the best book websites

15 Of The Best Book Recommendation Sites To Find Your Next Book

Abigail Clarkin

Abigail can often be found holding a book in one hand and an ice cream cone in the other. When she is not devouring stories (or dessert), Abigail trains for marathons and writes poetry about growing up with eight brothers and sisters. She enjoys working in marketing for a real estate developer and creating Instagram content for fun (@marathonandmunch) about all the tasty eats found in Providence, RI.

View All posts by Abigail Clarkin

At some point, you’ve likely encountered a long, bleak patch when your reserve of recommended books ran dry. A few years ago, there was a stretch when I didn’t have people in my life who understood my taste in books. I’d finish a fantastic series and then be disappointed when I realized that there was no rebound read to help me recover from the last series. Thankfully for the readers like us who are still nursing book hangovers, there are personalized book recommendation websites across the internet to save us.

If you have run out of books you’re interested in reading, look through these fifteen book recommendation sites.

Subscriptions

Book Riot has its very own subscription service called Tailored Book Recommendations . TBR is made up of staff who dedicate their time to carefully tailoring book recommendations for readers based on what they like to read personally. Sign up for either a recommendations-only level subscription or a hardcover level subscription (which includes having three books mailed to you).

If you’d like free and discounted reading deals sent straight to your email, sign up for BookBub. Based on the genres you choose when signing up, BookBub will send personalized recommendations of ebooks that can be purchased for a reasonable rate. Themed lists are also available on their site.

22 Books Coming in 2018 Recommended by Librarians https://t.co/Sil3Wvs6Lh @tarawestover @thuglibrarian @CommerceLibrary @randyribay @alicewriterland @anglophilelibr pic.twitter.com/Uu6cIJuuxx — BookBub (@BookBub) March 2, 2018

3. Library-Specific Sites

If you’re a patron at a large library, there’s a chance that your library offers personalized book recommendation services delivered via email. A few libraries currently offering this service include New York Public Library , Denver Public Library , and Sacramento Public Library . Ask your librarians to see if this is a resource for you as well.

Themed Lists

4. epic reads.

Epic Reads is one of the largest young adult fiction communities online. Along with their endless energy and passion for YA, one reason for their popularity is their interactive quizzes, lengthy lists, and colorful book charts that point readers towards their next favorite read. A few years ago when I met a reading slump, I worked my way through much of their amazing Young Adult Retelling Chart . Many of my favorites were found through this resource.

5. Penguin Teen

The Penguin Teen website features book lists, news about young adult authors, and a helpful book suggestions tool that focuses on genre specific book recommendations.

6. Reading Rockets

If you’re looking for children’s books for the kids in your life (or for the child in you), check out Reading Rockets. Reading Rockets provides specific, lengthy themed lists for young readers. With list topics ranging from “Books About Kids Who Find Reading Hard” to “That’s So Gross,” you are sure to find a book for any occasion. This site can be a wonderful resource for teachers, librarians, and educators.

Tor is the online hub for fantasy and science fiction. Check out their many lists to find stories that will transport you to fictional lands.

A project from Netgalley, Bookish offers a wide range of book lists, including fiction, audiobook, and young adult. What makes this site stand out is these are all brand new releases or forthcoming titles, so you can get your library holds or preorders in early.

All of the recommendations on Olmenta are submitted by passionate readers. The site allows you to peruse titles by genre or category, and it’s a fun way to let someone else pick a book for you (without needing to do any real work on your end). You can submit your own suggestions, too.

10. Shepherd

Who could offer better recommendation lists than authors, experts, and passionate readers of books on aa topic? Shepherd offers a wide range of book lists, including everything from best YA books about immigration to novels where something queer’s afoot. In the near future, Shepherd will make it possible to sort lists by genre, as well, so you could find books set in China that are romance, nonfiction, YA, or otherwise.

Made-For-You on the Spot

11. whichbook.

On Whichbook, book recommendations are calculated by one out of two categories: 1. Mood, or 2. Character, setting, and plot. The reader has the choice to use sliders on the “Mood” section to rate what they’re looking for in a book. Do you want a book that is completely happy? Or on the border between safe and disturbing? There is also the option to select your desired character characteristics, the story setting, and/or plot points that you’d like included in the recommendation.

Maybe AI knows the perfect book for you. Readow starts by asking you some simple questions about recent reads and uses technology to pair you with your next great book.

13. What Should I Read Next

14. readgeek.

Registering is optional when using Readgeek to receive book recommendations. In order to get ahold of book suggestions, simply rate a few books that you’ve read on a 1–10 scale. After you finish rating as many as you’d like, Readgeek calculates which books you’d most likely enjoy based on your previous ratings.

15. Literature Map

At Literature Map, you can type in an author’s name and then view similar authors that other readers are enjoying. The site generates a map that displays author names in relative states of closeness. The closer the authors, the more likely other readers enjoyed both.

Another simple but fun AI-driven recommendation site is Gnooks. Pop in your three favorite writers and you’ll get a recommended author to try. It doesn’t end there, though: you can rate whether or not you like the author suggested for even more recommendations.

17. Goodreads

Goodreads provides a space for people to track their reading, write reviews, and view books, lists, and authors that align with their interests. When creating an account on Goodreads, the reader has the opportunity to create original book lists. One of my favorites is the “Want to Read” option: every time you view a book description that sounds interesting, you can save the book to a list that is dedicated to books you plan to tackle later. For those of you who are looking to build a never ending To-Be-Read list, Goodreads is a perfect place to start.

18. Narrative Muse

Are you interested in reading books specifically written by underrepresented voices? Narrative Muse serves as a recommendation site for those who are looking for both films and books created by women and nonbinary writers. Create an account to be matched with books that fall under these categories.

19. The Storygraph

Billed as an alternative to Goodreads, The StoryGraph is a book tracking site, a community making site, and offers book recommendations. You can import your Goodreads information to The StoryGraph, and both the website and app have clean but visually appealing interfaces. Here’s our full StoryGraph review .

20. r/books

Numbering at almost 21 million subscribers, Reddit’s main book subreddit is a haven for book discussion and recommendations. Want to know what Reddit users across the massive site are reading? There’s Reddit Reads for that.

Still looking for more ways to find your next favorite book? Take this quiz on what you should read next to receive an immediate recommendation. If you’re willing to look for suggestions in places off of the internet, check out 31 Ways to Find the Best Book Recommendations .

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20 Great Book Websites for Finding What to Read Next

I’m writing this list of the best websites about books for me five years ago. Back then I was deep in the beginning of learning about book world and would have welcomed a list of the great book websites to help me learn what to read next. Getting to know the publishing industry is a lifelong process of book discovery, and the Internet makes the literary community more accessible and inclusive than ever. These 20 book websites (plus a few extra way down at the end) are the places I go to find out about new books being published, to deepen my understanding of literature and reading, to get book recommendations, to grapple with critical book reviews, and more. I hope you’ll find your next favorite book through this list of great book websites to grow as a reader.

20 Best Book Websites for Book Recommendations, Lists, and More

(1) amazon book review.

Love it or hate it, but Amazon is a quality place to go to find out about new books. The Omnivoracious Amazon Book Review is a flagship for good book content, with recommendations from celebrities and other notable readers being a unique feature. I love the author interviews they have on their site, with writers like George R. R. Martin , Holly Black , and Charlie Jane Anders recently stopping by for a chat, often on the podcast. Amazon’s Best Books of the Month list is one I check religiously for new books to add to my TBR. They often surprise me with little-known reads I wouldn’t otherwise have on my radar (even if I think they make YA an afterthought), which is why I rate them highly for “new book discovery,” meaning a place where you can learn about books to read.

Strengths: Author interviews, previews of new releases, lists of recent award winners, podcast, new book discovery

(2) Book Bub

When Book Bub first came on the scene about five years ago, I signed up for their signature daily newsletter with hot deals on eBooks. I scored a lot of great books to load up my Kindle, but I didn’t really follow the site for a few years as I wasn’t reading too much on my eReader. Now they’re everywhere, moving beyond the email list to create original bookish content. It’s now totally expected to have one of their many comprehensive book lists pop up in a search for new books. The only downside that I see is that now you have to have an account to view their book lists or other blog content . I do like how they track book recommendations from authors like Stephen King, Jill Shalvis, and Nora Roberts.

Strengths: Book list articles, book recommendations, eBook deals, new book discovery

(3) Book Marks

One of the sites associated with Literary Hub or “Lit Hub,” which I write up as #12 below, Book Marks is the place to go if you want to find book reviews of the latest big books. Book Marks’ specialty is aggregating adult literary fiction and nonfiction book reviews and then assigning them a score card so you can see how many reviewers gave the book a Rave, Positive, Mixed, or Pan. Without a doubt, if you want to find out the critical consensus on a book before buying it or checking it out of the library, Book Marks should be your first stop. I also like how the site regularly interviews book critics to ask them more about their bookish lives. The site also reprints classic book reviews.

Strengths: Book reviews, coverage of new books, literary criticism, book news, essays

(4) Book Riot

Sure, I might be a little biased to include Book Riot in my list of the best book websites since I write for them , but the fact is, Book Riot is one of the leading destinations on the web for book lovers and certainly one of the top best sites for new books. Book Riot’s got all areas of the reading life covered and does an especially good job at highlighting diverse authors, featuring all genres, and amplifying thoughtful and at times controversial opinions about books, publishing, and reading. The annual Read Harder Challenge pushes readers beyond their comfort zone with categories like “A book by an AOC (Author of Color) set in or about space” and “A novel by a trans or nonbinary author,” and a thriving community of challenge takers trade book recommendations and ideas. Book Riot’s many book podcasts are also must-listens for readers wanting to learn about new books and what to read next.

Strengths: Diversity, essays, book list articles, all-genre coverage, podcasts, book news, reading challenge, new book discovery

(5) Brain Pickings

Looking for engrossing essays about books that will push you emotionally and intellectually? You’ll definitely want to stop by Brain Pickings, the literary love child of Maria Popova, a blogger who decided to create an “inventory of the meaningful life” more than a decade ago and share it with other readers. Popova’s one-woman show is an intensely personal exploration of art and ideas, with coverage of children’s literature alongside philosophy, literary fiction, and creativity. Sign up for her newsletters to get a hit of thought-provoking writing a few times a week, guaranteed to break up your mundane day. Popova is author of two books: Figuring (2019), which highlights the hidden legacy of influential female thinkers, scientists, and creators, and A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader (2018), a book for younger readers that collects essays about reading from leading creative thinkers like Neil Gaiman, Shonda Rhimes, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Elizabeth Gilbert.

Strengths: Literary criticism, essays, backlist coverage, newsletter

(6) Bustle Books

The website Bustle is designed for the modern woman, and the ample literary coverage on their standout Bustle Books channel reflects that. Here readers will find profiles and interviews with female authors, lists that focus on feminism, and personal essays that explore the experience of being a female reader in today’s world. Bustle Books is known for provocative articles challenging the publishing world to be more diverse and more female inclusive. You’ll also find fun articles, too, about books, TV and film adaptations, and books in pop culture.

Strengths: Feminism, diversity, essays, book list articles, all-genre coverage, new book discovery

(7) CrimeReads

Like Book Marks, CrimeReads is a branch of Literary Hub (discussed in #12 below). This book website has a niche focus on “crime” in literature: through true crime, mysteries, thrillers, fiction about crimes in general. On CrimeReads, you’ll find essays about writing and reading crime fiction, appreciation of and interviews with crime fiction authors both well known and underrated, reading lists for crime fiction and nonfiction, and coverage of crime in TV, movies, and other media. CrimeReads also has essays and original reporting on true crime. If you’re a mystery and thriller lover, appreciate a good courtroom novel, or just love reading about true crimes stories, you’ll definitely want to head over to CrimeReads and marathon read their quality content.

Strengths: Mystery/thriller/suspense, true crime, nonfiction, the writing life, book list articles, essays, literary criticism, new book discovery

(8) Electric Literature

With its signature tagline of “Reading Into Everything,” Electric Literature hosts an eclectic mix of bookish coverage, ranging from highbrow literary criticism to horoscopes for writers and everything in between. A hallmark of Electric Literature is a focus on reading more diversely, and a regular feature called Read More Women asks writers to recommend books by women (a response to male authors who only recommend books by fellow male authors). One thing I love about Electric Literature is how often they touch on writing and the life of being a storyteller. (I’m a bit biased because I’ve written for Electric Literature and consider it one of my proudest accomplishments to have my writing on there.) Electric Literature also publishes original fiction in its literary magazine , so keep your eyes peeled for some of today’s best authors and new and emerging voices alike converging there.

Strengths: Literary criticism, diversity, essays, author interviews, the writing life, all-genre coverage, book news, book list articles, new book discovery

(9) Epic Reads

Oh, Epic Reads: what started as an arm of HarperCollins publishing house has turned into the go-to destination for YA book fans. Readers of young adult literature love Epic Reads for the humorous tone, creative article ideas (bookish horoscopes, fan reactions to plot twists, book title or song lyric? challenges, etc.), addictive quizzes, and, of course, the many TBR-exploding lists. You’ll also find book trailers, cover reveals, and details on the latest books and tour dates for YA authors. Even though Epic Reads is part of HarperCollins, they don’t only put the spotlight on books through their publishing house. Epic Reads is simply and purely about celebrating YA literature, no matter whose imprint is stamped on the book jacket. So often YA can be a heavy genre, with books tackling serious themes, but Epic Reads always reminds me that reading ( and YA) can and should be fun, too.

Strengths: Young Adult (YA) books, quizzes, book list articles, new book discovery

(10) Five Books

Five Books has a niche formula and does it well: a list of five great book recommendations. This powerhouse book website solicits a fascinating mix of today’s most interesting, creative, and thoughtful “Experts” —like Mary Beard , Madhur Jaffrey , Mia Farrow , and Jo Nesbø —to offer five book recommendations on a specific topic, such as “The Best Prose Poetry,” “Congress,” and “Zombies.” An additional nice feature of Five Books is the ability to make your own lists and share your expertise. The site lives up to its tagline of “The Best Books on Everything” as you’ll find as wide a variety of book lists and book coverage as anywhere on the web.

Strengths: Book list articles, book recommendations, new book discovery

(11) Goodreads

In the 9 years that I’ve been a member of Goodreads, I’ve seen the site change a lot—for the better. Goodreads is perhaps the most essential website for readers as it allows you to track the books you’ve read, want to read, and are reading and add custom shelves to sort books. Connect with other readers in groups and follow authors for updates and exclusive information. The Goodreads lists are a rabbit hole to tumble down and find out more about books. I’ve found that the user-generated reviews have also improved over the last few years, going from one-line snarky hot takes to more thoughtful reviews. Plus they are home of the popular Goodreads Reading Challenge, an annual self-challenge to set a goal of how many books you want to read that year. (I’ve been known to argue against the challenge on this blog and offer alternatives to the Goodreads challenge , yet what can I say… I do it almost every year.) Even the Goodreads blog is getting better at publishing creative articles about the bookish life.

Strengths: Community, reading data tool, book list articles, user-generated reviews, reading challenge

(12) Largehearted Boy

Largehearted Boy is a book and music blog established in 2002 by David Gutowski and an essential corner of the literary internet. Obsessed with best-books-of-the-year lists? Make sure you bookmark Largehearted Boy, which compiles an index of the best-of lists you can peruse till your heart’s desire. Check out last year’s “Online ‘Best Books of 2018’ Book Lists” for a TBR-buckling example. (Full disclosure: I’ve submitted my best-of lists from this blog before and been included.) Also great for book discovery is the weekly “Books of the Week” that Montreal bookstore Drawn & Quarterly hosts on Largehearted Boy. What I love about Largehearted Boy is the thoughtful and honest book reviews, the blending of music and literature with the “Book Notes,” where an author matches a mix tape to their new book. Like Brainpickings, Largehearted Boy traces a very personal experience of inquiry into being a reader, writer, listener, and human being to provoke our own consideration. It’s an honor to share in it.

Strengths: Book list articles, author interviews, essays, book reviews, new book discovery

(13) Literary Hub (a.k.a. “LitHub”)

The parent site of the aforementioned Book Marks and CrimeReads, Literary Hub pumps out new book content for readers on the daily. I also suggest signing up for the LitHub newsletters as they come out each day with a summary of new posts not just on LitHub but elsewhere on the Internet. The weekly edition is a must-read, too, and it’s where I get many of the interesting bookish links I post on the Facebook page for this blog . On LitHub, you’ll find an endless stream of great writing about books, including essays on writing and reading, author interviews, highbrow intellectual literary criticism, book lists, and new fiction. Browsing LitHub is like reading a digital version of a literary magazine (like The New York Review of Books ) that you actually want to read. Unquestionably LitHub’s specialty is literary fiction, though they do also cover various genres, too. However, you likely won’t find much YA and children’s literature coverage on LitHub, excluding when they come up in personal essays about reading or writing kidlit.

Strengths: Literary criticism, literary fiction, nonfiction, essays, book list articles, author interviews, new book discovery, book news

(14) The Millions

Established in 2003, The Millions is one of the oldest book websites around, and over the past 15 plus years it has built up a reputation for being a gathering point for intellectually curious readers. Head over to The Millions if you want to check out the latest buzzy literary releases, hear more from authors about how they conceptualized and wrote their new book, discover the most anticipated books published in the month ahead, and find out what books were nominated for awards. The strength of The Millions is definitely literary fiction and nonfiction. Two of the best recurring features on The Millions are the annual Year in Reading , in which notable creatives and thinkers share a little about their year in reading, and The Millions’ Most Anticipated: The Great First-Half Year 20XX Preview, a TBR-toppling list of the most anticipated books of the year. This list comes out in two parts: January for the First-Half and July for the Second-Half. (Example: here’s the First-Half of 2018 Preview and Second-Half .) You’ll want to comb through these articles with your TBR ready, and you can find all The Millions lists on Goodreads for easy record keeping. I look forward to them every year as traditions, almost holidays, on the bookish calendar.

Strengths: Literary criticism, literary fiction, nonfiction, essays, author interviews, book list articles, previews of new releases, book news

(15) The New Yorker ‘s Books Section

Arguably the best literary magazine in America, The New Yorker is also a flourishing website with tons of great book content, most of it found on The Page-Turner blog . On The New Yorker ‘s Books channel, book reviews, publishing news, essays and articles from the magazine about writing and literature, and New Yorker staff book recommendations. Note that you’ll need a subscription to view more than a few articles a month. I admit I’m a proud subscriber of the magazine; I never recycle the issues, and they take over every corner of the house like an invasive species, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Strengths: Literary criticism, essays, literary fiction, nonfiction, author interviews, book reviews, book recommendations, book news

(16) The New York Times Book Review Online

It would hardly be a list of the best book websites without including The New York Times ‘ Book section. After all, The New York Times Book Review is one of the most prestigious and influential periodicals in publishing, and landing a coveted spot on its bestseller lists is just about every writer’s dream. Fortunately, the Review ‘s virtual presence is a worthy digital companion to the supplement you’ll find in Saturday’s paper. Online, you’ll get the same great book reviews, essays, and humor sketches, plus some podcasts going inside the Book Review and publishing that week that are seriously worth checking out. Every week I look for the New & Noteworthy feature, which highlights new releases you should put on your radar, and the Editors’ Choice: New Books We Recommend This Week, a weekly list that includes extracts from the critics’ reviews that’ll make you want to read these fresh books. One of my favorite recurring series in the Book Review is the By the Book interviews with writers, thinkers, and creatives, which discuss the bookish life and always includes interesting books to add to your TBR. You can find all of these digitized and uploaded weekly .

Strengths: Book reviews, book recommendations, author interviews, literary criticism, book news, podcasts, previews of new releases, new book discovery

(17) NPR Books

National Public Radio (NPR) has always been ear candy for readers, but now you can get all their great book programming online in one spot. The NPR Books site collects all the author interviews, book reviews, and stories about the reading life that you’ll get on the radio. If you’ve ever had the experience I have where you’ve gotta turn off the car in the middle of a story and you don’t have a pen or paper ready to record a book title or author name, they’ve got you covered. Beyond audio programming, NPR Books has a solid stream of book reviews and feature articles about writing and reading with a focus on diverse authors. Breadth and depth of coverage is a signature of NPR, which is why you’ll find articles about children’s books alongside graphic novels and comics and highbrow literary fiction. NPR Books is known for one more thing: the annual end-of-the-year book concierge . This behemoth of a book recommendation machine is a slick book discovery tool to find more than 300 of the best books of the year. Yes, I said 300. I’ve found so many great books this way, ones that were otherwise overlooked in best-of-the-year lists, and the methods to sort by what you’re in the mood for make this giant list manageable, with some seriously high-quality UX. Oh, yeah: you’ll be working through that list for the rest of the upcoming year.

Strengths: Book reviews, diversity, book list articles, author interviews, book news, all-genre coverage, new book discovery

(18) Publishers Weekly

If it’s publishing industry news you want, Publishers Weekly should be your first stop. Publishers Weekly (PW) is packed with insider-y gossip-y content about what’s hitting the shelves now and soon. Writers will want to check out PW’s articles to get an idea of what agents are buying and what trends are moving through books. I also sometimes mine the announcements that publishers make of new and upcoming books to get ready for upcoming releases and add them to my calendar.

Strengths: Book news, publishing industry information, book list articles, previews of new releases, new book discovery

(19) Read Brightly

Kid lit fans, this one is for you. Read Brightly is an online children’s literature website that’s part of Penguin Random House. Read Brightly is an excellent resource for readers of children’s literature and the adults who help children learn to love reading. One great feature of this website is the way each article is broken down by reading levels, a key distinction that takes the guessing game out of trying to connect children to the most age and reading level appropriate books. A flurry of articles celebrate kid lit, with creative and diverse book lists around categories like “Move Over, Rover: 10 Picture Books That Feature Unusual Pets.” Each month, Read Brightly hosts a reading challenge for kids designed to help them stretch themselves and discover new books. Like Epic Reads, this book website is hosted by a publishing house but features books from all parts of the children’s literature publishing world. Read Brightly truly lives up to its motto “Raise Kids Who Love to Read” as that passion for literacy and raising bookworms comes through in every story they write.

Strengths: Children’s literature, Young Adult (YA) literature, book list articles, previews of new releases, reading challenges, all-genre coverage, book discovery

Last but definitely not least, Tor is the go-to destination for science fiction and fantasy readers on the literary web. Tor has long published books, but their online presence takes their mission to highlight great voices in speculative fiction and pushes it further, creating a space for a community of SFF fans to grow and thrive. On Tor, you’ll read honest book reviews that are fair and critical of the books and authors in question, original fiction, lists of books, personal essays, eBook deals, SFF industry news, and coverage of SFF-related media, like Game of Thrones . What I like about this site is the freedom that Tor gives its bloggers and staff writers to really speak their minds about books. You might find articles about super-super niche sub-sub-sub genres you didn’t even know were a thing, but you definitely won’t find BS here. This makes Tor a leading place to go for readers who want to dig into the issues behind books.

Strengths: Science fiction, fantasy, SFF related TV shows and movies, book news, book reviews, essays, book list articles, book discovery

More great book websites

Here are a few other book websites you’ll definitely want to check out but didn’t make the full list (because I ran out of time!): Atlas Obscura’s Books Section , Catapult , The New York Review of Books , and Vox.com’s Books Section .

What are some of your favorite book websites? What did I miss? Leave a comment!

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Sarah S. Davis is the founder of Broke by Books, a blog about her journey as a schizoaffective disorder bipolar type writer and reader. Sarah's writing about books has appeared on Book Riot, Electric Literature, Kirkus Reviews, BookRags, PsychCentral, and more. She has a BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Library and Information Science from Clarion University, and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

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The 13 Best Book Review Sites and Book Rating Sites

Knowing where to buy books can be challenging. So, here are the best book review sites to help you avoid buying books that you'll regret reading.

Nobody likes to spend money on a new book only to face that overwhelming feeling of disappointment when it doesn't live up to your expectations. The solution is to check out a few book review sites before you hit the shops. The greater the diversity of opinions you can gather, the more confidence you can have that you'll enjoy the title.

Which book review and book rating sites are worth considering? Here are the best ones.

1. Goodreads

Goodreads is arguably the leading online community for book lovers. If you want some inspiration for which novel or biography to read next, this is the book review site to visit.

There's an endless number of user-generated reading lists to explore, and Goodreads itself publishes dozens of "best of" lists across a number of categories. You can do a book search by plot or subject , or join book discussions and reading groups with thousands of members.

You can participate in the community by adding your own rankings to books you've read and leaving reviews for other people to check out. Occasionally, there are even bonus events like question and answer sessions with authors.

2. LibraryThing

LibraryThing is the self-proclaimed largest book club in the world. It has more than 2.3 million members and is one of the best social networking platforms for book lovers .

With a free account, you can add up to 200 books to your library and share them with other users. But it's in the other areas where LibraryThing can claim to be one of the best book review sites.

Naturally, there are ratings, user reviews, and tags. But be sure to click on the Zeitgeist tab at the top of the page. It contains masses of information, including the top books by rating, by the number of reviews, by authors, and loads more.

3. Book Riot

Book Riot is a blog. It publishes listicles on dozens of different topics, many of which review the best books in a certain genre. To give you an idea, some recent articles include Keeping Hoping Alive: 11 Thrilling YA Survival Stories and The Best Historical Fiction Books You’ve Never Heard Of .

Of course, there's also plenty of non-reading list content. If you have a general affinity for literature, Book Riot is definitely worth adding to the list of websites you browse every day.

Bookish is a site that all members of book clubs should know about. It helps you prep for your next meeting with discussion guides, book quizzes, and book games. There are even food and drink suggestions, as well as playlist recommendations.

But the site is more than just book club meetings. It also offers lots of editorial content. That comes in the form of author interviews, opinion essays, book reviews and recommendations, reading challenges, and giveaways.

Be sure to look at the Must-Reads section of the site regularly to get the latest book reviews. Also, it goes without saying that the people behind Bookish are book lovers, too. To get a glimpse of what they’re reading, check out their Staff Reads articles.

5. Booklist

Booklist is a print magazine that also offers an online portal. Trusted experts from the American Library Association write all the book reviews.

You can see snippets of reviews for different books. However, to read them in full, you will need to subscribe. An annual plan for this book review site costs $184.95 per year.

6. Fantasy Book Review

Fantasy Book Review should be high on the list for anyone who is a fan of fantasy works. The book review site publishes reviews for both children's books and adults' books.

It has a section on the top fantasy books of all time and a continually updated list of must-read books for each year. You can also search through the recommended books by sub-genres such as Sword and Sorcery, Parallel Worlds, and Epic Fantasy.

7. LoveReading

LoveReading is one of the most popular book review sites in the UK, but American audiences will find it to be equally useful.

The site is divided into fiction and non-fiction works. In each area, it publishes weekly staff picks, books of the month, debuts of the month, ebooks of the month, audiobooks of the month, and the nationwide bestsellers. Each book on every list has a full review that you can read for free.

Make sure you also check out their Highlights tab to get book reviews for selected titles of the month. In Collections , you'll also find themed reading lists such as World War One Literature and Green Reads .

Kirkus has been involved in producing book reviews since the 1930s. This book review site looks at the week's bestselling books, and provides lengthy critiques for each one.

As you'd expect, you'll also find dozens of "best of" lists and individual book reviews across many categories and genres.

And while you're on the site, make sure you click on the Kirkus Prize section. You can look at all the past winners and finalists, complete with the accompanying reviews of their books.

Although Reddit is a social media site, you can use it to get book reviews of famous books, or almost any other book for that matter! Reddit has a Subreddit, r/books, that is dedicated to book reviews and reading lists.

The subreddit has weekly scheduled threads about a particular topic or genre. Anyone can then chip in with their opinions about which books are recommendable. Several new threads are published every day, with people discussing their latest discovery with an accompanying book rating or review.

You'll also discover a weekly recommendation thread. Recent threads have included subjects such as Favorite Books About Climate Science , Literature of Indigenous Peoples , and Books Set in the Desert . There’s also a weekly What are you Reading? discussion and frequent AMAs.

For more social media-like platforms, check out these must-have apps for book lovers .

10. YouTube

YouTube is not the type of place that immediately springs to mind when you think of the best book review sites online.

Nonetheless, there are several engaging YouTube channels that frequently offer opinions on books they've read. You’ll easily find book reviews of famous books here.

Some of the most notable book review YouTube channels include Better Than Food: Book Reviews , Little Book Owl , PolandBananasBooks , and Rincey Reads .

Amazon is probably one of your go-to site when you want to buy something. If you don’t mind used copies, it’s also one of the best websites to buy second-hand books .

Now, to get book reviews, just search and click on a title, then scroll down to see the ratings and what others who have bought the book are saying. It’s a quick way to have an overview of the book’s rating. If you spot the words Look Inside above the book cover, it means you get to preview the first few pages of the book, too!

Regardless of the praises or criticisms you have heard from other book review sites, reading a sample is the most direct way to help you gauge the content’s potential and see whether the author’s writing style suits your tastes.

12. StoryGraph

StoryGraph is another good book review site that's worth checking out. The book rating is determined by the site's large community of readers. Key in the title of a book you're interested in and click on it in StoryGraph's search results to have an overall view of its rating.

Each book review provides information on the moods and pacing of the story. It also indicates whether the tale is plot or character-driven, what readers feel about the extent of character development, how lovable the characters generally are, and the diversity of the cast.

13. London Review of Books

The London Review of Books is a magazine that covers a range of subjects such as culture, literature, and philosophy. Part of its content includes amazingly detailed book reviews. If you feel that most modern book reviews are too brief for your liking, the London Review of Books should suit you best.

You'll gain insight into the flow and themes of the story, as well as a more thorough picture of the events taking place in the book.

Read Book Reviews Before You Buy

The book review sites we've discussed will appeal to different types of readers. Some people will be more comfortable with the easy-to-interpret book rating systems; others will prefer extensive reviews written by experienced professionals.

Although it’s easy to be tempted by a gorgeous book cover, it’s always best to have a quick look at the book reviews before actually buying a copy. This way, you can save your money and spend it on the books that you’ll be proud to display on your shelves for a long time. And check out recommendations, as well, to help you find what's worth reading.

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The Last Bloodcarver

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The Top 20 Online Bookstores (and all the rest)

The internet can be a fantastic resource for avid readers, but it’s important to know which online stores are the most reputable and suitable when it comes to buying new and used books online. So, we did the research for you! Here are the 20 best websites to use next time you shop for paperback and hardcover books online in the US (See UK and Canada book sites below):

• AbeBooks . This site has millions of new and used books for sale, including many signed books by famous authors. It also has an ISBN search engine for textbooks, lots of 50% to 60% off sales, and also sells rare books and art books.
• Book Depository . This site features both the latest titles and a “bargain shop” where you can find books at extremely cheap prices. But no matter what you buy, you still get free shipping, no matter where you are in the world!
• Alibris . Alibris collaborates with several independent booksellers and collectors–so if you need a rare book or a hard-to-find edition of a textbook, you have a great chance at finding it here.
• BookOutlet . Book Outlet prides itself on ridicoulously low prices. How do they do it? Many of their books are excess inventory (also know as remainders) that they get directly from publishers at a big discount. Book Outlet offers free shipping to US and CA for orders over $35.
• Kidsbooks . KidsBooks guarantees the best price for the books you’re looking for – lower than Amazon’s. With the inventory coming from publisher overstock, the books are all in great condition. Kidsbooks offers free shipping in the US and Canada for order overs $35 and $45 respectively!
• Walmart . Walmart sells only new books, but they’re all at comparatively low prices than other retailers. They also have a huge variety of products on their online store.
• Booktopia . Australia’s largest online bookstore is guaranteed to have plenty of options to satisfy readers of all ages, interests, and needs.
• Thrift Books . Thrift Books offers free shipping in the US, has cheap used books, and the company is dedicated to being environmentally friendly!
• Books A Million . This bookstore was started over a hundred years ago, and it’s still going strong. As one of the largest book retailers in the US, you can find bargain books, weekly deals, and other various deals on the numerous titles this store offers. They often have a interesting selection of remnant books (books that for whatever reason did not sell well and are offered at 75-90% off the original price.)
• Amazon Books . This one probably doesn’t even need an introduction; Amazon is the world’s largest and most popular retailer and has an enormous selection of novels, textbooks, Kindle books, audio books, and second-hand books more.
• Barnes & Noble . You can find everything from children’s books to young adult novels to popular fiction here, as well as plenty of gift options for the other bookworms in your life. They only sell new books, no second-hand books.
• Better World Books . Whether you want an eBook, a non-fiction biography, or a fantasy novel, you can feel good about your purchase when you shop here; for every purchase you make, this store will donate a book to a person in need!
• Biblio . Biblio has a collection of over 100 million new and used books in stock and prides itself on working with booksellers from around the globe to create one of the most unique online bookstores on the internet.
• BookMooch . Although this isn’t necessarily a bookstore, it’s a fantastic site to get books for free. You can easily trade your old novels for new to you second hand books. The site has thousands of people with plenty of books to trade.
• Book People . With frequent flash sales, special offers, discounts, and other deals, you can find a wide variety of books at inexpensive prices at this UK-based website.
• Target  This big box store actually has a solid selection of popular books online, many of which sell for less then retail cost.
• Costco . Most people don’t think of books when they think of Costco, but this wholesale retailer is a great place to buy book sets and children’s books at high discounts. You will not find new books sold for a lower price than in the Costco Warehouse. Many independent bookstores have been known to buy some of their books from Costco because it’s less expensive then buying them wholesale directly from the publisher.
• Daedalus Books . This site is best known for selling new books (classics, novels, best-sellers, hard-covers and remaindered titles)  for incredibly cheap prices. Cheaper even than amazon.com.
• eBay . Thousands of new and used books are available on eBay for extremely low prices, many of which have free shipping. Whether you need a new cookbook, textbook, magazine, or collectible book, be sure to check eBay first!
• Powell’s Books . This bookstore chain originating from Portland has an array of new and used books, specializing in indie titles and books by new authors.
• The Strand . Every book on this site is sold at discounted rates, including new titles, and you can even pre-order novels that haven’t been released yet.
• Hudson Book Sellers . Hudson Books has physical locations in just about every major airport in the US. And here’s where you can buy books online from them.

Top Online Bookstores in the UK

• Abebooks UK
• Wordery . This outstanding website rivals Amazon by offering both free worldwide shipping and over 10 million book titles to choose from.
• Amazon Books UK
• Blackwell’s Bookstore (UK) First opened in 1879, this book shop has a great atmosphere in its physical locations at many universities in the UK and it also ships and delivers books throughout the UK.
• Hive . This site is a great tool for finding local booksellers and supporting independent bookstores, and it offers free shipping to anyone in the UK.
• The Great British BookShop . This independent, environmentally-friendly online bookstore offers over 250,000 materials, ranging from printed copies of popular novels to electronic books in dozens of genres.
• The White Horse Bookshop . This bookstore has been a part of Marlborough since 1943, and today its collection has grown to include over 25,000 books in its physical store and over 200,000 titles online.
• Waterstones . Waterstones originated back in 1982, and it is currently the last national book chain that exists in the UK, offering hundreds of thousands of books, gifts for book lovers, lovely stationery, and more.

Top Online Bookstores in Canada

• AbeBooks Canada . Along with millions of books to choose from online, you can also find art, posters, sheet music, photographs, and other hidden treasures on this website.
• Amazon Books Canada
• Black Bond Books . For over 50 years, this bookstore has been owned and operated by passionate booklovers who are committed to providing a wide range of genres, from best-sellers to children’s books to YA novels to non-fiction.
• Half Price Books Canada . Since 1972, Half Price Books has been dedicated to helping book lovers find new reads at great prices by selling both new and used books, CDs, movies, and more.
• Indigo . Known as “Canada’s biggest bookstore,” Indigo offers over half a million books for customers to browse through, and it also supports eReading materials through Kobo.
• McNally Robinson . This independent bookseller is “family-oriented, committed to the values of community bookselling, and determined to present an alternative to corporate-chain bookstores.”

Top Audiobook Sites

And for audiobooks, here are the top three services, each offers 1 free month, which means your first book is free:

• Audible.com  – Owned by Amazon, this service has a world-class app and offers 1 audio book + 2 Audible originals per month for $14.95. 200,000+ titles available.
• Audiobooks.com  – This digital audio book service gives you 3 audio books per month for $14.95. It has a large selection and with it’s app  you can listen to over 700,000 free podcasts. 150,000+ audio books are available on it’s platform.
• Audiobooks Now  – They offer a free membership plan and a $4.99 per month plan (in which you save 50% off your first audiobook each month, 35-40% off additional purchases.) 150,000+ titles available.

Top Sites for Rare & Signed Books

• AbeBooks . Abebooks features special sections for rare books and collectable books .
• Alibris . Alibris has a rare book section that features first-editions, signed book and antiquarian collectables.
• Attic Books . Since 1976, Attic Book has provided customers with rare, antique, and collectible books, maps, and prints. The proprietor of this bookstore is a member of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers and the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of Canada.
• Bauman Rare Books . Book lovers Natalie and David Bauman launched this business in 1973, stocking their shelves and delighting customers with first-edition collectibles, literary classics, signed copies, original children’s books, and much more.
• Books-A-Million: Autographed Editions . The popular Books-A-Million site has a special page entirely dedicated to books signed by your favorite authors or celebrities. Signed copies come in all kinds of genres, from popular fiction to nonfiction bestsellers to tell-all memoirs.
• Old Scrolls Book Shop . This New York-based seller specializes in first-edition, out-of-print, rare, signed, or used books in a wide variety of genres.
• Premiere Collectibles . This bookstore specializes in selling rare and signed copies, of which they take exquisite care of before delivering the book to your home. Each signed book copy is delivered with a Certificate of Authenticity to prove that the signature of every author is legitimate.
• RareBooksFirst 

Other Online Bookstores

The 20 bookstores listed above are popular for having fair prices and a wide selection of books, but if you’re looking for an uncommon topic or a specific subject, there are dozens of other options available. We compiled a list of many other online bookstore to give you an almost complete library of book stores at your fingertips. Whether you’re looking for textbooks, romance novels, cookbooks, print books or ebooks, you’ll be sure to find exactly what you need by utilizing this list. Happy reading!

• Awesome Books
• Backroad Map Books
• Law Books for Less
• BookLender.com
• BookSupply.jp  (Japan)
• ChronicleBooks.com
• Dog-friendly Books
• FirstTimeBooks.com
• LimitlesseBooks.com
• The Campus Bookstore

Still looking for that perfect read? Visit BookSliced.com for an endless selection of free Kindle books. We will even send a newsletter of recommendations right to your inbox.

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17 Best Sites to Download Free Books in 2024

Love to read? Open Library, ManyBooks, and Librivox are just a few of the many places to find free books online

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Free books on nearly any subject you can think of are all over the internet, ready to be downloaded, read, and shared. These are the best sites with free books covering a wide variety of subjects.

A huge quantity of books previously unavailable to the public was released starting in 2019 thanks to the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998. Because of an amendment to that act, works published between 1923 and 1977 can enter the public domain 95 years after their creation. Many of the sites listed below give access to the tens of thousands of books (plus movies, songs, and cartoons) available under this act. Downloads should be free and without retribution under U.S. copyright law.

Selection includes more than just classics and Creative Commons books.

Great categorization makes finding what you love easier.

Variety of download formats.

A few areas of the site hardly ever receive updates.

Some books do cost money.

ManyBooks is one of the best resources on the web for free books in a variety of download formats. There are hundreds of titles here in all sorts of interesting genres, and they're completely free. Not all the books are classics, so if you're into other genres, this site is a good alternative to others in this list.

Unlike some sites, this one lets you browse free books by language. You can also search by author and genre. The ManyBooks Articles page is another handy way to browse their collection, with articles such as "Books Like A Match Made in Venice" and reviews.

Downloading books requires a free user account unless there's a link to Amazon, in which case you can grab it with your Amazon account. There are often several download options, like EPUB, PDF, AZW3, and FB2. They're also readable online through the site's built-in book reader.

Project Gutenberg

Over 70,000 titles.

Wide variety of formats.

Top 100 list aids discoverability.

Majority of books are in English only.

Books may not be free outside the U.S.

Project Gutenberg   is one of the largest and oldest sources for free books on the web, with over 70,000 downloadable titles available in a wide variety of formats. The vast majority are released in English, but there are other languages available.

If you already know what you're looking for, search the database by author name, title, language, or subject. You can also check out the top 100 list to see what other people are downloading .

Open Library

Good alternative if Internet Archive is too confusing.

Multiple formats available.

Just pulls results from Internet Archive.

Some books can only be borrowed.

Open Library is a search tool that pulls data from Internet Archive. You might use it if that site (listed above) isn't helping you find the right book. You can search hundreds of thousands of books here, and most are in multiple formats such as PDF, ePub, and Daisy.

I particularly like the Library Explorer section because it feels like I'm looking through real bookshelves!

You can search for ebooks specifically by checking the Ebooks option after running a search.

Google Play Books

Saves books in your online account.

Read from the website or the mobile app.

Requires a Google account.

If you like to read ebooks through Google Books, you'll be pleased to know that there's a full page of just free titles.

Google lists the top several dozen free books available on Google Play through the link below. There are history and religious books as well as titles in categories like Fantasy and Health, mind & body .

Books you "download" through this site appear in your Google Play Books account , where they're readable online, through the mobile app, and offline if you decide to export the book to a file.

Free audiobooks.

Audiobooks are available in multiple languages.

Large collection of children's audiobooks.

Books are read by volunteers, which means performances can be hit or miss.

Many listed authors have zero books available.

If you've been looking for a great place to find free audiobooks , visiting Librivox is a good start. The site has many volunteers who work to release quality recordings of classic books. All the titles here are free, which is good news for those of us who've had to pony up ridiculously high fees for substandard audiobooks.

I like to use the New Releases RSS feed with a feed reader service to stay on top of new additions.

Internet Archive

Books across a wide variety of interests.

You can sort by view count or popularity.

Several downloading options.

It can be difficult finding exactly what you want from numerous search results.

Site can be slow to respond.

Internet Archive has a digital library full of fiction, popular books, children's books, historical texts, and academic books. The free books on this site span every possible interest.

You can sort these books by view count to see the most popular ones and sort by title or date published. Another way I like to scour the millions of books on this site is through collections such as California Digital Library , Getty Research Institute , and Boston Public Library .

There are usually several download options if you don't want to read the book online, such as PDF, EPUB, and Kindle.

Easily readable format.

You can read right in the browser.

No account necessary.

Bare bones website.

Lacks books in foreign languages (except some German).

Lacks advanced search features.

Authorama offers a good selection of current and classic books from a variety of authors. They're organized alphabetically by the author’s last name and are written in HTML and XHTML, which means they're in an easily readable format. Most books here are featured in English, but there are quite a few German language texts as well.

This site offers a good selection of high-quality, free books you can read in your browser. These are in the public domain, which means they're freely accessible and allowed to be distributed. In other words, you don't need to worry if you're looking at something illegal.

The website is really simple to use, maybe too simple. The search box is basic and the only other way to find books is by scrolling through the author list. But, you don't need a user account to read these titles online, and they're all formatted nicely.

Hundreds of thousands of pieces of content available to read.

Audio available for certain texts.

User-submitted content could vary in quality.

Technically, there are no books on this site.

Wikisource is an online library of user-submitted and maintained content. While you won't technically find books on this site, there are still hundreds of thousands of pieces of content available to read, and some are in ebook form.

Wikisource:Index is a good place to start.

Wikijunior offers books for children 12 and under.

Offers community features like a forum.

Mostly just textbooks.

Small collection.

Not all of the books are completed.

​Wikibooks   is an open collection of mostly textbooks. Subjects range from computer and engineering to science, humanities, languages, and more. Every book has a list of contents and other information to give you a solid idea of what it's about.

The Featured Books and Stacks/Departments pages are good places to start if you're not sure what to browse for.

Free-eBooks.net

Diverse selection.

Also offers audiobooks.

Large number of categories.

You can only download five free books a month.

Free-eBooks.net offers a wonderfully diverse variety of free books, ranging from fiction and non-fiction to textbooks, academic text, classics, and more. Some of the subcategories include advertising, parenting, humor, science, engineering, self-teaching, sci-fi classics, and poems.

You have to register for a free user account to use this site, but only five books are free, so choose wisely.

The Online Books Page

Boasts over three million books.

Dozens of different formats.

Offers partial searches.

Updates often.

Extremely basic site.

Links to downloads on other websites.

The Online Books Page, maintained by the University of Pennsylvania, lists over three million free books available for download in dozens of different formats. The site itself is pretty boring, but the long list of titles might make you a repeat visitor.

You can browse these free book downloads by new listings, author, title, subject, or serial. There's also a search tool where you can find books by running a partial author or title search.

Hundreds of free books.

Download or view online in your browser.

Must go through a "checkout" process even though they're free.

Some books need special software for offline reading.

eBooks.com has a couple of ways to find free books. Use the link below to access a list of a few hundred completely free eBooks that you can read online or download as an ACSM file —those are DRM-protected files that work with Adobe Digital Editions (directions are available on the download page).

The other way is to browse their DRM-free eBooks . Some of these aren't free to download, but the ones that are can be saved and opened like any EPUB file.

You can filter these books by subject, like computers or religion, or by a number of fiction and non-fiction subcategories. There's also a format (PDF or EPUB), release date, and language filter.

International Children's Digital Library

Large collection of international children's books.

Interesting ways to browse the titles.

The books are actually just images of scanned pages.

Some pages are too large to read comfortably.

Browse over 4,000 high-quality free books for children at International Children's Digital Library (ICDL). These are scans of physical books, so each page is a separate image you can scroll through and read.

On the home page are helpful links so you can browse the library by language, character, shape, format, genre, and more.

Offers a wide range of reading materials, including sheet music and magazines.

One of the internet's largest sources of published content.

Mobile app available.

Free only for 30 days.

Costs $11.99/month.

Everand (previously Scribd) offers a fascinating collection of all kinds of reading materials: books, audiobooks, documents, sheet music, magazines, and more. This is one of the web’s largest sources of published content, with literally millions of documents published every month and organized by category.

However, the site is only free for 30 days. Unlike other sites on this list, you have to pay every month after the trial to continue using it. The membership grants you access to the site's entire database.

Free Computer Books

Extensive collection of computer books.

Includes lecture notes.

Dated site design.

Everything on the site is just hyperlinks to other sites.

Lacks file format variety.

Every computer subject and programming language you can think of is represented at Free Computer Books. There are free textbooks, extensive lecture notes, and more.

Some of the genres include computer and programming languages, computer science, data science, computer engineering, Java, and networking and communications. There are also many subgenres, giving you an easy way to find the book you're after.

Sacred Texts

Large collection of free religious texts.

Text is quite small.

Most pages don't have a download button; you have to save them manually.

Sacred Texts   contains the web’s largest collection of free books about religion, mythology, folklore, and the esoteric in general.

You can view a list of all the books by title or author. You can also browse by category or search for a book title, author, or subject.

Every book is available online from their website. You can save each page if you want an offline version, but it won't be in a pretty format.

Good for presentations, infographics, and documents.

Lots of non-free content.

Limited download options.

Registration required.

SlideShare is another site with both free and paid books. It's an online forum where anyone can upload a digital presentation on any subject. Millions of people utilize SlideShare for research, sharing ideas, and learning about new technologies.

The site supports documents and PDF files, all available as free downloads. You have to log in to download these books, but registration is free.

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Top Websites Ranking

Most Visited Books and Literature Websites

Last updated : April 1, 2024

* Some websites ranked in the list above may contain adult content, please use caution when visiting unknown sites.

Most Visited Books and Literature Websites Ranking Analysis for March 2024

archiveofourown.org is ranked number 1 as the most popular website in the Books and Literature category in March 2024. The average amount of time that users spend on the website is 00:16:18 minutes, and they see, on average, 8.37 pages per visit. Pages per visit is a popular engagement metric that is calculated by dividing the total number of website views by the total number of visitors. The bounce rate for archiveofourown.org is 32.53%, meaning that 32.53% of visitors leave the website after viewing just one page.

wattpad.com and ficbook.net are 2nd and 3rd on the list. In terms of user engagement, wattpad.com has an average visit duration of 00:16:21 minutes, an average pages per visit of 9.94, and a bounce rate of 37.41%. Similarly, ficbook.net’s average visit duration is 00:17:29 minutes, its average pages per visit is 9.76, and its bounce rate is 32.13%.

litnet.com is a top Books and Literature website that ranks in 4th place. On average, visitors remain on-site for 00:30:10 minutes and 24.08% of those visits bounce after viewing just one page. In addition, the average website pages viewed per visit is 10.45.

Number five on our list is author.today, a top Books and Literature website. Visitors see 5.05 pages per visit and spend 00:14:39 minutes on the website. The bounce rate for author.today is 38.35%.

Come again next month for the updated website ranking & traffic analysis of the most visited Books and Literature websites!

FAQs About The Top Books and Literature Websites

Question: Which is the most visited Books and Literature website? Answer: archiveofourown.org is the most visited Books and Literature website in March 2024.

Question: Which is the 2nd most visited Books and Literature website? Answer: wattpad.com is the 2nd most visited Books and Literature website in March 2024.

Question: What are the top 5 most popular Books and Literature websites in the world? Answer: The top 5 most popular Books and Literature websites in the world in March 2024 are: 1. archiveofourown.org 2. wattpad.com 3. ficbook.net 4. litnet.com 5. author.today.

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Guides • Book Marketing

Last updated on Oct 25, 2022

13 Author Websites That Get It Right

Most professional authors will have their own website , both as a way to market themselves and connect with their readership. It's the one corner of the internet that the author fully controls — without interference from publishers or social media rules.

In this short guide, we'll show you some examples of effective author websites before giving you a step-by-step process for building your own. By the end, you'll be ready to take on the world (wide web).

Here are 13 examples of excellent author websites: 

1. Austin Kleon

New York Times bestselling author Austin Kleon identifies himself as “an author who draws” and uses his website to talk not only about his own books, but also about art and writing in general, offering creative inspiration to fans and casual visitors alike. 

Simple to navigate, and signposting all the relevant information — from blog posts, to his books, a newsletter mailing list , an author bio , and contact information — one of the main advantages of Kleon’s website is that it’s kept up-to-date with seasonal posts and frequent life updates. 

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Takeaway: Keep your website up-to-date

Knock, knock. Who’s there? You should be. Unless you’ve got a ghostwriter on your team or you can uncannily churn out quality books constantly, you probably won’t always have new bookish updates. However, when people visit your site, you don’t want it to seem like it’s been idly collecting dust for years between publication dates. You want it to seem as though someone is home.

Austin Kleon’s website achieves this with fresh blog posts displayed front and center. Straight away, you know that he’s active behind the keyboard. Not only does it feel like he’s talking directly to you, but it also incentivizes you to come back, which can be handy for your next book launch . Studies confirm this: businesses that run blogs have 55% more website visitors than those that don’t.

Something as simple as an up-to-date Twitter feed or a list of upcoming events can keep your website fresh and show that you’re committed to interacting with your readers. If you're able to blog regularly, all the better! If your blog gets popular enough, it could become the foundation for your next book . 

How to Build an Amazing Author Blog

10 lessons to help you start your blog and boost your book sales.

2. Rupi Kaur

You’d expect nothing less than a well-designed website from the queen of Instapoetry herself, Rupi Kaur . Her elegant homepage immediately exudes “Rupi Kaur” and the message she wants her readers to receive. It’s on brand — aesthetically pleasing, with short guiding phrases, and creative with form (here through typography ) — and much like her poetry, it sticks to the essentials to deliver a core message in just a few words.

But make no mistake; this is no minimalist, bare-bones version of a website. With customized stickers, an integrated webshop for merchandise, and links to both an Amazon Prime special and a world tour, it’s clear that Kaur has invested some time and dollars on making this a comfortable browsing experience for her readers.

Takeaway: Invest in branding and user experience

Granted, not every author can inject cash into a website like social media sensation Rupi Kaur. However, her online presence features several practices that are good takeaways for any author website. Kaur, for instance, doesn’t send her subscribers “newsletters” like Kleon does. Instead, she sends “love notes”. Readers can also follow the journey of her third book, Home Body , as it travels across the US, “sisterhood of the traveling pants” style. These touches make her website feel authentic and true to her brand. 

Paying a bit extra to get a custom-made website that fits your needs perfectly and appeals to your target audience can improve user experience significantly, making it not only pleasing to the eye, but also easy to navigate.

Tell us about your book and we'll match you with a website style!

It'll only take a minute!

You can make your website stand out from the crowd by adding dynamic and interactive elements, and self-published author LJ Ross is no stranger to this strategy. Just like in her bestselling mystery series DCI Ryan, LJ Ross’s website takes inspiration from the atmospheric landscape of Lindisfarne (also known as Holy Island), located on the northeast coast of England. 

This eye-catching website is brought to life with some well-chosen dynamic elements: a bird flying across the landing page, mist rolling in as you hover your cursor, and a hamburger menu that folds out to direct you where you need to go, to name a few. 

LJ Ross also gets a bonus point for subverting the expectations for what a crime and mystery author’s website should look like, with a sunny background picture and a lighter color scale throughout the site. 

Takeaway: Bring your site to life

If your site is a pretty-but-static thing, you may be missing an opportunity. With some simple dynamic elements that draw the eyes, you can elevate your website and give visitors a reason to extend their session on your site. And the longer they stay, the more likely they are to engage with what your website offers. 

Start by capturing people’s attention with cool visuals, highlighting what you want visitors to see first (in this case: Ross’s different books series and a link to an audio drama production on Audible), and then invite them to engage by linking to your social media.

4. Miquel Reina

Another author who incorporates some movement into their author website to really bring it to life is Miquel Reina . This can be a risky maneuver — more often than not, flashy gifs and scrolling text scream “tacky.” But when it pays off, it creates a beautiful effect that will impress and entrance readers who stumble upon your page.

Upon first glance at the homepage of Miquel Reina's author website, nothing appears out of the ordinary... until the first image begins to change. As you can see, each translation ( and gorgeous new cover ) of Reina's book Lights on the Sea morphs into the next, providing a beautifully comprehensive sense of his accomplishments.

If you’re not a web designer , this tactic could easily go awry, but Reina ensures that all his images are carefully sized and timed to create a calibrated effect. The transitions are calmly paced to give you enough time with each cover, but not so slow that you risk missing the effect entirely. He also wisely avoids cluttering the rest of his homepage with additional text and images, so the viewer focuses solely on the slow-moving book covers.

Takeaway: Keep it simple (but sophisticated)

Again, it's easy to go overboard with this tactic; you don't want your author website to look like a carnival. To keep things interesting yet professional, bring your site to life with just one or two smoothly transitioning GIFs.

Fun fact: You can find Miquel Reina, who designed his own website (!), right here on Reedsy. Click here to check out his other projects .

💡Pro tip: Keep site speed in mind! On the technical side, a simple setup will help your site load faster. Heavy images will slow a site down and frustrate visitors. They came to find out about your book, not wait around watching their fingernails grow.

5. David Sedaris

Authors sometimes make the mistake of thinking that people visit their websites just to read their bio. Are you, the author, important? Sure, but your books are way more important. Let people know they’re on an author’s website by making your product the star of the show, as David Sedaris does. A minimalist setup makes it impossible not to notice the main event: Sedaris’ newest book.

Takeaway: Put your book front and center

If a reader visits your site and doesn’t immediately realize that you’re an author with a book to sell, you’re probably doing something wrong. Placing your book front and center announces that, whatever else you may be offering through your site, you’re first and foremost an author who wants to share their stories with the world. 

Also important: are the buttons that urge people to buy your book and steer folks to their retailer of choice. To build the perfect author website , it’s important to generate retailer links to your books and make sure people can easily add them to their basket.

6. Brit Bennett

Another author who has embraced the idea of putting their book front and center is Brit Bennett . Her hugely successful upmarket fiction novel The Vanishing Half is clearly the star of the show as you enter her landing page, and unlike David Sedaris’ lengthy book description, Bennett focuses on some strong endorsements in the form of quotes to sell her book. 

Takeaway: Include testimonials and reviews

There’s nothing quite as effective as word-of-mouth marketing when it comes to book sales. With a well-chosen quote from the right person, you may see your book sales soar, so it would be wasteful not to use the prime real estate of your website to let others highlight your writing prowess through testimonials and reviews. 

💡Pro tip: Testimonials and reviews are a great way to market your work and authorship so make sure to leave some space for that on your website.

For more marketing insights, check out our course on the fundamentals of book marketing:

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Learn seven tried-and-true strategies for boosting book sales.

7. Lesley M. M. Blume

When you first land on Lesley M.M. Blume’s website , you are met with an old, faded picture of an atomic bomb, held up by tape and a short journalistic description This documentary approach quickly envelopes readers into the topic material that Blume — an award-winning journalist — has written about in her latest book, Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed it to the World . 

Within moments of arriving on Lesley’s site, you become aware that she is a writer and journalist. This quick preview of her book grabs your attention and sets the tone.

Takeaway: Give readers a visual taste of your book

As an author, your medium of choice is often the written word, but your website is an excellent opportunity to expand on the imagery you’re trying to capture and make your messaging more vivid. By focusing on the visual aspects of your website rather than the textual, you allow readers to get an idea of what your book is all about straight off the bat — and you can present it in a way that is quicker and easier to consume than a full synopsis. 

Is your book a fluffy romcom, or is it hard facts? Offer a glimpse of what readers can expect of your writing, and don’t fall for the temptation to clutter your website with too much text; instead, use the power of images to elevate your message.

8. Maggie Stiefvater

Your author website should always include a good reason or two for visitors to offer up their email addresses. When you navigate your way to Maggie Steifvater’s website , you’re immediately presented with the opportunity to sign up for her newsletter. But the opt-in choices on her email list are plenty. For instance, you can sign up for an 8-hour seminar to improve your writing craft, led by Stiefvater herself! 

In marketing, this is known as lead magnets 一 offering something of genuine value in return for an email address — a marketing strategy we highly encourage authors to use..

Takeaway: Use a lead magnet

In publishing, a lead magnet usually means offering free content in exchange for an email address, such as downloadable PDF prints, exclusive interviews, or bonus chapters of your upcoming release. This helps you build your mailing list so that when you publish another book, you already have a group of people to advertise it to. 

💡Pro tip: A free sample does more than just incentivize people to offer their contact info. If you’ve read our Reedsy Learning course on how to run a price promotion , you’ll know that offering a free book is also a great way to hook readers and create a loyal fanbase for future publications. A free preview can work similarly, giving readers a commitment-free chance to get drawn into your book, leaving them more likely to pay to read the rest.

9. Megan McDonald and Peter H. Reynolds (Judy Moody)

Using images is perhaps even more essential when you’re in the picture book genre. The illustrative style on the Judy Moody website gets the brand across almost immediately: fun children’s books! And if there were ever any doubts, it cements the message that the best author websites are extensions of the author’s novels and wider brand. 

The creators of the website know the Judy Moody audience, with nudges and winks in the direction of teachers and parents, as well as younger readers with playful phrasing such as “Way-Not-Boring Stuff,” which links to several fun lead magnets, in the shape of games and downloadable PDFs, perfect for kids’ birthday parties. 

Takeaway: Speak to your target audience

When designing your own website, some of the questions you should ask yourself, like Judy Moody’s publicist clearly has, are all about personal branding: 

• Are you branding yourself or a series? 
• What’s the voice and tone of your book?
• Who is your target audience ; and 
• Would your site resonate with them? 

Judy Moody's authors have chosen to highlight the eponymous character of the series rather than themselvces, but whichever way you lean, there should always be a recognizable red thread that runs between your books and your website. Keep the voice and tone of your website distinctive and consistent, so people immediately recognize the relation to your work. 

🎨 If you’re thinking about how you can develop your own author brand, check out this article about how Lara Coates enlisted a Reedsy designer to help establish hers.

10. Fonda Lee

One way to ensure that you’re speaking to your target audience is to match your website to the genre you’re writing in. Fonda Lee leaves no room for doubt with her Y2K style logo and dark color pallet. But just in case you missed it, she makes sure to signpost herself as a “science fiction and fantasy author,” and uses a gallery of pictures to highlight her catalog of published works. 

Takeaway: Signpost your genre

While many visitors to your website may already know what genre you’re working in, it’s always a good idea to make sure you match your website to the content you’re publishing. This goes hand in hand with author branding, but the visual elements of your website can also add another dimension to the worlds you’re building in your books. 

11. Neon Yang

Whether you’re a maximalist or a minimalist when it comes to design, the use of bold or contrasting colors is another way to make your website pop and highlight something particularly important you want to draw attention to. And you don’t have to have a name like Neon Yang in order to do so. But choose your colors wisely, and stick to one or two for the best effect.

Takeaway: Be selective in your use of colors

The psychology of color can have a big impact on how people perceive something, but don’t make the mistake of trying to catch ‘em all; using all of the colors of the rainbow together at once is unlikely to have the desired effect of drawing the eye to one thing. Instead, too many colors can be distracting and more confusing than helpful, making the message you want to communicate murky and sometimes even hard to read. 

When using bold colors, one or two is enough to draw visitors’ focus toward the most important things. Neon Yang fittingly uses neon lime green to contrast against a darker background, which effectively highlights key information, fits their unique brand, and adds a tongue-in-cheek touch to the whole website. 

💡Pro tip: When using accent colors, choose them carefully, and avoid writing huge chunks of texts in colors that are hard to read to make your website more accessible to all visitors.

12. Brené Brown

Speaking of accessibility, no matter how beautiful and well-crafted your homepage is, or how nicely your logo fits on the corner of that picture you’ve chosen, here’s your official reminder to make your website compatible with all types of devices. Brené Brown has made sure her website will meet everyone’s needs, regardless of their browsing weapon of choice:

Takeaway: Optimize for mobile navigation

Nothing is as frustrating as a clunky website that you can’t read, especially when you’re on the go. Today mobile traffic accounts for almost 60% of all web traffic , so your website should be made to fit all devices to make it as easy as possible for visitors to explore.

13. Angie Thomas

Finally, one of the biggest reasons people visit author websites is to get a better sense of who the person behind the words on the page is, so don’t be afraid to show your face. Angie Thomas goes straight for the kill with a beautiful, professional headshot that is both inviting and confident. This, paired with some hand-picked words to the left, is a strong introduction to Thomas both as a person and as an author. 

Takeaway: Show your face

Whether you want your brand to focus on you as an author or on your books, it’s a good rule of thumb to use your website to introduce yourself to the world. Unless, of course you’re a ghostwriter or writing under a pen name and prefer to work in anonymity. But even then, your writing website should include an avatar at the very least.

You don’t have to place your author photo front and center, but your site should contain some indication that your work was written by an actual human and not an AI . Your ‘About’ section is a good place to start, but sprinkling a few photos that show who you are throughout your different sections is a good way to make your readers feel connected to you. 

In the next part of this guide, we'll show you how to create your very own website using some of the most popular tools in the internet.

11 responses

Brent Jones says:

02/06/2017 – 12:29

Well, never did I ever think I'd appear on the same list of authors as JK Rowling for something. Wow! You guys over at Reedsy made my day. Thanks!

Kristen Steele says:

21/06/2017 – 15:29

Great examples! Branding is a powerful element, but works best if all of your books follow a specific theme.

arushi says:

30/08/2018 – 05:47

Nice Article www.booksoul.in

Zain Khan says:

06/12/2018 – 09:28

Thanks for the awesome blog post. keep it up. Recycling Media

Michael Barrett says:

05/03/2019 – 15:00

mbbarrett.com

christopher sparacino says:

08/05/2019 – 12:28

I wrote a book i'm trying to get out there, feel free to read it! it's free, about 70 pages... http://bit.ly/evolveordiebook enjoy

Oohgirlbybk says:

Good info! Thank you! My website is live, but I will be contacting my web designer :)

Sayli@digitalmarketing says:

22/05/2019 – 10:25

This the list every digital marketer and web designer should have! Thanks for this amazing list!

Paul Nieto says:

23/05/2019 – 17:00

Thank you for the ideas and examples. I signed up for the checklist also.

amber says:

05/09/2019 – 09:50

wow, what a great example. branding is the most powerful tool. I am also an author

David Evans says:

17/11/2019 – 10:05

The Lesley M. M. Blume site and the Austin Kleon site are pretty good , i often find that alot of sites go for design over typography which mostly doesnt work , your right about having blog posts front and centre , problem is most authors ive encountered never want that ( customer is always right etc ) .. which is a shame

Comments are currently closed.

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8 Of The Best Websites To Find And Download eBooks For Free

I f you're an avid reader or audiobook listener, you've probably explored Amazon and similar sites for your next great read. However, did you know there's a treasure trove of free books available at your fingertips? 

While there are dedicated e-readers, the associated costs of purchasing books through their platforms can get pricey. The good news is that the following websites are great places where bookworms can find and download ebooks -- and even audiobooks -- for absolutely free. If you're missing the library vibe, several of these sites allow users to borrow digital titles, just like you would at your local public library.

Of course, clicking on a link that promises free products online can sometimes feel risky. However, rest assured that every site mentioned in this list has been verified to genuinely provide free ebooks or audiobooks in various file formats. Additionally, these sites are user-friendly and completely legal for downloading content -- after all, nothing is worse than clicking on a free link only to receive a free virus or a DMCA violation.

Modern technology has made it easier than ever to read a wide range of books and grow your digital library without breaking the bank. Here are eight of the best websites to find and download ebooks for free.

Read more: 12 Things You Should Stop Doing On Your Android Phone Immediately

For free physical books, you turn to your local library. For free ebooks, the solution is OverDrive , a digital library platform offering patrons access to a vast collection at no cost.

Overdrive is a system used by public libraries around the world. It makes it easy for you to find the books you're looking for and download them directly to your Kindle or device, completely free of charge. The system works just like a library. To sign up, simply input your local library account information and then select which books you want to check out. The books are then downloaded directly to your device for a set duration, usually about two weeks. When it's time to return the book, the lending license expires and is automatically made unavailable so that the next person can download it.

While OverDrive provides a convenient and legal avenue to access fresh ebooks outside the public domain, there is a limitation to note. Due to copyright restrictions, each ebook has a set number of licenses available for lending. This means that, at times, you might encounter a waitlist for popular titles. The system ensures copyright compliance, preventing unlimited duplications of a single ebook. So, while OverDrive offers an exceptional free and legal resource for the latest reads, you just may have to wait in line for really popular titles.

Internet Archive: Open Library

Have you ever considered the monumental task of archiving the entire internet? While it may seem impossible, that's exactly what the Internet Archive is attempting. Founded in 1996 during the rise of public internet access, the Internet Archive: Open Library is an online library and repository whose mission is to archive as much of the digital world as possible, including websites, music, and ebooks.

The Internet Archive is the largest repository of historic website data with snapshots dating back to 1996 that capture the evolution of websites over time. You could spend hours reliving the '90s internet in the Wayback Machine . The site's digital library has an impressive collection of both public domain titles and copyrighted works shared with appropriate permissions. All content on their platform is accessible to the public at no cost.

The site hosts millions of books and different texts that are freely available for download, making it one of the easiest places to find free ebooks online.

Google Play Books

Google Play Books is another easy way to fill your digital shelves with paid and free ebooks. The app is incredibly intuitive, making it easy to store and organize your digital library by genre, series, or any other criteria. If you do end up purchasing a book, it stays with your account forever, granting access to it on any of your devices. The app also has a massive library of free ebooks that anyone can access with their Google account.

It may take a bit of looking and adjusting filters in their store, but Google Play Books has over 10 million free ebooks available for download. There's no cost or subscription fee. Users can simply browse through the listings and choose the ones they want to appear in their Google Library.

Many of the titles for free are public domain works that are free from copyright laws. This category includes timeless classics and favorites such as the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. However, the free offerings don't stop at the classics. Google Play Books also showcases an extensive list of contemporary works that have been submitted by authors or requested to be made publicly available.

From acclaimed New York Times best-selling authors to budding literary talents, Google Play Books has something for everyone. You can also take advantage of their occasional promotions, where you can snag modern titles at a steal or even for free.

BookBub isn't a library or an ebook repository, but signing up for an account will definitely help you find ebooks for cheap -- and occasionally even for free. When major platforms like Google Play host flash sales or offer ebooks at reduced prices, BookBub monitors the retailers and sends out alerts to subscribers.

Upon registering with BookBub, users can specify their literary preferences by genre or book type. That way, whenever a deal aligns with your reading tastes, BookBub promptly notifies you about the discounted price and the corresponding retailer. This makes BookBub an easy way to fill up your hard drive with free and legally downloaded ebooks.

Beyond mere alerts, BookBub fosters a vibrant community of avid readers. The platform encourages user-generated content, including book recommendations tailored to your favorites. For instance, if you're a fan of "The Lord of the Rings," fellow users might suggest diving into "The Wheel of Time" series. It's a friendly community of book lovers, and most are more than happy to chat about their favorites.

Drawing from its Latin roots, Libri (books) and Vox (voice), LibriVox is a vast repository that offers a plethora of free audiobooks to the public.

Largely, the collection at LibriVox contains public domain works, making it less likely to offer contemporary titles. The platform's main mission is to ensure audiobooks are available to anyone with an internet connection. This is a daunting task since audiobooks typically require extensive production and drastically increase the price of a book. However, LibriVox manages to offer them at no cost, thanks to the dedication of volunteers who record the books. These volunteers range from ardent fans of the literature to professionals, ensuring a rich and immersive listening experience.

For those who prefer a synchronized reading experience, LibriVox often provides links to the exact text referenced during the audio recording, consolidating the search for both ebooks and audiobooks . The platform's admirable mission has significantly expanded public access to literary works. For those inspired by the cause, LibriVox welcomes new voices, offering an opportunity to volunteer and contribute to their ever-growing collection.

Initially established in France, Feedbooks has grown into a globally-recognized digital library and publisher. It works similarly to Google Play Books in that it offers a wide range of ebooks, both paid and free.

On Feedbooks, users can easily access thousands of free ebooks, either through their user-friendly app or their online platform. Once a book is downloaded, it remains in the user's account, available for direct reading via the app. Additionally, like other online book retailers, Feedbooks periodically offers special deals and flash sales, giving opportunities to get books at substantial discounts or entirely for free.

What sets Feedbooks apart is that they don't specifically cater to English text. While many platforms provide ebooks in various languages, Feedbooks prioritizes offering a wide linguistic range. This includes, but isn't limited to, French, Ukrainian, and Spanish. Furthermore, to cater to diverse reading preferences, their ebooks are available in formats compatible with Android, Kindle , and Apple devices.

Manybooks began as a platform to help fledgling authors publish their works and gain a following. It has since evolved into a comprehensive repository for ebooks. All of the books on the site are completely free and legal to download.

While Manybooks collection includes a wide range of public domain works, the best part is how the site helps to promote new authors. It is used as a starting point for authors to publicize their books, get feedback from readers, and start to build an audience. Many authors will post the first book in a series for free as a strategy to engage readers and solicit feedback. This approach paves the way for readers to discover lesser-known yet talented writers.

Using Manybooks is very easy, thanks to its intuitive interface. Users can easily filter their searches by genre or explore unique combinations. It's a great way to explore works that you may not otherwise find. Beyond its free library, Manybooks also curates newsletters and author spotlights to aid subscribers in finding interesting reads.

Project Gutenberg

Established in 1971, Project Gutenberg has been a pioneering force in the free distribution of ebooks to the public. Its enduring mission is "To encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."

Named after the Gutenberg press, its founder, Michael Hart, envisioned the computer's important role in storing and spreading information, particularly books and literature. He recognized that once digitized, information could be endlessly replicated and shared, enriching society through free access.

Today, Project Gutenberg offers thousands of public domain works and legally submitted content for download within the United States. For those outside the US, it's crucial to check your nation's copyright laws before downloading.

Beyond ebooks in various formats, Project Gutenberg also provides a diverse range of audiobooks. This collection includes both human-narrated audiobooks by volunteers and voice actors, as well as AI-generated readings, offering users a broad spectrum of listening experiences that might otherwise not be available.

Read the original article on SlashGear .

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6 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

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Our recommended books this week include two satirical novels — one about identity politics and victimization, the other about artificial intelligence and gender roles — along with Tana French’s second crime novel about a Chicago police officer who retired to the Irish countryside. In nonfiction, we recommend the story of a deadly avalanche, a philosopher’s exploration of the concept of giving up, and the gratifyingly intimate audio version of Barbra Streisand’s recent memoir, which she narrates herself. Happy listening, and happy reading. — Gregory Cowles

MY NAME IS BARBRA Barbra Streisand

Certain of the, shall we say, eccentricities (oh … the ellipses!) in Streisand’s 992-page doorstop of a memoir get wonderfully ironed out in audio form. Its sprawling a-star-is-born anecdotes seem to find their natural form in the towering performer’s 48-plus hours of discursive, disarming and often gloriously off-the-cuff narration.

“As Streisand recites the story of her life … she ad-libs off the written text, splices sentences, audibly shakes her head at dubious decisions, and altogether places us opposite her on the sofa with a cup of coffee for a two-day kibitz.”

From Zachary Woolfe’s review

Penguin Audio | 48 hours, 17 minutes

VICTIM Andrew Boryga

Boryga’s debut is a lively social satire about the fetishization of victimhood, following a young working-class student, Javi, who uses exaggerated stories of tragedy to earn attention and success. Boryga is having fun, and he’s inviting us to join in.

“Let’s be clear: Though Boryga is playing, he’s not playing around. Through Javi’s story, Boryga humorously and scathingly calls out the gluttonous consumption of stories of victimhood.”

From Mateo Askaripour’s review

Doubleday | $27

ANNIE BOT Sierra Greer

On the surface, “Annie Bot” is a story about an A.I. sex robot that grows more and more sentient, but underneath this high-tech premise is a sharp and smart exploration of misogyny, toxic masculinity, selfhood and self-determination.

“A brilliant pas de deux, grappling with ideas of freedom and identity while depicting a perverse relationship in painful detail.”

From Lydia Kiesling’s review

Mariner | $28

ON GIVING UP Adam Phillips

In his latest book, Phillips’s exploration of “giving up” covers the vast territory between hope and despair. We can give up smoking, sugar or a bad habit; but we can also give up on ourselves. Phillips proposes curiosity and improvisation as antidotes to absolute certainty.

“Phillips doesn’t try to prevent us from thinking whatever it is that we want to think; what he does is repeatedly coax us to ask if that’s what we really believe, and how we can be sure.”

From Jennifer Szalai’s review

Farrar, Straus & Giroux | $26

THE DARKEST WHITE: A Mountain Legend and the Avalanche That Took Him Eric Blehm

In January 2003, seven skiers and snowboarders were killed in an avalanche on a glacier in western Canada. Among them was the American snowboarder Craig Kelly, and the adventure writer Blehm turns this page-turner not just into a biography of the athlete, but a tribute to the sport itself: addictive, thrilling — sometimes deadly.

“Probably the most unremittingly exciting book of nonfiction I have come across in years. I found myself reading late into recent nights wholly transfixed by every paragraph, every word.”

From Simon Winchester’s review

Harper | $32

THE HUNTER Tana French

For Tana French fans, every one of the thriller writer’s twisty, ingenious books is an event. This one, a sequel to “The Searcher,” once again sees the retired Chicago cop Cal Hooper, a perennial outsider in the Irish west-country hamlet of Ardnakelty, caught up in the crimes — seen and unseen — that eat at the seemingly picturesque village.

“The novel’s greatest pleasures — genuine twists aside — reside in the specific intersection of outsider and native, and particularly the former’s determined need to idealize, to claim, to tint whole rivers green.”

From Sadie Stein’s review

Viking | $32

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The 50 best Hollywood books of all time

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It’s been said that Hollywood is more an idea than a place, and no task punctuates the notion quite like asking people to choose the best Hollywood book of all time: “What do you mean,” they inevitably ask, “by ‘Hollywood’?”

The list that follows, compiled from a survey of experts in the worlds of publishing and entertainment and written by regular contributors to The Times’ film and books coverage, answers that question more astutely than I ever could. In fiction and non-, across genres and decades, these 50 titles compare Hollywood to an assembly line, a criminal enterprise, a high-seas expedition and much, much more — a penchant for shape-shifting that might explain its hold on the cultural imagination.

Yet any entity that can simultaneously be described as an industry, a society, even a style, is liable to collect more detractors than it would had it remained simply a real estate development, and if there’s a through-line in the great Hollywood books it is the conviction that creating magic must come at a cost. Sometimes comic, more often tragic, they chronicle disappointments, humiliations, botch-jobs and flops of every conceivable variety, personal and professional, creative and economic, individual and institutional; even the more rose-colored perspectives still make it seem as if producing a single movie, much less a good one, qualifies as a miracle.

We chose the best Hollywood books of all time. What’s on your list?

But that, I suspect, is why we keep coming back, self-flagellants before the altar of motion pictures. This place, this idea, demands of its adherents what religion does any pilgrim — devotion, sacrifice, faith that all will be worth it in the end — and supplies in turn the same benefits — ritual, community, comfort. You simply have to take it on trust: If watching movies is heaven, and living without them is hell, then Hollywood is the purgatory in between. — Matt Brennan

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Movies (and Other Things)

(Shea Serrano, 2019)

There’s a nonchalant freshness to the way former journalist and author Serrano writes about the variety of subjects that interest him, whether basketball or movies. His entertaining and insightful musings on the latter form the uniquely titled chapters here: Each of them aims to provide answers to one of Serrano’s specific inquiries related to popular flicks. The approachable tone, and the selection of films discussed, removes any sense of snobbery that some readers may associate with film criticism. Serrano doesn’t purport to be an expert but rather a movie fan, one with a talent for crafting engaging prose, sharing his most galaxy-brained thoughts on the kind of movies one has seen more times than they can count. — Carlos Aguilar

Myra Breckinridge

(Gore Vidal, 1968)

Vidal’s 1968 tale of a trans woman exacting her revenge on a Hollywood studio is campy and profane, its exclamatory prose giddy to provoke. Written in a haste that contrasted Vidal’s more considered historical fiction, “Myra” reads like Vidal was in a mad dash to work through his own sexuality. (“A very subtle psychological self-portrait,” was Christopher Isherwood’s cheeky assessment.) But its heedless vigor is part of its enduring charm, sending up the egos and power plays (both financial and sexual) that drive the movie business. The book is probably best known for a dismal 1970 adaptation starring Raquel Welch and John Huston that remains bolted to lists of the worst-ever movies. But the novel itself remains a potent Tinseltown satire. — Mark Athitakis

The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood

(Sam Wasson, 2020)

No one has been more haunted by the fateful final line of Roman Polanski’s most accomplished work, “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown,” than Wasson. To dissect a seminal work in American cinema, the author dived deep into the minds and lives of the key players that came together for this picture about corruption in 1930s Los Angeles to become what it is. These include star Jack Nicholson, Paramount executive Robert Evans, screenwriter Robert Towne and the controversial Polanski himself. As he maps the creation of “Chinatown” in astounding detail, Wasson simultaneously eulogizes the bygone era when Hollywood studios were interested in filmmaking with an idiosyncratic voice. — C A

(Bruce Wagner, 2012)

Don’t look for someone to like in this blistering, X-rated takedown of Hollywood strivers. Not the pregnant teen who’s been exploited by her Nan Goldin-like mother since childhood or her porn-obsessed boyfriend. Not the paparazzo who strives for underage crotch-shots or the young cancer survivor who spells it with a K, hoping to get the attention of the Kardashians. Published in 2012, the text leaps, runs on, includes emoticons and ignores punctuation, just like DMs and text messages. In this massive, manic book full of explicit sex and characters with equally naked ambition, Wagner holds a mirror up to the underside of Hollywood. It may be a disturbing vision, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. — Carolyn Kellogg

Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race and Representation after 9/11

(Evelyn Alsultany, 2012)

At the heart of this erudite academic monograph is a counterintuitive claim: following the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the rise of hate crimes and government policies that targeted Arabs and Muslims was met with an equally high incidence of sympathetic portrayals of those populations in the U.S. media. That’s not to say there weren’t horribly damaging depictions of Middle Eastern terrorists rooted in offensive racial stereotypes — many concocted in the service of offering up an “evil cultural Other” that anchored much of the rhetoric around the so-called War on Terror. But Alsultany’s study keenly avoids endorsement of neat categories like “good” and “bad” representation, aiming instead to complicate how it is that media images on either side of that divide can fuel meanings that end up justifying policies of exclusion and inequality. — Manuel Betancourt

The Deer Park

(Norman Mailer, 1955)

Though set in Palm Springs, “The Deer Park” is the most insightful, unsparing look at the machineries of Hollywood I know of — Mailer’s underrated masterpiece.

— HOWARD RODMAN, novelist, screenwriter, former president of the Writers Guild of America West and current vice president, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Everybody Thought We Were Crazy: Dennis Hopper, Brooke Hayward, and 1960s Los Angeles

(Mark Rozzo, 2022)

Hopper is the bold-faced name, but Hayward is the heart of this intimate story of a marriage that tied together the L.A. art and music scenes, Golden Era Hollywood and the emerging indie film movement. Hayward’s parents were so Old Hollywood that she and Hopper were regularly invited to David O. Selznick’s house; Hopper would, after their split, make “Easy Rider.” Before things fall apart, they hang with the Ferus Gallery and help Andy Warhol have his first L.A. art show; act and model and start a family; and play host to a glittering parade of soon-to-be-famous musicians and actors. Hayward is still with us and opened the door to tell the story of the time her bohemian, chaotic Hollywood home played host to a seismic shift in three art forms at once. — C K

Stay Tuned: An Inside Look at the Making of Prime-Time Television

(Richard Levinson and William Link, 1981)

Levinson and Link are hardly household names among today’s TV heads, but they deserve to be. As the creators of “Columbo” and “Murder, She Wrote,” and a library full of trailblazing TV movies (including “Crisis at Central High” and “That Certain Summer”), they combined razor-sharp storytelling instincts with an acute social consciousness at a time when television was still widely derided as “the idiot box” (or worse). They also wrote this shrewdly intelligent assessment of their work and their chosen field, a good two decades before the dawn of prestige cable and the widespread acceptance that the small screen is where the really good storytelling happens. The book’s title intentionally predicts great things on the horizon in the early ‘80s, when Levinson and Link wrote the book. They’re also low-key quite funny, as when they point out that the producer of any dramatic series might also indulge in some rewriting “if he’s a writer (or thinks he’s a writer).” — Chris Vognar

Making the White Man’s Indian: Native Americans and Hollywood Movies

(Angela Aleiss, 2005)

A rigorous study of how anti-Native racism and misrepresentation has pervaded Hollywood filmmaking, from D.W. Griffith shorts to “The Searchers,” “Stagecoach” to “Dances With Wolves,” one-note savages to white saviors. But Aleiss, who watched dozens of features and shorts for this influential book, also demonstrates that there were plenty of affirming stories about Native Americans in the pre-western era — “the Indian as a noble hero actually preceded the cowboy star,” she notes. But such stories were frozen out in favor of cowboys-and-Indians yarns, and shifting audiences throughout the 20th century influenced what kinds of Native American narratives were elevated and suppressed. Aleiss spotlights the industry groups and directors who’ve worked to address stereotypes about “half-breeds” and conversation narratives but also demonstrates why it’s often been a losing battle. — M A

(Kennedy Ryan, 2021)

“Reel” is a gorgeous romance novel about Broadway and Hollywood. Through Ryan’s masterful storytelling, readers are transported into a world where passion, ambition and the pursuit of one’s dreams collide, leaving the characters to make difficult choices about love, family and the future.

— LEAH KOCH, co-owner of Culver City’s the Ripped Bodice, the first independent bookstore in the United States devoted to the celebration of romance novels

Raising Kane

(Pauline Kael, 1971)

Did Orson Welles get too much glory for “Citizen Kane”? Absolutely, New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael insists in this novella-length fire-starter about the making of the greatest movie of all time. (We can save that skirmish for another day.) As Charles Foster Kane, a sendup of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, Welles embodied the image of a vainglorious Great Man. But Welles’ success, according to Kael, meant he also needed to be taken down a peg. > GO TO STORY

Why Kael’s fight over ‘Citizen Kane’ still matters

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Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films

(Donald Bogle, 1973)

Donald Bogle’s “Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks” is considered the standard text on Black characters in American movies. But when the book was first published, in 1973, it was just about the only text on the subject. This might be hard to imagine today, when books about the intersection of race and cinema flow forth on a regular basis (among the strongest in recent years are Will Haygood’s “Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World” and Robin R. Means Coleman’s “The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema From Fodder to Oscar”). Such abundance was unthinkable when Bogle, then a young journalist who had worked as a story editor for Otto Preminger, began his odyssey into the industry’s appallingly racist history. Bogle’s book was practically the birth of the field. > GO TO STORY

The book that shaped Black Hollywood history

Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman

(Alan Rickman, 2022)

Today, the late British actor might best be known for playing stern wizard Severus Snape in the “Harry Potter” film franchise. But in a career spanning nearly four decades, he amassed a wide-ranging collection of on-screen personas. What these diaries reveal, however, is that perhaps the Rickman behind the scenes was the most compelling character. The compilation of forthright entries opens a window into his most intimate moments with friends and loved ones, as well as memorable professional experiences. The self-portrait that text pieces together is that of a multifaceted person and artist with a singular perspective on his craft and on quotidian life. — C A

Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma

(Claire Dederer, 2023)

Perhaps the most exhilarating thing about this book is not the subject matter — can we consume art after learning how monstrous the artist is? — but how Dederer puts her thinking about it down on the page. She considers all the angles on Roman Polanski, the film director who pleaded guilty to having sex with a minor in 1977 and has been accused of other incidents of sexual assault — who also himself suffered extraordinary trauma and has (significantly to Dederer, once a film critic) made great movies. She is more forgiving than you might think, which allows her fascinating book to invite engagement. In addition to filmmakers, she looks at writers, musicians and actors and also female monsters (bad mothers). Winner of the L.A. Times’ 2023 Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose , this book is a remarkable artistic inquiry. — C K

Memo From David O. Selznick

(David O. Selznick, selected and edited by Rudy Behlmer, 1972)

If you want to learn about how to produce, this is an incredibly fun way to do it.

— DAVID MADDEN, head of global entertainment for Wattpad WEBTOON Studios and former executive at Fox, AMC Networks and Berlanti Television

Valley of the Dolls

(Jacqueline Susann, 1966)

Susann was no great shakes as a model and actor. But when she turned to a typewriter, the entertainment world quivered. “Valley of the Dolls” hit Hollywood like a mile-wide powder puff — everyone paged through her bestseller looking for fingerprints. Could its ruthless and needy singer Neely O’Hara be inspired by Judy Garland? Was Jennifer, the doomed blond, based on Carole Landis or Marilyn Monroe? Was anyone in the industry sober? Like the characters she channeled, Susann was a pill-popper roiling with frustrated ambition, a never-was starlet who’d been close enough to the action to hear the good gossip. (The novel’s interconnected affairs remind us that show business was, and is, a very small clique.) Her witty and tireless self-promotion became the modern template of a celebrity author. Responding to rumors that the book’s tyrannical Broadway star was based on her former friend Ethel Merman, Susann quipped, “We didn’t speak before the book came out. Let’s just say that now we’re not speaking louder.” — Amy Nicholson

From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies

(Molly Haskell, 1974)

At the time of its publication, Haskell writes in her introduction to the third edition of “From Reverence to Rape,” she “wanted to show how women had in fact been better served by the notoriously tyrannical studio system than they were in the newer, freer, hipper Hollywood of the (then) present. This has since become a truism, but in 1974 it was heresy.” More than any single point she draws about women’s place in the American cinema, though, whether via her discussion of “the woman’s film,” her decade-by-decade history or her comparison to European patterns, it’s Haskell’s refusal to hew to received wisdom that has sustained the book’s relevance for 50 years. Evincing no patience for pat readings or political agendas, Haskell effortlessly underscores the notion that the meaning of movies can’t be plotted on a chart, and no matter where the critical consensus at a given moment lies, her chewing over films from “His Girl Friday” to “Carnal Knowledge” — whether they go down easy or get stuck in her craw — remains timeless. — Brennan

Hollywood Babylon

(Kenneth Anger, 1965)

Given the number of inaccuracies, falsehoods and all around debunked stories found in “Hollywood Babylon ,” you’d be forgiven for thinking this salacious collection of scandals has no merit. Then again, the brainchild of one of the most avant-garde queer filmmakers of the 20th century is less interested in facts about show business than in revealing the lurid underbelly that’s long cemented it. Originally published in France in 1959, the book first arrived in the U.S. in 1965, but it was the image-heavy edition printed a decade later that ignited the controversy that follows it to this day. Riddled with off-color anecdotes tackling everything from incest to suicide and featuring marquee stars from the ’20s and ’30s including Fatty Arbuckle, Lupe Velez and Clara Bow, it more than lives up to how the New York Times described it: a “306‐page box of poisoned bonbons.” — Betancourt

The Jaws Log

(Carl Gottlieb, 1975)

Gottlieb witnessed firsthand the complications that surfaced during the production of “Jaws,” the first summer blockbuster. A friend of the young Steven Spielberg, who was only 28 when he directed the imposing shark story based on Peter Benchley’s novel, Gottlieb first came on board to act in a small role and to work on improving the screenplay. But he ultimately chronicled the young director’s feat as it was unfolding. The meticulously told account provides insight into the problem-solving approach of Spielberg and his collaborators when faced with a myriad of crises. In doing so, the journal illustrates the titanic collective effort making a movie entails and the uncertainty about how the end result will turn out, even when you have the future wunderkind of cinema at the helm. — C A

You’ll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again

(Julia Phillips, 1991)

To see Julia Phillips become the first female producer to win a best picture Oscar is to get a glimpse of the charisma and wit that made her so welcome in Hollywood, in boardrooms and on sets, until she wasn’t. At the 1974 Academy Awards, a streaker had interrupted David Niven introducing presenter Elizabeth Taylor, who stumbled over her lines, then announced “The Sting” as the winner. Phillips took the stage with her (not yet ex-) husband, Michael, and their co-producer Tony Bill. Phillips, with a touch of New York accent, said, “You can imagine what a trip this is for a Jewish girl from Great Neck. Tonight I get to win an Academy Award and meet Elizabeth Taylor all in the same moment.” Off-screen, Taylor guffaws. > GO TO STORY

Hollywood’s bravest memoir wasn’t written by a movie star

L.A. Confidential

(James Ellroy, 1990)

Ellroy’s cynical noir takes such a dark view of Los Angeles that the city is practically a black hole. The gravitational force is, of course, Hollywood and its insatiable need for sex, drugs, money and power (and criminals willing to supply them). Ellroy named names — Mickey Cohen, Johnny Stompanato — and barely disguised others, such as his entertainment tycoon Raymond Dieterling, who wants to build a theme park for his character Moochie Mouse. Most damningly, though, Ellroy describes a Los Angeles Police Department that functions like a movie studio. Here, every officer’s career hinges on their ability to put on a performance. The cops script phony hearings, stash props on perps, rehearse their threatening zingers, stage massacres that make them look like heroes and dress up for flashy narcotics busts in blue blazers that bring out their eyes. To Ellroy, the LAPD doesn’t want to protect and serve — it just wants applause. — A N

The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies

(Vito Russo, 1981)

First published in 1981, “The Celluloid Closet” was the culmination of decades’ worth of work by film historian and LGBTQ activist Russo. Initially designed as a live lecture with clips from classic films that showed queer-coded characters, cruel homophobic stereotypes and everything in between, Russo’s ambitious tome chronicled the many ways Hollywood had depicted gays and lesbians on the big screen. With sections such as “Who’s a Sissy? Homosexuality According to Tinseltown” and “Struggle: Fear and Loathing in Gay Hollywood,” Russo’s encyclopedic study was a groundbreaking intervention into discussions of visibility and representation that are nowadays shepherded by the likes of GLAAD, the very organization Russo founded. The influential nonfiction book would go on to be reissued in 1987 with more contemporary additions and in 1996 was adapted into a Peabody Award-winning documentary by the same name, narrated by Lily Tomlin. — Betancourt

Lulu in Hollywood

(Louise Brooks, 1982)

Brooks was best known for G.W. Pabst’s 1929 drama “Pandora’s Box,” in which her Lulu, a ferocious flapper with a pageboy haircut, seduced and abandoned all men who dared stand in her path. But she was also an astute observer of show business customs and personalities, and, as it turned out, a very good writer. This collection of personal essays covers subjects ranging from her time working with director William “Wild Bill” Wellman on “Beggars of Life” to her friendship with Humphrey Bogart, of whom she writes: “Humphrey Bogart spent the last twenty-one years of his life laboriously converting the established character of a middle-aged man from that of a conventional, well-bred theater actor named Humphrey to one that complemented his film roles — a rebellious tough known as Bogey.” Brooks was very wise to the ways of image; she also deftly transcended her own. — C V

The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film

(Michael Ondaatje, 2002)

One of the editors on bona fide classics such as Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” and “The Conversation,” three-time Oscar-winner Murch holds a well of hard-earned knowledge about the mechanics of visual storytelling. A portion of that narrative wisdom is contained within the pages of this collection of rich exchanges with lauded novelist Ondaatje. (The pair met during the making of Anthony Minghella’s “The English Patient,” a film adapted from Ondaatje’s book and edited by Murch.) The intellectual wealth of these chats goes beyond film editing — an often-misunderstood craft that is absolutely essential to how we perceive cinema — and extends to the overall history of the medium in the last third of the 20th century. — C A

Money: A Suicide Note

(Martin Amis, 1984)

In the late 1970s, Amis wrote the screenplay for an unremarkable science-fiction film, “Saturn 3.” On the evidence of this savage industry satire, the experience was souring, dehumanizing and debauching. John Self, the novel’s narrator, is a hard-drinking director traveling between New York and London to steer a film titled “Good Money,” and his observations are rich with fine-grain detail about the celebrities and agents essential to the movie business. But it’s as much a story about the movie business’ relentless damage to the psyche, as John is sunk in porn and prostitutes and drink, swallowed up not just by his success but his lust for it. “The artists in my story are bull artists, con artists, drink artists,” Amis told an interviewer about “Money.” But not good artists, morally or cinematically. — M A

Third Girl From the Left

(Martha Southgate, 2005)

Hollywood always seemed a mythical place where average folks could make the wildest of their dreams come true. But once you’ve been around a while, you come to see the tarnish on Tinseltown’s tinsel. The Black women in “Third Girl From the Left” want to be movie stars or movie makers, but they arrive in a Hollywood that’s not ready to love them back. A family story that gets its shine from the lure of movie magic and our shared fantasy about the healing powers of stardom, Southgate’s novel never shies away from the hard truths of dream-chasing, yet still believes “in the power of movies and the people in them to change a life.”

— LAURA WARRELL, author of “Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm”

Beautiful Ruins

(Jess Walter, 2012)

“I’ve been simultaneously drawn to and repelled from Hollywood for years,” Walter told The Times in 2012 . Both sentiments feed into this novel, which begins when a beautiful actor, banished from the set of “Cleopatra” where Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are indulging in gorgeous excess, lands at a small hotel on the Italian coast. The hotelier is smitten. Jump ahead five decades to reality television in Hollywood, where the assistant to an on-his-way-down producer has to listen to terrible pitches. The novel jumps around temporally and includes an unfinished manuscript and an awful memoir, but these disparate threads tie together in a delightful resolution. “Hollywood is like a giant mirror, I think,” Walter said, “and I used it that way in the book, reflecting characters back to themselves.” — C K

Eve’s Hollywood

(Eve Babitz, 1974)

Few have loved this city as ferociously as Babitz, a brilliant chronicler of Hollywood’s fantasies, foibles and beautiful freaks. Babitz, who died in 2021 , grew up here knowing everyone. Her godfather was famed composer Igor Stravinsky; her high-school gym locker was next to that of a girl who later joined the Manson Family. Babitz’s gleefully debaucherous memoir captures her teen years as a glamour-mad adventuress pinballing around a town full of kooks. At once skeptical and star-struck, she writes passionately about celebrity, superficiality and excess and justifies her decision to graduate early in just two words: Marlon Brando. Celebrities adored Babitz right back, but luckily for us, she chose to be an author, not an actor. “I never had the necessary ability to suspend my own disbelief,” she shrugs. Besides, Babitz knew the juiciest drama plays out off-screen. — A N

The Big Sleep

(Raymond Chandler, 1939)

To Chandler, one of the godfathers of the hard-boiled crime novel, Hollywood generally came down to blackmail and sleaze. (To be fair, to Chandler, much of the world came down to blackmail and sleaze). “The Big Sleep,” the first of Chandler’s seven Philip Marlowe novels, finds the private dick investigating a pornography ring in a story that finds murders and double-crosses piling up at a dizzying rate. An honorable old man hires Marlowe to extricate his younger daughter from a series of blackmailers; meanwhile, the detective falls for his client’s older daughter. Gleefully homophobic and brutal, adapted into an indelible 1946 Howard Hawks movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, the novel set the stage for “The Little Sister” (1949), in which Marlowe investigates a blackmail scheme targeting a Hollywood starlet. By then Chandler had done time as a screenwriter and didn’t care for the industry; he got his revenge on the page. — C V

West of Eden: An American Place

(Jean Stein, 2016)

The title of Stein’s oral history of the muddled, murky origins of Los Angeles as we know it gestures at an off-kilter narrative of biblical proportions. Here is Hollywood laid bare as a fabled “American Place” that’s not so much an Edenic garden as something darker and dirtier, though not for that any less sinful. Stein focuses on families and individuals who forged this West Coast city into what it is today. Oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny, movie mogul Jack Warner, actor Jennifer Jones, heiress Jane Garland and MCA founder Jules C. Stein (the author’s father) anchor startling as-told tales about a city built on ruthless individuals whose bloodied legacies live on still. The Times best summed up its appeal : “It’s like being at an insider’s cocktail party where the most delicious gossip about the rich and powerful is being dished by smart people.” — Betancourt

(Percival Everett, 2001)

“When I grew up, there were three black people on TV, and they were all porters,” author Everett once groaned. His exasperation with stereotypes fuels this flashpoint novel about a Black academic named Monk who invents an ex-felon persona to sell books. “Erasure” is aimed at literary gatekeepers, but Everett takes a shot at Hollywood, too, with his inclusion of a bearish, cigar-smoking movie producer who barges into the story alongside a giggling silicone blond. (The bore jokes that he should have met Monk at Popeye’s Fried Chicken.) When filmmaker Cord Jefferson reworked “Erasure” into his Oscar-winning screenplay, “American Fiction,” he updated the producer character into a vapid dweeb who thinks he’s speaking woke. The tweak emphasized the baby steps the industry has made since 2001 — and the miles left to go. Now who’s going to film “James,” Everett’s bold new adaptation of “Huckleberry Finn”? — AN

(John Gregory Dunne, 1969)

Dunne was dumbfounded when Twentieth Century Fox head Richard Zanuck gave him full access to cover the studio over the course of a year that included production of movies including “Dr. Dolittle,” “Planet of the Apes” and “The Boston Strangler.” But he knew just what to do with the gift. Sitting in on marketing and production meetings, hanging out in the commissary, watching dailies, Dunne captured the small moments that add up to a big picture of ego run amok in a sort of hinge era for the industry, when audiences were getting younger and edgier and studios still weren’t sure how to respond (see “Dr. Dolittle.” Or better yet, don’t). Here’s Zanuck, watching “Apes” footage, responding to criticism in the room that a blood transfusion is depicted incorrectly: “What the hell. Maybe that’s how an ape does it.” Indeed. As Dunne writes in his foreword, “If I got the access, I knew I had the book.” — C V

Final Cut: Art, Money and Ego in the Making of Heaven’s Gate, the Film That Sunk United Artists

(Steven Bach, 1985)

When Steven Bach’s “Final Cut” appeared in 1985, it was mainly sold as Hollywood dish. Bach, the former head of production at United Artists, had delivered the inside story of “Heaven’s Gate,” a 1980 epic western by Michael Cimino that was budgeted at about $11.5 million, wound up costing around four times that, and prompted the hobbled studio’s sale to MGM. Here at last were the details of Cimino’s outsize ego and UA’s futile attempts to restrain it. > GO TO STORY

The story of flop ‘Heaven’s Gate’ is a cautionary tale

The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style and Mode of Production to 1960

(David Bordwell, Janet Staiger and Kristin Thompson, 1985)

When renowned scholar Bordwell died earlier this year at 76, current and former film students the world over shared images of his introductory textbook “Film Art,” whose changing cover illustration helped distinguish one generation of cinephiles from another as surely as the release of “The Graduate” or “sex, lies, and videotape.” But for my money, his most indispensable contribution to our understanding of the medium, co-written with Thompson and Staiger, is this magisterial survey, illustrated with frames from “King Kong” (1933), “The Magnificent Ambersons” (1942) and “Carmen Jones” (1954), among countless others. In it, the authors not only explain the rise of the studio system, trace the emergence of sound and color, and explore the evolution of film exhibition from cramped nickelodeons to imposing movie palaces. They also argue, convincingly and definitively, that the political economy of Hollywood moviemaking is inextricable from the style and content of Hollywood movies — and thereby reveal the scaffolding underneath the greatest meeting of art and business the world has ever known. — Brennan

The Devil’s Candy

(Julie Salamon, 1991)

First subtitled “The Bonfire of the Vanities Goes to Hollywood,” this book is an inside look at the making of a single film, based on Tom Wolfe’s bestselling novel. The step-by-step chronicle, however, has proved more enduring than the original text; later editions are subtitled “The Anatomy of a Hollywood Fiasco.” Salamon, a Wall Street Journal film critic, had been looking for a director who would allow her full access to the making of a film, and Brian De Palma suggested “Bonfire,” no constraints. She gets a kaleidoscopic view of the filmmaking process, speaking to the second-unit director, editor, producers, stars, people standing on set. Nobody wanted to make a flop. But what started out as a satire of ’80s greed and extravagance, with a budget that swelled to nearly $50 million, became a cautionary tale instead. Salamon’s narrative is clear-eyed and delicious. — C K

Postcards From the Edge

(Carrie Fisher, 1987)

“Maybe I shouldn’t have given the guy who pumped my stomach my phone number, but who cares?” There is no more quotable novel about Hollywood than Carrie Fisher’s roman à clef, “Postcards From the Edge.” Fisher’s sentences bristle with caustic, self-effacing humor. Outside of her forays into that galaxy far, far away, that brand of sharp deadpan comedy is perhaps what the former Princess Leia would become best known for. And in her debut novel , the actress-turned-writer makes great use of her enviable way with words. > GO TO STORY

Carrie Fisher debut novel ‘Postcards From the Edge’

What Makes Sammy Run?

(Budd Schulberg, 1941)

Much of the Hollywood that Schulberg imagined in this 1941 classic doesn’t exist anymore — gone are the studio structure and the contract screenwriters, not to mention much of the casual bigotry. But amoral striving? Talentless hacks somehow reaching the top of the heap? That stuff is deathless, and in Sammy Glick, Schulberg invented one of the most enduring craven strivers in American literature. Starting as a copy boy at a New York paper, Glick connives, plagiarizes, seduces and schemes his way into Hollywood from writer to producer to studio head. (That’s not a spoiler: It’s clear from the start that Schulberg will have his antihero fail upward to extremes.) The book is narrated by Al, a humbler colleague bemusedly observing Glick’s rise, and the frisson between the two underscores the inherent tension in moviemaking: How cruel people can be for the sake of making something that captures our hearts. — M A

The Kid Stays in the Picture

(Robert Evans, 1994)

When Evans’ autobiography was adapted into a film in 2002, the cover for the book’s movie tie-in edition advertised what had drawn readers to this Hollywood tell-all: “Success. Scandal. Sex. Tragedy. Infamy,” its cover read. “And that’s just the first chapter …” Such a titillating promise was warranted. Evans’ life and career was rife with the kind of juicy anecdotes that make such memoirs endlessly enjoyable reads, and his is unparalleled in that regard. It tracks his rise from radio star hand-plucked into movie screen stardom by Norma Shearer through his later days running Paramount Pictures , shepherding the studio through pics such as “The Odd Couple,” “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Godfather.” But Evans’ natural raconteur instincts are even better suited to depicting his cocaine benders, explaining his implication in “The Cotton Club Murders” case and detailing how he found his way back on top in a town that loves a good comeback story. — Betancourt

The Pat Hobby Stories

(F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1940-41)

These 17 short stories, originally published by Esquire and later collected in a 1962 book, chronicle the misadventures of a failing, flailing screenwriter, a role that Fitzgerald, whose downward spiral accelerated when he went west to write for the pictures, knew all too well. Vain, often drunk, desperate to get a leg up, the title character weaves in and out of humiliating scenarios, scraping by with a sense of self-inflation to match his appetite for self-destruction. “The Last Tycoon,” Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel based on the life of producer Irving Thalberg, was the author’s Hollywood tragedy; the Hobby stories are the comedy, and they remain side-splittingly funny. As a screenwriter, Hobby was once heralded as “a good man for structure,” which seems appropriate; these stories bend in all the right places. To modern eyes, in their depiction of zigzagging pettiness, they feel like progenitors of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Fitzgerald died of a heart attack in 1940, before the last of the Hobby stories were published. — C V

Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War

(Mark Harris, 2014)

None of Harris’ three books would be out of place on this list. “Pictures at a Revolution” is a fascinating portrait of the highs and lows of an industry in tumult, and “Mike Nichols: A Life” is an unputdownable biography of one of modern Hollywood’s most perceptive filmmakers. But it’s to “Five Came Back” that I continue to turn in something like awe: Across five filmmakers and nearly a decade, through archival research and careful criticism, the author manages to construct an accessible yet never-less-than-rigorous history of Hollywood at war — a subject that has not received the same attention in mainstream film writing as the Hollywood Renaissance or the rise of the franchise blockbuster. Perhaps most thrilling, Harris’ approach allows us to see the effect John Ford, George Stevens, John Huston, William Wyler and Frank Capra had on the American war effort as well as the effect it had on them. You’ll never look at any of their filmographies the same way again. — Brennan

Making Movies

(Sidney Lumet, 1995)

Wise, plainspoken and infused with disarming humility, the late Lumet’s book is like a master class with a teacher you want to hang out with all the time. “We really do know what we’re doing,” he writes. “It only looks like we don’t.” Lumet certainly did, and with directorial credits including “12 Angry Men,” “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Network,” he made it look easy. Guiding the reader through the various elements of filmmaking, from writing and shooting to acting and editing, Lumet is far more compassionate than vindictive. “They’re annoying, publicists, but their lives are hell.” “I love actors. I love them because they’re brave.” But this is no catalog of platitudes. “Making Movies” is stocked with usable advice and examples, the time he didn’t think Paul Newman was quite drilling into his character in “The Verdict,” sent him home for the weekend and got the Newman magic on Monday. “Paul is a shy man,” Lumet writes. “And a wonderful actor. And a race car driver. And gorgeous.” — C V

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and Rock ‘n’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood

(Peter Biskind, 1998)

Reassuringly, the two golden ages of American film each arrived in the wake of utter chaos. The roughly simultaneous advent of talking pictures and the Great Depression ushered in the glories of the 1930s; decades later, the collapse of both the Hollywood studio system and American optimism in Vietnam helped soften the ground for such 1970s classics as “Chinatown,” “The Godfather Part II” and “The Conversation.” > GO TO STORY

An addictively readable history of the Hollywood Renaissance

Interior Chinatown

(Charles Yu, 2020)

Starring Generic Asian Man: The background players take central stage in this hilarious Hollywood novel, winner of the 2020 National Book Award. Our hero, often seen on the edges of a “Law & Order”-type television show, wants more. He lives in a crummy apartment building above a Chinese restaurant, where people from across Asia get lumped together, their individuality shown to us but not the world. Informed by his experience as a second-generation Taiwanese American, Yu skewers shallow racism and toys with cultural tropes. Told in the form of a screenplay — Yu was a writer on “Westworld” — “Interior Chinatown” is a love story, a coming-of-age story, a satire and literary accomplishment. The phrase “Interior Chinatown” is, yes, screenplay shorthand for a scene’s setting, but it also reflects the interior narrative only a novel can explore. — C K

(Lillian Ross, 1952)

The book is usually better than the movie. That’s certainly the case with Stephen Crane’s hallucinatory 1895 Civil War novel, “The Red Badge of Courage,” the source of a 1951 film version that flopped thanks in part to studio meddling. But sometimes the book about the adaptation is better than either. Ross’ 1952 book on the making of “Badge,” originally written for the New Yorker, is a classic of fly-on-the-wall reportage, following director John Huston, MGM studio heads and the film’s cast and crew from conception to shooting to post-release excuse-making. Ross can be meticulous almost to the point of fustiness; she seemingly got hold of every internal memo and expense sheet. But there are few better books about the soup-to-nuts creation of a film, and it’s a brilliant profile of Huston, who’s trying to both gladhand the execs and keep them at arm’s length. — MA

(Michael Tolkin, 1988)

A postcard arrives at Griffin Mill’s office one day: “You said you’d get back to me. I’m still waiting.” The young Hollywood exec, ambitious to a fault as he climbs his way to the top, wavers over telling anyone about what soon becomes a series of death threats from, of all things, an aggrieved writer. Making savvy use of that thriller conceit, Tolkin’s wildly entertaining first novel offers a front-row seat to the self-absorption that characterizes those who would (and do) become mythmakers in Tinseltown. As Mill goes to increasingly deranged lengths to identify who is behind those ominous missives — all while making sure his position at the studio isn’t eclipsed by any newcomers, power lunches taking precedence over anything else — Tolkin paints a scathing portrait of a city of dealers and players who’d do anything to win. Yes, even murder. — MB

Adventures in the Screen Trade

(William Goldman, 1983)

Best remembered now for “The Princess Bride” — he wrote both the novel and the screenplay — Goldman was previously best known for his Oscar-winning screenplay for “All the President’s Men,” the indelible story of two journalists chasing the truth behind Watergate. Before that, though, he was the guy who created “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” a box-office smash, a buddy film western with an entirely unexpected ending. How on earth did the same person write all those classic films and more (“Misery,” “Harper,” “Marathon Man”)? Imagine sitting down at a bar next to him and getting a chance to ask. This book is that conversational — chatty, filled with vivid anecdotes, revealing industry secrets. Part self-effacing memoir, part how-to for writing screenplays, and a window into how the levers of power worked in Hollywood, this book is a stone-cold classic. — CK

(Elmore Leonard, 1990)

Suave loan shark Ernesto “Chili” Palmer is our guide through this amusing crime saga set in the underbelly of the seemingly glamorous world of Hollywood moviemaking. Tasked with collecting the cash that Los Angeles-based producer Harry Zimm owes a Las Vegas casino, Chili quickly becomes entangled in backdoor deals to finance prospective film productions. As increasingly dangerous parties become tangentially involved, Chili and Zimm risk losing more than just their big-screen aspirations. Barry Sonnenfeld’s 1995 big-screen adaptation of the tome starred John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo and Danny DeVito and became a critical and financial success. In 2017, a TV series also based on Leonard’s novel premiered on Epix (now MGM+). — CA

Hitchcock/Truffaut

(François Truffaut, 1967)

In a quarter-century or so of elementary, secondary, undergraduate and graduate schooling, no course cemented itself as firmly in my mind as USC professor Drew Casper’s exhaustive seminar on Alfred Hitchcock — thanks to the master of suspense himself, Casper’s lively lectures and this book. “Hitchcock/Truffaut” is the inimitable, and today inconceivable, product of a 50-hour interview in which the French filmmaker and critic pressed the idol of the Cahiers du Cinéma set “to reveal all his secrets.” The result exemplifies the politique des auteurs , or auteur theory, as thoroughly as any manifesto, but “Hitchcock” isn’t useful merely for its interest in the director’s “minor” works, or for the insights Truffaut draws out that no other interlocutor ever did. It is, above all, detailed proof that art, though subject to the forces of chance and the shifting winds of culture, is ultimately about choices. This star, this shot, this cut, this color: From such decisions the great masterpieces of Hollywood cinema are made. — Brennan

The Day of the Locust

(Nathanael West, 1939)

In West’s scabrous novel, Hollywood is a freak show fated to end in apocalypse, inhabited by deluded hangers-on convinced of their importance and unwilling to confront their mediocrity (West originally titled his book “The Cheated”). Yale-trained artist Tod Hackett, toiling as a studio scene designer, doesn’t just see the fire coming; he’s hard at work predicting and depicting it in a painting called “The Burning of Los Angeles.” But most of the characters have already seen their dreams burn down: Faye Greener, a beautiful but talentless actor; her father, an old vaudevillian reduced to peddling silver polish; and a host of other eccentrics and grotesques. For West, whose own screenwriting career was getting started when he died in a car crash in 1940, Hollywood was where the American Dream went to die. — CV

Play It As It Lays

(Joan Didion, 1970)

Maria Wyeth came to Hollywood for the same reason as the rest of us: to escape from someplace else. When we meet her in “Play It As It Lays,” though, the actor’s hometown of Silver Wells, since swallowed by a missile range in the Nevada desert, has regained a certain appeal, “the restorative power of desolation.” After all, her parents are dead, her marriage is disintegrating, her child is institutionalized, her career is in free fall. Only her father’s advice to her, that life itself is a crap game , has held up over time. “Everything goes,” she laments. “I am working very hard at not thinking about how everything goes.” > GO TO STORY

What Joan Didion’s broken Hollywood can teach us about our own

Matt Brennan is a Los Angeles Times’ deputy editor for entertainment and arts. Born in the Boston area, educated at USC and an adoptive New Orleanian for nearly 10 years, he returned to Los Angeles in 2019 as the newsroom’s television editor. He previously served as TV editor at Paste Magazine, and his writing has also appeared in Indiewire, Slate, Deadspin and numerous other publications.

Kay Scanlon is an art director at the Los Angeles Times. She works on the Sunday Calendar and Weekend sections and has led projects such as the annual 101 Best Restaurants guide. Prior to joining The Times in 2021, she art-directed MovieMaker magazine and contributed award-winning design at the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News and Newsday. Scanlon graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in English and is certified in graphic design from Otis College of Art and Design. Her work has been recognized by the Society for News Design, Society of Publication Designers and the California News Publishers Assn.

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The week’s bestselling books, April 14

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Building an eCommerce website is a significant and inevitable step in launching your  eCommerce business . And it can feel like a big undertaking. After all, there are tons of nitty gritty details, research and design considerations to juggle when you’re first learning   how to create an ecommerce site.

Fortunately, this handy guide can get you started with all the essential tips for creating a site to sell that’s unique and professional.

Still not sure what is an ecommerce website , we've got that covered too.

How to make an eCommerce website in 8 steps

Pick the right eCommerce platform

Design your eCommerce website

Create your product pages

Set up payments

Set up shipping and delivery

Connect your domain

Test and launch your eCommerce site

Market and promote your eCommerce website

01. Pick the right eCommerce platform

When you’re  making a website  from the ground up, you can choose to host it yourself or tap an eCommerce website builder or platform.

Independently hosting a site yourself gives you total control but it’s expensive and time-consuming. Self-hosting means you must handle website development , website maintenance and your site's security all on your own. If you’re not technologically savvy, you’ll need to hire a professional who is.

Alternatively, you can choose to use a hosted eCommerce platform. Cloud-based platforms like  Wix for eCommerce  make setting up your store easy. Look for a platform that offers an easy-to-use  website builder , plus tools for managing multiple aspects of your business, from marketing and sales, to inventory management and fulfillment. You can also explore these  best ecommerce website builders to help you decide.

When it comes to choosing how and where to make your ecommerce site you'll want to consider some of the following crucial features and capabilities:

Mobile friendliness : Seek a platform that offers responsive themes and templates, ensuring that the elements of your online store will automatically adapt to fit various screen sizes. Check out all of Wix’s   eCommerce website templates , which are all designer-made and mobile-responsive. You can also choose from a range of fully responsive website templates from Wix Studio.

Security : Your platform-of-choice should offer fraud prevention, data backups, and other  eCommerce website security  measures that keep your site and data well-protected. In addition, if you plan to accept credit card payments,  PCI compliance  is a must.

Reliability : Given that every second of downtime puts your sales in jeopardy, it’s crucial to find an e-commerce platform that has the infrastructure and resilience to handle any volume of traffic to your site. Ideally, it should support limitless scalability and take measures to prevent  eCommerce site crashes , especially during peak selling periods.

Back-office tools: Select an ecommerce website builder that supports all the major functions, apps and automations that you need to grow your business in the right ways. Think about the tools necessary for managing your inventory, product listings, shipping solutions, orders, and more.

Multichannel selling  capabilities : As you grow your ecommerce business, chances are that you’ll want to expand your reach with the help of third-party marketplaces, social media and other channels. Get ahead with a platform that lets you manage your sales and marketing channels from a single dashboard.

02. Design your eCommerce website

Your ecommerce website serves as the face of your brand. This means you'll want to get the design right from the start. Selecting the right  design and templates  is essential for reinforcing your brand image, as well as guiding users towards the right actions once they land on your site.

You'll want to pick a theme that fits with the category of merchandise that you’re selling—be it fashion, furniture, food, or another product type. Sift through the themes and templates offered by your eCommerce platform for inspiration.

A good place to start is with Wix's eCommerce website templates .

Other ecommerce template options by category include:

Fashion and clothing ecommerce website templates

Jewelry and accessories ecommerce website templates

Arts and crafts ecommerce website templates

Food and drink ecommerce website templates

Beauty and wellness ecommerce website templates

Sports and outdoors ecommerce website templates

Pets and animals ecommerce website templates

Kids and babies ecommerce website templates

Once you've chosen your ecommerce template, you can customize your theme as needed through your platform’s editor. Or, tap a professional designer, like one of   Wix’s Marketplace  professionals, to help out. At this stage of making your eCommerce website, you’ll want to think about:

Images : It’s best to upload your own   p roduct photography , including ones that aren’t product-specific but serve as compelling header images, background images, or lifestyle photos. If you’re in a pinch, Wix offers a gallery of free, high-quality stock photos to choose from.

Fonts and colors : Select a typeface and colors that align with your  eCommerce branding . Check that your copy is easy to read and that buttons are easy to spot. Be intentional about your design, taking into consideration how colors and patterns have the power to communicate various moods, memories, and values.

Your homepage : Consider the most crucial information to provide upfront for your customers to see (think: if your business were opening a brick-and-mortar location, what signage would you show at the front of your store?). Highlight your most important products, messaging, and/or offers on your homepage. You could even embed posts from your Instagram or Facebook feeds, or add product reviews that showcase your brand’s authenticity.

Navigation : Keep your navigation clean and well-organized. As a general rule of thumb, visitors should be able to find any product they need within three clicks or less. Add site search, sorting options, and filters to your pages to further assist your customers with finding what they need faster.

The mobile experience : As you fine tune your ecommerce website, don’t forget to check on the mobile experience. Check that any text, images and buttons appear as they should on smaller screens.

03. Create your product pages

When it comes to building your ecommerce site, product pages can’t be rushed.

Get them right and you’ll not only encourage sales but you’ll also spark cross-sells and upsells that can lead to bigger purchases.

Be deliberate about how you format your product pages. Think about the questions—and assumptions—buyers may have when they’re not able to physically see or touch your products.

Remember that the devil is in the details: Often the most   high-converting product pages  are rich with information, provide multiple images, and include some sort of social proof.

As you build out your product pages, pay close attention to the following elements:

Product names : Your product names should include at least one easy-to-recognize descriptor in the title. For example, if you’re selling headphones, include “earbuds” or “headphones” somewhere so that it’s easy to search.

Product images: Add multiple high-quality images taken from several angles to give your customers a 360-degree view of your product. Where appropriate, use video and/or informational graphics to provide even more context. If your products come in multiple colors or styles, include images of each variation.

Product descriptions : Your   product descriptions  should aim to answer frequently asked questions about your product. Include details such as how the product is made and the type of material it’s made out of. Speak to the benefits of your product, not simply its features, and emphasize what makes your product unique. Weave in keywords naturally tool to enhance your chances of ranking high in search engines.

Shipping and return information : Today’s shoppers want to make as few clicks or swipes as possible, so including shipping costs and your return policy on your product page will help create a more efficient journey. More importantly, putting your policies in a clear spot helps to keep expectations aligned, reducing the chance of returns or upset customers.

Product reviews : Incorporate reviews onto your product pages by adding a widget or importing existing reviews from another source. You could additionally display user-generated social content on your page to showcase real-life photos of your product in action.

Cross-selling and upselling opportunities : Include dynamic “related products” banners on your pages to draw attention to other accessories, components, or items that your customers may be interested in while shopping. As another option, upsell your customers on product subscriptions or premium versions of their items.

04. Set up payments

Today’s shoppers expect multiple payment options. Some prefer credit or debit cards. Others prefer digital wallets. Still others may prefer a payment app. When creating your eCommerce site we recommend offering as many payment options as possible to give customers exactly what they want.

Your eCommerce platform should include prompts for setting up your online payment gateway. Most will ask you to enter and confirm your business’ country of origin, before determining which payment and currency options are available in your region.

With Wix, you can activate   Wix Payments   to instantly start accepting all the major credit/debit cards, alongside digital wallets and other popular forms of payment. Wix Payments additionally allows you to manage your entire business from one place, whether you’re looking to review orders or schedule your payouts (among other things).

05. Set up shipping and delivery

While an efficient payment experience will help shoppers convert, an outstanding shipping and delivery experience helps convince them to come back. When building an eCommerce website, start start by determining your shipping and delivery objectives:

Do you want to ship your products domestically, internationally, or both?

What shipping policies do you care to offer (free shipping, flat rate, variable fee, etc.)?

Which carriers or third-party logistics providers are you looking to ship with?

Will you be dropshipping ?

Which shipping software platforms are you planning to use?

Read also:  How to offer fast and free shipping without killing your profits

Your eCommerce platform should make it easy for you to set custom rules and integrate your most important apps so that you can deliver outstanding customer service, plus track the cost of shipping with each order.

If you use Wix to make your ecommerce site, you can also enable local customers to pick up their orders from a nearby warehouse or from your closest brick-and-mortar store by setting up store pickup as a ‘delivery’ option.

06. Connect your domain

Once you've created your ecommerce site, you’ll need to either connect an existing domain or create a new one yourself. Your domain name is the name that users will type into their browser to get to your site. Choosing the right name is important for both your branding and marketing strategies , with the latter focused on having a trustworthy and easy-to-search   domain name .

To register a domain name , you can find a domain registrar that's accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) . You can purchase a domain from Wix. The average domain costs between $10 and $20 per year, though with a Wix   premium plan , you can get a voucher for a free domain name for a year.

If you already have a domain and want to incorporate it into your eCommerce site, simply go to your site’s settings and connect your domain. You’ll be asked to log into your domain registrar and verify your domain name. The verification process often takes a few minutes, but in some cases it could take up to 48 hours. Once your domain is verified, it will be automatically connected to your new eCommerce site.

07. Test and launch your eCommerce site

Once you've made your ecommerce site it’s critical that you take the time to test it thoroughly. Most platforms will allow you to preview your site before it goes live. This allows you to see exactly what your site will look lik, and to make any last-minute changes.

Be sure to test your site across multiple devices—desktop, tablet, and mobile. Make sure that all links, menus, and buttons work properly. Go through the whole user journey, starting with a product search and ending with a checkout.

Once you’re completely satisfied with your eCommerce site’s look and feel, hit publish and take your site live (and then check out our guide on   eCommerce website optimization ). Then look into getting it ranking on Google and other search engines, too.

08. Market and promote your eCommerce website

While building your own eCommerce site will give your store a “home,” selling on other sales channels, such as third-party marketplace (e.g., Amazon, eBay, etc.) and social media (TikTok, Instagram, etc.) should be a central part of marketing and promoting your ecommerce site.

By establishing a strong   omnichannel retail   strategy, you can expand your reach, while engaging users with a clear intent to shop.

Of course, you’ll want to make sure to sync these third-party channels with your eCommerce site. Doing so will make it easier to track inventory across channels and deliver a consistent brand experience no matter where a customer shops for your products.

If you use Wix for eCommerce, you can easily manage today’s most popular marketplaces from one central dashboard. Simply choose the channels you want to activate from your Wix account and go through the step-by-step instructions that are provided for you. By signing up through Wix, you may even receive special benefits, such as higher listing limits or reduced commission fees.

Learn more:

How to sell on Facebook

How to sell on Wish

How to sell on Instagram

How to sell on YouTube

How to sell on Amazon

How to sell on eBay

Why create an eCommerce website?

Building an eCommerce website offers numerous advantages for individuals and businesses looking to sell products or services online. Here are several compelling reasons to make an eCommerce website for your online business:

Global reach

An eCommerce website allows you to reach a global audience, so you can to sell to customers anywhere in the world. This   type of website  typically increases visibility, especially if you also market it effectively. This can attract new customers, boost brand awareness and lead to higher sales.

Streamlined customer experience

Unlike physical stores with operating hours, eCommerce websites are accessible 24/7. This constant availability accommodates varied consumer schedules and time zones. Consumers also appreciate the convenience of online shopping as it allows them to browse products and make purchases from the comfort of their homes or on-the-go. With features like online payments, automated order processing and efficient customer support systems, eCommerce websites provide a streamlined and efficient shopping experience for customers.

Data insights

Some of the   best eCommerce platforms   provide valuable data and analytics about customer behavior, preferences and buying patterns. This information can be used to refine   your marketing and selling efforts  by improving the overall customer experience. An eCommerce website allows you to adapt to changing trends and preferences, meaning your business stays relevant and competitive. Check out Wix Analytics as an example.

Cost-effectiveness

Compared to brick-and-mortar stores, eCommerce businesses often have lower overhead costs. You can save on expenses like rent, utilities and staffing. You also have flexibility in terms of product variety and business scale. You can easily add new products, update inventory and expand your business without significant infrastructure changes.

Personalization

eCommerce platforms enable personalized shopping experiences through features like product recommendations, targeted promotions and personalized content based on customer preferences and behavior.

How to make an eCommerce site FAQ

How much does it cost to build an ecommerce site.

 eCommerce website cost  varies depending on factors like the chosen platform, features, design complexity and whether you hire professionals for certain tasks. Wix offers a low monthly fee, while custom-built solutions may involve higher upfront costs. Additionally, consider expenses for domain registration, hosting and potentially hiring designers or developers for specific tasks when assessing how much it costs to build a website .

Can I create an ecommerce site for free?

Related posts.

7 types of eCommerce you need to know to succeed

What are eCommerce KPIs and how to track them?

19 profitable eCommerce business ideas

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Best Masters Betting Promos & Bonuses | Grab $3800 in Offers at 2024 Masters Betting Sites

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Does Jon Rahm have what it takes to become The Masters’ first repeat champion since Tiger Woods more than 20 years ago? Or will Augusta National turn into Scottie Scheffler’s private playground like so many other courses? Golf fans around the world will find out this weekend. Golf fans who want to start their sports betting journey can use the best Masters betting promos to open accounts at the top golf betting sites and take advantage of terrific welcome offers for new customers.

The best online sportsbooks are in agreement that the 27-year-old Scheffler opened the tournament far and away the favorite this week in Georgia to win this year’s first major and his second Masters (he won in 2022). The Texan strengthened his hold on the World Golf Rank’s No. 1 spot with back-to-back wins last month at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship.

There are more than enough storylines to keep golf fans excited about the 88 th edition of The Masters. Use one or more of the best Masters betting promos & bonuses to create accounts on Masters betting sites and grab $3,800 in bonus bets, first-bet offers and more from the leading sports betting apps . Read our review now and start betting today!

Best Masters Betting Promos & Bonuses – Top Welcome Offers at Masters Betting Sites

Note:   Bettors in the Tar Heel State can now access special  North Carolina sportsbook promos  as  North Carolina sports betting launched in March. 

BetMGM Bonus Code SBWIRE for Masters Betting

Bettors love the best Masters betting promos at Masters betting sites that allow for big first-bet protection. When you start an account using the BetMGM bonus code SBWIRE , you’re guaranteed up to $1,500 in bonus bets if your first bet loses.

If your first bet of at least $10 settles as a loss, one of the top sportsbook promo codes will send bonus bets back to your account. For first-bet losses of $50 or more, you will get five bonus bets back, each worth 20% of your wager. For first-bet losses of less than $50, you will get one bonus bet.

BetMGM gives you seven days to play your bonus bets. To turn a bonus bet into cash from one of the best Masters betting bonuses, keep in mind BetMGM and the other sportsbook promo codes in this review abide by a 1X playthrough requirement. This means any bonus bet needs to win just once for you to claim the profit in cash.

Caesars Sportsbook Promo Code SBWIRE1000 for Masters Betting

A high limit and a protected first bet are what makes the Caesars Sportsbook promo code SBWIRE1000 one of the best Masters betting promos. If your opening bet settles as a loss, you will get up to $1,000 back as a bonus bet.

Caesars Sportsbook protects your first bet of at least $10 and covers up to a maximum of $1,000. If your first bet wins, then it’s like you’ve won the green jacket. But if your first bet falters, Caesars Sportsbook steps in and sends the full amount of your bet back in the form of one bet credit, up to $1000.

You’ll have 14 days to use that bet credit from one of the best Masters betting promos and bonuses on golf or any of the 20 other sports at Caesars Sportsbook. Your bet credit needs to win just one time for you to pocket the profit in cash.

Masters Betting Promo – bet365 Bonus Code SBKWIRE

With bet365, the customer is always right. That’s why when you launch an account using one of the best Masters betting promos — the bet365 bonus code SBKWIRE — you get to decide whether you’d prefer $150 in bonus bets (after placing a $5 first bet) or a First Bet Safety Net up to $1,000. Sorry, but you have to pick one of the welcome offers; you can’t get both of them.

When you choose the bonus bets, you receive the $150 in bonus bets the moment you plunk down your $5 first bet on The Masters or any other event. If you select the First Bet Safety Net, bet365 keeps tabs on your first bet of at least $10 and covers it up to $1,000. If it doesn’t win, bet365 returns the amount of your first wager in the form of bonus bets.

You get seven days to play your bonus bets from one of the best Masters betting promos. A bonus bet must win once for you to collect the profit in cash.

DraftKings Promo Code for Masters Betting

Who wants a fistful of bonus bets for The Masters? When you start a new account with the DraftKings promo code , you’re rewarded with $150 in bonus bets just for placing a $5 first bet.

It’s honestly this simple to use one of the best Masters betting promos. Make a $5 first bet on golf or any other sport and DraftKings will send you six $25 bonus bets right away that can be used on whatever you want.

Any time one of your bonus bets from one of the best Masters betting promos wins, you win the profit in cash. They expire after seven days.

FanDuel Masters Betting Promo Code

We alluded to this earlier, but we should make it plain: You’re welcome to sign up with as many of the best Masters betting sites as you want. Each of them rewards you in different ways. With FanDuel, you trigger $150 in bonus credit once you open an account with the FanDuel promo code and place your $5 first bet.

However your opening wager fares, the $150 in credit arrives in your account within 72 hours. Once it’s there, you get seven days to use that $150. FanDuel offers you the flexibility to split up that $150 into as many bonus bets as you’d like to play.

Each time one of your bonus bets with one of the best Masters betting promos wins, the profit flows into your account and you can withdraw it any time you want. The site credit expires after seven days.

Previewing The Masters – Best 2024 Masters Betting Promos & Bonuses, Odds

The field for this year’s Masters is packed, as usual, and the best Masters betting promos offer you lots of ways to bet on your favorite golfers at Masters betting sites.

Scheffler earned his only major title at the 2022 Masters when he led the field by 5 shots after 36 holes and cruised to victory by 3 strokes over Rory McIlroy, who posted a final-round 64.

Speaking of McIlroy, The Masters is the only major he doesn’t have on his resumé and he’s generally deemed as Scheffler’s closest challenger along with Rahm and Brooks Koepka — who have been out of the public spotlight playing on with LIV Golf.

LIV Golf just finished a tournament in Miami, so the world’s best players will have their body clocks calibrated for Augusta National — it’s just a matter of whether their games will be calibrated, too.

You can be synched up with as many of the best Masters betting promos and bonuses as you like, especially if you are still learning how to bet on sports . As a new customer, you can get close to $4,000 in first-bet offers, bonus bets and more great deals from the leading online sportsbooks. Sign up for one or register for them all and start betting today!

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Gannett may earn revenue from sports betting operators for audience referrals to betting services. Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. Terms apply, see operator site for Terms and Conditions. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call the National Council on Problem Gambling 24/7 at 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, OH), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN). Must be 21 or older to gamble. Sports betting and gambling are not legal in all locations. Be sure to comply with laws applicable where you reside.

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