Why I Built AuthorPage: A Book Cover Designer's Journey to Simplifying Author WebsitesWhy I Built AuthorPage: A Book Cover Designer's Journey to Simplifying Author Websites

I need to tell you something upfront: I'm not a writer.

I'm a developer. A book cover designer. The guy authors hired when their WordPress site broke at midnight.

For six years, I've been in the trenches with indie authors—designing covers, building websites, fixing things that shouldn't have broken in the first place. And somewhere along the way, I realized the entire system was broken.

Not just for authors. For everyone.

This is the story of why I built AuthorPage. No marketing fluff. No investor pitch deck. Just the truth about what I saw, what frustrated me, and why I've spent the last six months building something better—with my own money, my own time, and a lot of sleepless nights.

How I Ended Up in the Indie Author World

Six years ago, I started designing book covers.

I didn't plan it. I just had design skills and found authors who needed help. One cover led to another. Word spread. Eventually, I was designing covers for bestselling authors across multiple genres.

That's when the website requests started.

"Hey, you're good with tech stuff—can you help me with my website?"

I said yes. Then I said yes again. Before I knew it, I was managing WordPress sites for a dozen authors, charging $30-50 per site for setup and maintenance.

That's when I discovered the trap.

The $30 Trap That Nobody Wins

Here's what $30-50 per author website actually looks like from my side:

I'd build a site using Elementor (a WordPress page builder). Looked great. Author was happy.

Then the Elementor subscription bill came. Every month.

Then WordPress needed updates. Every week.

Then a plugin conflicted with another plugin. The site broke. Author panicked. I fixed it at 11 PM.

Then I had to monitor for hacking attempts. Because WordPress sites get targeted constantly.

Then the hosting provider had an outage. Site went down. Author emailed me asking what happened.

Then another update broke something else.

Multiply this by a dozen authors.

$30 was too much for authors to pay for something this unreliable. And $30 was too little for me to sustainably maintain it.

Nobody was winning. The economics were completely broken.

What I Learned From Being the "Fix It" Guy

Being the person authors call when things break teaches you something important: authors don't want websites.

They really don't.

They want a place where readers can find their books, learn about them, and maybe sign up for a newsletter. That's it.

They don't want to think about hosting. They don't want to choose between 47 WordPress themes. They don't want to learn what a "plugin conflict" is or why their "CSS is broken."

They want to write books.

Every hour an author spends fighting with their website is an hour they're not writing. And every dollar they spend on website maintenance is a dollar that could go toward covers, editing, or advertising.

I kept thinking: there has to be a better way.

The Question That Changed Everything

One day, an author asked me something that stuck:

"I already keep all my book info updated on Amazon. Why do I have to enter it all again on my website?"

She was right.

Authors already maintain their information in Amazon Author Central. Book descriptions. Author bios. Cover images. Series information. They keep it updated because their income depends on it.

Why was I making them duplicate all that work?

What if a website could just... pull that information automatically?

No setup forms. No copy-pasting descriptions. No uploading cover images one by one.

Just paste your Amazon Author Central link. Get a website.

That idea became AuthorPage.

Building AuthorPage: No VC, No Gimmicks, Just Me

I want to be clear about something: AuthorPage is bootstrapped.

No venture capital. No investor money. No board of directors pushing for growth at all costs.

I've funded this with my own savings. I've built it during nights and weekends for the past six months. I've sacrificed sleep, personal time, and probably some of my sanity.

Why?

Because I've seen what happens when author tools get VC funding. They start cheap, build a user base, then jack up prices once authors are locked in. Or they sell to a bigger company that doesn't care about authors at all.

I didn't want to build something that would eventually betray the people using it.

AuthorPage is mine. I answer to authors, not investors. If it succeeds, it's because it genuinely helps people—not because I burned through funding on Facebook ads.

How AuthorPage Actually Works

The concept is simple because the execution should be simple:

1. You paste your Amazon Author Central URL
2. AuthorPage automatically pulls your books, bio, and covers
3. You get a professional website—immediately
4. When you publish new books, just refresh to pull them in

No theme selection. No plugin management. No monthly WordPress maintenance. No midnight emergencies.

Just a website that works.

What You Get

Your Books, Front and Center: Every book displayed with its cover, description, and buy links. Organized by series when relevant.

Your Bio: Your Amazon author bio becomes a proper About page.

Newsletter Signup: Connect your email service. Start building your list. (If you're wondering why every indie author needs a website and an email list—it's the one asset Amazon can't take away from you.)

Mobile-First Design: Over 60% of your readers browse on phones. Your site looks good on every screen.

Fast Loading: No bloated plugins. No unnecessary features. Just clean, fast pages.

Easy Updates: Publish a new book? Hit refresh and it appears on your site. Update your Amazon bio? Refresh and your site reflects it.

What You Don't Get

Complexity.

I know that sounds like marketing speak, but I mean it literally. AuthorPage intentionally doesn't have dozens of customization options because every option is a decision, and every decision is cognitive load, and cognitive load is what made WordPress exhausting in the first place.

If you want unlimited customization, WordPress exists. It's powerful. It's also a part-time job to maintain. My AuthorPage vs WordPress comparison breaks down the tradeoffs honestly.

AuthorPage is for authors who want a professional website without the professional website headaches.

The Bigger Vision: Tech That Actually Serves Authors

AuthorPage isn't the only thing I'm building.

I also created Athena Cover—an AI tool that generates professional book covers. Same philosophy: take something expensive and complicated, make it accessible.

Here's what I've realized over six years in this space: indie authors are running entire businesses alone.

Traditional publishers have teams for covers, websites, marketing, and distribution. Indie authors do all of it themselves, often while working day jobs and raising families.

The tools available to them should make that easier, not harder.

That's what I want to build. An ecosystem of tools designed specifically for indie authors. Simple. Affordable. Actually helpful.

AuthorPage is the first piece.

Why I Care This Much

People sometimes ask why I'm so obsessed with this.

Honestly? I've just been around indie authors long enough to respect what they do.

Writing a book is hard. Publishing it yourself is harder. Marketing it is harder still. And through all of that, authors are supposed to also become web developers, graphic designers, and social media experts?

The authors I've worked with over six years aren't "non-technical people who don't get it." They're capable, intelligent people running complex creative businesses. They've figured out Amazon algorithms, newsletter strategies, and reader engagement.

They shouldn't also have to figure out why Elementor broke their homepage.

My job—what I want my job to be—is handling the technical stuff so authors can focus on what they actually care about: writing books.

What AuthorPage Costs (And Why)

I'm not going to bury pricing at the bottom of a sales page.

AuthorPage is designed for indie author budgets. No enterprise pricing. No "contact us for a quote." No bait-and-switch where the useful features cost extra.

I've been on the other side of this. I know what it's like to pay $30/month for hosting plus $15/month for Elementor plus $10/month for a backup plugin plus time spent maintaining it all.

AuthorPage should cost less than that and require zero maintenance time. That's the bar I'm trying to clear.

Common Questions

"Can I customize my site?"

Right now, customization is intentionally limited. I'm exploring ways to add personalization without recreating the complexity problem. The goal is always: simple first.

"What if I'm not on Amazon?"

Currently, AuthorPage works with Amazon Author Central because that's where most indie authors maintain their info. Support for other platforms is coming.

"Can I use my own domain?"

Yes. Connect your domain (like yourname.com) and your AuthorPage site lives there. I'll walk you through it.

"What about blogging?"

Coming soon. When it launches, it'll follow the same philosophy: simple to use, no technical knowledge required.

"What about email list building?"

AuthorPage integrates with popular email services. Add a signup form in a few clicks. Building your email list is one of the smartest things you can do as an indie author—I make it easy.

This Is Just the Beginning

I'm not going to pretend AuthorPage is perfect. It's still evolving. I'm adding features based on what authors actually need, not what sounds good in a press release.

But here's what I can promise:

I'm a real person. Not a faceless corporation. Not a VC-funded startup that'll pivot to something else when author websites aren't "scalable" enough. I've been in this space for six years. I'm not going anywhere.

No marketing gimmicks. I don't have a marketing budget. I have a product I believe in and authors I want to help. That's it.

Pure intent. I built AuthorPage because I saw a problem and I have the skills to fix it. I've put my own money into this. My own time. My own sleep.

This isn't a side hustle to flip to an acquirer. This is what I want to do.

For Authors Who Just Want to Write

If you've read this far, you probably know the frustration I'm talking about.

Maybe you've been avoiding building a website because every option seems overwhelming.

Maybe you have a website that breaks constantly and you dread logging into it.

Maybe you're paying monthly fees for tools you barely use, just to have a basic online presence.

You're not alone.

Author websites shouldn't require technical expertise. They shouldn't eat up your creative time. They shouldn't break at the worst possible moments.

They should just exist—professional, functional, and easy to update—so you can focus on writing.

That's what AuthorPage is for.

Try It

Enter your Amazon Author Central URL. Get a professional author website. See if it's what you've been looking for.

No lengthy signup process. No credit card required to see your site.

Just paste your link and see what happens.

Because the world needs more great books. And you need fewer technical headaches.

I read every email that comes through. If you have questions, feedback, or just want to say hi—reach out. I'm building this for you, and I want to hear what you think.

—Sekar