Author Website Inspiration: What to Put on Your “Coming Soon” Page
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Depending on my website development calendar and their book release date, some of my clients wait several months before we build and launch their new author website.
In the interim, I often suggest a “coming soon” website page. This can be helpful to:
Show the essentials of your work
Provide a pre-order link to a book retailer
Give readers (or publishing professionals) your social media links so they can find you in the interim
Demonstrate that you’re professional and you’ve thought about a website, even though it’s not quite ready yet
Offer a confidence boost, that you’ve taken the first step toward your new site!
Allow you to start sharing your author website domain name, safe in the knowledge that visitors will see something appropriate, in the interim.
If you request a “coming soon” web page during our strategy phase together, I can usually create something simple and professional looking as a mini project, even if I’m fully booked and not able to schedule your full website project just yet.
And in one case recently, an author had already made a basic coming soon page, so I hopped in there and made it look more professional, during our project preparation phase.
3 Examples of author website “coming soon” pages
Here are some recent examples that my clients have benefited from. They all take a slightly different approach, and required different levels of effort to design and publish.
1. One-page website with multiple sections
This is the one-page website that I created for author and consultant Samuel K. Bentil.
It includes:
Headlines about Samuel’s work and expertise
Industry-appropriate images and backgrounds
Statistics about the problem he solves
Book description and placeholder book cover
Video interview with Samuel
Bio and photo
Testimonial
Call to action: contact Samuel
LinkedIn link
As you can see, this is an extensive “mini website” and although it’s only one page, it gives an excellent introduction to Samuel’s work. It’s an ideal approach if your book will be published soon, but you don’t yet have final information, a cover, and the rest of your website material ready.
I built this one-page site using Carrd.co as a single day intensive project. I can get results like this in a short time because I live and breathe web design. If you’re working on your own, you should allow longer, to create something similar!
When you work with me, a coming soon site like this can be included as part of my Impact Author Website package.
We’ve now launched Samuel’s full author website, and you can see it at samuelkbentil.com
2. Simple one-page site, to showcase your book
When we decided to work together, my co-author clients had already created a coming-soon website using Carrd.co. I jumped in to improve a few aspects, including making the book look like a real book, adjusting colors, fixing links that didn’t lead anywhere, and making the layout more logical for mobile.
This is another great example of a nice-looking, simple site with Carrd.
It includes:
Book image and title
Call to action: pre-order the book
Publisher credentials and release date
Links to the main website for each co-author
Social media links
I really like this page because it communicates the essential information (“a book is coming: find it here”) while looking sleek and professional. And it offers links to other helpful websites, in the interim before the multi-page book site goes live.
When you work with me, a coming soon page like this can be included as part of my Impact Author Website package.
By the time you read this, the full website for this book and accompanying resources may well be launched. You can see it at MicrodosingBook.com
3. Super-simple splash page
If the examples above feel too ambitious, here’s a third option.
This one is pared down, attractive, and minimal. It uses the Squarespace lock screen feature. One thing I like about this is, you don’t have to pay for your Squarespace subscription, until you’re ready to go live.
(But when you are ready, save 10% with code PAULINE10)
This coming soon page includes:
Topic title and author’s name
Interim logo
Call to action: connect with the author on Substack
Teaser background image, hinting at Substack content
Compared to the generic “parking” page that most domain registrars provide, I love this option to make your “under construction” message look a whole lot more professional.
If you’re working with me, ask about including a page like this in either my Impact Author Website or Essential Author Website packages.
And once again, by the time you read this, it’s likely that the full website will have launched. Visit laurenkhall.com to see the finished site.
What tool should you use for your “coming soon” author website?
If you’re working on your own, for simplicity, I recommend creating your coming soon page using the same platform that you’re planning to use for your full website. Make and publish one page, don’t overthink it, and keep it clean and uncluttered.
For example, starting out on Squarespace makes life much easier when you want to launch your full Squarespace website, whereas building your interim website using Carrd.co will require you to update your DNS records, if you then use Squarespace for your finished site.
If you work with me, I will often use Carrd for a basic, attractive page, then switch to Squarespace for its more expansive features, when I build your full website.
Why not do everything on Carrd?
I love Carrd as a simple, quick-start tool, but it does not have the full website capabilities that you’ll need as your author business grows. In particular, you can’t add a blog to Carrd, SEO settings are limited, and it really isn’t suitable for a site that needs more than about four or five pages.
Find out about choosing between Carrd and Squarespace here.
Conclusion
I love a good “coming soon” page! It’s a wonderful way to beat procrastination, get something simple but professional launched, and create momentum to get your full website done. And remember, if you’ve been struggling to build your author website on your own, that’s where I come in.
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