Squarespace website design for authors that turns readers into a following.
An author platform that builds a mailing list, sells and promotes your books, and gives your writing a home that outlasts any one launch — not a scattered set of links.
What it is
Squarespace website design for authors is the custom design of a polished author-brand site — built around the books, the story and the reader — that grows a mailing list, sells and promotes books, and gives publishers and readers the author platform they expect, whether you write in the UK or the US.
Squarespace Circle Gold Partner · One designer, end to end · Serving the UK & US · Last reviewed July 2026
Enquiries
6,000+
enquiries generated for the businesses we design & market
Conversion
9–17%
conversion rates on the websites & campaigns we run
We don’t borrow our proof. These are real results from the businesses we’ve designed and marketed — not stock figures. The ~6,000 enquiries and 5,030 lifetime conversions (to June 2026, for clients including CityLaundryApp, shared with permission) come from the Squarespace sites we build and the campaigns we run; 9–17% is the conversion range those sites and campaigns achieve. We’ll be straight with you: we haven’t yet published an author case study — but the creative and professional builds and migrations below, for Abhiyana, Vanessa DePuy and Dr Juraj Kralik, are built on the exact same craft an author site needs. Your results will differ, and we scope honestly before any work begins.
Why it matters now
Readers find you between books. A pile of links can’t hold them.
The work of building a readership happens in the quiet stretch between launches — and that is exactly when a Linktree or a lone social profile lets readers slip away. Agents and publishers now look for an author platform before they back a book, and a reader who loved your last one has nowhere to sign up for the next. A real home for your writing catches those readers and keeps them.
No author platform to point to
Agents and publishers weigh up your reach before they commit — and a Linktree isn’t a platform. Without a proper site, you’re asking them to imagine an audience you can’t show.
The mailing list left as an afterthought
Your list is the one audience you truly own, yet on most author sites the sign-up is a tiny box in the footer. Readers arrive keen and leave with no way to hear about the next book.
A book page that leads nowhere
A cover and a blurb aren’t enough. If a reader can’t pre-order in a click or reach the right retailer for their country, the interest you earned quietly goes to waste.
What we build
An author platform that grows the list — and sells the books.
Not a generic template with a cover dropped in. We build a site around the reader: book pages that lead to a sale, a mailing list you own and keep growing, a store for signed and digital editions, and a home for your writing that works whether you write fiction, non-fiction, memoir, children’s books or your debut.
Author-brand design
A considered site that carries your name and your books with the care they deserve — so a first-time visitor and a returning reader both feel they’re in the right place.
Book pages that convert
A clear page per title — cover, blurb, praise and sample — with pre-order and buy buttons that link straight to Amazon, Bookshop, Apple Books or your publisher, wherever your reader is.
Mailing list & reader magnet
Email sign-up woven through the site, paired with a free chapter or short story that gives readers a reason to join — so the list, your most valuable asset, keeps growing between books.
Events & appearances
A place to list festival dates, signings, talks and readings — so readers can find you in person and organisers can see you’re easy to book.
Blog & newsletter home
A calm space to write between books — notes, essays and updates — that feeds your newsletter, gives readers a reason to return and keeps your name in search.
Store & SEO for your name
A built-in store for signed copies and digital editions, plus clean structure so you rank for your author name, your book titles and “[genre] author” searches.
What we build
What a great author website gets right.
Strategy, mobile polish and SEO foundations — set up to turn readers into a mailing list and books into sales.
Strategy before styling. Structure and messaging built around how readers find and follow you.
Polished on every screen. Refined layout and typography, built for the phone most visitors use.
Found by the right people. SEO foundations so readers searching your name and titles land on your site.
Redesign & moving to Squarespace
On a dated author site, or a scatter of links? We’ll bring it together.
A lot of authors we speak to don’t need to write another word — they need one place that carries the readership they’ve already earned. A tired old site, or a handful of profiles and a Linktree, quietly loses the readers who came looking for the next book and the sign-up that would have kept them.
So we bring it together properly. We rebuild on Squarespace 7.1, put the books, the list sign-up and your story at the front, and preserve your search rankings with proper 301 redirects so readers who search your name still land on you — the same clean migration we run for every author we move.
Design worthy of the books
We swap the dated look for a considered site that reads as a real author brand within seconds of landing.
Books & list, brought forward
Your titles, retailer links and mailing-list sign-up moved to the front, with a store for signed and digital editions.
Migration, done right
Moving from WordPress, Wix, a template or a set of links? We rebuild cleanly and preserve your rankings with 301 redirects.
Recent work
The craft behind a site that grows a following.
We haven’t published an author build yet — so here’s the honest next best thing: a coach we moved off WordPress, and two creative and professional practices we rebuilt and migrated. Different fields, the exact craft an author site is built on — a clear message, real proof, and an easy path from interest to a lasting connection.
Abhiyana
“Huge thanks for all your work on the site migration. Really appreciate the professionalism of the project management process.”
Abhi · IFS & Self-Leadership Coach
Read the case study
Vanessa DePuy
“Thank you so much for the beautiful website. I’m really happy with the modern design.”
Vanessa DePuy · WordPress → Squarespace migration
Read the migration story
Dr Juraj Kralik
A clean, credible Squarespace site for a specialist health practice — clear positioning, calm design and a simple next step. The same reader-first craft an author site is built on.
Dr Juraj Kralik · Specialist practice
View the projectGet found, then get booked
A site that ranks for your name, your titles and your genre.
The finest author site is wasted if a reader can’t find it. We build SEO in from day one — so you show up when someone searches your author name, a book title, “[genre] author” or “[topic] books” — and when a launch window opens, the same in-house team can run Google Ads to put your new book in front of the right readers.
SEO for your name & titles
We make sure a reader searching your name, a book title or “[genre] author” lands on your site — not a retailer page or an old profile — with clean structure and a dedicated page per book.
Writing that draws readers in
Essays, notes and behind-the-book posts that answer what readers of your genre actually search — so you rank, feed your newsletter, and give people a reason to come back between books.
Ads for a launch window
When a book is coming, the same in-house team can run Google Ads around launch — targeting readers searching your topic or genre — with campaigns and tracking handled end to end.
How we work
One designer, end to end — from first call to a site your readers return to.
You work directly with the person designing and building your site — no account managers, no handoffs, no offshore team. It keeps the work sharp and the decisions fast. If a book is on the way, we plan the build around your launch date so the platform is ready before you need it. Here is how an author project runs.
Step 01
Discovery & strategy
We start with a call about your books, the readers you write for and where you are in the publishing cycle — a debut, a series, a launch on the horizon. We look at your current setup and the searches that should bring readers your way, and if a book has a date, we work back from it so the platform is live in good time.
Step 02
Design
We design your key pages in a look that fits your books, leading with your story, your titles and a clear reason for readers to join your list. You see the design early and shape it across two revision rounds, so the site feels right before a single page is built.
Step 03
Build & migrate
We build it on Squarespace 7.1, set up your book pages and retailer links, wire in email sign-up and the reader magnet, add a store for signed and digital copies, and optimise every page for speed and SEO. Moving off an old site or a set of links? We rebuild cleanly and set up 301 redirects to protect your rankings.
Step 04
Launch & grow
We launch, submit your site to Google, and make sure the SEO foundations are live so readers searching your name and titles find you. You can update it yourself for each new book, and a Care Plan is there if you’d rather we keep it running.
Clear, upfront pricing
Transparent prices — no “request a quote” runaround.
Essential
£1,495 flat
A clean, properly built Squarespace site — up to 5 pages, a book page, mailing-list sign-up, core SEO and 2 revision rounds. Ideal for a debut or single-book author who needs a credible platform online fast. Around 2 weeks.
Signature
From £2,250
A more strategic build — up to 8 pages, full SEO setup, a page per book with retailer links, a reader magnet and email capture, custom graphics and 30 days of support. For an established author growing a readership. Around 3 weeks.
Growth
From £4,950
A complete author platform — up to 12 pages, strategic SEO with keyword research and schema, a store for signed and digital books, a members area for a reader community, and 60 days of support. For prolific or bestselling authors. Around 6 weeks.
Essential is a fixed price; Signature and Growth are starting prices, scoped and quoted before any work begins. A Care Plan (£195/month) keeps the site updated after launch. Payment plans available. See full pricing.
Author website FAQs
The questions authors ask us.
Yes. For most authors it is an ideal fit, because it puts three things you actually need in one place: a polished design that does justice to your books, a built-in newsletter to grow and email your mailing list, and a store to sell signed copies and digital editions. You get a professional author platform you can update yourself between books, without hiring a developer for every change.
Yes — and for an author it is the single most important thing the site does. Your mailing list is the one audience you own outright, so we make email sign-up a clear, repeated part of the design and pair it with a reader magnet — a free chapter, a short story, a deleted scene — that gives readers a real reason to join. Squarespace Email Campaigns then lets you write to that list whenever a new book is coming.
Yes. Squarespace has a full store built in, so you can sell signed print copies and ship them, and deliver ebooks or audiobooks as digital downloads with no separate plugin. Where you would rather send readers to Amazon, Bookshop, Apple Books or your publisher, we build clear book pages with buy and pre-order buttons that link straight to each retailer. Most authors use both.
At SQSP, an author website starts at £1,495 for a clean Essential build, with Signature from £2,250 and Growth from £4,950 for a full author platform with a store and members area. Every project is scoped and quoted upfront, with payment plans available.
Yes, and ideally well before. Agents and publishers increasingly look for an author platform when they weigh up a book, and the readers you gather in the months before launch are the ones who buy in the first week and drive early reviews. A site and a growing mailing list turn launch day from a cold start into a warm one, so it is better to have the platform working before you need it.
Yes. We rebuild your site cleanly on Squarespace, bring your books, your story and your list sign-up to the front, and preserve your search rankings with proper 301 redirects so readers who search your name still find you. The new site is faster, easier on the eye, and simple to update yourself before your next book.
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