Every few months an author asks us some version of the same question: do I really need a website, and why am I paying so much to keep one online?
The first answer is yes, you need one. The second answer is that you probably don't need to pay as much as you are.
Here's what we tell them.
Why an Author Website Still Matters
Social media is where readers find you. Your website is where they land.
Every platform you post on can change its rules, bury your posts or shut your account down, and there's nothing you can do about it. Your website is the one corner of the internet you actually own. Nobody else decides who sees it.
It's also where a lot of practical things live:
- Your newsletter signup. This is the most valuable thing on the site. Social followers belong to the platform. Email subscribers belong to you.
- Your series reading order. Readers who find book three on TikTok want to know where to start. If the answer isn't easy to find, some of them won't go looking.
- Buy links for every store. One page that sends readers to Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, audio and wherever else your books are sold.
- Direct sales, if you sell books yourself. More on that below.
- A professional home base for bloggers, podcast hosts, event organizers and anyone else checking whether you're the real deal.
A good author website doesn't need to be fancy. It needs to be clear, quick to load on a phone and easy to update.
The Monthly Subscription Trap
Most website builders work on a subscription. You pay every month or every year to keep the site online, and if you stop paying, the site disappears.
For a lot of authors that fee has been running quietly in the background for years. It's often for a site that barely changes: a books page, an about page, a newsletter form. That's a lot of money spent just to keep a few pages online.
We had the same problem. Our own site was on Wix for years. When we looked at what we were actually paying for, we moved it to Cloudflare, and we haven't looked back.
That's not a knock on website builders. They're easy to use, and for some people that convenience is worth the price. But most author sites don't need what they're paying for.
Hosting on Cloudflare: What "Free" Actually Means
Cloudflare is a large internet company that a big chunk of the web runs through. Among other things, it hosts websites, and its free plan covers most author sites comfortably.
That works best with what's called a static site: pages that are built once and served to readers as they are, rather than being assembled from a database every time someone visits. A typical author site, with its books, series pages, about page, blog and newsletter signup, fits that model perfectly.
What you get:
- Free hosting for a site like that on Cloudflare's free plan.
- Speed. Cloudflare runs a global network, so your site loads quickly for readers in the US, the UK, Australia or anywhere else.
- Security built in, including the padlock (HTTPS) that browsers expect to see.
- No monthly bill just to stay online.
What you still pay for:
- Your domain name (yourname.com), every year, wherever you buy it. Cloudflare sells domains at cost, without a markup, so if you're buying a new one or moving an old one, it's worth comparing.
- Any extra tools you choose to add, like your newsletter platform or a store.
- Someone's time to build and update the site, unless you're comfortable doing it yourself.
The honest catch: a static site isn't something you edit by dragging boxes around a screen. Changes are made in the site's files, which is easy for someone who knows how and a bit fiddly for someone who doesn't. That's the trade-off for not paying a builder every month.
Selling Direct: What It Means
Selling direct means readers buy your books from your website instead of from a retailer. You set up a store, the reader pays you, and the book is delivered to them by email or download, or posted out if it's a paperback.
Authors do it for a few reasons:
- A bigger share of each sale. Retailers take a cut. When you sell direct, you keep more of the price after payment and delivery fees.
- You know who your readers are. A retailer never tells you who bought your book. A direct sale gives you the reader's email (with their permission to contact them), which feeds straight into your newsletter.
- Things retailers can't easily offer. Bundles, box sets, special editions, signed paperbacks, merch, early access to new releases.
- Pricing control. You can run your own sales and offers when you want.
The common tools are worth knowing about. Shopify is a full online store. Payhip is simpler and popular with authors. BookFunnel handles ebook and audiobook delivery and plugs into both. These are options rather than recommendations; which one fits depends on what you're selling and how much you want to manage.
The Trade-offs Nobody Mentions
Selling direct is a good move for a lot of authors, but it's work, and it's worth going in with your eyes open.
- You're the customer service desk. When a reader can't open a file or a paperback arrives damaged, they email you, not Amazon.
- Tax gets more complicated. Depending on where you and your readers live, you may need to think about sales tax or VAT. Some store platforms help with this; it's still worth checking with an accountant.
- Readers have to find you first. A retailer brings shoppers to your book. A direct store only sells to people you send there, so your newsletter and socials do the heavy lifting.
- It's a channel, not a replacement. For most authors, direct sales sit alongside the retailers, especially if any of your books are in Kindle Unlimited, which requires ebook exclusivity with Amazon. Check the terms before you list a KU ebook anywhere else, your own store included.
If you've got a loyal readership, a newsletter that opens well, or readers asking for signed copies and special editions, direct sales are worth a look. If you're just starting out, a clean site with good buy links and a newsletter signup will do more for you right now.
What a Good Author Site Needs
Whether it's simple or has a full store, these are the pages we'd always want to see:
- A books page, organized by series in reading order, with covers, short blurbs and buy links for every store.
- A page for each book (or at least each series), so you have something specific to link to from ads and social posts.
- A newsletter signup on the homepage and at the bottom of every page, with a reason to join, like a bonus scene or a free short story.
- An about page that sounds like you and tells readers what kind of books you write.
- A contact page or email address for readers, bloggers and anyone wanting to work with you.
- Fast loading on phones. Most of your readers will arrive from social media, on a phone, so check it there first.
Nice extras: a blog or news section, content warnings for your books, a page for upcoming releases and a press kit with your bio, author photo and covers.
How We Can Help
We build author websites hosted on Cloudflare, so you're not paying a website builder every month just to keep the lights on.
- Simple author sites start at $200. That covers a clean, fast site with your books, series reading order, buy links, newsletter signup, about and contact pages.
- Maintenance is $50 a month. We handle updates, add new book pages when you release, and keep everything running, so you never have to touch the files yourself.
- Bigger builds cost more. If you want a full direct-sales store, a large backlist, custom features or something more involved, we quote it per project.
Have a look at our author website services, or get in touch and tell us what you've got now and what you'd like it to do. We'll tell you honestly what you need and what you don't.