10 Signs Your DIY Author Website Is Costing You Book Sales
Real talk: That DIY author website you cobbled together at 2 AM between drafting chapters?
We see you. We’ve been you. We respect the hustle.
But we need to have an honest conversation about whether that WordPress theme you bought for $47 in 2018 is still serving you — or if it’s actively sabotaging your author career.
Because here’s the uncomfortable truth: Your DIY author website might be the reason readers are choosing literally any other author instead of you.
Ouch. We know. But stick with us.
The Hidden Cost of Your DIY Author Website
Before we dive into the warning signs, let’s acknowledge something: Your DIY author website was the right choice when you started.
You were bootstrapping. Every dollar went to editing or cover design. You didn’t know if this author thing would work out. Building it yourself made total sense.
But according to Neil Patel’s conversion research, websites that look unprofessional lose 88% of potential customers on first visit. EIGHTY-EIGHT PERCENT.
For romance authors, that means for every 100 readers who find you, 88 are clicking away to someone else’s steamy small-town romance.
That’s not just lost sales. That’s lost superfans, lost newsletter subscribers, lost word-of-mouth marketing.
Your DIY author website isn’t free. It’s costing you everything.
Why Your DIY Author Website Made Sense (Until It Didn’t)
Let’s be clear: We’re not DIY-shaming. Building your own website showed initiative, resourcefulness, and commitment to your author career.
But there’s a point where DIY becomes DoItYourselfADisservice.
It’s like writing your first draft in Comic Sans because “it’s fun and creative!” Sure, it worked for drafting. But you wouldn’t submit to agents in Comic Sans. You wouldn’t publish in Comic Sans.
So why is your professional author presence still in the digital equivalent of Comic Sans?
The 10 Warning Signs Your DIY Author Website Is Sabotaging Success
Sign #1: You Haven’t Updated Anything Since 2019
Your “coming soon” book has been out for three years. Your bio mentions your “debut novel” (you’ve published twelve). The copyright says 2019.
The Reality: Readers see an abandoned website and assume you’re an abandoned author. They won’t buy from someone who might never write another book.
The Fix: Set quarterly reminders to update your site, or admit you need someone else handling this. (and hey — website maintenance is a service we offer!)
Sign #2: Your Site Takes Forever to Load (Romance Readers Don’t Wait)
If your DIY author website takes more than 3 seconds to load, you’ve lost them. Romance readers are reading 100+ books a year. They don’t have time for your unoptimized images and bloated plugins. Make sure you check both the Desktop and Mobile versions!
The Reality: Slow sites rank lower on Google AND convert fewer sales. Double whammy.
The Fix: Compress images, remove unused plugins, or upgrade to professional hosting.
Sign #3: The Mobile Version Is a Hot Mess Express
Your desktop site looks decent. But on mobile? Your text overlaps, images are cut off, and that beautiful header becomes unreadable chaos. When we design a site, we design for desktop first, then optimize for mobile once you’ve approved everything.
The Reality: 73% of romance readers browse on mobile. If your mobile site sucks, you’re losing 3/4 of potential readers.
The Fix: This usually requires actual coding knowledge. Time to call in pros.
Sign #4: You’re Using 47 Different Fonts (And None Match Your Covers)
Script font for headers. Different script for quotes. Sans serif for body text. That special font for your tagline. Oh, and Comic Sans for your newsletter because “it’s friendly!” Your website fonts should match (or complement) your branding. Use the same font for your headers as you do for your logo or your name on your book covers if you don’t have a logo.
The Reality: Your DIY author website looks like a ransom note, not a professional author platform.
The Fix: Two fonts maximum. And they should complement your book covers’ typography.
Sign #5: Finding Your Books Requires a Treasure Map
Books → Series → [Dropdown Menu] → Individual Series Page → Scroll Past Three Paragraphs → Finally See Books → Click for Details → Where to Buy → Maybe Find Purchase Link
The Reality: You’ve made buying your books harder than your heroine resisting the bad boy’s charm.
The Fix: Latest release on homepage. All books one click away. Buy buttons everywhere.
Sign #6: Your Newsletter Signup Has Tumbleweeds
You have twelve newsletter subscribers. Four are your critique partners. Three are family. Your mom is subscribed twice.
The Reality: Your DIY author website isn’t optimized for conversions. That popup you hate? It works.
The Fix: A/B test placement, offer reader magnets, make signing up irresistible.
Sign #7: You Spend More Time Fighting WordPress Than Writing
Last week you spent six hours trying to fix that weird spacing issue. This week, an update broke your menu. Next week, you’ll probably rage-quit technology entirely.
The Reality: Every hour fixing website problems is an hour not writing your next book.
The Fix: Calculate your hourly “rate” as an author. Now calculate how many hours you waste on website fixes. Is DIY really saving money?
Sign #8: Zero Analytics (You’re Flying Blind)
Someone asks about your website traffic and you’re like “…people visit?”
The Reality: You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Professional sites track everything.
The Fix: Install Google Analytics yesterday. Or get someone who knows what those numbers mean.
Sign #9: Your Site Doesn’t Match Your Success Level
You’re a USA Today bestseller with a website that screams “I just discovered Wix.” You’ve got twenty books but your site looks like a debut author’s.
The Reality: Readers judge your books by your website. If it looks amateur, they assume your books are too.
The Fix: Your website should level up with your career. Time to graduate from DIY.
Sign #10: You’re Embarrassed to Share Your Website Link
When someone asks for your website, you hesitate. You add disclaimers. “It needs work,” you say. “I’m redesigning soon,” you lie.
The Reality: If you’re not proud of your DIY author website, why would readers be impressed?
The Fix: You know what needs to happen.
The Real Math: What Your DIY Author Website Actually Costs
Let’s do uncomfortable math:
Your DIY “Savings”:
- Theme: $47
- Hosting: $10/month
- Your time: “Free”
The Hidden Costs:
- 20 hours/month fixing issues × 12 months = 240 hours/year
- If you value your time at even $20/hour = $4,800
- Lost sales from poor conversion (conservative 50%) = $$$$$
- Missed opportunities because you’re embarrassed to share = Incalculable
Professional Website Investment:
- One-time design: $1,500-3,000
- Annual maintenance: $500-1600
- Your time saved: 240 hours to write your next bestseller
Which actually costs more?
When DIY Still Works (And When It’s Time to Graduate)
DIY Makes Sense If:
- You’re on book 1-2
- You genuinely enjoy website tinkering
- Your budget is literally zero
- You have more time than money
Time to Graduate If:
- You’ve published 3+ books
- Website work stresses you out
- You’re making consistent book income
- Your time is worth more than the investment
- You’re ready to be taken seriously
Your Website Glow-Up Game Plan
Option 1: The Band-Aid Approach
- Fix the most egregious problems
- Update all old information
- Simplify to the basics
- Limp along until you can afford pro help
Option 2: The Semi-DIY Upgrade
- Buy a premium theme designed for authors
- Hire someone for just the technical setup
- You handle content updates
- Middle ground between DIY and professional
Option 3: The Professional Glow-Up
- Hire professionals (hi, that’s us!)
- Get a complete strategy and design
- Never touch WordPress again
- Focus entirely on writing
Look, we get it. Admitting your DIY author website needs professional help feels like admitting defeat. But it’s actually admitting success — you’ve grown beyond the DIY stage.
That’s not failure. That’s graduation.
Our There’s Only One Bed Package is specifically designed for authors ready to stop fighting with their website and start focusing on what matters: writing books readers love.
Because every hour you spend googling “how to fix WordPress white screen of death” is an hour you could spend writing your next reader-favorite scene.
And hey — if you aren’t ready to give up the DIY site yet, but you have some issues that need fixing, we offer both a Second Chance “Website Fix” package ($275) where we’ll do a deep dive into your site and come up with a strategy to get your site working for you instead of against you, plus four hours of work on your site. If four hours aren’t enough, we also offer a VIP Day ($850) where you get our full attention on the day you choose for us to do any updates/design work needed. *PS — VIP Days are payable in 2-4 payments, but need to be paid in full before your chosen day.