A book launch website for the months around publication
For a few months either side of publication, a book needs a page of its own: one address for the cover, the pitch, where to pre-order, early praise and launch events. After that the urgency fades and the page should become part of your author site. Plan for both stages from the start, so nothing breaks when the launch is over.
The launch timeline, and what the page says when
| Stage | Lead with | Main button |
|---|---|---|
| Announcement | Cover reveal, one-line pitch, publication date | Get launch news (sign-up) |
| Pre-order | Blurb, early praise, pre-order incentives if any | Pre-order, with several retailers |
| Launch week | Launch events, "out now" | Buy, with several retailers |
| After launch | Reviews, extracts, book club notes | Buy, then explore your other books |
Each change is small, but the order matters: by launch week, the first thing a visitor sees should be how to buy, not a sign-up form for news they already know.
What belongs on the page
- The cover, large, and the title and subtitle as text so search engines and screen readers can read them.
- A blurb of about 150 words, the same one as the publisher's, or a version agreed with them.
- Publication details: date, publisher, format, page count and ISBN for each edition.
- Where to buy: several retailers and an independent bookshop option, plus audiobook and ebook links. One retailer alone puts off readers who avoid it.
- Early praise: quotes from named reviewers or authors, with permission.
- Launch events: date, venue, time, whether booking is needed, and a link to book.
- An extract or the first chapter, if the publisher agrees.
- For press and booksellers: a short author bio, an author photo and a contact.
Selling copies yourself
Most authors send readers to retailers. Some also sell signed copies directly, which readers like and which pays the author more per copy. If you do, create a payment link for signed copies with your provider, state postage and dispatch times clearly, and decide in advance how many you can sign and post. Pre-orders through retailers may count towards early sales in ways direct sales don't, so many authors push retailer pre-orders first and offer signed copies alongside.
Coordinate with your publisher before you publish anything. They may have an embargo on the cover, a set blurb, preferred retailer links or their own book page you should link to. Agree who updates what, so readers never find two pages giving different publication dates.
Building it with Anticode
Describe the book and the launch: "a book launch website for my debut novel, out in March from a small press, with cover, blurb, retailer links, early praise, a launch event in Manchester and a sign-up for news". The Architect plans it and may suggest a look; Editorial (Geist) or Luxury (Jost) suit literary fiction, Playful (Fredoka) a children's book. Upload the cover and author photo, and the model sees and places them. Retailer buttons are plain links. A signed-copy button points at a checkout link from Stripe Payment Links, PayPal, Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy, Shopify or Whop.
The newsletter form collects an email and can send it to Mailchimp or Kit for launch announcements. As the stages change, edit the page in the visual editor or ask in a sentence: "replace the pre-order buttons with buy buttons and move the launch event below the reviews". Recent saves are kept in version history, so you can go back if a change goes wrong. After launch, fold the content into your author site, or keep the page and link it from there. The author website page covers the longer-term site, and launch an ebook covers selling a digital edition yourself.
Limits
- No event ticketing for launch events beyond the booking calendar's time slots; link to your venue's or a ticketing tool's page.
- No embedded audiobook samples or trailers. Link to them; published pages can't embed players.
- No delivery of ebook files from the page. Use a provider such as Gumroad or Lemon Squeezy that delivers files after payment.
- No scheduled changes for publication day. Make the switch by hand that morning.
Questions people ask
Does every book need its own website?
No. A page on your author site is usually enough. A separate site helps for a big launch, a series with its own world, or a book whose audience differs from your other work.
Can the page use the publisher's cover and blurb?
Usually, but check with your publisher. They may also have a style sheet for the title and credits.
What happens to the page after launch?
Keep it live with buy links and reviews, or merge its content into your author site. Don't let it keep saying "pre-order".