A reader finds you. She loves the vibe, loves the covers, opens your website ready to buy — and then stops cold. You have four series, a few standalones, a duet that's actually connected to a completely different trilogy, and nothing on your site tells her where to start.
So she doesn't. She closes the tab and goes back to whatever brought her to you in the first place, and you never find out you lost her.
This happens more than you'd think, and it's not a small-potatoes problem. Series read-through — readers moving from book one straight through your backlist — is one of the biggest drivers of long-term income indie romance authors have. A confused new reader doesn't read through. She bounces. Here's how to stop it.
1. Build a dedicated “Start Here” page — not just a books page.
Your books page is a catalog. A Start Here page is a recommendation, and those are two very different jobs. New visitors are often quietly overwhelmed by an author with multiple series, and a Start Here page solves that by acting like a friend pointing at the shelf: “begin with this one.” One clear entry point beats a wall of covers every time.
2. Separate publication order from reading order — and label both.
Prequels, spin-offs, shared universes: if your catalog has any of that, publication order and the “right” reading order aren't the same thing, and guessing wrong spoils plot twists or skips the emotional setup a later book depends on. Say plainly which order you recommend and why, instead of assuming it's obvious. It's obvious to you. It's not obvious to her.
3. Group by series, visually, not just alphabetically or by release date.
A grid of covers in release order asks a new reader to do detective work. Series sections that visually group connected books — with a one-line summary of how each series relates to the others — do that work for her instead. If two series share a universe or crossover characters, say so on the page, not just in a Facebook group post from eight months ago.
4. Recommend an entry point for each type of reader.
Not every new reader wants to start at book one of your oldest series. Give her options: “New to me? Start with [book].” “Want the darker stuff? Start with [book].” “Here for the romantasy? Start with [book].” A little curation goes further than a full backlist dump, and it signals you know your own catalog — which, weirdly, a lot of author sites don't manage to do.
5. Link it from everywhere, not just the main menu.
Your Start Here page only works if people find it. Link it in your Instagram bio, your TikTok bio, your email welcome sequence, and the first page of every book's back matter. The reader most likely to need it is the one who just finished a book and wants to know what's next — catch her right there.
6. Keep it current every time you release.
A Start Here page is only trustworthy if it's accurate. When a new book or series drops, update the recommendations — don't let it quietly go stale while you're heads-down on the next release. A wrong recommendation is worse than none, because now she's read out of order and it's your fault.
Ready to stop patching your website together and get one built to actually sell books? Book your first chapter call and let's talk about what your site (and your brand) needs to do the selling for you.