The one place nobody can take.
A retailer can delist you. A platform can close your account. Your own site is the piece of the author platform that is yours, and it is where everything else should point.
Live sites,
running right now.
Not screenshots. The real sites, live in this page — click one and scroll it. Every domain is registered in the author's own name, and every mailing list sits in their account rather than ours.
Five things
an author site needs.
Most author websites fail by being a brochure. These are the parts that actually do work.
- 01
The book, obviously
Cover, description, a sample, and every place it can be bought. One page per title, so each has its own address to send people to.
- 02
A mailing list that is connected
Not a form that goes nowhere. A list you own, that you can write to on the day the next book lands. This is the highest-value thing on the site and the one most often skipped.
- 03
A press page
Your biography, a high-resolution photograph, your cover files, and how to reach you. A journalist on a deadline will not email to ask for these.
- 04
Something to come back for
A blog, a newsletter archive, a reading list. A site with nothing new on it is visited once.
- 05
Findable by your own name
Structured properly, so that when somebody searches you after a podcast or a review, your site is what they land on rather than a retailer's page.
From nothing
to live.
- 01
We look at the book
The design follows the cover. A site that looks like a different book than the one you wrote confuses the one person it was built to convince.
- 02
You see it before it exists
A design, agreed, before anybody writes code. Changes are cheap at that stage and expensive later.
- 03
It gets built and connected
Domain, hosting, mailing list, retailer links, analytics. Connected properly, not left as a to-do list for you.
- 04
It is handed over
The domain in your name, the logins yours, and a walkthrough of how to change anything you will want to change.
Why the domain
goes in your name.
This is worth being blunt about, because it is where authors get caught. A great many services will build you a website and register the domain to themselves. It looks like a detail on the invoice. It is not: it means the address people find you at belongs to somebody else, and if you ever leave, it leaves with them.
We register it to you. If you decide in two years that you would rather somebody else looked after the site, you take the domain, the content and the mailing list and go. That should be the standard everywhere and it is not.
What that means for your list
The mailing list is the same argument. A list held inside somebody else's account is not yours in any way that matters. Yours sits in an account in your name, exportable at any moment, so the people who liked your first book can be told about your second regardless of who you are working with by then.
And the honest limit
A website does not sell books on its own. It converts attention you already have — from a review, a podcast, a release, a search for your name — into a reader and an email address. That is a real job and it is worth doing well. It is not a substitute for anybody knowing the book exists.
Not screenshots.
Open them.
Every link goes to the live site. Look at what it has to do for that particular author, then decide whether a template could have done it.
- A poetry collection had to feel like the book before anybody would buy itPoetry sells on tone. The site had to carry the same tone as the page, or the sample does the selling and the site does nothing.The Rooted Soul · Alan McDonald ↗
- A steam driver's memoir needed somewhere for journalists to landThe press came to this book. A site that cannot be quoted from, or that hides the contact details, wastes the coverage it gets.In My Happy Place · Vernon Smith ↗
- A picture book had to work for the adult buying it and the child reading itTwo audiences, one page. The illustration has to sell the book without burying the reading age, the price or the buy button.Little Hedgehog and the Moon · Catherine Rushton ↗
- A teacher selling to schools needed something a school could actually useSchools and libraries do not buy from a retail listing. They buy from a page that answers their questions and gives them somebody to email.Helen for English · Helen Michael ↗
What our authors say
On platforms we do not own and cannot edit. Several of them are the people whose sites are running above.
- Grand Publishers especially David Alonsa were brilliant
Grand Publishers especially David Alonsa extremely helpful and talked me through everything. He was also very patient with me.l would certainly recommend you all and have already done so
Gail Simmons - Book publishing and promotion
Jason and David and the team have worked hard to get my second book into the public eye, and have made some really good social media pictures and promotions. "The CPO & The Wren" is now selling on both sides of the Atlantic. Geoffrey Spinks
Mr Geoff Spinks - I can't tell you how amazing it has…
I can't tell you how amazing it has been working with Grand Publishing. From the very beginning, the experience has been outstanding. When I first reached out, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to publish a project I had been working on for quite some time. Jerry gave me a call and patiently walked me through the entire process. He answered all of my questions and genuinely motivated me to move forward with publishing my book. I was then introduced to David Alonso, who became my project manager. He has been fantastic throughout the journey, keeping me updated every step of the way, answering any questions I had, and making the whole process smooth and stress-free. As a first-time author, I couldn't have asked for a better experience. If you're hesitant about publishing, I'd encourage you to speak with the team. If you don't come away from that conversation feeling confident, then I'll have to call myself a liar! Thank you, Grand Publishing, and especially Jerry and David, for making this such a positive and memorable experience.
Booker Odena - Outstanding Service from Grand Publishers
I had a very positive experience working with Grand Publishers. As a new author, I really needed guidance throughout the process, from editing to preparation for publication. David and Jerry, who were incredibly helpful, professional, and supportive, made a significant difference. They took the time to explain each stage clearly and did an amazing job with the marketing, illustrations, and overall development of my book. Their dedication to making the final result as strong as possible was exceptional. I would highly recommend Grand Publishers, especially David and Jerry, who were fantastic to work with.
Juliet - My book, In my happy place.
Some while ago I submitted a raw manuscript to Grand Publishers. Honestly, at first I was cautious about their enthusiasm, in fact I thought it a sales ploy. How wrong I was! The project has been managed by David Alanza, with input from Arthur J Wayne the marketing director. At every stage I have been afforded full control of the artistic direction and have now got a highly polished book that I could never have produced. I'm now in the launch phase and the marketing so far is beyond my wildest dreams. I know that there's much more to come, but wanted to highly recommend anyone with a book that they believe in to listen to and trust Grand. To verify everything I've said, please search Vernon Smith I my happy place and see for yourself.
Vernon Smith - Helpful and professional
Helpful and professional
Elikem Debrah
Website
questions.
Yes. Domain in your name, logins yours, content yours. If you want to move it elsewhere later, nothing stops you.
Small changes you can make yourself — we will show you how. Anything structural, ask us. We do not charge for a typo.
Amazon sells the book. It does not tell anybody who you are, it does not build you a mailing list, and it does not exist for a journalist to look you up on. Those are the jobs a site does.
Set up in your name and explained before you sign anything, so there is no year-two surprise. You can keep us looking after it or take it over.
Where do people find you now?
If the honest answer is a retailer page, that is the gap. Tell us about the book and we will show you what the site would do.