AUTHOR WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
An Author Website That’s Truly Yours
Social platforms change their rules; retailer pages belong to the retailer. Your website is the one place online you actually own — where readers, journalists, agents and event organisers find you on your terms. Hoggard Publishers designs and builds bespoke author websites: elegant, fast, and working for you around the clock with book showcases, an about page that earns trust, press resources and email capture that turns visitors into a readership you keep. One home for your author career — built properly, and built to last.
The One Online Asset You Actually Own
Every other place your author presence lives is rented. Algorithms decide who sees your posts; retailers control your book pages; platforms rise, fall and change their terms. A website is different: it’s owned ground. When someone Googles your name — a reader who loved your book, a podcast booker, a journalist on deadline, a rights scout — your website is what should answer, and what it says shapes what happens next.
A working author site does a small number of jobs exceptionally well. It presents your books beautifully, with retailer links that convert. It tells your story in a way that builds trust — the heart of how readers choose authors. It gives media and event organisers what they need (bio, photos, press mentions) without a single email exchange. And, most valuably, it captures email addresses, converting passing traffic into an audience you can reach directly for every future launch.
We design each site bespoke to the author — a thriller writer’s site should feel nothing like a children’s author’s — and build it fast, mobile-first and SEO-ready, so your own name search belongs to you. You receive full ownership: your domain, your hosting, your content, and training to update it yourself, with our support available whenever you’d rather not.
What’s Included in Your Author Website
Everything an author’s online home needs, designed bespoke.
Bespoke Design
A design shaped to your genre and personality — never a recycled template.
Book Showcase Pages
Beautiful pages per title with blurbs, reviews and retailer links that convert.
Email Capture & Newsletter
Sign-up forms and reader-magnet delivery wired to your mailing platform.
SEO Foundations
Clean structure, metadata and speed so searches for your name and books find you first.
Fast & Mobile-First
Quick loading and flawless on phones — where most readers will meet your site.
Training & Ongoing Support
Full handover, a walkthrough so you can update it yourself, and support when you need us.
How We Build Your Website
From discovery to handover — with your approval at every stage.
- 1
Discovery call
We learn your books, brand, goals and taste, and agree scope and a fixed quote.
- 2
Design concept
A visual direction for your review — refined until it feels unmistakably you.
- 3
Build & content
The site built out with your books, bio, press kit and email capture in place.
- 4
Review & polish
Your feedback applied, every page tested across devices and browsers.
- 5
Launch & handover
Live on your domain, with training and documentation — the site is fully yours.
Why Authors Build Their Sites with Hoggard
Start with a free review- Publishing-literate design
- We build for how readers actually discover and buy books — not generic web design.
- You own everything
- Domain, hosting and content in your name; no lock-in, no ransom.
- Built for conversion
- Every page routes visitors toward a book sale or a mailing-list signup.
- Grows with your career
- New books, press and events slot in cleanly — the site is built to expand.
Author Websites — Frequently Asked Questions
Do I really need a website if I’m on social media?
Social profiles rent their audience from an algorithm; a website owns its ground. The two work together — social drives discovery, your site converts it into sales and email signups — but only one of them is yours permanently, appears professionally in search results, and serves media and industry contacts properly.
How much does an author website cost?
It depends on scope — a launch-ready single-author site costs considerably less than a multi-series site with a blog and shop. After the discovery call you receive a fixed quote covering design, build and handover, plus transparent ongoing costs (domain and hosting are typically modest annual fees paid directly by you).
Will I be able to update the site myself?
Yes — that’s a design requirement, not an afterthought. We build on maintainable foundations, walk you through updating books, news and pages, and leave written documentation. If you’d rather never touch it, our support retainer handles updates for you.
Can you include a blog, events page or shop?
All three are common additions. Blogs help SEO and reader connection, events pages suit speaking authors, and direct-sales shops suit established lists. We’ll advise which genuinely serve your goals — and skip the ones that would just be maintenance burden.
How long does it take to build?
A typical author site goes from discovery call to launch in three to five weeks, depending on how quickly content and feedback flow. If you have a book launch date, tell us — we schedule builds around launches all the time.
What about my domain name — do you own it or do I?
You do, always. We register (or transfer) your domain in your own account, and hosting likewise. Everything that constitutes your website belongs to you from day one — our involvement is craft, not custody.
Related services
Ready for an Online Home You Own?
Book a free consultation — we’ll discuss your books and goals and sketch what your author website could look like.
No obligation · You keep 100% of your author rights