An author site that builds your list
Your website's job is not to exist. It is to turn a reader who liked your book into an email subscriber who will buy the next one.
What should an author website actually do?
Capture email addresses. An email list is the only audience no platform can switch off, so the site needs a genuine reader magnet and a working delivery sequence, not just a bio page. Arkedia builds fast, schema-marked author sites with email capture from £1,150.
- From£1,150
- Core jobEmail capture
- Built forCore Web Vitals
- IncludesPress kit + book pages
Most author websites are a homepage, a bio and a photograph, and they do nothing. The valuable ones do one thing relentlessly well: they capture email addresses, because an email list is the only audience a publisher cannot take away from you and an algorithm cannot switch off.
We build fast, accessible, search-optimised sites with a genuine lead magnet, an email capture flow that works, and book pages structured so search engines understand what you have published.
Fixed price, quoted in GBP before you commit. Milestone payments.
- Free 1,500-word sample first
- Mutual NDA signed before we start
- Two revision rounds included
- Full rights and royalties stay yours
Everything in the Author Websites service
Custom design
Designed around your genre and your covers, not dropped into a template that fights them.
Email capture
A reader magnet — a free chapter, a short story, a workbook — with a delivery sequence that works.
Book pages
One page per title with Book schema markup, retailer links and review excerpts.
Speed and Core Web Vitals
Built to pass Google's performance thresholds, which increasingly decide whether you rank at all.
SEO foundations
Structured data, sitemap, clean metadata and a blog structure you can actually keep updated.
Press kit
Downloadable bio, high-resolution author photo, cover files and sample interview questions.
How author websites works, step by step
You approve before we proceed. Every time. No stage begins until you have signed off the one before it.
Discovery
Your goals, your titles, your audience and what you want the site to do.
Design
Homepage and key templates designed for your review.
Build
Developed, tested across devices and tuned for speed.
Content
Copy written or edited, book pages built, press kit assembled.
Launch
Domain, hosting, analytics, Search Console and email platform connected.
Handover
A short training session and written documentation so you can update it yourself.
What authors say afterwards
I came with eleven years of workshop notes and no idea how to make a book out of them. The outline stage alone was worth the fee — it was the first time I could see the shape of what I actually knew. The finished book reads like me on a good day.
I had three self-published titles that were not selling. They showed me my covers side by side with the top forty in my category at thumbnail size and I understood the problem in about four seconds. New covers, re-optimised listings, and the back catalogue started moving.
Writing about my mother's illness was not something I could do alone. The interviews were handled with real care, and they were clear from the start about what would be in the book and what would not. My family have all read it. That matters more than sales.
Author Websites — your questions answered
Can I update the site myself?
Yes. We build on a content management system you can use without touching code, and hand over a short training session plus written documentation.
Do you provide hosting?
We can, or we will set you up on your own hosting and hand over the credentials. Either way you own the domain and the site outright.
Will it be fast?
Yes — Core Web Vitals are part of the build spec, not an afterthought. Speed affects both your search rankings and the percentage of visitors who stay long enough to subscribe.
Services that pair with this one
Book Marketing
Launch plans, Amazon optimisation, author platform and paid campaigns — measured in books sold, not impressions served.
Learn moreBook Trailers
Short-form video built for the feeds that actually sell books — cut for TikTok, Reels, Shorts and your Amazon listing.
Learn moreBook Publishing
Print, eBook and global distribution set up properly — in your name, with your ISBN, and 100% of royalties paid to you.
Learn moreTell us about your book
A 45-minute call, no charge and no pressure. You will leave with a realistic timeline, a fixed price and an honest view of whether the book is worth writing.