I’ve been designing websites for authors since 2018.
I’m not a website designer, not by a long stretch. Since 2013 I’ve been working in digital marketing, understanding customer journey, the ever-changing landscape of digital platforms and online behaviours, and somewhere along the way I designed my own author websites. A crappy little WordPress turned into a more complicated Wix website. Wix turned to Squarespace. Squarespace turned back to WordPress, and with each iteration and change I learned something new. I grew as an independent author. I learned what sells my books. I learned what sells other people’s books. I became competent.
At first, I wasn’t interested in designing for other authors. Until I started coaching them. Only too soon it became apparent to me just how complicated the website landscape can be for people who just want to write books and sell them.
“You’ll need a hosting service.”
Okay.
“You’ll also need to grab a domain and point it to the host.”
Ummm.
“Once you’ve done that, you may need to play with DNS settings, set up a theme builder, maybe add some plug-ins. Direct store integration? That’ll be a different service. Are you US- or UK-based tax systems? How many books do you have? Are you selling direct? KU? Wide? Got a mailing list…”
*Blank face.*
I’ve run this journey myself. I’ve hit every speedbump and I’ve conquered them. It was only when my coaching client’s were really struggling with their own websites that it hit me…
I can design websites for authors.
I am and will always be an author first. So, when it comes to advertising my work, and trying to help authors with websites, I was slow to find new business. My priorities are in my own books. My own website. My own platforms. I’d been fortunate up until recently to find some clients, but how was I supposed to continually advertise when my attention was so divided.
And then it struck me:
Reedsy.
I’ve been aware of Reedsy for some time, now. I’ve heard Ricardo (CEO) speak at events, and had seen the success of fellow authors using the platform to find editors, cover designers, and more. When I checked out the website, I was delighted to find that they listed website designers, and so… I signed up.
At first, it was mostly out of curiosity. I wasn’t expecting it to become one of the best decisions I’ve made for my business.
Over the past two months (as of writing), the client requests coming through my website have tripled compared to any other channel I’ve used, including my own network and other freelance platforms combined.
I’m working with excited, eager authors. Some are fresh to the business, others have been involved for over thirty years.
A few things stood out straight away:
The vetting process from Reedsy is genuinely rigorous. I was pleasantly surprised by this. Reedsy doesn’t just wave freelancers through, they check qualifications and experience properly, which means the authors on the other end aren’t gambling on an unknown quantity. That matters to me. That weirdly strokes my own ego. I’ve spent years building a career around helping authors, and I like working somewhere that protects them as much as it helps me find work.
And the professionalism runs both ways too. Every interaction I’ve had with the platform and its team, and with the authors I’ve been matched with, has felt considered and well supported rather than transactional.
The honest number: using Reedsy has over doubled the growth of my client base, my income from web design and author coaching work, and my audience, in just two months.
And it’s genuinely been effortless
If you’re an author looking for someone to trust with your project, or a fellow freelancer wondering whether Reedsy is worth your time, I’d recommend it without hesitation.
If you sign up as a professional through my referral link, we both benefit: https://reedsy.com/p/willcocks-daniel
And if you’re after a website of your own, then check out my profile and become another happy customer with a killer website that achieves your author goals. https://reedsy.com/willcocks-daniel
