Middle grade author website example
Taylor Tyng's website doesn't describe fantastical fiction. It is fantastical fiction. An animated image of the author floating in clouds opens the homepage. A lightbox newsletter pop-up catches you mid-scroll. Press quotes from Kirkus and Booklist appear exactly where parents and librarians will find them.
Every choice here is designed to make a young reader lean in and a gatekeeper nod along. That's a hard balance to strike, and this site gets it right.
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Children's author website design
The animated floating author image is the signature move. It's a single design decision that communicates an entire creative sensibility before a word is read. Taylor writes about children who do impossible things. His website shows him doing something impossible. The visual joke lands on the right audience immediately.
Below the animation, the structure is straightforward: press quotes, book sections, author bio, events, news. The lightbox newsletter signup — a pop-up that appears after visitors have engaged with the page — is borrowed from eCommerce and works well for series authors who want to build a list ahead of a next release. The Instagram link in the nav header keeps the site connected to an ongoing creative presence.
The author behind the website
Taylor Tyng came to writing after careers in music, design and software. As a lifelong dyslexic, he spent decades surrounded by storytelling without imagining he might write it himself. His debut, Clara Poole and the Long Way Round, was called 'an engrossing and inventive flight through the skies' by Kirkus and earned comparisons to Jules Verne and Roald Dahl from Booklist. The sequel, Clara Poole and the Wrong Way Up, followed. His next book, Sprout, is due from Random House Children's Books.
He lives outside Boston in a 1700s farmhouse with his wife, two daughters and a miniature Australian Shepherd. The About page is, appropriately, one of the most interesting on any author site — a favorites list covering books, films, a Roald Dahl quote and an enthusiastic note about egg sandwiches.
Who this website is a good example for
Children's book and middle grade authors. If you write for young readers, your website should feel like your books. This site proves that the spirit of the work — playful, imaginative, a little unruly — translates directly into web design decisions.
Authors with a design or creative background. Taylor's years in advertising and software show in every visual choice. If you have skills in other creative fields, your author site is the right place to apply them.
Series authors building toward a next release. The lightbox newsletter signup is a deliberate tool for list-building between books. Getting readers onto an email list while they're engaged with the site is worth far more than a passive subscribe button at the bottom of the page.
Children's author website design ideas
Let one unexpected visual element carry the homepage. The floating author animation is one thing. Not three things. A single distinctive visual idea, done well, is more memorable than a page full of effects trying to compete with each other.
Place press quotes where gatekeepers will find them. Parents, teachers and librarians make a lot of book decisions for young readers. Kirkus, Booklist and Publishers Weekly carry real weight with those audiences. Put those quotes near the top, not buried in a press section.
Use a pop-up newsletter for series books. A lightbox that appears after someone scrolls converts better than a static subscribe form. For middle grade and children's authors, a list of engaged readers is your most valuable asset before a new release.
Make your About page a genuine window into how you think. Taylor's favorites section, books, films, quotes, things we need more of, reveals more about the author than any conventional bio paragraph. Readers who are curious about you will spend time on that page. Give them something real.
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