Building an author website on WordPress allows you to showcase your work, connect with readers, and sell books or other products. Choosing the right theme is crucial, as it affects the overall look, feel, and functionality of your site.
In this comprehensive guide, we will cover the 26 best WordPress themes for authors in 2024. These themes are specifically designed for writers and authors, with features like book showcases, author bios, eCommerce support, and more. Whether you write fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or any other literary works, there is a perfect theme here to fit your needs.
Book Lite is a free WordPress theme optimized for authors, writers, and publishers. It features a clean, minimalist design with plenty of whitespace to let your content shine. The responsive layout looks great on all devices.
Some key features include:
- Homepage sections to highlight your latest work, reviews, testimonials, and more
- Custom widgets for recent posts, popular posts, book info, etc.
- Support for multiple post formats like video, gallery, etc.
- Social media icons and share buttons
- SEO optimization for better search visibility
The intuitive options panel makes customization easy. You can tweak colors, fonts, layouts and more without coding. Book Lite is a great way to start your author site for free.
Kyma is a beautifully designed premium theme for authors and writers. It features an engaging grid-style blog layout with hover effects. Sidebar widgets let you share author bio, popular posts, newsletter signup, and more.
Key features:
- Responsive design fits any screen size
- Drag and drop page builder for custom layouts
- Author bio and profile page templates
- Custom typography and color options
- Supports WooCommerce to sell books and merch
- Built for speed and SEO optimization
Kyma is very customizable and integrates with all major WordPress plugins. The developers provide outstanding support in case you need any assistance.
Author Pro is a premium WordPress theme designed specifically for book authors and publishers. It helps you build an elegant online presence to engage readers and sell more books.
The clean, professional design is optimized for showcasing your books. You can feature new releases, bestsellers, and other promotions right on the homepage.
Other key features include:
- Custom book post type with dedicated templates
- Author bio page with social profiles
- Book reviews and testimonials section
- Newsletter subscription form
- Goodreads integration to display your profile
- Built-in support for Amazon affiliate links
Author Pro works great with WooCommerce if you want to sell books directly from your site. The responsive design ensures your site looks fabulous on mobile devices.
Bookworm is a free WordPress theme designed for book review sites and author blogs. It features a classic two-column layout with multiple widget areas. You can showcase new book releases, curated lists, author interviews, and more.
Some standout features of Bookworm:
- Book post type with dedicated templates
- Author profile pages with social links
- Star ratings for book reviews
- Advanced custom widgets for various sections
- Drop-down navigation menu and search bar
- Optimized for speed and SEO
Bookworm is lightweight, adaptable, and very easy to set up. The basic design is perfect for showcasing all kinds of bookish content. You can even add affiliate links to monetize your site.
Emma is a beautiful premium WordPress theme for female authors and writers. It features an elegant, feminine design with plenty of options for customization. Emma is perfect for displaying your books, blog posts, reviews, and other literary content.
Key features:
- Responsive, retina-ready design
- Drag and drop SiteOrigin page builder
- Custom widgets for showcasing content
- Featured posts slider on homepage
- Stylish typography and color schemes
- Built-in support for affiliate marketing
Emma integrates seamlessly with all major WordPress plugins. You can use it to create any kind of female author or book review site. Strong theme options panel makes customization very easy.
BookSpace is a free WordPress theme designed for book review blogs and author sites. It features a clean, minimalist layout focused on your content. The responsive design ensures your site looks great on any device.
Some major features include:
- Lightweight and fast loading
- Featured post slider on homepage
- Custom excerpt lengths for pages and posts
- Multiple blog layout options
- Social media icons and sharing buttons
- Basic customization via WordPress Customizer
BookSpace is beginner-friendly and very easy to set up. Just install, activate, and start adding your book reviews or author website content. The basic design can be further customized via CSS.
Libre is a modern, multi-purpose WordPress theme great for author and publisher sites. It features a beautiful homepage with various sections to highlight your books, testimonials, reviews, calls-to-action, and more.
Some key details about Libre:
- Showcase books with grid, list, or slider layout
- Drag and drop page builder for flexible layouts
- Author profile page with social media links
- Lots of custom widgets for content display
- WooCommerce ready for selling books or merchandise
- Very customizable with live preview editor
Libre is fast, flexible, and SEO-optimized. It works great for all types of author and publishing sites. Strong documentation and customer support provides help when needed.
Storytime is a visually stunning, free WordPress theme for fiction authors and writers. It provides an immersive experience for readers with full-screen sections, parallax scrolling, stylish typography, and more.
Some major features:
- Full-screen book showcase with slideshow
- Parallax scrolling pages and posts
- Image galleries to show characters, scenes, etc.
- Custom widgets for promotional sections
- Multiple color schemes and font options
- Responsive layout fits any device
Storytime helps your fiction come alive with an engaging, visual presentation. The free version has all core features, while the pro addon brings even more customizations.
Tabula is a clean, minimalist WordPress theme designed for serious writers and authors. It eliminates distractions and focuses entirely on your content with a magazine-style layout.
Some useful features include:
- Full-width clean design
- Featured posts slider and promotional areas
- Multiple post formats like gallery, quote, etc.
- Custom typography settings
- Author profile page with contact form
- Basic customization via WordPress Customizer
Tabula strips away complexities and ornaments to showcase your writing. The content-first approach makes it perfect for in-depth blogging and online magazines. Works great for professional author sites.
The Author Website WordPress theme does exactly what its name suggests – provides a ready-made website layout for authors. You can easily customize it by replacing the sample content with your own.
It comes with neatly organized homepage sections to showcase your:
- About the author
- Latest books
- Testimonials
- Blog posts
- Contact information
Other key features:
- Responsive design fits all devices
- Widgetized layout for easy customization
- Blog sidebar with recent posts, archives, etc.
- Basic theme options for colors, images, etc.
- Good for all types of author and writer websites
The Author Website theme takes the effort out of creating your online presence. Import sample content, tweak it to your liking, and get online fast!
Sunday is a creative free WordPress theme for writers, poets, authors, and bloggers. It features a writing-focused design with stylish typography and custom backgrounds. You can highlight your latest writings elegantly.
Some notable features:
- Minimalist single column layout
- Featured posts slider on homepage
- Choice of serif, sans-serif fonts
- Multiple blog layout options
- Full-width pages with no sidebars
- Basic color customization via CSS
Sunday is great for creative writing blogs and poetry websites. The free version has all the essential features to showcase your literary works online.
Hemingway is a premium WordPress theme designed for book authors and creative writers. Named after the famous novelist Ernest Hemingway, this theme captures his adventurous, poetic spirit.
Some key details about Hemingway:
- Showcase books with grid, list or slider layouts
- Author profile page with biography
- Integrated book review system
- Newsletter subscription via Mailchimp
- Drag and drop SiteOrigin page builder
- Top-notch customization options
Hemingway helps you build an engaging online presence for your fiction or non-fiction books. Strong theme options let you fine-tune the site to your liking.
Writer Ancora is a versatile premium theme for authors, online magazines, review sites, and bloggers. The modern, professional design is ideal for building an authoritative online presence.
Some useful features:
- Showcase books, short stories, poems elegantly
- Flexible custom widgets for content display
- Newspaper/magazine-style column layouts
- Author profile page with contact form
- Social sharing buttons
- Goodreads integration
Writer Ancora works great for multi-author blogs and publications thanks to the advanced user profiles. Top-notch options panel provides extensive customization ability.
The Author Pro Theme is designed specifically for promoting your books online. It lets you display new releases, bestsellers, and other titles elegantly using a choice of layouts.
Some standout features:
- Custom post types for books and other works
- Author profile and bio page templates
- Book review and rating functionality
- Call-to-action buttons for sales pages
- Newsletter subscription via Mailchimp
- Goodreads API integration
Author Pro makes it easy to create an author platform optimized for book promotion. It works well for fiction, non-fiction, poetry, textbooks, and more.
Penscratch is a free WordPress theme designed for writers, authors, journalists, and bloggers. It provides a minimalist, clutter-free environment to showcase your content beautifully.
Some major features:
- Clean, distraction-free layout
- Featured post slider on homepage
- Multiple blog layout options
- Basic color customization via CSS
- Custom backgrounds, fonts, etc.
- SVG icons for social media
The Penscratch theme is beginner-friendly and fast. It eliminates non-essentials and focuses purely on presenting your writing in the best light.
WHMCS Bookstore is a premium WordPress theme designed for selling books online. It transforms your site into a full-fledged online bookstore with elegant book showcases, shopping cart, and eCommerce integrations.
Key features:
- Showcase books with list, grid, and slider layouts
- Smart book filters and navigation
- Shopping cart and checkout pages
- Integrated payment gateways
- Multi-currency support
- Coupons, discounts, and promotions
WHMCS Bookstore works seamlessly with WooCommerce, making it easy to manage inventory, orders, and payments from one dashboard. Your online bookstore will be up and running fast.
The Author WordPress theme helps you create a professional online presence quickly and easily. It is purpose-built for authors, writers, journalists, poets, and bloggers.
Some useful aspects:
- Responsive, mobile-ready design
- Homepage sections for featured posts, books, etc.
- About the author page with biography
- Custom widgets for promotions, book info, etc.
- Basic theme options like colors, backgrounds, etc.
- Cross-browser compatible
With demo content, Author allows you to set up a great looking author site without any coding skills. Just replace sample text and images with your own.
Nina is a beautiful feminine WordPress theme designed for female writers, authors, and bloggers. It features an elegant, charming design that displays your content in style.
Some major features:
- Responsive, retina-ready design
- Multiple homepage layouts
- Custom sections for featured posts, Instagram
- Stylish typography and color schemes
- Built-in affiliate marketing support
- Easy customization via live preview
Nina is perfect for establishing your author brand as a female writer. It works great for fiction, poetry, book reviews, author blogs, and related sites.
Literary is a free WordPress theme designed specifically for author and literature sites. It puts all focus on your writings with minimal distractions and clutter.
Some useful aspects:
- Single column magazine-style layout
- Featured posts slider on homepage
- Optimized for page speed
- Basic color options via CSS
- Multiple blog layout choices
- Custom widgets for recent posts, etc.
- SEO optimized code
Literary is fast, simple, and beginner-friendly. It ensures your stories, books, poems, and articles look fabulous online.
Poet is a free WordPress theme tailored for poets, writers, and authors. It provides a beautiful platform to present your literary works online using stylish typography and custom backgrounds.
Some key features:
- Full-width, single column layout
- Parallax scrolling pages and posts
- Featured content slider on homepage
- Choice of serif and sans-serif fonts
- Options for custom colors and backgrounds
- Basic theme settings via WordPress Customizer
Poet lets your creations shine through with minimal interface elements. The content-first approach makes it great for poetry, fiction, non-fiction writers, and bloggers.
Kindle is a free WordPress theme optimized for books, authors, and online magazines. It uses a newspaper-style layout with multiple columns and featured sections. You can highlight your latest books, writings, and more.
Notable features:
- Magazine/newspaper-style multi-column layout
- Custom widgets for promotions and banners
- Social sharing buttons
- Options for custom menus, fonts, colors, etc.
- Featured posts slider on homepage
- Good for online magazines and newspapers
Kindle is fast, flexible, and very easy to set up. It is an excellent free option for showcasing your books and writings.
Novelist is a clean, versatile WordPress theme for authors, writers, and book reviewers. It uses a classic blog layout with beautiful typography to showcase your content. You can share your latest books, reviews, author journeys, and more.
Some useful features:
- Elegant, distraction-free design
- Custom homepage sections
- Multiple blog layout options
- Author profile page template
- Custom widgets for recent posts, etc.
- Basic customization via WordPress Customizer
Novelist is optimized for speed and keeps site navigation simple. It ensures your content takes center stage on all types of author and book sites.
CheerUp is a delightful free WordPress theme for creatives – authors, writers, poets, designers, and artists. It uses bold typography, custom illustrations, and whimsical elements to add visual interest.
Notable features:
- Playful, engaging design
- Illustrations and artwork on homepage
- Featured posts carousel/slider
- Custom backgrounds and colors
- Multiple blog layout choices
- Basic theme options via Customizer
CheerUp injects creativity, vibrance, and flair into your author website. It ensures your literary works get noticed in style.
The Author Theme from ThemeZee provides a professional template for author websites. It lets you highlight your writings, books, reviews, and blogs elegantly.
Some useful aspects:
- Responsive, retina-ready design
- Homepage sections for books, featured posts, etc.
- Author profile page with social links
- Book post type with reviews/ratings
- Newsletter subscription via Mailchimp
- Advanced customization via live editor
Author comes with detailed documentation to help you set it up. Customize it fully without coding skills using the interactive live editor.
Scribe is a content-focused free WordPress theme for bloggers, authors, writers, and publishers. It uses stylish typography and minimalist design to let your words shine.
Some major features:
- Clean, distraction-free single column layout
- Featured posts slider and promo boxes
- Excerpts for homepage posts
- Multiple blog layout options
- Basic color customization via CSS
- Translation ready with RTL support
Scribe eliminates clutter and ornaments to put all emphasis on your writing. The no-frills design is perfect for in-depth blogging, creative writing, and online magazines.
Reading is a free, mobile-friendly WordPress theme for book review blogs, author websites, and online magazines about literature. It provides a content-rich platform to share your writings.
Some useful features:
- Responsive design looks great on any device
- Newspaper/magazine-style multi-column layout
- Multiple widget areas for promotions
- Featured post carousel on homepage
- Custom menus, colors, backgrounds, etc.
- SEO optimized and fast loading
Reading offers lots of flexibility to showcase all kinds of literary content. The intuitive magazine-style theme options make customization easy.
