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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!
most popular posts
most recent posts
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.
Top tips from expert fiction editor Rebecca Millar
As an author, I am in awe of editors! They contribute so much to the publishing process, and I know for sure that my books wouldn’t be half as good if it weren’t for the vigorous editing they were put through by some very talented editors. However, as editors are largely ‘behind the scenes’, we don’t hear that much about them. So I thought it might be nice to pin one down to find out a little bit more about how they work! I’m delighted to be sharing this interview with Rebecca Millar, a hugely experienced freelance fiction editor, to find out more about how she works with both established and aspiring authors.
Should I add a pop-up to my Squarespace author website?
One of the frustrations that many of my website clients share is how to get people to sign up to their author newsletter / mailing list. With all the author websites I build, I add a newsletter sign-up box as standard (usually in the footer, as this means it’s visible on every page), whether or not the author wants me to.
5 finishing touches to make your author website look pro
As you might know, I’m a big believer in authors building their own websites! It honestly doesn’t have to be a hugely stressful experience, especially not when there are brilliant platforms such as Squarespace and Wix around to make it easy for you.
5 marketing tips for debut authors
Really excited to have another guest post from marketing expert Katie Sadler for you this week. When they get their first book deal, many authors feel totally overwhelmed by the prospect of marketing their books - so I thought it might be helpful to get Katie’s take on the most important things to do as a debut!
Which Squarespace plan is right for authors?
One of the most frequent questions my author website clients ask me is which Squarespace plan they should be on. So in today’s post I am going to take a look at the two main options that my authors use: the Personal plan, and the Business plan.
My most popular blog posts in 2023
I’m easing myself into the new year very gently (as you can probably tell from this post!). Although, that’s not strictly true as I seem to have a ton on my plate this January - including copyedits for my second Rixon book landing at the exact same time as even more edits on my new thriller, plus I have a big website project booked in this month too.
Why Squarespace is the perfect web platform for authors
On some of my trawls of the internet researching author websites, I’ve found a few articles suggesting that Squarespace isn’t a good platform for author websites.
My three words for 2024
2023 was a real milestone year for me, and I think I learnt A LOT. I’ve covered all the ups and downs in a previous post, but in this post, I’m going to be looking ahead to next year - and hopefully being a bit more positive! Let’s see… 😆
Project Spotlight: mariontodd.com
I’m so happy to be sharing with you my last web design project of 2023. As you’ll know if you read my previous post, I have only done a handful of website designs this year as I’ve had so many of my own writing deadlines to content with, but I absolutely loved doing this project and it’s got me very excited about 2024 and all the shiny new projects I have booked in!
✨ 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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pssst! before you go…
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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