Your website - how much did you pay?

Splendor

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How much did you pay for your author website?
I'm currently hosting my site and blog for free on WordPress but need to get a website before my book release in Feb.

I was quoted $1,500 with a discount of $200 if I book this web designer by July.

I know some writers still use free blog sources but I'm curious what route did you go? Also, if you know of a good web design person that's affordable please share.

Thanks,
 

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How much did you pay for your author website?
I'm currently hosting my site and blog for free on WordPress but need to get a website before my book release in Feb.

I was quoted $1,500 with a discount of $200 if I book this web designer by July.

I know some writers still use free blog sources but I'm curious what route did you go? Also, if you know of a good web design person that's affordable please share.

Thanks,

That quote is excessive. Were I you, I'd register a domain name associated with the author name on your book, and keep using WordPress.com; just point it to your domain.

Don't spend money until you're making money.
 

Splendor

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That quote is excessive. Were I you, I'd register a domain name associated with the author name on your book, and keep using WordPress.com; just point it to your domain.

Don't spend money until you're making money.
I thought that was steep and considered the fiverr route. Thanks for your advice.
 

Debbie V

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My website is on Word Press. I don't actually blog, but I like that I can easily set up a blog page if I want. You're welcome to check it out. The link is in my sig.
 

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I thought that was steep and considered the fiverr route. Thanks for your advice.

I wouldn't go the fiverr route. I'd get up something simple and affordable. You might see this thread about promoting and this page in terms of what the Website needs to have.
 

mrsmig

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My website is a free WordPress site. I paid for the domain name and a small fee to have advertising removed from the site, but that's all. I have separate pages for my theatrical work and my books, as well as a blog.

You don't need to have someone construct a website for you, particularly at this stage of the game. Save your money.
 

Woollybear

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How much did you pay for your author website?
I'm currently hosting my site and blog for free on WordPress but need to get a website before my book release in Feb.

I was quoted $1,500 with a discount of $200 if I book this web designer by July.

I know some writers still use free blog sources but I'm curious what route did you go? Also, if you know of a good web design person that's affordable please share.

Thanks,

I have two. One, Weebly, I set up in about 36 hours and is about 60 dollars per year. The other, Wordpress, I think is under 100$ per year. But, the cost might be for the domain name.

I might spring 1500 dollars if I thought a web designer was fantastic, like if I'd get a Sanderson-level website out of it--but... I'm not sure. I'd research first--find out if I'd recover it.
 
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eqb

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I might spring 1500 dollars if I thought a web designer was fantastic, like if I'd get a Sanderson-level website out of it--but... I'm not sure. I'd research first--find out if I'd recover it.

Don't even consider hiring a web designer until you make a few sales. Even then, it's cheaper to buy a domain name and point your Wordpress site to it.
 

t0dd

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Why is this in the "Writing for Kids" section? This seems to be all "general author's website" discussion, which would be the same for any age group you're writing for. I haven't seen anything to suggest that these website concerns apply specifically to children's authors and not to YA or adult fiction authors.
 

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Why is this in the "Writing for Kids" section? This seems to be all "general author's website" discussion, which would be the same for any age group you're writing for. I haven't seen anything to suggest that these website concerns apply specifically to children's authors and not to YA or adult fiction authors.

Because it seems to me that it's a question that a lot of MG authors are likely to have. I'll move it in a day or so.

You know you could just use the
report-40b.png
report post button instead of demanding an answer. Just sayin'
 

Splendor

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My website is on Word Press. I don't actually blog, but I like that I can easily set up a blog page if I want. You're welcome to check it out. The link is in my sig.
thank you, going to check it out.

I wouldn't go the fiverr route. I'd get up something simple and affordable. You might see this thread about promoting and this page in terms of what the Website needs to have.
thanks again
My website is a free WordPress site. I paid for the domain name and a small fee to have advertising removed from the site, but that's all. I have separate pages for my theatrical work and my books, as well as a blog.

You don't need to have someone construct a website for you, particularly at this stage of the game. Save your money.
I'm so glad for this feedback

Why is this in the "Writing for Kids" section? This seems to be all "general author's website" discussion, which would be the same for any age group you're writing for. I haven't seen anything to suggest that these website concerns apply specifically to children's authors and not to YA or adult fiction authors.
Because I'm a children's, MG author and wanted the perspective of those writers but if it will help more of course relocate the thread where you think it should be.
 

lorna_w

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I use blogger (free) and purchase/rent my own domain name ($13/year including anonymizing). Never had any complaints and have had tens of thousands of visits. It's good to have a website (and a signup form on it for your mailing list, and clickable links to your books for sale) but having a private one with all the bells and whistles can wait until you are pulling in $100,000+ a year gross as a writer and can afford it and will want the deduction. WordPress has a bit more functionality but is harder to use, imo. Wix has too many security issues--my browser and security add-ons won't let me go there.
 

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I use blogger for my articles. But for my author site, I wanted something outside a fixed template. I can do that at WIX.

You can do that at Blogger or WordPress.com or WordPress.org.

Be careful with WIX; you can't export or move your content easily.
 

lonestarlibrarian

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Although I don't keep a dedicated author's website, I run other sites. Hosting runs me $36 for six months-- that's for 240 Mb of space, 8 domains/subdomains, plus a bunch of other stuff I don't use (email addresses, forwarders, etc). The actual domain renewal runs me about $15/year per domain.

One piece of advice: never have your webhost and your domain registrar be the same entity. Back in the day, I had several friends who had their webhost handle their domain name purchase... and when the webhost fell off the planet, they had no way of getting their names back. I don't know how common that is, but I've avoided it ever since.

Back in the day, when I was running a particular fansite, I wanted something way nicer than what I could put together with basic HTML skills. So I paid an online friend, whose work I liked and who was available for hire, $50 to put something together with css that I could maintain myself. The rest of my websites are just based on free templates, and I've modified them with a basic knowledge of HTML and a little logic.

Maintenance is the biggest thing you'll want to consider--- are they able to put together something you're able to update every time you want to add more information or freshen things up? Or do you need to hire someone every time you want to make a change?

I was chatting with a friend about her website recently. She's still designing it, and was asking what kind of form people liked. I hadn't really registered how bloggy everything looks these days... I'm still stuck in the early/mid 00's with my layout preferences. :) NTTAWWT-- the blog form lends itself very nicely to the presentation of certain kinds of information. But it's good to visit a number of websites and see what you want to emulate with your own, and that will tell you whether you need a $1500 kind of package, or if you can get what you want for only $50.
 

Laer Carroll

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I have one free WordPress.com website and pay yearly for a domain name, The cost is $18 plus $8 to make the owner info private. Meaning I don't get spam or hate email directly, it goes through WordPress directly to trash.

Start simple, take baby steps to add features. Blog once a week or two to keep interest up. The posts don't have to be long. I post about new book, TV shows, movies, or events of especial interest to my readers.

WordPress is very easy to set up and keep up. It has lots of options available for when you want to add functionality, but the default template is clear and attractive. You can go a long time before you need to create a more elaborate site.

Self-hosting take more expertise but gives you more flexibility. I've never needed the features available at WordPress.org or whatever.

You may want to set up a Facebook and/or a Twitter account and put posts to them with pointers back to your core web site. NOTE: You can click an option on Facebook so that Facebook posts automatically also post on Twitter.

There's an art as well as technical side to creating your web site. It should be tailored to your unique sensibilities, your "brand." It's best to create a site as soon as you get serious about being a pro writer, not when you need it later on when you finally begin to get your books on the market.
 

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I use Wordpress (.com). I do have my own domain, and I have a package at Wordpress that's about $10 Canadian per month to get a template that isn't available to users for free. I'm happy with it. I don't plan on changing anything until I have a lot more money coming in from my writing...I don't think it's worth it.

The link to my website is in my signature.
 

noranne

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I have my own domain and hosting plan. My domain is through Namecheap and is ~$13 per year. My hosting plan is through FastComet and is ~$50 per year. I run Wordpress and do my own simple website design through a free theme. I think that you will get a lot more bang for your buck to get your own domain and keep running Wordpress rather than shelling out for a website designer.
 

millymollymo

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Eh...$1500? Nope.
I agree with comments about Wix, nasty to move from. You are like others say better off buying your domain name and hosting on something like Wordpress. You can get professional non-frame layouts.

I self host and have installed Wordpress. I can tinker when I have the time, (never) with templates myself, or pay someone to do the work.
 

Rufio

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I was quoted $1,500 with a discount of $200 if I book this web designer by July.

In my day job, I work with lots of businesses who are starting up new websites.

And I can tell you that a website that costs thousands is something that usually only businesses with solid income will consider.

As long as your website works well and looks fairly neat (which is something you can get with Wix), it's hard to justify that kind of money.

A $1500 website isn't going to help you make more money from your writing than a $100 website will. The important thing is just to have some kind of website that doesn't turn people off.

And by the time you get to the point where a fancy bespoke website seems like something you need, $1500 shouldn't be a problem.

You could look at it this way:

Imagine how much more useful that $1500 would be if you used it to fund a month's unpaid leave away from your day job. That's a month's full-time writing – just think how much you'd get done, and how much you'd improve.
 

abuckley23

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That seems pricey. I used weebly for mine because it's idiot-proof. Lots of dragging and dropping. I believe I pay around $60 per year for the hosting and the domain name. I purchased a template from a 3rd party and paid a designer $200 to make it look pretty :)
 

Splendor

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I use Wordpress (.com). I do have my own domain, and I have a package at Wordpress that's about $10 Canadian per month to get a template that isn't available to users for free. I'm happy with it. I don't plan on changing anything until I have a lot more money coming in from my writing...I don't think it's worth it.

The link to my website is in my signature.
Thanks for sharing your website. I enjoyed going through it and your insta which is also nice.

Eh...$1500? Nope.
I agree with comments about Wix, nasty to move from. You are like others say better off buying your domain name and hosting on something like Wordpress. You can get professional non-frame layouts.

I self host and have installed Wordpress. I can tinker when I have the time, (never) with templates myself, or pay someone to do the work.
What do you mean by non-frame layouts?
 

williemeikle

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I pay $30 a year for hosting and domain name, and maintain the site myself in HTML and CSS. I enjoy playing around with the code...but I'm an old fart.