As you probably know by now, there is more to being an author than just the writing. You can expect there to be costs associated with physically producing a book such as editing and cover design. And these can be costly. But it’s the other parts of being an author like marketing that can really throw a spanner in the works of your budget.
I have mentioned before that it is now standard practice to have a website as an author. And you’re probably thinking “Great, another cost,” but it really doesn’t have to cost much to set up a basic website.
So in this article I’ll be going through ways to cut your costs for those who are confident enough to have a go at building their own website but also want to do so economically.
You don’t need to break the bank for textbooks or register for a college class to gain knowledge about the basics of website construction. You don’t even need a massive flair for design. You just need to be willing to learn and I’m going to share with you the best resource I know that’s free: YouTube.
Honestly, I’ve learnt so much from YouTube. Anything from buying a domain to designing a header can be found there. If you’ve got a bit of time and patience, then I’d spend some time checking this resource out. Some creators I follow (and have been helpful) are:
Google is also a great resource. The great thing about website design is that you aren’t the first person to have an issue. There are forums for specific web platforms and even their own websites can be of use. Some sites I have used are:
If you aren’t in a rush, then wait for a sale before you buy your domain name. Some domain sites will offer Black Friday sales and you can pick up a great barging, especially if you can afford to pay for more than one year up front.
Most companies will offer a competitive introduction rate on your first year but just double check the renewal cost. You could pay £1 for your first year, then be stuck paying £15 for the next couple of years.
Some hosting companies also offer cheap or free domains if you buy your hosting through them.
One way to lower your hosting costs is to pay yearly. Hosting companies will penalise you for paying monthly by charging you more. So if you can afford it, see if your chosen hosting company offers a discount if you can pay a year or two in advance.
If you decide to have someone else manage your website, you can get quite good deals on hosting that way too, as well as the added bonus of having someone else do all your updates/deal with website issues.
When you first start building your site, you may not have lots of images to fill your website. This is where stock images can help. They are generic images that can be used on your site, as they have been licensed for this use. You can’t just go on Google and choose any image you like. That would be breaking copyright as you don’t have permission.
Deposit Photos offer free images if you sign up to their newsletter. They also offer discounts if you buy in bulk. You don’t have to buy all the images in one go, but simply pay for credits to buy a certain amount of images so you can come back whenever you need to grab some more.
Canva offers a free and pro version and allows you access to their images. I use the pro version as it’s only £10 a month and I get to access their exclusive pro features and additional images. I use Canva for mock-ups of my books in kindles/tablets, so the additional images are a bonus.
There are lots of free plugins for users to mimic paid for services like Elementor Pro. The Elementor Header and Footer plugin is free and mimics Elementors’ abilities to adjust your header and footer.
Some plugins are completely free, while others offer restricted services unless you pay an additional fee.
While free plugins are great, it is worth being aware that loading your site with loads of plugins can cause issues. If one breaks or becomes incompatible with another, you’ve got one hell of a headache on your hands. If you are confident (or know someone who is) to fix these issues should they arise, then go for it. If not, I’d have a look at a paid for builder (like Elementor) has multiple functions built into it. At least if that goes wrong, you can go to the company and they’ll help fix it.
I personally love using Elementor Pro to build websites. Not only from a design point of view, but also the ease with which clients can learn to use it. There is a free version which I have used to build sites with (KatieBloom.com is one example) with the help of plugins. For a basic site that you don’t plan to tinker with too much, then the free version will work perfectly well for you.
The downside to using the free version is the reliance on plugins. It took me nearly double the time to build a site on the free Elementor builder due to having to find work around or research new plugins. If you have time, then this isn’t an issue and can save you the £49 per year cost of an Elementor Pro subscription.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this guide and if you have questions, let me know!