A website for writers that doesn't depend on one platform
A writer's work ends up scattered: articles on publications' sites, a newsletter on one platform, books on retailers, posts on social media. A site on your own domain pulls it together and outlasts any of them. It needs a short bio, your best clips, your books, a way to subscribe and a way to commission you, and it should be easy enough to update that you actually do.
Why your own address matters
Newsletter platforms and publications are good at distribution, and they change: terms move, features go behind paywalls, a magazine folds and its archive disappears. Your name at your own domain is the one link you control. Put it in your bylines, your email signature and your social profiles, and it keeps working wherever your writing lives next. It also gives editors one place to check your range before commissioning you.
What to put on it
- A one-line description of what you write and for whom, at the top. "I write about food systems and farming for UK national papers."
- Selected clips: eight to fifteen pieces, grouped by subject or publication, each with headline, outlet, date and a one-line summary.
- Books, if you have them: cover, a two-sentence pitch and links to buy from several retailers, not just one.
- A newsletter sign-up, with what you send and how often.
- A way to commission or contact you: what you take on, what you don't, and how quickly you reply.
- A bio in the third person, short and long, for editors and event organisers to copy.
Handling clips that might vanish
The awkward truth about clips is that the links break. Publications redesign, paywalls go up, and archives get pruned. A few habits protect your portfolio:
- Save a PDF of every published piece when it goes out, so you can send it on request.
- Write your own summary of each clip, so the entry is useful even if the link dies.
- Check the links a couple of times a year and swap broken ones for an archived copy or remove the link and keep the entry.
- For pieces you hold the rights to, consider republishing them on your own site after any exclusivity period, with a note saying where they first appeared.
Newsletter writers: moving readers home
If most of your readers know you through a newsletter platform, your site is an insurance policy. Collect emails on your own site as well, so the list is yours wherever you send from. Mention the site in each issue's footer. If you ever move platforms, the subscribe link on your site is the one thing that doesn't change.
How Anticode builds it
Describe yourself and what you want on the site, for example "a website for a freelance writer covering food and farming, with selected clips by subject, two books, a newsletter sign-up and a commissions page". The Architect plans it and may suggest a look; Editorial (Geist) is made for text-led sites. Keep clips in a CMS collection with fields for headline, outlet, date, subject, summary and link, and add new ones in the dashboard in a minute; each gets its own page and the collection lists them. A separate About and Contact page are available if you'd like them apart from the home page.
The newsletter form collects an email, and with the Mailchimp or Kit connector each sign-up goes straight to your list; Mailchimp uses double opt-in. If your newsletter runs elsewhere, link to its subscribe page instead. Commissions come through the contact form (name, email, message), saved in your dashboard and emailed to you. Publish on your own domain on a paid plan; the connect a custom domain guide walks through it, and the author website page covers book-led sites in more depth.
Limits
- Not a blogging platform. CMS collections can hold posts, but there are no comments, no RSS feed and no scheduled publishing.
- Not a newsletter sender. Sign-ups go to Mailchimp or Kit, or your list lives on your newsletter platform; Anticode doesn't send issues.
- No paid subscriptions or paywalled posts. Keep those on a platform built for them and link to it.
- No importing an archive from another platform automatically. Add your best pieces to the collection by hand.
Questions people ask
Should a writer's website have a blog?
Only if you'll keep it going. A clips page that's current beats a blog whose last post is two years old.
How many clips should I show?
Enough to show range in what you want to be hired for, usually eight to fifteen. Drop old pieces that no longer reflect your work.
Can I use the site as my newsletter archive?
Yes, by adding issues to a collection by hand. See the newsletter archive guide for the trade-offs.