For authors and writers
Link in Bio for Authors: Sell Books, Deliver ARCs, Grow the Reader List
Gated and paid links on every plan. No platform branding, ever.
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What your fans see
The short answer
A link in bio for authors is a single mobile page that holds your current book with every buy link, your backlist, your newsletter signup, your events, and your reader magnets, so anyone who finds you on Instagram, TikTok or Threads can reach all of it from the one link a social profile allows.
The part that matters for a working author is capture. ExclusiveLink lets you put a bonus chapter, an ARC signup or a series starter behind an email gate, sell signed copies and ebooks direct with 0% platform fee on Pro, and run the whole page on yourname.com so the audience stays attached to you rather than to a platform.
Last updated September 2026
01Why the usual author bio link leaks
An Amazon link sells the book and loses the reader
The single most common author bio link is a universal book link pointing at retailers. It does one job well and three jobs not at all.
The retailer keeps the customer
When a reader buys through Amazon, Amazon has the email address and you do not. You cannot tell that person book two exists. Every sale you send there is a reader you have to re-acquire from scratch next launch.
Nothing on the page captures an email
Publishing runs on the list. A bio link that offers only buy buttons converts the small slice of visitors ready to spend money today and lets the rest, usually most of them, leave without a trace.
The link is not yours
A page on someone else's domain is a rental. Authors keep the same name for thirty years and change platforms constantly, which is exactly backwards from how most bio tools are built.
02One page, in priority order
What belongs on an author's link in bio
Ordered the way a phone gets used: the current release sits where a thumb lands first, the capture offer sits right under it, and the archive stacks below.
The current book
Cover, one line of hook, and the buy links: Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Bookshop.org, plus a direct signed-copy link if you ship your own. One block, top of page, swapped on release day.
A gated reader magnet
A prequel novella, a deleted scene, a character guide, the first three chapters. Email gate in front, file delivered after. This is the block that turns browsers into a list you own.
Direct sales
Signed paperbacks, bundled ebooks, audio, a workbook for a nonfiction title. Selling direct keeps the margin and the customer record, and a locked link delivers the file the moment payment clears.
Backlist, events, and press
Series reading order, the rest of the catalog, signings and festival dates, podcast appearances, and your speaking or media contact. Useful, but below the two blocks that earn.
Six or seven blocks is the ceiling. Every extra button splits attention, and on a phone anything below the third tap may as well not exist. If you are unsure what to cut, look at per-link click data for a month and remove whatever nobody touches. The mechanics of that are covered on the link in bio analytics page.
03The part that pays
Gate the bonus, keep the reader
Every author already has spare material. Cut scenes, an alternate opening, a recipe from the novel, the research bibliography for the nonfiction book, a short story set between books two and three. Most of it sits unused in a folder or gets posted free on social where it earns nothing and captures nobody.
Put an email gate in front of that same file and the download becomes a subscriber. Better, the specific file they chose tells you something. A reader who takes the series-one prequel is at the start of the funnel. A reader who requests the ARC of book four is already invested and will review on launch day. Same page, two very different follow-up emails.
Paid links work the same way when you sell direct: the buyer pays, the link unlocks, the file downloads, and you keep the customer record. There is no percentage taken out on Pro. The wider gating setup is described on the gated content guide.
What to gate, and what it tells you
| Reader magnet | What the download tells you |
|---|---|
| Prequel or series starter | New reader, start the nurture sequence |
| First three chapters | Considering the current book, close them |
| ARC or review copy | Superfan, ask for a launch-week review |
| Book club discussion kit | Bulk buyer, offer a group video call |
| Workbook or templates | Nonfiction buyer, upsell the course |
Five magnets, five different follow-up emails. The gate is what makes the difference visible.
04Who it is for
Indie authors, traditionally published authors, and authorpreneurs
Self-published and indie authors. You own the rights and the margin, so direct sales are worth real money: a $14.99 signed paperback sold from your own page beats the same book at retail after the platform's cut. Put the buy links, the direct store and the prequel gate on one page and run the whole thing on your author domain.
Traditionally published authors. You cannot change the retail terms, but you can still own the list. Your publisher's marketing ends a few weeks after launch; the newsletter you built through gated bonus content keeps working for the next book, and it is the asset agents and editors ask about.
Series and genre authors. Romance, thriller, cozy mystery and LitRPG readers move fast and read in order. A page with the reading order at the top, a free series starter behind a gate, and preorder links for the next installment does most of the work of a launch plan by itself.
Nonfiction authors, speakers and coaches. The book is the lead magnet for the real business. Put the buy link, the gated worksheet, the speaking inquiry form and the course under one link, and track which post drove which inquiry. That workflow overlaps heavily with the link in bio for coaches setup.
Poets, essayists and newsletter writers. Smaller catalogs, but the same problem: the work is scattered across a literary magazine, a Substack, a chapbook and a reading series. One page under your name pulls it together and makes the whole body of work legible to an editor who is checking you out.
05Being straight with you
Where we fit, and where we do not
Publishing has purpose-built tools and most authors should use several. Here is an honest read on which problem each one solves.
| Tool | Best at | Weak at |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Author Central | Your catalog inside the world's biggest bookstore, free, and where buyers already are | No email capture, no direct sales, no control over the page or the customer |
| Universal book link | One URL that sends each reader to their preferred store in their country | Does only that. No list building, no backlist, no direct sales, no bonus material |
| Ebook delivery services | Sideloading ARCs and reader magnets onto Kindle and Kobo, plus review team management | A delivery back end, not a public page; you still need somewhere to send social traffic |
| Full author website | Everything, eventually, with total design freedom | Costs weeks or money to build, and most of it is never seen by a phone user who taps once |
| Generic link list | Free or cheap, five minutes to set up, fine as a plain list of buttons | No gating, platform branding on cheap tiers, and a percentage taken if you sell |
| ExclusiveLink | The mobile front door: current book, gated magnets, direct sales, your own domain, per-link data, 0% on Pro | Not an email service provider and not a Kindle sideloader. It captures the reader and hands them to what you already use |
Keep Author Central, keep your universal book link inside the page, and keep whatever ARC tool your review team already knows. What most authors are missing sits between the social profile and all of that: one fast page, on a name that belongs to them, that can take an email or a payment. Running it on your own domain is the part that compounds, and the setup is covered on the custom domain link in bio page.
One practical note before you sell direct: if you are traditionally published, your contract governs what you may sell yourself and at what price, and selling print copies means you are handling shipping, sales tax and returns. Selling ebooks and audio direct is far simpler operationally, which is why most authors start there.
06People also ask
Link in bio for authors, answered
What should an author put in their link in bio?
Lead with the current book and its buy links, then a gated reader magnet that trades a bonus chapter or prequel for an email. Under those, put your newsletter, your backlist in reading order, and your events. Six or seven blocks is the practical limit before a phone reader stops scrolling.
What is the best link in bio for authors?
The best one for an author is whichever tool captures an email rather than only forwarding a click. That means gating on your bonus material, a custom domain so the page stays yours across publishers and platforms, and per-link analytics. A plain link list does none of those, which is why authors using one see traffic but no list growth.
Can authors sell books directly from their link in bio?
Yes, and for ebooks and audio it is straightforward: the reader pays, the link unlocks, the file downloads, and you keep the buyer's email. ExclusiveLink takes 0% on Pro, so past standard card processing the money is yours. Print is harder because you are then responsible for packing, postage and returns.
Do authors need a website or is a link in bio enough?
For most working authors a bio page on their own domain is enough for the first few years. It does the two jobs that pay, selling the current book and growing the list, and it loads instantly on a phone. A full site earns its keep later, when you have a deep backlist, a blog, or media that needs somewhere to live.
How do authors get email subscribers from Instagram?
By giving the bio link something worth trading an email for. Post about the book, then send that attention to a page where the visitor can claim a prequel, a deleted scene or the first three chapters in exchange for an address. The gate is what converts an anonymous viewer into a subscriber you can email on launch day.
How much does a link in bio for authors cost?
ExclusiveLink is $19 a month on Creator and $49 on Pro, which adds a custom domain and drops the platform fee to 0%. For an author selling direct, a handful of $14.99 ebooks a month covers Creator. Full plan details are on the pricing page.
Books, ARCs, and the list
Stop handing your readers to a retailer.
Put your book, your bonus chapters and your direct store on one page you own. Claim your link today.