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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Blog

Some honest thoughts on the book that nearly broke me

Some honest thoughts on author publicity

Behind the scenes: a mid-year update 2025

Some honest thoughts on social media for authors

most recent posts

Charlotte Duckworth 4/27/20 Charlotte Duckworth 4/27/20

Why your author website needs a privacy policy

Following on from my post last week about how adding a favicon can give your author website a pro touch, I thought it might be useful to address another thing that your website really should have – but which I often see is missing from websites authors have built themselves.

Charlotte Duckworth 4/13/20 Charlotte Duckworth 4/13/20

Project Spotlight: catherinelaw.co.uk

It’s a total joy to be able to share one of my recent projects with you - a website for historical fiction author Catherine Law, who’s published five novels (so far!) set in the early 20th century. It was particularly exciting for me to be able to work with an author with such a big backlist - and best of all, with the most BEAUTIFUL covers (I had serious cover envy throughout this project!).

Charlotte Duckworth 3/30/20 Charlotte Duckworth 3/30/20

Author websites: what to put on your About and Contact pages

Hello! This is the final post in the series I’ve been sharing to offer tips and advice on what each page of your author website needs. Last time we talked about your Books page, and the time before we covered your homepage. This time, we’re going to cover your About and Contact pages….

Charlotte Duckworth 3/6/20 Charlotte Duckworth 3/6/20

Project Spotlight: betholearyauthor.com

I’m excited today to be able to share my latest project - a brand new website for Sunday Times bestselling author Beth O’Leary. Beth and I share a publisher - the wonderful Quercus - and so it was extra lovely to be able to work with one of my stablemates! Beth had previously set up her own website on Wordpress but wanted something more professional that focused on her as a writer, rather than just her debut novel, The Flatshare.

Charlotte Duckworth 3/2/20 Charlotte Duckworth 3/2/20

Author websites: what to put on your Books page

Hello! This is the second in a series of blog posts I’ve been sharing to offer tips and advice on what each page of your author website needs. Many authors worry about what exactly they need to put on their author websites, so hopefully these posts will help guide and reassure you. Last time we talked about your homepage. This time, it’s the turn of your second-most important page, the page all about your books….

Charlotte Duckworth 2/17/20 Charlotte Duckworth 2/17/20

Author websites: what to put on your homepage

You're a writer, so writing the copy for your website should be easy, right? But some writers find it a challenge. After all, it's a very different skill from writing books. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing a series of blog posts to offer some top tips and advice on what each page of your author website needs, to make sure it is working as hard for you as possible!

Charlotte Duckworth 2/10/20 Charlotte Duckworth 2/10/20

Project Spotlight: carirosen.com

Very excited to share this one - a shiny new website for author and editor Cari Rosen. This was a really fun project that required quite a bit of creative thinking on my part but I am so happy with the finished result. Cari’s website is a ‘one-page wonder’ which means all the content is hosted on a single, long, beautiful page. You can jump between sections on the page using the navigation images at the top.