How to Add Books to Your WordPress Author Website

Introduction

A single book is (almost) all you need to skip to the next module and build the Single Book Template to finally see what this looks like on the screen.

But I’m not going to do that right away.

First I’d like to show you what it’s like to add a book to an author website.

Adding Immediate Danger

I use a Google Doc to store all my website copy so I’ll copy and paste from there (You can see the doc I use along with a template over in the Author Website Playbook – Yes that’s a shameless plug).

I know we’ve already posted Adventure Danger on the site but we jumped between building the ACF fields and updating the Book Post so we never really got a good look at the whole picture.

Let’s add Immediate Danger, the second book in the Dylan Danger series to get a view of adding a new book.

• From the WordPress admin dashboard
• Go to Books
• Add a new Book

The first thing is adding a new book is guided.

We have clearly marked fields with instructions about what is required. This makes a big difference if it’s been a while since you added a new book or if you’re having someone else do it for you. The guide is built in.

Excerpt

Ideally excerpts are 160 characters long or at least the opening paragraph is only 160 charters long. This should be a trope rich elevator pitch to hook fans of the genre.

Primary CTA BUtton

The first book in the series is a give away as part of Dirk’s free first in series strategy. This second book is a revenue builder and part of the author’s push to build his direct sales. 

You can label this Primary CTA button however you like and point it where it needs to to go to support your marketing strategy.

Other Retailers

If I say no to other retailers the Group fields we set up disappear for a cleaner interface. This will make it easier when I add the Amazon exclusives Village Detective series later. But the Dylan Danger series is direct and wide so I’ll add the other lnks.

A quick note on links. Dirk isn’t real so I’m just linking direct to the other marketplaces. For real books I use smart links with geolocation features so that when a visitor clicks on the Amazon or Kobo they are taken to their countries store. I like the self-hosted open source solutions from Yourls and Shlink and the low cost lifetime hosted for you option from Switchy for my smart links.

Book Description

The book description section use the WYSIWYG custom field which means we can add headings, text effects, and images. This could be used to replicate Amazon’s A+ Content for book listings but I prefer to use just ad copy.

Reader Reviews

Reviews rich with trope language are best. A quick note on reviews. You should only post reviews from readers with their explicit permission. Don’t reuse readers reviews from Amazon or other market places without their permission.

This isn’t a major drama as I’ve found that asking for reviews on a newsletter linked to a custom form guiding the reader through leaving a review gives incredible results.

Book Extracts

I love book extracts. They are the ultimate qualifier for an author audience. The chances are if someone reads and enjoys the extract of your book on the website they are going to smash the call to action button at its end.

Like everything else in this author website it’s your choice. If you don’t use extracts on some or all of your books we will have conditions built into the section not to display if you don’t want to use them.

Featured Image

I’ve settled on a 600 by 960 pixels sized image which matches Amazon’s cover image guidelines to use a  1.6:1 ratio image. To get there all my covers are the Amazon recommended 1,600 x 2,560 pixels which I resize using Squoosh.app

Your dimensions may vary. For this site I’m using flat cover images. You may prefer Mockups with the cover presented on a book or reading device. Whatever featured image style you use make sure you are consistent with your style choice and optimse the file size with Squoosh or similar tool for gfaster load times.

Series and Genre

Both the category options play a role in helping visitors find the book they are after and optimising the Book post for SEO (See Author Website Playbook for more information).

Preview and Publish

If the site was complete the next thing I’d do would be to preview the bookpost and publish or schedule if it was all correct.

We don’t have our book template yet so preview isn’t going to show us anything but we are going to fix that starting with the next lesson.

While you click through to the next lesson I’ll go and add the rets of the books to the website.

Summary

This lesson demonstrated how to add books to your WordPress author website using custom fields and dynamic features. By following a guided process, you can create detailed, engaging book posts that include excerpts, descriptions, CTAs, reviews, extracts, and retailer links. These elements are designed to optimise your book pages for SEO and user experience while providing flexibility to align with your marketing strategy. With this foundation, your site is ready to showcase your books and convert visitors into fans.