welcome…
…to all my secrets on life as a published author
(I’m 7 traditionally published books in and I’ve learnt some stuff 😉)
I blog weekly about author websites, newsletters and life as a writer…
New posts published every Monday 😊
Want to learn more about me and my own publishing journey first?
(includes info on how I landed one of those mythical six-figure book deals!)
Read all about my own journey to publication →
Or scroll down to read all my other posts!
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How to add text effects to your Squarespace author website
As authors, we often struggle to find good images for our websites. I find many of my author clients get in touch feeling worried that they don’t have any good photography for their website. Quite often they’ll only have their headshot, and their book’s cover, and that’s it.
How to format images for your author website
‘An image speaks a thousand words’ - this really does hold true on the internet. We much prefer to consume content online in image form, rather than text (obviously this saddens me, as a writer, but the evidence backs it up!).
5 amazing author website built by my students
I’m almost bursting with excitement to share this post with you! Since I launched the DIY Author Website Course last year, I’ve had some amazing feedback from students.
How to add a social sharing image to your author website
Another quick video for you today to show you how to add a social sharing image to your author website.
Behind the scenes: a mid-year studio update
I guess it’s a bit late for a spring update technically, as it’s already June (WHAT!) but I thought it would be nice (for me) and possibly interesting (for anyone reading) to do a little mid-year round-up of 2024 so far.
Life as an assistant editor - interview with Sophie Dawson
I’m really excited about today’s interview! Sophie Dawson is an Assistant Editor at publisher Head of Zeus. She also recently worked on my second Charlotte Rixon novel, which is coming out later this year, and she’s been a real joy to work with! So I’m thrilled that she agreed to answer a few questions about her work.
My number one Squarespace tip
I have a short and sweet trick to share with you in this post. One of the most useful features of Squarespace that I don’t think many people are aware of.
How to encourage visits to your author website
So, finally, your author website is live! Hurrah and hurray. No matter how you achieved this – whether through doing it yourself or getting someone else to help you or even handing over the whole project completely – you should feel very proud.
How to organise books on your author website
I work with a mix of authors, from debuts to longstanding writers with big backlists, but the majority of my work is with debuts, because it’s often when writers first get their book deal that they think ‘oh god! Now I need a website!’
3 author websites I made-over in a day
Earlier this year I introduced my new Author VIP Design Day, and I realised recently that I hadn’t talked much about this new service. So I thought it might be a good idea to share a little bit about what this package entails, and show you a few of the websites that I’ve given a makeover to using it!
The top 5 mistakes author websites make
Bit of a controversial post today, but I thought it might be helpful to summarise the top 5 issues I see with author websites. These are the things that crop up again and again, but thankfully they’re super easy to fix and will make a big difference to your author website if you address them!
Should I have a blog on my author website?
Ah, blogging! Where better to write about this massive topic than here, on my very own blog. Building websites means I get asked a lot of questions about blogs, and whether or not authors should have them.
How to add a browser icon to your author website
Here’s a neat little tip that will make your author website look truly pro. I quite often see author websites with missing browser icons, and it immediately marks them out as ‘home made’. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing - in fact, I’m all for authors building their own sites as it can actually be quite a fun creative project (yes really) and it’s very empowering!
Life as a book publicist – interview with Ana McLaughlin
Ironically, I’m not sure that book publicists (or PRs) get enough publicity for the very important job they do getting books on readers’ radars! So I’m super happy today to have an interview with Ana McLaughlin to share with you. She has worked in book PR since 2001. She’s also a published author herself and has a wealth of experience to share about this very important part of the sales-marketing-publicity triangle…
Do authors REALLY need websites?
I thought I’d tackle a biggie this week! Believe it or not, I’m often asked if authors really need their own websites. Of course, I’m hugely biased, given what I do, but I’m still always a bit surprised when people say they don’t think they’re necessary.
The difference between branding and web design
I recently had to part ways with a client when it became apparent that they were looking for someone to provide branding alongside their new website. The experience was thankfully very amicable, with us both realising that we weren’t the right fit for one another, but it did get me thinking that perhaps I needed to be more clear in my messaging - particularly about the differences between web design and branding.
5 historical fiction websites I built on Squarespace
I realised recently that I don’t share enough of my work on my blog. I have my Portfolio, which you can see here, but it doesn’t feature all my work (the page would be very long if it did!) And so I thought it might also be helpful to do some mini round-ups of different websites I’ve built, organised by genre.
How to block AI crawlers from your Squarespace author website
A quick video for you today to show you how to stop AI crawlers from using the content on your author website to train their language models. Check it out.
What’s it really like being published by a small publisher?
I’m excited to have another interview for you today, with thriller author Emma Christie. I have known Emma for a while now, as we share the same agent, and I thought it would be interesting to talk to her about her experience of being published by a small publisher, as this is something authors often have questions about.
What is PLR and why should authors know about it?
A bit of an impromptu blog post today, but today I received one of the best emails an author receives all year - from the British Library, with a link to my PLR statement. And on the statement was the amount of money my books had earnt from libraries across the UK in the past year.
✨ 30 things I’ve learnt from 5 years being published ✨
September 6 2023 marked 5 years since my first book was released 😲
To celebrate, I shared a new post about what I’ve learnt from being published EVERY DAY throughout the month.
Enjoy!
curious about my books?
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Essential Guide to SEO for Authors
17 page guide
The Debut Author’s Survival Guide
30 page ebook
Author Website Content Guide
14 page guide
Author Newsletters
- a Beginner’s Guide
30 minute video
Blogging for Authors
- a Beginner’s Guide
18 minute video