and promo. See for example this podcast interview on going wide with publishing consultant Mark Leslie Lefebvre.

Publishing Perspectives

This publishing portal offers news on recent writing prize winners, news round-ups about events in the book industry, and more.

Hawes Publications

This useful internet resource keeps an updated list of brief plot summaries (loglines) describing popular releases, a two-sentence plot summary or blurb . Reading over succinct summaries could help you tighten your own elevator pitch or logline.

Writing Cooperative

Writing Cooperative is home to many useful resources for writers, such as this list by Austin Hackney of 128 publications that pay for short stories.

BookBub’s blog often features helpful articles on publishing matters, such as this article ‘ 50+ Publishing Resources You Should Know About ‘ by Diana Urban.

Reedsy offers a comprehensive directory of publishers that have been vetted, including data such as location, size, what genres they publish, and whether or not they are indie and open to submissions.

Kindle Publishing Guidelines

If you’re planning to indie publish a book on Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing has a handy knowledge base with information on everything from cover image guidelines to enhanced typesetting tips.

Book marketing is something many authors find challenging. Reading the right resources and putting time into promoting your work (or rather, building relationships with future readers) is key to selling. Find useful resources for book promo below:

Penguin UK’s blog

Penguin’s blog has many articles offering succinct tips, such as this post on ways to promote your book (including video on what a book publicist does).

NetGalley is a book promo platform devoted to helping build your ‘street team’ – readers who may receive advance copies in exchange for honest reviews.

Smith Publicity

Smith Publicity is a book publicity agency that offers helpful guides to doing book promo. See these 110 tips for marketing your book.

Whitefox, a company offering publishing consultancy and other services relating to publishing and distribution, offers helpful tips on book promo on their blog. See this round-up, where nine book industry insiders give advice for creating pre-publication buzz.

Scribe Media

Scribe Media offer, among other services, book launch preparation and assistance getting media exposure. Read their helpful post on thirteen ways to get more exposure for your book .

Dave Chesson at Kindlepreneur

Dave Chesson provides useful introductions to book promo (pertaining to selling via Amazon’s Kindle store), such as this guide to choosing the right categories for giving your books maximum visibility.

The Book Designer

The Book Designer, in the same stable as Self Publishing School, has several helpful articles related to book promo, such as this one on how to get reviews for indie-published books .

Self-Publishing School

Self-Publishing School offers various tips on book publishing and promo, and this is a helpful round-up of free and paid sites where you can promote your latest publication .

There are many internet resources that provide insight and help specific to different writing genres. Find resources for romance, fantasy, mystery, crime, sci-fi, historical and more below:

Writing romance

Find our best romance articles here and extra romance writing websites below:

Write for Harlequin

Harlequin has long been a big name in romance publishing. On the ‘Write for Harlequin’ blog, the publisher frequently shares editors’ wish lists such as this summary of stories sought in the historical romance subgenre .

The Mills & Boon blog

Mills & Boon is another big name in romance publishing, and their blog features many interesting romance subgenre and trope discussions, such as authors on why they love writing the ‘enemies to lovers’ trope .

Diana Gabaldon’s blog

Diana Gabaldon, author of the successful romantic historical Outlander series, has an active blog where she shares interviews from the archives, news and more. Here’s an interview where Gabaldon speaks on writing an honest romance book that will ring true regardless of setting, time period, and how much (or little) autobiography it contains.

She Reads Romance Books

Review communities dedicated to specific genres are a great way to delve into the minds of readers in your target market and see what makes readers love the books they do. This romance-focused site offers round ups of the best romance books over the years and more.

Nicholas Sparks’ blog

Some of the tips on romance author Nicholas Sparks’ blog may read a little pat, but in the ‘advice to writers’ section of the author’s website there is this good advice:

Over time, quality work will lead to an audience for your work. In the end, readers always choose. Nicholas Sparks, author’s website.

Romance Writers of Australia

This Australian romance writers’ organization offers a fun ‘three things I learned writing …’ series where romance authors discuss three things they learned while writing their published books. It’s full of motivating lessons from romance writing such as ‘anything is fixable’.

Romance Writers of America

The RWA likewise has an archive of helpful articles on romance writing . Articles range from industry news to tips for building your newsletter.

Writing fantasy

Read all our most popular fantasy-writing articles here , and more on the genre below:

The SWFA’s blog

This has been mentioned already above in a different context, but in addition to its excellent guides and resources, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America also offers articles by guest contributors on topics such as walking the line between good style and too much fantasy jargon and slang .

Ursula K. Le Guin archives

The ‘about writing’ archives on Ursula K. Le Guin’s website are a great selection of the late fantasy and science fiction author’s musings on fantasy-related and more general writing topics. Here’s a good open letter on plausibility in fantasy with interesting discussion of the way Tolkien uses settings.

Neil Gaiman’s blog

Author Neil Gaiman’s career has spanned an eclectic range of genres and formats, from dark fantasy to sci fi, graphic novels and screenplays. The author’s blog is full of interesting insights into fantasy, such as an appreciation post for Sir Terry Pratchett or this essay on where Gaiman gets his ideas .

The Speculative Literature Foundation

The Speculative Literature Foundation is ‘a global nonprofit dedicating to promoting literary quality in speculative fiction’. Resources the organization offers include lists of grants for fantasy and sci-fi writers as well as interviews with speculative fiction writers and deep dives into writing matters .

Fantasy author Brent Weeks

The fantasy author Brent Weeks offers plenty of excellent advice on fantasy worldbuilding , magic systems, writing fight scenes and more on his personal blog.

Writing science fiction

Another complex speculative genre, science fiction has many fantastic writing organizations and story writing websites dedicated to the genre:

Neal Stephenson’s writing advice

Although not a separate story writing website, speculative fiction titan Neal Stephenson’s writing advice on the TED-Ed blog is simple and golden.

Galaxy science fiction magazine archives

Galaxy was a science fiction magazine published from 1950 to 1980 and is thus an interesting time capsule for SF writers. You can read stories by Ray Bradbury in its pages (including his story ‘The Fireman’ which later became his cult novel, Fahrenheit 451 ).

Philip K. Dick on androids and humans

One of the most influential sci-fi authors of all time gave a speech titled ‘The Android and the Human’ at the Vancouver Science Fiction Convention in 1972, available to read here .

Asimov Online

Isaac Asimov, one of the so-called ‘big three’ science fiction authors, is the subject of this internet archive of sci-fi resources , essays and more.

Arthur C. Clarke at 100

On the centenary of Arthur C. Clarke’s birth, Adam Roberts reflects on this ‘big three’ sci-fi author’s legacy and works such as Rendezvous with Rama (1973) and 2001: A Space Odyssey for The Guardian .

Tor, a speculative fiction publishing company, runs a blog featuring interesting science fiction reads such as this article by author Adam Oyebanji on how science ‘nudges fiction towards new frontiers’.

Locus Magazine

Billed as ‘the magazine of the science fiction and fantasy field’, Locus’ fiction writing website has speculative fiction publishing news, reviews, interviews, lists of sci-fi and fantasy conventions, and more.

Writing crime and mystery

The crime and mystery fiction writing websites below include writing organizations, useful crime-writing and mystery resources, and more:

Mystery Writers of America

The Mystery Writers of America writing organization describes itself as ‘the premier organization for mystery and crime writers, professionals allied to the crime-writing field, aspiring crime writers, and folks who just love to read crime fiction’. See their list of vetted publishers of crime and mystery .

The Crime Writers’ Association

Another crime-writing organization based in the UK, member benefits include co-promotion of new crime novel releases, monthly crime fiction -devoted newsletters, and more.

International Thriller Writers

The International Thriller Writers organization like the CWA has a debut authors program , whereby you get extra help with launching and promoting your debut in return for membership.

Agatha Christie archives

This website devoted to the seminal mystery author’s life and work includes interesting information such as this article on how Christie wrote , along with bibliographies, reading lists and more.

Louise Penny’s author site

Mystery author Louise Penny offers tips and encouragement for getting published on her personal author site.

Crime Reads

A crime and mystery-writing website, Crime Reads offers blogs on mystery topics such as the ‘fine art’ of writing riveting plot twists .

Sisters in Crime

Founded in 1986 to advocate for women crime writers, Sisters in Crime offers writing webinars, resources for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, and more.

Jungle Red Writers

This blog helmed by seven women who write crime has many interesting reads, such as Hannah Mary Mckinnon’s article on embracing research .

Elizabeth Spann Craig

Cozy mystery author Elizabeth Spann Craig blogs about writing mysteries and also has an well-curated writing guide roundup she shares via Twitter called ‘Twitterific Writing Links’.

Criminal Minds blog

The premise of this story writing website is simple: ‘Each week, we respond to provocative questions about crime fiction, writing, publishing and life.’ Read crime and mystery Q&As .

Crime by the Book blog

Crime by the Book is ‘the result of one girl’s ongoing exploration of crime fiction from around the world’. You’ll find crime book reviews, recommended reading lists and more on this portal dedicated to the crime genre.

Crime Fiction Lover

This crime-focused writing site offers crime novel reviews, author spotlights and interviews, a virtual book club and more.

Author Bryn Donovan’s blog

Author Bryn Donovan offers helpful tips for mystery and crime writers, such as this list of 25 case-solving clues you could use in a story.

The unsolved mysteries subreddit

Reddit is full of interesting topic threads with deep dives and articles shares. A good subreddit or community for mystery authors is the Unsolved Mysteries subreddit .

Here, members discuss unsolved cases and their theories about what happened. [Note that stories may share disturbing elements relating to unsolved police cases].

Writing children’s and YA fiction

Writing for younger readers entails writing to specific reading age norms, knowing what is age-appropriate and more. Find useful writing websites for YA and kids’ lit below:

The Atlantic

The Atlantic is not dedicated to YA and kids’ lit, but has a helpful article here where YA authors share their best tips on writing for and about teens.

The YA Bookshelf

The YA Bookshelf is a useful website for YA book reviews and resources. See their roundup of YA book blogs , for example.

Hannah Holt’s blog

Children’s writer Hannah Holt has an interesting deep dive into YA author stats (though published in 2017, it has all kinds of insights into YA author advances, average submissions until being published and more).

So You Want to Write

So You Want to Write has a comprehensive guide to writing YA by YA fantasy author Mackenzie Belcastro.

John Green Q&A

It’s great when authors give concise answers to complex questions. YA author John Green’s writing FAQs on his website answers interesting questions such as ‘how do you write about adolescents when you aren’t one?’

Vlogbrothers

Writing for younger readers necessitates using platforms younger readers love well and meaningfully. See John and Hank Green’s vlog on YouTube for ideas of how to create meaningful video content for your YA readers.

Sarah Webb’s children’s writing tips

Children’s author Sarah Webb shares great advice for writing for children on her author site.

Michael Morpugo’s teaching resources

Sir Michael Morpugo, one of the best-loved children’s authors and author of War Horse , shares inviting question and quiz resources for parents and educators to go with his books via the author’s website. An inspiring ed-tech format to use with your own children’s writing.

Interview with Maurice Sendak

The Guardian has many fantastic articles mixing essay with interview, such as this biting and fascinating conversation with Maurice Sendak , author and illustrator of the beloved Where the Wild Things Are . His statement ‘I refuse to lie to children’ is an interesting maxim for writing for younger, truth-seeking readers.

The Federation of Children’s Book Groups

This helpful resource for children’s book writers and readers includes interviews with authors, information on the Children’s Book Award, and more.

Writing historical fiction

Writing historical fiction naturally involves research due to stories being based on real events. Here are some of he best internet resources for researching and writing historical books, including museum archives with digital collections and universities’ subject specialist research guides.

British Pathé archives

British Pathé is a fascinating resource for historical footage and photo collections. See, for example, their outline of key events from WWII.

The National Archives (UK)

The National Archives is a vast archive spanning 1000 years of UK history. The searchable collections have many photo albums and articles, on everything from coronations to crime and punishment in specific eras.

The Smithsonian Institute

Across the Atlantic, the Smithsonian Institute offers vast archives of research materials to do with American history, from conservation biology to art history.

National Archives of Australia

Writing books set in Australia? The National Archives of Australia provides research guides for subjects such as first peoples and colonial history, foreign relations, military history and more.

USC Latin America resource guide

The University of Southern California offers a useful, organized guide to resources on Latin American history and archives from this region as well as the Caribbean. Google ‘.edu’ and the area you’re interested in and ‘resources’ to find similar librarian-developed research resources for historical fiction.

Yale’s European history library guide

Yale University has a fantastic library guide to historical research resources about Europe . Includes resources for general Western European history and medieval, early modern and modern Europe.

The Historical Novel Society

Founded in 1997, this organization is devoted to historical fiction and offers a quarterly magazine, information on historical fiction conferences, member directory and more.

A Writer of History by M.K. Tod

Historical fiction author and blogger M.K. Tod shares many interesting historical fiction discussions and interviews on her blog. For example, this deep dive on behind-the-scenes facts from WWII .

Africa is a Country

Africa is a Country (the title is ironic) is a fantastic resource for nuanced journalism and contemporary, left-leaning analysis of African culture and politics, reviews of books about African and diasporic issues, and more. A good research resource for studying African issues and debates.

English Historical Fiction Authors

This history writing blog began in 2011 and shares all kinds of interesting micro history accounts by historical writers from various periods of British history.

Queen Anne Boleyn blog

This site devoted to historical fiction and named after the famously executed second wife of Heny VIII has many interesting blog articles. See, for example, where history authors weighed in on casting decisions and the question of race and representation in adapting historical stories for film and TV.

Jane Austen’s World

This blog offers thought-provoking deep dives into Austen’s writing , the Regency period (such as social customs of the time) and more.

Further writing resources

Mcsweeney’s internet tendency.

A long-standing humor site that publishes biting satire and parody, such as ‘If people talked to other professionals the way they talk to teachers’ by Shannon Reed . A good regular read for aspiring humor writers.

Quora is often a very useful resource when you have a specific writing-related question you’d like to crowd-source answers for (for example, ‘ What is plot development? ‘).

Chuck Wendig’s Terrible Minds

Chuck Wendig’s Terrible Minds blog is full of interesting and profanity-laden articles about the writing process [not for the expletive-squeamish] and now features guest articles on topics such as ‘five things learned while writing a book’.

Writer’s Digest

Writer’s Digest is one of the longest-standing writing sites on the web, with WD having been founded long before the interne in 1920. They offer fiction and non-fiction writing resources, a very broad section on getting published and more.

National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo has a simple premise: Challenging writers to try produce a book draft in a month. Anyone who has written or attempted to write a book knows this is no time at all, but many authors use the write-a-thon as an exercise to see how much they can churn out of a manuscript within 30 days.

Writer Unboxed

This story writing website founded by Kathleen Bolton and current editorial director Therese Walsh offers an engaging blog and also published a writing manual , Author in Progress in partnership with Writer’s Digest. The manual is billed as ‘a no-holds-barred guide to what it really takes to get published’.

Literary Hub publishes a wide variety of material, but their ‘craft and criticism’ section is perhaps the most immediately useful. Read this article by author Vauhini Vara on how to keep a long project alive (with advice from writer and Emeritus Professor of English Tobias Wolff).

What are your favorite literary writing websites? Let us know in the comments below. Start writing a book with structured support and a caring community’s help.

Related Posts:

• Writing a fantasy novel: 34 must-visit websites
• Publishing a novel in 2022: 10 useful insights
• How to get your book published: Detailed 2022 guide
• Tags writing resources , writing websites

Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.

27 replies on “Best story writing websites in 2022”

Always great content on here! Really impressed at how in depth this list is. Bookmarking it for later.

Thanks so much, Ben.

Great content and we are really impressed with the way of presentations

This was such an awesome article. So awesome in fact I’ve featured it on my top 15 best articles on writing – ever! http://reflectionsfromaredhead.com/the-best-articles-on-writing/

Thank you, Janine! Have shared your post on social media.

That is quite an extensive list. Thank you very much for this comprehensive blog post.

Take a look at Writelight as well.

Thank you for the suggestion, Artem.

Hello, I Like your blog, I wanted to leave a little comment to support you and wish you a good continuation. Wish you best of luck for all your best efforts. Bonobology | Romantic Story

If this list gets update sometime, some sites for Writer Podcasts and Book Cover resources would be good addition.

Hi Adrijus, great suggestions. It’s on my list!

Happy to share some if needed.

P.S. Do you take guest posters on? 🙂

Hi Adrijus, we do when it’s good content relevant to aspiring authors primary challenges (e.g. craft, organization, publishing process, etc.) The best thing to do is submit a pitch to help at nownovel dot com via email including topic and title suggestions and we’ll see if there’s fit.

Thanks for asking.

Sounds good. Thank you!

Hi Bridget, you have done a great work here. I’m really impressed.

This was such an awesome article. You can also publish your story on https://highlightstory.com

Thank you! I’m not sure I’ll check out all these resources, but I’ve already found some useful ones for me. I find great support in writers’ blogs and the block with general tips is very useful for me. In addition, I want to share some interesting articles: https://stacitroilo.wordpress.com/2019/07/19/author-inspiration-writing-links-83/ I read this blog regularly as yours and find many useful ideas.

Thank you, Anna. Thanks for sharing helpful resources you’ve come across too.

[…] Novel: “Story writing websites and resources: 200 of the best,” a comprehensive resource divided into useful categories including everything from plot […]

Some of your links need to fixed. One’s like Deborah Bruch’s Plot Analysis Worksheet leads to a “Forbidden” access page, and you have Reedsy leads to the previous option of Nonsense Generator. You have a shit ton of great links, some just need to be cleaned up a bit.

Thank you, JD. Will do – this one hasn’t had some attention in a while. Thank you for reading our blog.

i love writing stories guys

That’s great, Larric – keep writing them 🙂

Nice collection Jordan! I also have a blog where I share my writing tips for story/book writing.

Hi Pauline, thank you for sharing that. I had to remove your link to your site as there is a lot of advertising on-page and the content that I read had several confusing paragraphs and would benefit from editing. Readers could thus see the site as spammy (a reason we don’t run third-party ads on this blog). I would suggest looking at those aspects if you want your readership to grow.

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Home » Writing » 50 writing websites and online resources

Sites for notes and writing

6. evernote.

This bookmarking tool is a great way to collect moments of inspiration and ideas for your story together in one place, where they can be filed and organized, ready to be put to good use. It might be a ‘how to’ article you want to read, a quote that reminds you of one of your characters, or an image that would be the perfect setting for your next scene. Inspiration strikes in the most unexpected places, but as Evernote is available on almost every platform, you can collect notes wherever you are. You can choose to have one notebook that you throw everything into, or you can set up separate notebooks to help you organize your thoughts and ideas as you go. If you’re working on a novel, why not set up separate notebooks for each character or each chapter?

7. Scrivener

While some writers prefer to stick with the traditional pen and paper or word processor, for others, technology can be a game-changer. Scrivener is a powerful writing tool that allows you to organize your notes, research, and writing all in one place. You can create separate documents for each chapter, scene, or character and easily move them around as needed. You can also set word count goals and track your progress, making it an empowering tool for both planning and writing your work.

8. Storyist

Another popular writing app is Storyist , which offers a wide range of features for novelists, screenwriters, and playwrights. From corkboard view to character and plot development tools, Storyist helps you bring your stories to life in an organized way. It also has a distraction-free writing mode, making it easier to focus on your writing without any distractions. Plus, with its built-in formatting tools, you can easily export your work into a professional-looking manuscript when it’s time to self-publish.

9. Calmly Writer

For those who prefer a clean and minimalist interface, Calmly Writer is a great option. This writing app allows you to focus on your writing without any clutter or interruptions. You can also save your work as you go, making it easy to come back to where you left off. And with its auto-save feature, you don’t have to worry about losing your work in case of any technical issues. It’s available on both desktop and mobile devices.

10. Ommwriter

For writers who need a tranquil and calming environment to get their creative juices flowing, Ommwriter is the perfect writing app. With soothing background music, minimalistic design, and customizable backgrounds, this app offers a meditative experience for writers. It also has a “focus mode” that allows you to hide everything on your screen except for your writing, helping you stay in the flow and avoid distractions. Ommwriter also has a mindfulness timer that reminds you to take breaks and practice self-care while writing.

Writing community resources

In the realm of writing, the adage “It takes a village” is extremely true. Having a community as a writer isn’t just important—it’s essential. While writing is often seen as a solitary endeavor, there’s nothing like the support, inspiration, and feedback from fellow wordsmiths. It’s about belonging to a group that gets the highs and lows of the creative process and turns struggles into shared successes.

Here are a few of our favorite sites to find your village.

11. Catapult’s Don’t Write Alone

The blog Don’t Write Alone was created by the team at Catapult, a publisher and magazine dedicated to nurturing and enhancing writers’ talents. Founded in 2005, Catapult showcases a diverse range of literary works and is now sharing its vast knowledge. The platform offers a huge collection of content, including insightful interviews, detailed essays on the craft of writing, and explorations of the writer’s life. Its mission is to offer comprehensive support and inspiration to writers at any stage of their journey.

12. Gutsy Great Novelists

Are you a novelist seeking motivation, accountability, and encouragement? Look no further than Gutsy Great Novelists , a free online community just for you. With the tagline “where serious creative writers gather to finish their novels,” you can’t really go wrong. Award-winning novelist Joan Dempsey founded this platform to help writers feel less isolated. Members get access to critique groups, lots of online resources, and events and classes that will keep you on track until your novel is complete.

13. Lambda Literary

For writers and readers alike, Lambda Literary is a community-driven organization that champions LGBTQ+ literature. With a mission to elevate voices and stories that have been historically marginalized, this platform offers various resources for writers, including workshops, literary events, and publishing opportunities. It also hosts an annual writing retreat for emerging queer writers, providing a safe and supportive space for creative expression. Sign us up!

15. Writing.com

Writing.com is one of the largest online writing communities out there. It’s a super supportive environment for writers of all levels—and you have a portfolio to store and share your writing. You can also join various groups based on your interests or genres, providing opportunities for networking and collaboration with other writers. Plus, Writing.com regularly hosts contests and challenges to help improve your writing skills and gain recognition for your work. Whether you’re seeking support or looking to expand your audience, this community has something for everyone.

16. Reddit’s r/WritersGroup

If you’re a Reddit fan, you probably already know about r/WritersGroup . This subreddit serves as a testament to the strength of community in the writing process, offering a space where writers from all walks of life can share their drafts, seek advice, and provide constructive criticism. Whether you’re battling writer’s block, seeking feedback on a new chapter, or just in need of inspiration, this is your go-to sanctuary.

17. She Writes

Created by women, for women, She Writes is a supportive community that celebrates their diverse voices and experiences. With more than 32,000 members and 350 groups, it’s the largest online community of women writers in the world! With forums and tons of articles, this platform provides a safe space for women to share their work and receive feedback from other writers. 

18. SFF Chronicles

For science fiction and fantasy writers, SFF Chronicles is a valuable resource for learning, connecting, and honing your craft. With forums dedicated to discussing the latest trends and tropes in the genre, as well as sections for feedback and critique, this is your virtual writing workshop. It also hosts contests and interviews with established authors, if you’re seeking insight and inspiration.

19. The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Imposter syndrome is hard to battle alone. Step into the Insecure Writer’s Support Group , where those whispers are drowned out by the resounding voices of support, encouragement, and understanding. This haven is dedicated to writers at any stage of their journey, providing you with resources, advice, and, most importantly, a community that gets it. Conquer your insecurities by reading their blogs and monthly newsletters, joining their social media groups, and joining their pitch event to find an agent or publisher (every January).

20. Underlined

Formerly known as Figment , Underlined is a website that provides story starters, writing inspiration, and advice from published authors . You can also join a community of aspiring writers, share excerpts of your work, and provide feedback to each other—all valuable parts of the creative life.

Sites for improving your writing

Now that you’re equipped with a plethora of platforms to connect and expand your creative horizons, it’s time to take your writing to the next level. Improving your craft is a continuous, evolving process—whether you’ve just penned your first poem or are on your tenth novel.

Here are the resources you need to refine your skills, find your unique voice, and perfect the art of storytelling. From grammar guides to story structure tips, these sites offer the tools you need to elevate your writing.

21. 750 Words

As with any skill, the best way to improve your writing is to practice, practice, practice. The website 750 Words provides a daily nudge to get your creative juices flowing. Based on The Artist Way ‘s morning pages , the goal is to write 750 words (roughly three pages) every day, without any distractions. By just writing without an agenda and without judgment, you’ll make writing every day a regular productive habit and steadily build your confidence.

22. Helping Writers Become Authors

The Helping Writers Become Authors site, created by award-winning author K.M. Weiland, offers practical tips and advice on story writing, from structure and plot to character identity and dialogue. It’s a great, regularly updated resource to take you from writer to professional.

23. Grammar Girl

Get a grip on the quirks of language and the rules of good grammar with this entertaining and useful podcast based on the hugely popular blog by the same name. Top listened-to Grammar Girl episodes include “Affect Versus Effect” and “Active Voice & Passive Voice.”

24. Coursera

Looking for a more structured approach to learning? Coursera offers online courses on writing, from writing your first novel to academic writing . With options from top universities such as Stanford and Wesleyan, you’ll have access to expert instruction and peer feedback to hone your skills.

25. Masterclass

Masterclass brings together some of the biggest names in writing, like David Sedaris , Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman , for online video courses on pretty much any aspect of writing you’re looking to learn. With a subscription, you’ll have access to their wisdom and techniques for crafting powerful stories that captivate your readers.

26. Critique Circle

Join a community of writers, both published and aspiring, on Critique Circle to get feedback on your writing and provide critiques for others. With tools for tracking your progress, finding beta readers, and connecting with fellow writers, this platform offers valuable resources for improving your craft. Plus, the supportive atmosphere encourages growth and development as a writer.

27. Now Novel

For those looking for a more structured approach to writing, Now Novel offers personalized coaching and guidance throughout the writing process. From outlining and character development to editing and publishing, their team of experts will provide valuable feedback and support to help you bring your story to life. Whether you’re just starting or need help revising, Now Novel offers a community and resources tailored to your specific needs as a writer.

Resources for characters and plot

We’re betting you have more than one favorite character from more than one book. Characters like Elizabeth Bennett, Albus Dumbledore, and Bilbo Baggins live on in our minds long after we’ve turned the final page. Your characters should become like old friends that you know inside and out to add depth and humanity to your story. These are the resources you need to make it happen.

28. Writer’s Digest’s Character Development Sheets

Subscribing to the Writer’s Digest mailing list gets you access to this free worksheet designed to flesh out each of your characters. Working through a series of questions, you’ll develop their key hopes, fears, and skills, their personality quirks, how they might act in different situations, and how all of this will be revealed to the reader throughout your story.

29. The Write Practice’s Characterization 101

This free course from The Write Practice guides you through seven key steps to creating memorable characters, covering important character archetypes, character motivations, how not to introduce a character to your story, and much more.

30. The Novel Factory’s 150+ Character Questions

Building on the idea of character development sheets, The Novel Factory offers a comprehensive list of over 150 questions to help you fully flesh out each character in your story. From physical appearance and background to their biggest secrets and flaws, this resource will help you create well-rounded and dynamic characters that readers will connect with.

31. TV Tropes

Ever come across a character or plot twist that seems oddly familiar? That’s because many writers use common tropes and archetypes in their stories. TV Tropes is a user-edited wiki page that outlines these common patterns and themes found in media, providing examples and analysis for each one. It’s a helpful resource for understanding how to effectively use, subvert, or avoid these tropes in your writing.

32 Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions

Need some guidance in creating a fictional world for your story? This list of 123 questions from Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America can help you think through all aspects of your world, from its physical laws to its social structure and cultural customs. By taking the time to fully develop your world, you’ll make it feel more immersive and believable for readers.

33 Reedsy’s Plot Generator

When you’re stuck on where to take your story next, Reedsy’s plot generator can help spark new ideas. Simply select a genre and hit “generate” to receive a random plot outline that you can use as a starting point for your own story. It’s a fun tool for getting unstuck and exploring new directions for your plot.

Resources for editing and reviewing

In addition to proofreading for spelling, language, and grammar errors, two other forms of editing should form part of your review process. Developmental editing, which is editing for the structure, flow, and consistency of your story, and substantive editing, which is concerned with clarity, accuracy, and reader comprehension.

When your manuscript or first draft is complete, let it sit a while before reviewing. It also helps to have a second and third set of eyes on your work. Even better, if your budget allows, hiring a professional editor can give your story the polished finish it deserves.

34. Grammarly

Available as a Google Chrome extension or device app, Grammarly works across your web pages and documents as you write to help you catch common writing errors. It highlights and fixes grammar, punctuation, and contextual spelling mistakes. The premium version can also suggest alternative vocabulary choices.

Remember not to rely on online spell checks alone to proofread your work. Always give your text a thorough check yourself, too.

35. ProWriting Aid

ProWriting Aid takes your writing beyond mere spell checks, offering a holistic approach to improve your writing style, tone, and clarity. What sets it apart from Grammarly is its in-depth focus on your writing’s overall readability and engagement level. It provides detailed reports on style, overused words, sentence length variation, and even readability scores, making it invaluable for writers looking to polish their manuscripts to perfection. While Grammarly excels at real-time grammar and spelling corrections, ProWriting Aid is the go-to tool if you’re looking for comprehensive feedback on your structure and style.

36. Hemingway Editor

As the name suggests, Hemingway Editor is an online editing tool and website that will help make your writing clearer, bolder, and more direct—just like the author it’s named after. Simply copy and paste your text into the tool to check for overly complex sentences, overuse of adverbs, and the passive voice. It will also highlight instances where a shorter word could serve the same purpose.

Every writer needs a good editor, and Reedsy only works with the best. Their hand-picked, experienced, professional editors can review your story development, structure, consistency, and style, helping to perfect and polish your manuscript. Reedsy also offers a tool to easily write and format a book , the same way a professional typesetter would. (You can print from their tool with Blurb, too!)

Artificial Intelligence for writers 

AI gets a bad rap, but in our digital age, its emergence is nothing short of a revolution in creativity. Whether you’re battling writer’s block, seeking the perfect synonym to elevate your prose, or plotting a novel, AI-powered writing assistants can offer a wealth of resources at your fingertips. These innovative tools are not doing the writing for you—they’re about enhancing your creativity and offering insights and suggestions that might not have crossed your mind.

38. Sudowrite

Using artificial intelligence, Sudowrite offers suggestions and ideas to help you improve your writing. It can generate plot twists, character names, and even entire paragraphs based on the information you provide. While it’s not meant to replace human creativity and imagination, Sudowrite can be a helpful tool for sparking new ideas and breaking through writer’s block.

Claude has emerged as a dynamic counterpart to ChatGPT, due to its ethical and safer approach to AI. What sets Claude apart is its focus on nuanced, open-minded text generation—working to understand context and intent before replying. It can help you with brainstorming, research, structural analysis, line edits, critique, and even productivity—with writing sprints, prompts, word count, and positive reinforcement. It’s not replacing creativity, but supporting you from blank page to final polish.

40. Jasper.ai

Jasper is another AI-powered writing tool that can assist with plot development, character creation, and even research for your story. Jasper also has a feature that allows you to collaborate with other writers in real time, making it a useful tool for team projects or brainstorming sessions. What’s great about Jasper is that it has a document feature, so you can write, edit, and save your work like you would in Word or Google Docs, rather than chatting back and forth with AI.

Resources for promoting and marketing

Once your masterpiece is polished and ready to shine, the next thrilling chapter of your author’s journey begins: promoting and marketing your book. This can seem like a Herculean task, especially in a world flooded with content. But with the right tools and strategies, you can cut through the noise and get your book into the hands of eager readers.

We’ve lined up the best resources to transform you from a writer into a savvy marketer!

41. Wattpad

Use this storytelling platform to connect with writers and readers around the world, build an audience, and even get discovered. On Wattpad , you start by sharing a story, and then if you build a big enough fan base, you may have a chance to work with entertainment companies and publishers looking to feature your work. Just remember, some publishers won’t print work that appears online, so be sure to do your research before uploading your entire novel!

On this writing and reading hub, you’ll find stories, articles, and inspiration that are curated to your taste and written by people like us. Want to share your own writing, photos, or videos? You can do that on Medium —and potentially earn money. The platform lets you see how your stories are performing and what kinds of readers like your writing. It also offers tips for starting a newsletter, submitting to publications, and curating your work.

43. Kindlepreneur

Kindlepreneur is a treasure trove of resources for authors, especially those venturing into self-publishing. From book marketing and advertising strategies to optimizing your Amazon sales page, author Dave Chesson has got you covered with his helpful blog posts, videos, and courses. He also offers free downloadable templates and worksheets to help you plan and execute your book marketing strategy.

44. NY Book Editors

Need help proofreading your manuscript or marketing your book? NY Book Editors provides editing and proofreading services, as well as an extensive blog full of helpful advice for writers. They also offer a free guide to writing the perfect query letter to help you attract agents or publishers—and plenty of other useful publishing and marketing information.

45. Agency Query

If you want to get an agent or a publisher, use Agency Query to build your list of potential agents and publishers. The website also provides features like tracking the status of pitches sent out to agencies, keeping notes on each agency’s submission requirements, and more.

46. The Creative Penn

The Creative Penn is a website run by bestselling author Joanna Penn . It offers a wealth of information on how to, “write, publish and market your book—and make a living with your writing.” Penn also has a vibrant YouTube channel and podcast where she shares advice for authors, helpful if you are a visual or auditory learner.

47. Publishers Weekly

Stay up to date on the publishing industry and get insider tips from publishers, editors, and literary agents with Publishers Weekly . This website offers news, reviews, job postings, and other helpful resources for writers. They also have a dedicated section for independent authors if that’s you.

48. Storiad

Storiad is a tool designed to help you promote and market your book through social media, website creation, book trailers, and more. They offer various packages for authors at different stages of their careers, from beginners to established writers. Storiad can also help you create a professional author website with built-in marketing tools.

49. BookBub

BookBub is a popular platform that lets you promote your book to millions of readers through daily email newsletters, targeted ads, and featured deals. You can submit your book for consideration or use their blog for free marketing advice and trends in publishing. BookBub also offers webinars, courses, and other resources for writers.

50. Author Marketing Club

Author Marketing Club is a community of authors helping each other promote their work through free and paid book promotion tools, tutorials, webinars, and more. They also offer a powerful search engine that allows you to find relevant blogs, websites, and book promotion sites to submit your work for exposure. Joining this club can help you reach a wider audience and get more readers interested in your writing.

How Blurb can help

From collecting inspiration to the final finishing touches, there’s a whole world of tools , websites, support, and advice out there to help you with every stage of writing your own story and making your own book. You have all the tools you need. Now write!

And when you’re ready to publish and share your work with the world, Blurb can help. Our self-publishing platform allows you to turn your manuscript into a professional-quality book, whether it’s a novel, memoir, poetry collection, or any other genre. With customizable book formats and design tools, as well as tons of options for distribution, we make it easy to bring your writing to your fans.

So what are you waiting for? Start creating and sharing your stories with the world today. We believe in you!

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Welcome to Fantastic Fiction

16 Best Author Websites & What They Do Well

Published: January 05, 2024

Whether they write fantasy, fiction, or non-fiction, are self-published or published by one of the “ Big Five ,” authors need a website.

The internet is one of the — if not the  — first place readers and publishers will look to learn more about you and your work. A website is also a great way to connect to your audience, inform them of upcoming releases and events, and let them know more about you personally and professionally.

If you’re an author in need of a website, or just like looking at cool website designs, then check out some of the best author websites below for inspiration.

Best Author Websites

• N. K. Jemisin
• Leigh Bardugo
• Rick Riordan
• Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Aytekin Tank
• Joan Didion
• Ibram X. Kendi
• Miquel Reina
• Helen Hoang
• Jennifer Egan
• Sandra Cisneros
• Mark Dawson

The author websites below are categorized by the genre they write in (fantasy, non-fiction, and fiction) and whether they're self-published or not. It's important to note that many of these authors work in multiple genres, and have been self-published and traditionally published.

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Fantasy Author Websites

1. n. k. jemisin.

N. K. Jemisin has one of the best minimalist websites that exemplifies how powerful a few words and details can be.

On the homepage, visitors immediately see her name, the typography of which matches the typography used on the cover of her latest book, The City We Became (a great touch!). Above that is a testimonial which informs new readers, diehard fans, publishers, and movie scouts alike that she's a widely-known and popular sci-fi and fantasy writer. Below that are three CTAs inviting visitors to read her bio, learn more or purchase one of her books, or read her blog.

What We Like

• Minimalist design 
• Clear CTAs across site
• Blog is frequently updated and tone is casual and intimate

2. Neon Yang

Neon Yang's website immediately grabs visitors' attention with its neon green accent color and bold typography. But it avoids looking crowded by striking a balance between text and images. In fact, it provides only the most essential information, starting with who Neon Yang is, what awards they've been nominated for, and some praise they've gotten in the press. At the bottom of the homepage, you'll find out how to connect with them over email or on social. 

• Accent color and animations keep users engaged as they scroll
• Clearly lays out Yang's books, stories in anthologies, and standalone fiction so visitors can browse or find a specific work they're looking for 
• Offers multiple ways to connect with author

3. Leigh Bardugo

Leigh Bardugo's website is a great example for prolific writers with lots of work. It features a carousel slider to promote multiple books, including her latest release Ninth House , recent sequel Rule of Wolves , and collector’s edition of Shadow and Bone , as well as a link to her author bio. It also includes a link to a reading order, which can help first-time readers figure out which book to start with, as well as the "Grishaverse." This microsite is designed to provide visitors with a more in-depth look at the fictional universe Bardugo has created.

• Carousel slider on homepage promotes multiple works and author bio
• Can't miss newsletter opt-in form
• News page outlining releases, acclaim, and TV adaptations

4. Rick Riordan

Visiting Rick Riordan's website takes you on a mini quest, like many of his characters embark on. Starting at the "Explore" CTA on the homepage, you can scroll down to learn about the many different series and books Riordan has written. As you scroll, the yellow-dotted line will turn solid and change color. It's a unique twist on the traditional reading orders you find on most author websites. 

• Interactive reading order
• Lots of images and drawings make his website feel "bookish"
• Book pages include audio files, YouTube clips, reading guides, and other resources

Non-fiction Author Websites

5. ta-nehisi coates.

Ta-Nehisi Coates's website is an excellent example of user-centricity. It immediately tells you a little bit about the author and promotes his latest book, The Water Dancer , with clear and colorful CTAs. The homepage ends with a simple email opt-in form. If visitors are hoping to take another action on his site, the sticky navigation menu makes it easy for them to find info about his books, graphic novels, speaking engagements, and events.

• Color scheme and typography inspired by cover design of best-selling work, Between the World and Me
• Email opt-in form appears in different variations on different pages, including as a parallax section and in the sidebar

6. Roxane Gay

Roxane Gay's website is designed to showcase her work first. On the homepage, her latest release, The Selected Works of Audre Lorde , is promoted above the fold. Next is a larger selection of her recent books with a CTA encouraging readers to view all her work. Only after does she have an About section that's linked to her bio page. Notice this order is reflected in the navigation menu: "Books" is listed first, whereas "About" is listed last. 

• Design tailored to promote and sell her work
• Masterful use of whitespace and accent color
• Images are engaging and informative

7. Aytekin Tank

Jotform founder and CEO Aytekin Tank’s website immediately showcases his expertise as an entrepreneur, with his popular book Automate Your Busywork front and center. The homepage presents a clean, modern aesthetic with clear, accessible navigation. The design is elegant and functional, creating an inviting space for readers and followers to explore his work.

Aytekin puts his books first on the homepage as well as the navigation bar, and then introduces himself as an automation enthusiast.

• Simple opt-in form with a clear CTA for Aytekin’s newsletter
• Articles on productivity and automation are featured on the homepage
• First-time visitors can read a free chapter of Automate Your Busywork right away

8. Joan Didion

Joan Didion has won several awards, been the poster girl of Céline, and the subject of a Netflix documentary — so most people know who she is. That's why her website can focus on promoting her work first, just like Roxane Gay's.

Didion's homepage starts with a quote and title of an anthology of her work, "We tell ourselves stories in order to live." Below that is a carousel slider showcasing her large collection of work while taking up little space. Next there is an excerpt from her work The Year of Magical Thinking , with a CTA to read more. At the bottom of the page there is a short section about who she is with a CTA to read her complete bio. 

• Promotes collection of work before herself
• Unique page dedicated to excerpts from her writing
• Each book page includes a short description, reviews, quotes, and a longer excerpt to help readers make decision to buy

9. Ibram X. Kendi

Ibram X. Kendi is a best-selling and award-winning author, podcast host, contributor writer at The Atlantic and CBS News, professor, and Founding Director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research. Instead of having to go to one place to purchase his books, another to read his essays, and another to listen to his podcast, his website clearly displays and organizes all of his content, media appearances, and events so you can find exactly what you're looking for, or spend time browsing. 

• Website is a hub for all his works and accomplishments
• His books, essays, pod, and press pages have grid layouts to display a lot of content in a clean and easily digestible way
• Two easy ways to donate to BU's Center for Antiracist Research in header and footer

Fiction Author Websites

10. miquel reina.

When landing on Miquel Reina’s website, it looks deceptively simple. There's his logo to the left, some navigation items to the right, and what appears to be an image of his book Lights on the Sea in the center. But if you stay on the page, then the book at the center is replaced by different translations and covers of his novel. This is an engaging and informative technique for visitors looking for the book in a particular language.

• Animated GIF displays each translation and cover of his book Lights on the Sea
• Offers discussion guide, free excerpts, and signed copies that you can purchase directly on site
• Simple email opt-in form and social media icons

11. Helen Hoang

Helen Hoang's website shows how authors can promote not just one, but multiple pieces of their work. Thanks to their position above the fold and colorful cover art, Hoang's trilogy immediately captures visitors' attention. Visitors can click to learn more about one of these books, or scroll down to learn about the author. You can find these options in the navbar as well. Here, you can also find a page dedicated to the many translations of her books and a page showing all the different places you can purchase her work. 

• Multiple ways for readers to learn more about her work and purchase
• Page dedicated to translations of her books that are available for purchase
• Color scheme based on cover of her first bestseller, The Kiss Quotient

12. Jennifer Egan

Jennifer Egan's website is unlike any other author website on this list. It offers a completely immersive experience to visitors. Those landing on the page will see the title of her latest book Manhattan Beach . Encouraged to scroll down the page by the vertical lines, visitors feel as if they submerge into the ocean thanks to a parallax scrolling effect. As readers continue to scroll, excerpts from the book float to the surface. Once they're done reading an excerpt, they can click to reveal the next in the series. Photographs are included as well.

• Interactive website invites visitors to immerse themselves in her latest book, Manhattan Beach
• Excerpt for each book available with clear CTA button
• Reviews and testimonials throughout site help convince readers to buy

13. Sandra Cisneros

Sandra Cisneros is an international best-selling author whose won multiple awards, fellowships, and honors. Her website offers a more intimate look into who she is, with photos of her swimming, posing with her dogs, and traveling. She also includes a "guestbook," where she displays messages she's received and responded to. This includes a contact form so you can send your own message as well. 

• A very personal author website
• Guestbook shows letters she's received from readers and responded to
• Section for letters to her readers as well

Self-published Author Websites

14. rupi kaur.

rupi kaur has one of the best interactive websites that carefully guides the reader toward different resources and pages on her site. When visitors land on the page, they see a hero image with rupi holding a copy of her latest poetry collection, home body . As readers scroll, the navar transitions from transparent to solid so visitors who know exactly what they're looking for can click on one of those links. The rest can just keep scrolling.

A section featuring her latest collection of poetry with a CTA to buy slides in first. Then, videos of rupi on The Tonight Show and a trailer of her stand-up poetry special appear. Next is a link to her shop, books, and bio. At any point, readers can click on one of the links in the sticky navbar at the top of the screen. 

• Super easy to navigate and fun to browse
• Unique layout with different text alignment and lots of whitespace so it looks like one of her poems
• Includes shop with stationary, art, and other goodies

15. LJ Ross

• Animated background image and hover animations engage visitors
• Fly-out menu with hamburger menu perfect for mobile
• Unique grid layout for book archive pages

16. Mark Dawson

Looking like one of the covers from his best-selling John Milton series, Mark Dawson's homepage perfectly encapsulates his brand. Only two elements are overlaid on top of the background image. The most eye-catching is the email newsletter opt-in form, which pops thanks to its white shadow effect. There's also the navigation bar, which is split into primary navigation items (on left) and secondary items (on right). Notice that "Books" comes first, since they're the main focus of the website. 

• Consistent branding so readers can easily recognize relation to his book series
• Multiple ways to connect, including email opt-in form and social follow buttons
• Built-in shop for purchasing books directly on site instead of being redirected to third-party site

The Online Presence of Authors

Authors can use a website to attract new readers, inform their existing audience of new releases and events, and share some more personal and professional details about themselves. The websites above are all unique but they have one thing in common: like the best bookstores, they’re easy to browse for hours.

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33 Best Author Websites Examples (2024 Update)

February 2024.

I am going to show you EXACTLY how to create your own best author website.

We will address for you the “Dos” and “Don’ts” of creating an author website.

Examples of effective and ineffective author websites will be shared and how to improve the ineffective components as well. 

In the end, you will know for certain that you can create an effective author website that will enhance your image and branding!

The Purpose of this Article

In this article, we will see some nicely done author websites. These websites can provide inspiration and guidelines to make the best author websites.

By the way, to learn how to create, manage and market your author website, you have to read more articles on our blog .

Characteristic of best author websites

These are the things your author site must have no matter what genre or type of writer you are.

Your Website’s Landing Page Should :

• Include a list of your published work (books, novels, eBooks, articles etc)
• Promptly shows upcoming and new releases
• Have a separate page about yourself
• Provide a way to contact you or hire you.
• Include links to your social media accounts.
• Easy to navigate
• A blog to showcase your personality and/or writing process
• Has a unique, clean and eye-catching design
• Must run perfectly on Mobile and PC

We analyzed 500+ authors’ sites!

We have analyzed more than 500 author websites on the net to write this article.

We update this post in the future by adding new author sites to this list. We may remove some of them though. There’s no guarantee!

But did you really analyze 500+ sites?!

Yes, we did. Here’s the proof!

Let’s start with the list of best author websites

Simple and minimal examples of authors websites, lindatharpink.com.

BUSINESS STRATEGIES

10 best author websites for inspiration

• Jenna Romano

Get started by: Creating a website →  | Getting a domain →

Never judge a book by its cover—but as far as we’re concerned, judging by the author’s website is just fine. Of course, we’re kidding, but deciding to create a website for your readership is an important professional step as an author, even in a world traditionally dominated by print.

Whether you’ve already been published or you're in the middle of working on your masterpiece, this article will guide you in creating an author website of your own (if you're not sure if you need one, check out does my business need a website ). We’ll briefly go over what purpose author websites serve and what should be included in one. Hint: You'll need a professional bio , and some testimonials and an RSS feed of your most recent posts can't hurt either. Plus, we’ll show you 10 examples of author websites to inspire your own website design.

Read Also: How to make a business website

What is the purpose of author websites?

As hard as it is for bibliophiles to admit, every author needs an online presence. An author website leads visitors to accessible information about you and your work - which they can then use to view your published books and learn more about your accomplishments. In this way, having a website improves your visibility and cements your professional reputation.

In addition to providing background information to visitors, author websites create opportunities for increasing interest in your work and building a base of avid readers. While word of mouth never goes out of style, your online presence will put you on the map, and improve your methods for promoting upcoming books or events.

Finally, author websites can streamline the sale of your books. Adding an online store to your website means you can sell your books directly to interested readers. Alternatively, if your book is on a platform like Amazon or Kindle, your website can direct visitors straight to your account. By leveraging sales with a good online marketing strategy, you might just bring yourself to the top of the bestseller list.

10 examples of author websites

Before you design your own site, take inspiration from this list of the best author websites made by Wix users. These examples include all the key elements listed above, and then some:

Romi Neustadt

Jessica Winter

Taylor Tyng

John Clarkson

Trevor Cosson

Alan Allinger

Ajinkya Dharane

Crawford Content

01. Romi Neustadt

Romi Neustadt is an entrepreneur who shares her professional wisdom with the world. Her latest book You Can Have It All is an encouraging piece, guiding readers to live an authentic and fulfilled life. Romi’s author website certainly has it all. It communicates her mission as an author immediately, using impeccable personal branding and key elements that lead her to show off her mission and accomplishments.

Take a look, for instance, at the strong first impression she creates. A customized slideshow on the homepage features two powerful images. Romi’s headshot is confident and warm, embodying the vision of an author you’d like advice from. This is followed by a quality image of her latest book, which is accompanied by a short description and a strategic call-to-action button that states “Order Now”—making it easy for visitors to purchase a copy.

02. BB Writer

BB is a fiction and non-fiction writer from Boston with a sincere message and a visually pleasing website. The minimalist design and color scheme gives her website a clean feel, while the addition of images and an inspiring quote about writing enlivens the site and strengthens the writing theme.

Scrolling down BB’s author website, you’ll come upon a short “About Me” section, which allows visitors more insight into BB’s background as a writer and provides a space for her to write about what she’s currently working on.

You’ll also see that she’s added a customized logo to the site. Creating your own logo is a good idea as a writer, since it strengthens your personal brand.

03. Jessica Winter

Authors who want to showcase a specific book should turn to Jessica Winter’s website as an example. Jessica does an impressive job highlighting her latest novel by placing a high-quality image of the book’s cover strategically on the homepage. Alongside this image is a positive book review from another author, which gives an enticing description of her book as sassy, sarcastic and wonderful. Sounds like something you’d want to peruse, right?

Adding a well-designed website footer to her author website leaves Jessica ample space for a contact form. While the footer is generally the last thing people see, it’s a strategic place to encourage people to sign up to your mailing list.

04. Taylor Tyng

Anything from typical, Taylor Tyng’s well-designed author website makes for a pleasant browsing experience that keeps users engaged. High resolution animated images add a unique and exciting effect, telling the visual story of the writer’s journey. These colorful images provide a powerful visual contrast to the dark grey background and white text.

Using a hamburger menu allows Taylor to collapse the navigation bar of his site - ensuring users have a clear path to the important sections of his website while allowing more real estate for the visual attraction of his homepage. Another clever element is Taylor’s incorporation of a lightbox —the pop-up window grabs users’ attention and encourages them to sign up to the mailing list.

05. John Clarkson

The thrilling nature of John Clarkson’s novels is made palpable by his website’s visual theme. Its cohesive design theme includes a bold color scheme and the cover art taken from his book covers. As users scroll down the homepage, parallax scrolling gives the site a sense of depth and sophistication.

John’s homepage’s content is impressive while a clear navigation menu links users to even more information. Here, we have a spotlight on his latest book, reviews from critics and readers, a short bio and strategic calls-to-action placed through the page. Clearly visible links to his Good Reads and Amazon accounts encourages site visitors to purchase his work.

06. Trevor Cosson

Trevor Cosson’s site design is minimalistic, using lots of negative space to bring the user’s attention to the text featured throughout. As viewers navigate the site, they’ll be brought to different samples of his work, including his blog and examples of both creative writing and copy. With such a strong focus on text, you should choose a font that reflects your personality and is consistent with the rest of your website’s visual style. In this case, Trevor’s use of a simple serif font enhances the site’s classic feel.

Trevor’s website header also includes links to his various social media accounts. This is a strategic way to build your following as an author, helping increase your visibility and consistently engage with your readership.

07. Alan Allinger

Alan Allinger uses one of Wix’s templates to create a customized author website. The video box featured in this template perfectly embodies the goals of this crafty design element, which allows you to add overlays to your own video and frame it with customized shapes. In this case, a moving image of clouds inside of a quotation mark alludes to both the inspirational and practical aspects of writing.

Overall, the dynamic template showcases Alan’s work and experience quite well. Plus, the addition of a blog gives him the opportunity to share even more great content with his online community.

08. Ajinkya Dharane

Ajinkya Dharane’s powerful website exemplifies a design that’s daring while simultaneously adhering to the web design rules of thumb. A large, high-quality image dominates the background of his homepage, instantly catching the eye. The visual hierarchy and organized structure of the site are also on point, thanks to the use of boxes and strips added throughout the page.

We also love the subtle branding incorporated throughout. The repeated use of his logo’s elements and the inclusion of a favicon are both skillful ways to strengthen Ajinkya’s brand and bolster the professional appearance of the site.

09. Crawford Content

Here’s another example of a Wix website template that’s just perfect for showcasing your work as an author. In this case, the Crawford sisters work as a team, customizing this elegant design by including their own logo, images and text.

Their sophisticated style is further emphasized by the use of light colors and traditional fonts. Their one-page website makes it easy to scroll through their site, and is a web design trend that's sure to impress.

10. Icon 303

Icon 303 is an artist and writer whose multi talented character is perfectly rendered on this website. The homepage is simple but visually potent—including an applied filter effect to the background image, a rousing quote, and an easy-to-navigate menu so visitors can check out his work.

Each page of Icon 303’s site has its own visual theme—a daring example of how your website does not necessarily have to be uniform. In fact, we’re seeing more and more web design trends that lead to a “more is more” mentality. While the shifting of color palettes, imagery and fonts might be too busy for some, it’s a compelling way to distinguish certain facets of your career on a single site.

What should an author website include?

Websites are personal in the sense that they reflect your distinct taste, so the design and content of each site varies depending on the author. Start by choosing a web hosting platform  and choose a template  that incorporates the features you want to include. Keep in mind that you can always customize these templates to evoke the style of your written work.

Once you’ve set up your foundation, be sure to include the following elements on your website.

A professional domain name

First, choose a domain name  that’s professional and easy for visitors to remember. It’s good practice to stick with something short and on brand. For example, you might choose to include your name and perhaps the words “books” or “author."

Pro tip: Try to use your author name instead of the title of one of your books. That way, if you plan to create new work in the future, you won’t need to worry about changing your domain. This is also helpful when establishing your brand identity  as an author.

An About page

An About page gives you the chance to tell visitors about yourself, your professional accomplishments, and your sources of inspiration as a writer. Here, you’ll want to include a headshot of yourself, a list of notable awards you’ve won over the course of your career, and of course, a professional bio . We’re not talking about a full-length novel—keep your bio short and sweet. For many visitors, this page will be their first impression of you and your work.

Perhaps this goes without saying, but you should dedicate a section of your website to your books. The purpose here is to give visitors an overview of your writing and entice them to purchase something. Include a high quality image of each book’s cover, along with a succinct description of its contents. The best author websites we’ve seen also incorporate excerpts from the book itself, which further entice visitors to read.

You can also set up an online store to sell your books directly from your website If you do this, you’ll want to set up your website in a way that encourages visitors to purchase. Adding call-to-action buttons such as “Buy Now” and linking them to your shop is a seamless way to create an easy buying experience.

Read Also: How to start a business , Best business websites

Should you include books that you haven’t finished writing yet? Absolutely. If you have a title already and can create a preview of what the book is about, this will generate hype around its upcoming release.

Positive reviews

Be sure your website incorporates positive feedback about your work—either from readers, notable publications, or other writers. Adding reviews and testimonials  to your website is not only encouraged—it’s expected. Books with reviews are more likely to be read, since they familiarize potential readers with your book’s content and exhibit the general reaction of those who have already finished it. An author website is the perfect place to amplify positive responses and prove your book is worthwhile.

Add a contact form

As an author, you want to keep your fans updated on your career, book releases or special events surrounding your work. In order to do this, you need to capture their contact information and steadily build your mailing list. Help users sign up by adding a well-designed contact form  to your website and use effective email marketing  to increase engagement with your readership.

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Top 20 Author Websites Every Author Must See (in 2024)

Getting readers to notice you in a sea of online sameness is hard. An author website helps you stand out online while positioning you as a writer worth reading.

But creating an engaging, professional author website isn’t easy. And a website that makes you look like an amateur, can be worse than no site at all.

A great author site needs to be:

• appealing to your audience
• quick-loading
• mobile-friendly
• and designed to grow your readers

To give you some direction and inspiration, we’ve put together a list of our top 20 favorite author websites in 2024. Take a page from the book of these authors and give your website the literary love it deserves.

Author Website Examples:

1. Chunka Mui 

Carry your book branding into your website.

chunkamui.com

We had the pleasure of building this website for Chunka and I think it sells his platform perfectly. Not that my opinion is skewed or anything…

What makes this author website stand out is the bold colors contrasted by the white space design. It emphasizes the author’s brand and the content laid out.

There is plenty of useful, groundbreaking content for readers to learn more about Chunka and his work.

Actionable Tips: If you have a book that you want as the main feature, consider using the style and colors from the book cover to dictate the design of the website. And if you have information to share about your cause or core message, make sure to give that content plenty of room to breathe on the page.

2. Leigh Bardugo

Create rich, fan-focused content.

leighbardugo.com

Leigh’s site has got that rich graphic novel-type feel.

The use of illustrations, textures, decorative fonts, and fan resources all come together really well and complement her edgy fantasy brand.

It’s engaging and well-made, catering to her fans and encouraging readers to jump on board and become fans.

Actionable Tips : Planning an intricate universe for your novels? Use what you have to create some fun resources for your fans to explore on your site.

3. Austin Kleon

Keep your website fresh and worthy of revisiting.

austinkleon.com

Austin Kleon’s blog is the main focus of his author website. This makes his website feel fresh all the time because he literally posts almost every day! 

His books are also tastefully displayed in the sidebar. The longer you’re on his blog the more likely you are to check them out.

What makes his blogs successful is that he links to other resources and encourages others to link to his site. His blog is one of the most respected in the author blogging field – so what he’s doing is definitely working.

Actionable Tips : If your platform thrives on blogs, podcasts, and other content media, then we suggest building your website with those elements at the forefront. Don’t forget to keep it up to date! Your website will garner visitors that are super into your work and you can promote your work to them conveniently.

4. Helen Hoang

Make it easy for all types of people to read your books.

helenhoang.com

Helen has a tab on her menu just for translated editions of her books. They come in many languages, catering to a wider audience.

Her website carries her book branding nicely into an online format. Similar feminine color schemes with white space, yet still punchy and fresh. 

Actionable Tips : If your book covers stand out, then let your website design sit in the background as a supporting character. Keep your books in the spotlight.

5. Mike Michalowicz

Build a lovable personal author brand.

mikemichalowicz.com

Mike pulls off what few business authors can: a cheeky, enjoyable brand of business education that makes you want to dive deeper.

Hover over his books on the home page and he transforms accordingly. And scroll to the bottom and click “I can’t stand this guy” for a laugh.

Actionable Tips : Let your website match your personality if that’s your selling point. Excite visitors with an online experience that makes them stay on the site longer, like fun animations, quirky pictures of yourself, and content with a friendly tone.

6. T.A White

Showcase your series.

tawhiteauthor.com

This is another one of our own author websites. We concentrated on representing each of her book series while keeping the main mystical feel. 

The blend of fantasy and Sci-Fi is seamless with the genre-specific, clear fonts and color palette.

There are even a few deleted scenes for fans to sink their teeth into. 

Actionable Tips : You could frequently change your intro image to fit your latest book release, but have an overall design theme that suits all your potential genres. Be sure to leave room for each of your series to be displayed without overshadowing any of them.

7. Mark Dawson

Focus on growing your email list.

markjdawson.com

More than anything, Mark wants you on his mailing list. It’s hard getting readers to take the leap and just purchase a book.

Mark believes he can convince readers over time, through his author newsletter. And with a glowing opt-in box, and nothing else much to do on the home page at first glance, it’s hard to resist the urge to put your email in!

When it comes to the design of his author website, it’s characterized by high contrast and dark, moody pages that fit his genre.

Actionable Tips : If you want to focus on growing your mailing list, it needs to be front and center on your website. But you can still give your books the stage they deserve by featuring them on other pages of your website. This is a great way to have each portion of your website fulfill a specific purpose.

8. Miki Taylor

Showcase your illustrations.

mikitaylor.com

With characters as cute as Miki’s, we had to use them on her author website.

Even though the website is designed with children in mind, adults will have a blast exploring it, appreciating the conversational, quirky tone used.

The menu style is accented by colored bubbles, emphasizing the playfulness of this author website.

Every little extra has a story behind it, giving more value to kids.

Actionable Tips : Your cute illustrations with unique designs and colors should be celebrated on your website! From the backgrounds to the intro imagery, and even your menu design – you can stray from the conventional while creating a succinct online experience for your readers.

9. Mark Manson

Let your content do the talking.

markmanson.net

Mark’s site is fun! Much like his writing in general, you just kind of love his insouciant attitude and the website reflects this well while still being quite organized. 

He has clearly worked out his funnel very well, both in terms of customer journey and SEO. There are various tiers of membership to his content. 

He’s getting an estimated 250K organic visits a month! He definitely understands SEO and content marketing. All-round this is a brilliant site that is no doubt a huge success for its author.

Actionable Tips : If you want readers to enter your funnel, you should provide as much gripping, premium content for them to subscribe to. Utilize SEO and other content marketing strategies to make your site a hub for gathering interested readers for your platform.

10. Daniel Gibbs

Bring your books’ world-building to life online .

danielgibbsauthor.com

Another one of our author websites! Daniel Gibb’s site loads with an engaging full-screen background video.

Daniel went to a huge effort to create a fully fleshed-out world for his readers using interactive star maps and ship diagrams. He’s even got a full-on encyclopedia of his universe!

His author funnel is very slick, offering books for both his series. With such professionally produced high-value lead magnets , his email list grows rapidly.

Actionable Tips : Create an intro that is as action-packed as the novels you’ve written. And if you have a complex universe, laying out timelines for your books will give fans and newcomers a better understanding of your world. They’ll also feel more confident that they’re in the right place – given that this genre is their jam!

Want To Give Your Readers An Engaging Online Experience?

Get an author website that showcases your books, grows your list, and attracts publishers and promoters.

11. George Weigel

Organize your content better than a news site ever could.

georgeweigel.com

We think the author website we designed for George aligns well with his genre and work as an author. It is content-focused, holding true to the message it is getting across. 

This is a great balance to achieve on a website as less is more and you allow your work to speak for itself.

Actionable Tips : If you have heaps of content to display, don’t be afraid to let less important site features like CTA’s play second fiddle. You need to decide what you want out of your website and let the rest become neat peripherals.

12. Brené Brown

Engage with your community.

brenebrown.com

This website is well-designed, easy to navigate, and feels smooth and sleek. High-quality photography helps sell the value behind the words. Has a ton of great-looking downloadables and shareables.

Actionable Tips : You can professionally display your works while still keeping your personality vibrant throughout the website. Keep the language conversational and the colors warm and welcoming.

13. Charlie Cochet

Display your massive collection of books and related content.

charliecochet.com

We built this behemoth of a website for Charlie. Her website is jam-packed with books and content yet a breeze to navigate through. 

There’s no shortage of things to see with the exclusive content like playlists, signed copies of books, interviews, etc.

Not to forget the mix of stand-out and cursive fonts with bright colors that keep the eyes entertained.

Actionable Tips : Fans of the romance genre don’t shy away from the seductive and quirky, so neither should you. Let your genre dictate the atmosphere proudly. And if you have merchandise to sell, you can include a Shop page to display it.

14. Wilbur Smith

Use your books’ themes to create ambiance.

wilbursmithbooks.com

The homepage you land on is fantastic with striking colors and clean navigation. 

The website feels alive with the engaging animated elements, making you feel like you’re about to embark on an adventure of Wilbur’s choice.

Actionable Tips : Instead of a flashy intro, you can go for alive and realistic. And you can have each page have a theme that goes along with the specific book’s concept to serve as the gripping element.

15. The Winter Skye Series – Valencia Weaver

Create a vibrant playground for your younger readers.

wswbooks.com

When you get to make a fun site like this, you’ll enjoy every second of it. And we definitely did!

Amusing animations pop and excite across this website, making it an entertaining experience for the user. The extras for kids make your stay on this website rewarding.

Actionable Tips : If your books are vibrant, your website should be too. It gives readers an idea of what’s to come. And don’t forget to tailor your reader magnet offering to your target reader – like coloring pages for kids in the case above.

16. Gary Vaynerchuk

Showcase all the ways readers can stay connected.

garyvaynerchuk.com

Everything Gary is on his author website. It feels so easy to sink into his world and get engaged with his many facets of entertainment.

Fans will feel welcome here and newcomers will have a new obsession.

Actionable Tips : If you have many streams of media that some fans may not know about, create a user journey on your website to introduce them to it. You can expand your following in each venture by sharing it with your audience on your website.

17. R.J. Palacio

Let your book do the talking.

wonderthebook.com

A fun and cute layout, Palacio’s author site uses a simple color scheme to focus on her playful character art. She’s created a whole bunch of downloadable resources and even some merchandise.

Actionable Tips : If you have one successful book that you want every new reader to start with, make that the main focus of your website. This doesn’t make you a one-hit wonder (excuse the pun) but rather lets your best work strut and collect a following.

18. Tim Sullivan

Use video to set the right atmosphere to attract your target readers.

timsullivan.co.uk

This is another author website designed by yours truly. 

The background video creeps you out in the best ways possible. Plus, there are transitioning icons that continue the ominous atmosphere and keep the visitor on their toes. 

The dark colors with pops of blood-like pigments are enough to make your skin crawl, and that’s how you know you’re exactly where you need to be. 

Actionable Tips : If your intro creeps out a website visitor and they leave, they were never your target reader anyway. Embrace your genre completely when designing your website as potential readers that love your genre will eek with excitement when the find your site. And don’t forget to back your books up with stunning testimonials that sing your praises in a meaningful way.

19. Good Life Project – Jonathan Fields

Create an entry point to grow your community.

goodlifeproject.com

A site that stylishly broadcasts “feel good” vibes. Combines warm colors with professionally shot uplifting background video which gives it some class. 

This is an all-around very professional and engaging site. The Opt-in bar is perfectly aligned with what the book promises and sends you to a quiz. 

This site does all the right things and does them well while keeping true to its brand.

Actionable Tips : If you want to foster a community, then make sure your opt-in hints at the type of community it will be. You can use a quiz, like the example shows, to discover more about your audience and how you can make your community happier.

20. Maggie Carpenter

Let your genre and personality shine through.

maggiecarpenter.com

We’re in love with this author website…and not just because we built it!

Maggie’s author website has a tone that’s emphasized by the images that are revealed as you scroll. 

But what leaves a lasting impression is Maggie’s voice atop the sultry design.

She’s conversational, cheeky, and admirable. She knows the less desirable tropes that can be assimilated with her genre and she squashes them, saying you’re in for something even better with her books.

Actionable Tips: You can use your voice as the driving factor of your website, keeping the target reader locked in and enticed from beginning to end. Even if it’s in a genre like romance, you can still be friendly while maintaining the desired atmosphere.

Author Website Must-Haves

Your Author Website…

These stunning author websites weren’t built overnight. They took time, effort, and website-building expertise to get it just right.

If you don’t feel like figuring out how to build your own awesome author website yourself, then we can help!

We’re a professional web design agency that specializes in working with authors. Fill in this inquiry form and take one step closer to your dream online presence.

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