There is no shortage of professional WordPress themes for making a website in 2019, for every niche imaginable.
Whilst you can use almost any theme for your writer’s website, there are some text-based WordPress themes out there that are better suited for anyone who wants to showcase their writing skills.
Whether you’re a writer trying to break out into the world of freelancing, an established author looking to create a platform to promote and sell your ebooks, or a pro blogger ready to take your website to the next level and grow your audience; your website should have a professional design with features focused on highlighting the written word.
What to Look for in Great Writing Themes in 2019?
When you set out to find the best WordPress theme in 2019 for your online writing platform, consider the following features:
- Clean and Optimized Typography: A WP theme with strong typographic features will ensure your content is always legible no matter which device your visitors are using.
- Responsive and Minimal Design: Consider foregoing flashy design elements in favor of a minimalistic design to allow your content to shine.
- Portfolio/Gallery Support: If you’re looking to attract new clients, a portfolio or gallery support is a must to present your content in a visually appealing way.
- WooCommerce Support: WooCommerce will allow you to create a beautiful shop where you can sell your ebooks. If that is one of your goals, make sure your chosen theme includes support for WooCommerce.
In today’s post, we bring you a curated selection of the best WordPress writer themes for authors, journalists, and pro bloggers, which are available on ThemeForest in 2019:
With a great WordPress writer theme, you can make your online presence stand out, so your home base online is easy to find, navigate, and promote your writing.
A great writer website can help you land more gigs if you’re a blogger, showcase your best writing as a journalist, or sell your books and promote your profile as an author.
Now let’s jump into the most popular coaching and consulting WordPress themes from ThemeForest.
Best WordPress Themes for Writers, Authors, and Pro Bloggers (2019)
It’s time to make the most of WordPress for writers and authors. Here are over fifteen text-based WordPress themes for 2019, designed especially for promoting your professional writing:
1. Auteur – WordPress Theme for Authors, Reviewers and Publishers
In the words of its makers, Auteur is “a gracefully crafted WordPress theme”, which you’ll no doubt agree with from the screenshot above. It comes with a variety of home page concepts, including one for book reviews, one for a book store, another for introducing a book, and one more which focuses on the author.
With ten different blog layouts, various online store layouts, sliders, page builder features, and lots more, Auteur will put your books, and your writing, front and center in a professional way.
2. Narratium – Simplicity for authors
Narratium is a really striking WordPress theme, assisted in part by striking visuals (something you’ll need to bear in mind when building your own website). Its fixed sidebar acts as home for logos, titles, snippets, and navigation, whilst the scrollable pane to the right holds the archives and posts. The screenshot above shows the homepage with post archive; the screenshot below shows the post layout:
Stunning, simple, quite different from most other themes, yet a supremely elegant way of presenting your writing.
3. Gutentype | 100% Gutenberg WordPress Theme for Modern Blog
The introduction of the Gutenberg editor to WordPress 5.0 has made a big impact to the way content creators use WordPress; some have warmly welcomed it, others have been less enthusiastic. Either way, it’s important that your chosen theme has taken Gutenberg into account, and Gutentype promises just that.
Coming in a range of flavors, this theme is open, clean, and minimal; all aspects which are perfect for authors. It includes enhanced block styles, and several custom shortcodes specifically for use with Gutenberg. Learn more about Gutenberg on Tuts+:
![]()
WordPress
First Look at WordPress Gutenberg
Rachel McCollin
![]()
WordPress Gutenberg
The Best Gutenberg-Optimized WordPress Themes, Available Now
Tomas Laurinavicius
4. WordPress Author Theme Blog for Writers – With Bookstore
This author WordPress theme has a modern and functional design. It can easily be installed with one click to cut down on setup time. You can choose between three different homepage layouts which can also be edited with the help of Visual Composer.
The best part about this WordPress theme for book authors is the integration with WooCommerce, which makes this theme a great choice for anyone who wants to sell their ebooks through their website. On top of that, Revolution Slider allows you to create beautiful slideshows to highlight your most popular articles.
Use this theme to make your new author site in 2019 and start selling your ebooks. Learn how to quickly setup and customize this theme:
5. Storia – Text Based WordPress Theme for Writers in 2019
Storia is a text based WordPress theme explicitly made for those who love to write and to tell stories. This author website template has a minimal design with distractions removed, which makes your stories the main event on your site. It’s made to quickly add your writing to. It’s fully responsive, includes must read box, featured posts, and more and multiple layout options that are easy to setup your website in 2019.
6. The Writer – Premium WordPress Author Blog Theme
If you want to stand out from the competition, look no further than The Writer theme. This WordPress article theme features images for articles resembling book covers, which is a surefire way to get the attention of your visitors.
Another interesting feature is the support for long-form articles which are presented in a visually clean format—with all the distractions removed so your visitors can focus on your content.
Additional features include support for Google+ Authorship, social profiles, and SEO optimized code. It also has a powerful theme options panel along with Visual Composer which allow you to customize the theme to best match your brand.
7. Foret – Creative WP Theme for Writers, Artists and Bloggers /
Foret is a beautiful and stylish theme that’s geared for creatives, writers, and authors included. This minimalist WordPress theme for writers has plenty of customization options that allow you to create a truly unique online author presence.
You can also change every aspect of your website’s layout thanks to the advanced layout creator and a powerful theme options panel that lets you style your colors, fonts, backgrounds, and much more.
The theme also has a beautiful portfolio template and support for WooCommerce so you can easily sell your ebooks and showcase your professional writing clips.
8. The Thinker – Simple Blogging WordPress Writer Theme
The Thinker is another elegant author WordPress theme with just enough features to create a powerful writer website without making your audience feel overwhelmed. This theme was updated in 2019. It also supports WooCommerce which is perfect if you want to sell your authored work directly from your website.
Page templates such as Projects and Showcase allow you to easily feature articles published on other websites, to highlight your best writing or freelance work. The Thinker includes support for the Jetpack plugin which allows you to add sharing options to your website to promote your content far and wide.
9. WordPress for Writers – Text-Based Author Theme /
WordPress for Writers may look simple on the outside, but this theme is packed with all the necessary features to make your content stand out in 2019.
This text-based WordPress theme for authors is fully responsive and has a clean, minimal design with elegant typography. It includes advanced layout options, stunning featured images, citation support, article series, and author images.
Your visitors can easily browse your content with the previous and next buttons below each post and they can just as easily share your content with a simple tweet. On top of that, the theme includes shortcodes and can be customized to fit your brand with the Live Customizer.
10. Movement – Personal Blog WordPress Theme for Writers
If you fancy a grid-based layout, look no further than the Movement theme. It’s a great way to present your writing clips in an organized fashion along with the ability to highlight certain posts to make them stand out.
This WordPress theme for authors and free writers is built on top of the Redux Framework that has plenty of design options and you can further customize the theme thanks to the inclusion of Visual Composer plugin.
On top of that, this WordPress article theme has a responsive design, translation-ready files, and Slider Revolution to create stunning slideshows of your best content. You can make your writing stand out and look beautiful online!
11. Penoolis – Responsive WordPress Blog Writer Theme
Penoolis is a great minimalist WordPress theme for writers that puts the main focus on your content. It’s a great choice for anyone looking to showcase their writing in a simple and straightforward fashion. The text based theme is fully responsive and includes a theme options panel, which allows you to customize the colors, fonts, and more.
A portfolio page is included so you can show examples of your writing on other websites or you can use it to promote your ebooks and books. Other features of this author website template for WordPress include post formats, Google Analytics integration, social media sharing, and more.
12. Nord – Minimal WP Blog Theme With Great Readability
Consider the Nord theme if you’re on the lookout for a simple text based WordPress theme for authors with a high focus on readability. The minimal design allows you to present your writing in the best possible way in 2019, along with bold featured images and a clean layout.
It has several page templates as well as support for various post formats. You can easily customize the fonts, colors, backgrounds, and more. Nord is fully responsive and cross-browser compatible. The clean design allows your writing to stand out on its own merit—distraction free.
13. The Novelist – Unique WordPress Writer’s Theme
Another WordPress author theme on the list with a creative design is The Novelist. This WordPress theme for authors includes a full-width background image which can be set to a different image for each of your pages.
The design of this author website template for WordPress resembles an open book. It even includes thumbnail images which can be added through the built-in WordPress system. It’s got great user feedback, such as:
Love this theme – I was looking for a book theme and the style and features are off the hook!
The theme is responsive and includes AJAX pagination so your pages load almost instantly. It’s also been recently updated in 2019. The theme includes unlimited link color options and you can easily upload your logo through the backend.
14. Forte – Stylish WordPress Theme for Writers & Authors
Forte is a modern and beautiful theme featuring bold imagery and great typography that’s sure to bring attention to your articles. You can even create a membership site and offer some of your content as a part of paid membership with this WordPress article theme.
This WordPress themes made for freelance writers and entrepreneurial authors is responsive and includes a beautiful hero area, as well as support for video backgrounds. On top of that, Forte supports various post formats which allow you to include video posts, your podcasts, quotes, and more.
15. SmartBlog – Minimalist WordPress Theme for Blog Writers
Consider the SmartBlog writer theme if you want a variety of homepage layouts and plenty of customization options. It’s quite a bit more professional than even the best free WordPress themes for writers.
This simple author WordPress theme also includes various page templates, post galleries to feature your work, advanced typography controls, and several archive layouts to easily organize your content. Sharing counters are also included which encourage your visitors to share your content on social media networks.
16. ArtMag – Simple WordPress Blog Writer Magazine Theme
The ArtMag author website template for WordPress includes five different pre-built page layouts and six different content blocks, which when paired with Visual Composer, give you complete control over your website’s layout and allow you to present your content in a unique and elegant way.
This WordPress theme for writers, freelancers, and bloggers also includes mega-menu to include as much content as possible into your menus without overwhelming your users. The theme is also responsive and retina-ready. Use it to make a remarkable website that features your blog writing beautifully!
17. Semantic – Responsive WordPress Blog Theme for Writers
Semantic is a clean and responsive WordPress article theme with several different homepage layouts and beautiful galleries to showcase your writing.
You can also use various shortcodes to add buttons, sliders, testimonials, and more. On top of that, the theme is fully responsive and includes a powerful theme options panel which allows you to easily modify colors, fonts, backgrounds and customize other aspects of your website.
The most notable feature is the post-emphasis which allows you to feature some of your best content directly on the homepage. This is a great author WordPress theme for writers and serious content creators.
How to Promote Your Writer’s Website in 2019
Setting up your website with a gorgeous theme is only the beginning. If you want your work to get noticed, you’ll have to put in some work to grow your blog and promote your work. Here are four tips to get you started in the right direction.
1. Build Up Your Social Media Profiles
Increase the visibility of your brand by creating social media profiles and make sure to fill them out completely as well as provide a link back to your website. Share your content regularly but also share content that is related to your niche that your audience will find valuable.
For best results, take advantage of a theme such as SmartBlog to include social sharing buttons and social media icons on your website. Notice the persistent social media buttons showcased in the theme’s menu (shown highlighted below):
2. Join Industry Related Facebook, LinkedIn Groups, and Writing Communities
Participate in industry related groups and take advantage of LinkedIn’s publishing platform to drive traffic to your website. The same applies to Facebook groups where you can offer valuable advice, share opinions, and position yourself as an expert.
Offline writing communities are also another place to build connections and cross-promote your work and website with others. They give you access to new audiences and help grow traffic to your site.
3. Use the Power of Guest Posting
Guest posting is one of the best ways to increase your visibility and draw new audiences to your website. In most cases, you will get a chance to include your author bio which should link to your website where interested readers can check out more of your work. You can link to your portfolio page such as that included in The Thinker or the Penoolis themes.
4. Use Calls to Action
Use a theme such as Semantic or Titan to include calls to action throughout your website to drive traffic to other pages on your site, such as your online store or your portfolio. Learn more about creating effective calls to action in this quick Tuts+ course.
5. Collaborate With Others
Instead of seeing other writers as your competition, consider teaming up with them and creating a joint webinar or a workshop to share valuable knowledge and increase your audience as well as your website traffic.
Create Your Writer Website in WordPress
Creating a website to promote your writing is necessary if you want to land new clients or increase the sales of your books and ebooks alike in 2019. Learn about how to make your writer’s portfolio website in WordPress:
With a carefully selected WordPress theme and a little bit of clever promotion, you’ll be well on your way to creating a successful writing career. Also, if you’re on a budget, you can still get a premium website design with one of our free WordPress themes.
Editorial Note: Our staff updates this post regularly—removing older WordPress themes and adding new examples with the best, trending designs.