I was called upon late in 2020 by sci-fi horror author R.J. Burle to create a website to coincide with the release of a series of novels and to generally have a more professional online presence than he had previously. He was advised by peers that one key to connecting to a fan base was going to be his email list… and growing it. This was to be the foremost function of the website at this stage.
Since he would be handling the content management himself and was already familiar with using WordPress, that platform was an easy choice. Step one was to see if there were any themes available that would have most of the desired functionality and require the least front-end customization, as production time was a consideration.
With the help of some third-party plug-ins, we created several different forms: modal and static “subscribe” forms and a “contact” form. The two former were integrated directly into his Mailchimp account where new subscribers would automatically be added to a list and sent a “welcome” autoresponder featuring exclusive content that was promised in exchange for subscribing to the list.
R.J. says that usually at the third or fourth book in a series of novels, a writer will get picked up by a publisher and supported by their marketing and distribution, so I was proud to be a part of promoting his first book and laying the groundwork for his new fans and potential publishers to take notice. ΜΤ