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Author website design services built around your books
Our author website design services build your site on WordPress: a one-page Author Page for $499, or a five-page Author Website with a blog and ebook sales for $1,499. Both include your newsletter set up in your name with welcome emails, year 1 hosting, and your domain registered in your name. Custom business websites start at $4,999, planned with you on a call. Part of our book marketing services.
- Domain in your name
- Year 1 hosting included
- Ready in 2 to 4 weeks
Author website packages and prices
Our author website design services come in two packages, plus custom business websites. Both packages include your newsletter set up in your name, year 1 hosting, your domain registered in your name and pages that work on any phone. Pick your website, then how we look after it from year 2. Your totals update as you go.
Choose your author website
Hosting for year 1 included. From year 2, see hosting and care plans ↓
Hosting and care plans
Year 1 hosting is included. Care plans are optional: start one from year 2, or from launch day if you want updates and edits in year 1. In year 1 you pay only the care part, because hosting is already in your website price: Care $249, Care Plus $749 (or $29 and $79 a month).
Compare what each plan includes
| Feature | Hosting only | Care | Care Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Site online, with the secure padlock (https) | Included | Included | Included |
| Domain renewal, kept in your name | Included | Included | Included |
| Your you@yourname.com email | With the Author Website | With the Author Website | With the Author Website |
| WordPress and plugin updates and security checks, so it keeps working and stays safe | None | Included | Included |
| Backups | None | Monthly | Weekly |
| Edit time for any work: new reviews, a new book, text and photo changes, new pages | $50 an hour when you ask. Most edits take under an hour, and you see the time first. | 1 hour a month | 2 hours a month |
| Speed and search check, so it loads fast and shows up in Google | None | None | Included |
| Quarterly report | None | None | Included |
One plan, any work: your edit time covers anything on your site. Unused time carries over for up to 3 months, so you can save it for something bigger, such as a media kit or school visits page. Pay for a care plan yearly and get 2 months free: Care $490 a year, Care Plus $990 a year. Monthly prices stay $49 and $99. Extra time beyond your plan is $50 an hour.
Extras for your author website
Order now or any time later
One more page, designed to match your site.
What’s included
- For things readers ask about that don’t fit your main pages
- A media kit for press and podcasts
- Events, signings or school visits
- A series reading order or FAQ
- Ready in about a week
A page built to sell one book.
What’s included
- Send readers here from your ads, emails and social posts
- Cover, blurb and review quotes
- A free sample chapter or excerpt
- Buy buttons for every store, plus newsletter signup
- Ready in about a week
Time for changes after launch, without a care plan.
What’s included
- New reviews, prices or buy links
- Text and photo changes
- Adding a new book to your Books page
- Most edits take under an hour, and you see the time before we start
- Use your hours within 3 months
With Care or Care Plus, edits and new pages come out of your monthly edit hours instead.
Custom business websites, from $4,999
Book a callBuilt from scratch around your business, with the latest features. Book a consultation, and we’ll plan it with you. Hosting, care and the timeline are set on that call.
- A store for your books, merchandise or services
- Booking forms for speaking bookings, talks and consultations
- Client pages and member areas
- An AI chat assistant, with you when you’re online
- SEO and AI search (AEO, GEO)
- Visitor insights: traffic, reads and sales
- A growth marketing plan kit
- Anything else you sell
Need it sooner? Rush delivery is +15%, subject to availability.
Flexible, milestone-based payments, set out in your agreement before work starts.
Prices as of October 2026.
Build it yourself or hire an author website designer?
Here’s how a free or monthly website builder compares with hiring us.
| Feature | Free author site builder | Monthly site builder | AuthorWings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free, with paid upgrades | A monthly fee | From $499 with your newsletter, custom from $4,999; hosting from $149 a year from year 2 |
| Who builds it | You | You | We do, and the site is yours |
| Design | Templates | Templates | Designed around your books and genre |
| Your own domain | Often on paid plans | Yes, sometimes extra | Included, registered in your name |
| Ebook sales and professional email | Limited | Often extra | Included in the Author Website |
| Time you spend | Hours to days | Days | A short brief and reviews |
Build it yourself if your budget is tight and you enjoy the work. Hire help if your time is better spent writing, or you want a site that matches the quality of your books.
To create an author website yourself, register your author name as a domain, choose a platform, plan your home, books, about and contact pages, connect your email list and add buy links for every store. Check every page on a phone before you launch.
Still preparing the book itself? See book publishing and book cover design.
What every author website needs
Every AuthorWings author website includes:
Your books
Each with its cover, description and buy buttons for every store.
Your newsletter and email signup
Set up in your name and connected to your site, with welcome emails, so readers hear about your next book.
An about section
With your author bio and photo.
A way to contact you
For readers, media and event organizers.
Book website design that matches your covers
Colors and style that follow your covers and genre.
Mobile-friendly pages
Looks right on phones, tablets and computers.
Search basics
A clear title and description on each page, so Google can show your name and books.
You supply the words and images. Our free author bio generator and book description generator give you first drafts.
How we build your author website
- Free call.A free 30-minute call about your books, readers and goals. We recommend a package.
- Brief.You send your covers, bio, book details, author photo and any sites you like.
- Design.You see the design and ask for changes.
- Build.We build the site on WordPress, set up your newsletter and email signup, write your welcome emails and add your buy links.
- Review.You check every page on your phone and computer.
- Launch.We launch the site on your domain and check every link and buy button.
An Author Page takes 2 to 3 weeks and an Author Website 3 to 4 weeks, once we have your content. Your written quote follows the call within 48 hours.
You own your website
Your domain is registered in your name
It stays yours, whatever happens.
A WordPress author website you can take anywhere
Any WordPress developer can work on it later.
You can move it
If you ever want to host it elsewhere, we’ll hand over your files.
Your email list is yours
In your own email platform account.
Websites for children’s authors
Built for the adults who buy your books and the children who read them.
For parents and teachers
Book pages with age ranges, reviews and buy links.
For schools and libraries
A school visits page with your topics, format and booking details.
For young readers
Activity pages, coloring sheets or a page for your book trailer, added as extra pages.
Safety first
No comment sections or sign-ups aimed at children.
See our children’s book publishing services for help with the books themselves.
Author website design: FAQs
Do authors need a website?
Yes, if you want readers to find all your books and join your email list. Store pages and social profiles belong to other companies, and those companies can change their rules at any time. Your website is the one place you control, and it gives readers, media and event organizers one address that always shows your latest book.
How much does an author website cost?
Author websites cost anything from nothing, with a free site builder, to several thousand dollars for a custom design. With AuthorWings, an Author Page costs $499 and a five-page Author Website $1,499, both with your newsletter, welcome emails and year 1 hosting included. Custom business websites start at $4,999. From year 2, hosting costs $149 or $249 a year, and care plans start at $49 a month.
What happens after the first year?
Hosting only costs $149 a year for an Author Page or $249 for an Author Website from year 2, including domain renewal and, with the Author Website, your professional email. Edits are $50 an hour when you ask. Or start a care plan any time. Care at $49 a month covers hosting, updates, backups and 1 hour of edit time a month. Care Plus at $99 a month adds weekly backups and 2 hours. Pay yearly and get 2 months free. Edit time covers any work, including new pages. Your domain stays in your name either way.
How long does it take to build an author website?
An Author Page takes 2 to 3 weeks and an Author Website 3 to 4 weeks, once we have your content. Custom business website timelines are set on your consultation. Need it sooner? Rush delivery is +15%, subject to availability. If you have a launch date, tell us on the first call, and we’ll plan backward from it.
Can I sell books on my website?
Yes. The Author Website lets you sell your ebooks direct from your own site through a payment link. Printed book orders are quoted separately. A custom business website can add a full store for your books and merchandise. Every package includes buy buttons that send readers to Amazon and the other stores where your book is sold.
Can I start small and upgrade later?
Yes. Many authors start with an Author Page and move to an Author Website when they want a blog, more book pages or ebook sales from their own site. If you plan to grow a reader list from your first book, starting with the Author Website saves you a second build. The cost of an upgrade is confirmed in your written quote.
Ready for a website built around your books?
Tell us about your books, and we’ll recommend the right package on a free 30-minute call. Your written quote follows within 48 hours.
- Domain in your name
- Year 1 hosting included
- Every price published
