What Website Do You Need?
What Website Do You Need?
So you want or figured having a website wouldn’t hurt—especially when schools, publishing agencies, devoted readers, and scammers all want to gather your attention and reach out to you.
Or maybe you wish to host everything and anything book-related (merch, characters, spoilers, bonus chapters, fan art, trigger warnings, exclusive copies, exclusive releases, events, and launches) on one domain.
Either way, you desperately desire a website that will deliver results, whether the results include:
Increasing email newsletter sign-ups for future book releases
Increasing direct book sales, increasing credibility
Introducing your amazing work to new readers entering your world
Creating deeper reader loyalty
Receiving or hosting fan art
Creating a signature brand
Increasing media opportunities
Having a website will dramatically increase all of these amazing outcomes you want. The next question is, “So now what? How the heck/hell do I create or get a website for my work? I don’t even know what I need.”
And as your friend and website designer, my response is, “What’s the goal?”
Without a shadow of a doubt, each author should have an email list (options for an email marketing platform listed below) for several reasons, all ending with more book sales and reader connection. Trust me! But what if you are working on a series, publishing multiple genres, hosting an event, want to book more gigs, or release bonus scenes? Well, yeah, a website is going to be one of, if not the biggest, assets on your team.
So what is the goal—your goal? When you’re getting your lovely self up in the morning, why do you write?
Is it to express yourself, improve writing skills, contribute to the writer world, validate your incredible and maybe wild ideas, diversify revenue, win awards, get the bestseller badge, become the go-to person in your industry, challenge norms, talk to a reader, build a loyal reader community, share knowledge, gain recognition, build a career around your lifestyle, grow a following, leave something behind, become a household name, just because, or all of the above?
Regardless of whether you have one reason why or 300 reasons, that is the first question to ask yourself when deciding what website your work deserves and what you need as an author. Once you’ve decided that, then you can be on your way to launching your website (P.S. I design jaw-dropping websites for authors…just saying).
But answering the main question—the website you need will be the one that will best suit your goals. You can accomplish your goals with a customized 50-page website or one single page. At the very least, your website should introduce your best work, provide a way to contact you, showcase all of your work, include a section to better learn about you, the author, and offer a place to sign up for your newsletter.
Maybe not in that order. Like I said, it all depends on your goals, but yeah, that is what your website needs to have.
Now, if you want a website that will make jaws drop or have people scrolling through your website in awe about the level of dedication you have for your craft, let’s work together. Once you complete the contact form, we’ll chat. I’ll learn more about you, your work, and your goals deeper, and boom—you’ll have your website live four weeks later.
https://www.honeybook.com/widget/series9_studio_296513/cf_id/6975bf5f3df7df00337e8ec2
Resources
Email List to Get Started:
https://mailchimp.com/marketing-glossary/email-marketing/
https://www.brevo.com/?r=t
https://www.activecampaign.com
https://flodesk.com/email
https://www.squarespace.com/email-marketing
Final Note-
Hey, my name is Erica, a new friend and website designer. I love designing jaw-dropping websites for authors whose work goes beyond the pen. My favorite tropes are sports romance, forbidden romance, workplace romance, fantasy romance, dark romance, hidden royalty, mafia princess, revenge plot, bodyguard mafia, organized crime society, secret society, ruthless antihero, heir to the throne, and mob boss romance. I love sweets, laughing with my daughter and husband, and I am on the first draft of my first book—yay.
Cheers!
