I’m an author website designer who writes articles for authors, writers, journalists and anyone looking to showcase their written work online.
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Finding the Perfect Author Website Designer
I recently wrote an article about finding author website design services, where I covered the available options and how to evaluate designers in the hiring process. However, I didn't discuss the importance of "soft skills" that make someone a good fit. I dislike the term "soft skills" because it implies that interpersonal skills are less important than practical skills, which is simply not true. Nevertheless, I use the term here as it is commonly understood to refer to personal qualities, characteristics, and interpersonal abilities that enable individuals to effectively interact and work with others. Soft skills are essential for building positive working relationships and achieving mutual goals. If someone can do the job but is difficult to work with, it Read more...
Finding Author Website Design Services
This article is designed to help you better understand what the options are when looking to hire an author website designer. There are lots of great choices out there now, so how do you best evaluate them to figure out who to hire? When you are looking for author website design services, it's important to understand that you might be looking for a handful of different criteria, rather than a one-size-fits-all model. Not only are you looking to find the kind of aesthetic that appeals to you and works for your author brand, but you also might want to use a certain platform, or to showcase certain features, or you need to work within a certain budget, or you Read more...
What is the best platform to build an author website?
Like with many things in life, there's no straightforward answer to this question. It's a bit like asking, "why kind of car is best?" -- the answer depends on what you want out of a car. Happily there are really only three platforms to seriously consider for your author website in my opinion, Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress. In this article we'll talk about how to choose the best fit for you and your author website. You might ask: why those three? They hold the biggest market share, which means they have the most resources, the most staying power, and the most help should you need it. This isn't to say you won't have a great experience choosing something else, Read more...
Website Design for Poets
Next week I'll start work on an author website for a poet, so I've been reflecting on what sets a poet website design apart from other author website designs. I've been lucky enough to work with some great poets on their author websites, including Sophie Cabot Black and Lee Woodman. And as much as any author website's goal is to create an immersive and experiential experience of the author's brand, it's especially true for poets. A poem is often deeply personal and connected to the author not only through verse but through delivery. Who the poet is, as a person, takes on a deep importance as they are often laid bare through their poems, even if it is only a Read more...
What to look for in an Author Website Designer
I've been an author website designer for over 15 years, and in that time I've learned many things about creating websites specifically for authors. In the beginning, I most often worked with the digital marketing departments of traditional publishers who were not in a position to be creating author websites themselves. They either didn't have the talent in-house, and/or weren't planning headcount for it because they weren't sure how important it was. Many things have happened since! The traditional publishing landscape has changed dramatically, and while the creation and editing of books follows a similar trajectory, the marketing of books is a very different ball of wax. Equally for self-published authors, the tools they have to bring their books to Read more...
WordPress vs Squarespace vs Wix for Author Websites
WordPress, Squarespace, Wix — there are great choices out there for what you might select as the platform to build your author website. So, how do you choose? Each of these options has pros and cons, and the landscape of building websites changes constantly over time. It’s a critical decision to make, but please don’t lose sleep over it. If things change for you in the future you can always move if it will work better for you. The average lifespan of a website is only 2 years, 7 months. While it’s reasonable to hope that your investment will last longer than that, at 5 years every website should look at an overhaul, because so much will have changed with Read more...
Not sure what your author website needs?
Don’t have any idea how to build your own website, but know that you need one?
Kate helps authors who want to establish a strong online presence create a website that represents who they are, and what their book is all about. You could have a gorgeous landing page for your book that was created by a professional author website designer within 2-4 weeks, leaving you to work on higher-value tasks in the book publishing process. Each website is designed with you in mind to help get your book in front of a bigger audience, to sell more, and to allow you to focus on the business of being an author rather than a website designer.
How it Works…
You provide simple information about your book(s) and Kate takes it from there, quickly delivering a complete, fully-functional website built just for you.
Kate creates websites designed to appeal to readers across all device displays that always look great and reach more people. Your time is limited leading up to your book release, and you need to be focusing on high-value promotional tasks rather than being frustrated trying to make a great author website.
It’s really great. Not what I pictured in my head, but I love it. I think that means you’re a great designer. The Don Draper of web design?”
— Outbox Online Client
It’s really great. Not what I pictured in my head, but I love it. I think that means you’re a great designer. The Don Draper of web design?”
— Outbox Online Client