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WEBSITES FOR AUTHORS

Your story deserves a website of its own.

Thoughtful author websites that bring your writing, books and identity together in one memorable digital experience.

Discuss your author website See the work
  • Kirsten ShufordA thriller author’s site we designed, built and look after
  • Two peopleThe people you talk to design and build your site
  • Experience since 2009Founded by Arun and Christy

01 THE WORK

Kirsten Shuford, thriller author.

Her debut thriller needed a site in its own tone: one that introduces the author, gives the first chapter away and sends readers to buy, without a pop-up in sight.

Kirsten Shuford's author site: the title DAMAGE CONTROL in large stone-textured capitals beside a cracked marble bust on a red book cover, under a CLASSIFIED label, with Get Your Copy and Read Free Sample buttons.
The homepage, 28 October 2026.

KIRSTEN SHUFORD Since November 2025

An author site that reads like the genre it sells.

A former intelligence professional publishing her debut thriller needed a site that introduced her and the book in the book's own tone, brought the trailer, Amazon, the reviews and her social profiles together, and kept readers for the next book.

  • A trailer page, with the trailer hosted alongside the site. It never plays on its own.
  • The first chapter, free to read as page images or plain text, with no sign-up in the way.
  • Amazon links for Kindle and paperback throughout, and a page of reader reviews.
  • An awards page, a gallery of launches and signings, and a newsletter sign-up in the novel’s voice.
2

2026 awards won by the novel, not by us

A Silver Falchion for Best Mystery at Killer Nashville, and an IPPY Bronze Medal (shared) for Best Mystery/Thriller eBook. Details below.

Read the case study

02 WHAT WE HELP WITH

What an author website has to do.

  • Identity and visual design

    A look that belongs to your books rather than to a template: type, color and imagery that carry your genre and your voice, worked out with you through sample designs and rounds of changes.

    Kirsten’s site is built like a classified file: near-black and deep red, with a CLASSIFIED label above the title.

  • Book launches and presentation

    A page for each book that does the work of a back cover: the blurb, the formats, the order to read a series in, and what is coming next. Launches, signings and events get their place too.

    Her book page gives a series reading order and marks the sequel as coming; a gallery covers launches and signings.

  • Trailers, excerpts and reviews

    Let readers sample the book before they buy: a trailer that loads only when it is wanted, a free chapter without a sign-up, and reviews from readers and publications.

    Her trailer is hosted with the site and never plays on its own, and the first chapter is open to everyone.

  • Purchase links

    Clear links to the retailers that sell your book, in every format, wherever a reader is ready to buy, without pushing before they are.

    Amazon is linked throughout, for Kindle and paperback, with a Buy on Amazon button in the navigation.

  • Newsletters and reader communication

    A newsletter sign-up readers have a reason to use, written in your voice and connected to a supported email platform when that is part of the project, and a contact form that sorts media, events and reader messages.

    Her sign-up is designed in the novel’s language: the Intelligence Network, where signing up is getting your Security Clearance. The contact form asks what a message is about.

  • Mobile, accessibility and performance

    Most readers meet the site on a phone. Pages that load quickly, read comfortably and work with assistive technology, and motion that respects a reader’s settings.

    With reduced motion set, her pages render in their finished state. After our August 2026 performance pass, mobile First Contentful Paint measured 1.3 s in lab tests, down from 1.8 s.

  • Domains, moves and care after launch

    Moving to a site of your own without losing your domain, then keeping it current: new books, awards, reviews and events, with updates, speed and security in hand.

    Since launch we have looked after her site’s hosting, performance, awards and reviews.

The trailer page: Official Book Trailer, with a video poster of case files and a play button.
The book trailer is hosted with the site. It never plays on its own, and the poster loads only as it comes into view.
The free sample reader: Read a Free Sample, with Page Images and Text Version buttons above three printed pages of chapter one.
The first chapter is open to everyone, as page images or as plain text, with no sign-up in the way.
The newsletter panel: Join The Intelligence Network, Get Your Security Clearance, listing a free first chapter, exclusive deleted scenes, monthly intelligence briefings and early bird pricing on new releases, with an email field and an Access Granted button.
The newsletter sign-up, designed in the novel’s language: a security clearance for the Intelligence Network.

03 HOW IT RUNS

How an author site comes together.

  1. We start with your vision

    Your books, your readers and how the site should feel. We ask a lot of questions before we design anything.

  2. Sample designs to react to

    We put together sample designs for you to view and adjust, so you choose from something real instead of describing it in the abstract.

  3. Refined together

    Rounds of changes, large and small, until the pages, the trailer, the links and the details come together.

  4. Launch, domain and move

    We handle the domain and the move to the new site, so the address your readers know keeps working.

  5. Looked after

    New books, awards, reviews and events added when you need them, and the site kept fast and secure.

04 QUESTIONS

Questions we get asked

I already have a website. Can you work from it?

Yes. We can start from the site you have, whatever it was built with: keep what works, redesign the rest with you, and move it, domain included, when the new site is ready.

Can my book trailer live on my own site?

Yes. Kirsten Shuford’s trailer is hosted with her site rather than on a video platform. It never plays on its own, and its poster loads only as it comes into view.

Can readers buy my book from the site?

The site sends them to the retailers that sell it, in each format, from wherever they are ready to buy. Selling signed copies or bundles yourself is an online store, which we also build.

Can you set up a newsletter?

Yes, when it is part of the project. We design the sign-up and the reasons to join, in your voice, and connect it to a supported email platform of your choice. On Kirsten’s site we designed the sign-up, the Intelligence Network, in the language of her novel.

Will the site work for readers on phones and with assistive technology?

That is part of the work from the first page: layouts that read well on a phone, text that holds up when it is enlarged, controls that work from a keyboard, and motion that respects a reader’s settings.

Who looks after the site after launch?

We can. We have looked after Kirsten’s site since launch: its hosting, performance, awards and reviews.

Do you work with authors outside the US?

Yes. We work with clients in the US and anywhere else in the world, and you review the work on a staging site from wherever you are.

05 START HERE

Discuss your author website.

Tell us about your books and what you want the site to do. We will read it and reply, or say plainly if we are not the right fit.

No brief needed. Three fields are required; the rest helps us prepare.

No website yet? Leave it blank.

A sentence or two is plenty: the genre, what is published or coming, and what is not working now.

We use what you send only to reply to you. Submissions are stored by our host, Netlify, and are never added to a mailing list or shared. See the privacy policy.