Author websites are an increasingly important tool, but one that can cause a lot of aggravation. While most people have a handle on the basic set-up needed, they can quickly run into issues when trying to level up; these days your Author HQ needs to be slicker than the cobbled together afterthought we got away with a few years ago.

There are a bunch of solutions out there, but most aren't fit for purpose in one way or another — either too expensive, overly complex, or just not attuned to the specific needs of the modern writer.

GoCreate.Me addresses all these problems with a selection of free and premium themes designed specifically for authors. I'm using one of their themes here at DavidGaughran.com myself and it is wonderful — with so much cool stuff going on at the back-end which will make your life easier. And it's just plain nice to use, which is big for me after previous struggles. These days, I only use WordPress themes which spark joy.

I have a big breakdown below of what I think an author needs today from a website, before explaining how Parallax for Writers from GoCreate.Me helps me tackle all that. Some of you won't need all that detail though, so here's the meat:

  • 2017 For Writers is the free theme. It's not so-named for its age but because it's a child theme based off the WordPress in-house Twenty Seventeen theme. You can check it out here where all the features are explained and there is even a helpful video showing you the theme in action
  • Parallax for Writers is the showstopper. This premium theme costs $199 for a lifetime license and that INCLUDES installation. I have a custom version of it powering DavidGaughran.com at the moment and I do love it so.
  • GoCreate.Me was set up by indie author Caro Bégin — who works in multiple genres under several names, and gets all the various requirements that different writers have. She's also a WordPress expert, a pleasure to deal with, and possibly some kind of sorcerer; I'm not exactly sure.

If you are sold already, check out the links above, or you can book an installation slot directly here. Fair warning: I told my mailing list about this a few weeks ago and Caro's calendar is filling up pretty fast — there's only a couple of dates left in March and April is starting to go.

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