One of the best parts about building new WordPress themes and tools is seeing how people use them in the real world.
We know how we envisioned them to be used… but we’re always surprised and blown away by the amazing websites our customers build. You guys are so creative!
So today, we want to share some examples of great Bookwise websites, and the talented authors behind them.
If you’re thinking of building your author website soon, today’s post is packed with inspiration from real writers selling their books online.
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When we designed our Bookwise for indie authors, we wanted to launch more than just another WordPress theme. We wanted to really understand and deliver on what modern authors need from a website.
We set out to create the BEST possible theme to help them:
- Showcase their writing and creativity
- Connect with their readers
- Promote their blog, reviews and events
- Sell more books
Judging from the amazing feedback we’ve received, I’d say Bookwise is a huge success!
But there’s no better feeling of satisfaction than seeing real writers using Bookwise to build a successful author brand and business. So we’ve picked 3 Bookwise websites to showcase in today’s post:
Angela Legh’s Bella Santini Chronicles
Author of the Bella Santini Chronicles, a children's book series that plants seeds of emotional intelligence and self-love into an engaging story.
Angela’s Books
Bella Santini in the Land of Everlasting Change
Book One of the Bella Santini Chronicles. Bella is forcibly taken to the world of the Fae and kept there. Bella strives to become a student at Yelimoon School so that she can learn magic because magic is the only way she can return to her home.
Bella Santini in the Troll War
Bella is kidnapped by Novaq, who intends to send her away from the land of the Fae. Bella is rescued, but the rescue attempt is hindered - they cannot return to Yelimoon! A trek to Thessaeria ends with Bella's world turned upside down.
Princess Bella Visits the Dragons’ Lair
Book Three of the Bella Santini Chronicles - to be released soon. Bella must come to terms with her new reality, the Crown Princess of the Seelie Court. What will befall her as she tries to fill her new role?
Angela’s Bookwise Website
Reading has always been a powerful tool to help children understand themselves and the world around them. Angela’s website, brand and books aims to inspire young people during their formative years with a magical series full of courage, self discovery, love and respect.
Her Bella Santori website is probably the most colorful, magical reimagining of Bookwise we’ve seen!
It’s all so infectiously fun and wholesome.
She uses Bookwise’s tabbed section to showcase the characters, plot and inspiration behind the books, so new readers can connect with Angela’s world of fairies, dragons and trolls.
Show off your characters, plot, inspiration and anything else you want to communicate with Bookwise's interactive tabs.
Using Bookwise’s easily customizable mock-up templates, readers can preview how Angela’s stories might look on their mobile or eBook reader, along with cute illustrations and links to purchase on Amazon.
Of course, you can do the same on your Bookwise website without any fancy image editing software. Just paste the text from your manuscript and replace the images… and bam! Instant, professional eBooks previews that help sell your books.
Easily create ebook reader mockups with Bookwise
And finally, I’ll leave you with these powerful words from Angela…
Dave Mason
Author of The Age of Prophecy Series, The Cash Machine, and The Size of Your Dreams.
Dave’s Books
The Cash Machine
The Cash Machine is unlike any other personal finance book ever written. Not only will you get sucked into the rollercoaster relationship of Amber and Dylan, but you’ll learn hundreds of money lessons along the way, giving you the tools to drive your financial destiny.
The Lamp of Darkness
The Age of Prophecy series transports you back 3,000 years, to the epic battle between the Israelite Kings and Prophets. Lev, an orphaned shepherd boy, begins a journey of discovery when he’s hired to play as a musician before the prophets.
The Key of Rain
The second book in The Age of Prophecy series. In the face of danger and temptation, Lev must strengthen his will or fall prey to the agents of Izevel's gods, Baal and Ashera.
The Size of Your Dreams
Learn how to set and accomplish your goals, improve your self-image, boost your personal development, and do it all while reading a page-turning novel.
Dave’s Bookwise Website
We love that Dave has taken Bookwise and made it his own, full of his positive personality and smiling photographs.
He’s replaced the main heading and review snippet with his own quote that sums up his approach to writing…
The audience can immediately connect to the author with a large photo in the top hero section.
Dave makes great use of Bookwise’s interactive carousel to showcase his book covers.
Bookwise lets you choose between uploading your own illustrated book covers, like Dave, or opting for simpler background images and adding your own text directly into the visual editor. You can see a great example on our official Bookwise demo site here.
But since Dave’s books already have beautifully designed covers, it makes sense for him to show them in all their glory.
To help build his email list of engaged readers, Dave offers a free eBook copy of his book ‘The Size of Your Dreams’ as a valuable lead magnet. He uses Bookwise’s eBook mock-up template to make this intangible opt-in offer more visual and real.
It’s quick and easy to create your own eBook previews on your Bookwise website. No coding or Photoshop necessary.
It's easy to create a compelling call-to-action with Bookwise to encourage visitors to become readers.
We also loved to see Dave’s use of the stats counter in Bookwise, showing his impressive 1,000+ 5-star reviews and over 100,000 downloads. Way to go, Dave!
This showcases his credibility as a writer and builds some social proof. Dave’s choice of image also helps reinforce his authority… an author holding real printed novels and backed up with some impressive numbers too.
Printed books really help to build credibility as an author. Dave also uses these statistic elements in Bookwise.
Ken’s Books
Joe Coffin Series
A vampire gangster series, combining the unpolished horror of Eastern European legends with the brutality of gangland culture to create a tale that provides the purity of classic vampire stories without the simplistic moral binary.
Ms. Vengeance Series
A new series by Ken Preston. A mother will do everything it takes to protect her children… and avenge the one she lost. The first book, Reckoning, tells the story of a cold, efficient killer, secret society, and a vengeful woman.
Ken’s Bookwise Website
Ken took our carefully crafted design for Bookwise, and stripped away all the background images, subtle flourishes and tasteful serif fonts.
And we’re not even mad!
It’s exactly what we’d expect to properly showcase a gritty series of vampire gangsters and grieving mothers hellbent on retribution.
Instead, Ken uses unmissable typography and large, vibrant book covers so you know exactly where to look.
Ken shows how his book looks on a tablet device, and provides a link to buy on Amazon.
To hook potential readers, Ken features a sneak peek preview of his writing inside an interactive eBook reader. This has the added benefit of encouraging visitors to sign up to his email list to unlock the rest of the chapter… these great features are available to anyone using the Bookwise theme for WordPress.
The Sneak Peek feature is only available in Bookwise, and lets the visitor scroll through an eBook reader page.
We all know how important reviews are for selling books… and Ken makes great use of his passionate reader feedback by showcasing his reviews across his homepage and individual book pages.
It's easy to add reviews across your indie author website with the Bookwise from Thrive Themes.
We love how Ken has taken the features of Bookwise that make sense for his books, his audience, and his writing business. He’s created an indie author brand you can really sink your teeth into!
Are You Ready to Build YOUR Indie Author Website with Bookwise?
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Bookwise is a conversion-focused WordPress theme for indie authors and writer-preneuers.
Bookwise is the best way to craft a professional website for your indie author personal brand, connect with your readers, and ultimately sell more books!
... Zero coding required!
I love these examples, and especially Bookwise. I’m working on a conversion of my current site to Bookwise. Thank you, Thrive Themes, for creating such a beautiful product with authors in mind!
Exciting Kelly! Best of luck switching over to Bookwise.
Thanks, David! Great to see Bookwise in action – I just started building my new therapy site using Bookwise, and find it a great match for a service orientated site too – there are so many great looking building blocks in Thrive Architect to choose from, thanks, Team ????
Thanks Adam. We’ve seen a lot of non-writers using Bookwise in really innovate ways too. Be sure to share your website when it’s done, we’d love to see it!
Hi David,
I have ThriveThems installed on my WordPress account with only ThriveQuizBuilder and ThriveAutomator but don’t know how to install Bookwise. Where can I find help?
All the companion themes (Bookwise, Ommi, Kwik and ShapeShift) come with Thrive Theme Builder. Thrive Theme Builder is a WordPress theme, where Thrive Quiz Builder and Thrive Automator are WordPress plugins. As soon as you install and activate Thrive Theme Builder as your site’s WordPress theme, you’ll have access to Bookwise.