Overview
I offer 20+ years' experience in website design for the book publishing industry, specializing in dynamic, striking, and unusual author websites. Recent clients include Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Transatlantic Agency, authors at HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, and countless self-published authors.
I have 19 years' experience delivering workshops in book, ebook, and website design at the postgraduate level to students with a wide variety of backgrounds and technological skill levels, so I can speak with you about the design and maintenance of your website in jargon-free language.
I begin projects with a discussion about any existing websites or other media you may have found attractive or inspiring (if any), as well as to take your personal ideas and preferences into consideration. After I've produced a prototype design, we then go through a series of revisions to get the look, feel, and functionality just right on computers, tablets, and smartphones. I offer consulting throughout this process to help you set up and incorporate social media and any other digital marketing initiatives with your new website.
I build sites using WordPress, so if you're already familiar with that platform, you'll find it easy to write and edit content on your new website. However, I can provide as much training and documentation as you may require to allow you to make changes and post content yourself.
I'm not the least expensive option, and I put a lot of work and detail into my quotes, so if you're just looking for the lowest price, please don't bother with me. However, I don't charge as much as a typical agency -- my overhead is low, so my prices are competitive.
Services
Non-Fiction
Fiction
Works with
Certifications
- Ontario Graduate Certificate, Creative Book Publishing, Humber College, Toronto, Canada
- Teaching in a Digital World Certificate, Humber College, Toronto, Canada
- BA in English Literature, with a Specialization in Non-Fiction Creative Writing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
- Certificate in Graphic Design Fundamentals, Mount Royal University, Calgary, Canada
Work experience
Self-employed
Humber College, Toronto, Canada
Developing curricula for and teaching technology courses in the Creative Book Publishing program at Humber College, Toronto, Canada.
Projects
Website for award-winning author Greg Hollingshead
This site offers an animated presentation of the top titles by Governor General's Award-winning author Greg Hollingshead, as well as a complete collection of essays, interviews, talks, profiles and stories written by this prolific Canadian author and educator.
Animated storytelling site for Lost Worlds of Ancient and Modern Greece
A promotional site for illustrated historical textbook Lost Worlds of Ancient and Modern Greece by archaeologist D.J. Ian Begg, this dynamic, animated site features full-colour illustrations with details from the timeline in the book, covering three years (1921-1924) in the life of Gilbert Bagnani, a young Italian archaeologist in tumultuous Greece. The site functions seamlessly on all devices, including smartphones.
New website for award-winning author Darrel J. McLeod
This was a first-time website for Governor General's Award-winning author, negotiator, educator and jazz singer Darrel J. McLeod. The goal was to highlight his books (two memoirs and a novel) about the realities of Indigenous life in Canada while also presenting comprehensive information about his journalistic writing and his music. And of course, we wanted the site to look terrific.
Comprehensive website for award-winning poet and author Rhea Tregebov
This site was a complete redesign of a previous one, with tons of info on every book from and every online article about UBC Associate Professor Emerita Rhea Tregebov, a prolific poet, novelist, and children's author. The client wanted to be able to add and edit content for the site on her own, which is possible with all of my sites, but I provided video documentation to help her perform various site editing tasks.
Mini-site for NYT journalist and author Mark Bulik
A simple-but-attractive site delivered quickly and on a budget for New York Times journalist and chronicler of Irish-American history Mark Bulik.
Promotional site for US sports author and novelist Blant Hurt
I put together a flashy animated website for sports author Blant Hurt, which is focused mainly on his latest title, a diary of Arkansas Razorbacks football fandom.
Bold site design for author, teacher & activist Shaena Lambert
I was recommended to Shaena Lambert by her agent, who saw some of the work I'd done for author Joan Thomas. The author wanted something equally bold and striking based on the cover design of her new novel. I had some great typography, colours and images to work with, so I was able to create a site that stands out.
Website for bestselling thriller author Andrew Pyper
Bestselling, award-winning thriller and horror author Andrew Pyper is a long-time client and we've made several modifications to his site over the years, settling on a fairly standard but striking blog-based layout. The background photo of the author was taken in Toronto's Graffiti Alley.
Website for crime fiction author Ken Ogilvie
Ken Ogilvie is a new crime fiction author whose first trilogy is based in Orillia, Ontario, so I sought to build a website that would reflect some of the beauty and starkness of that place while still being easy to use and easy to update.
Official website for The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
In 2009, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt asked me to build a website for one of their most important literary properties, Chris Van Allsburg's holiday classic The Polar Express. We built a website and an advent calendar web app, and the site was featured on CBS Morning News upon launch. We have since migrated the site from Drupal to WordPress, and the web app from Flash to HTML5, but the site is still getting plenty of traffic around the holiday season. I've been maintaining and updating this site for over 10 years.
Website for Canadian author and profiler Ed Seaward
Ed Seaward approached me with a terrific idea for a website, as he had a debut novel scheduled to be launched by legendary small publisher The Porcupine's Quill. He mines his network of contacts and writes profiles about the most interesting of these people in the USA and Canada, and has been generating traffic, even before his debut, via a MailChimp account I helped him set up. Presumably, all this content will help to generate organic search traffic which we expect will attract visits to his site in between novels.
Website for travel/memoir author Jane Christmas
Jane Christmas is an award-nominated, UK-based Canadian author who writes what she refers to as "journey memoirs." I designed and built her first ever website which we launched to much fanfare in 2019.
Website for award-winning author Joan Thomas
Joan Thomas is a Canadian author and the 2019 winner of the Governor General's Award for her novel Five Wives. She is a long-time client and this is the fourth iteration of her website that I have designed for her. She edits all the text content and maintains the software on her own.
Website for Transatlantic Agency
Design and development of a WordPress-based website for North American literary management company, Transatlantic Agency. Includes agent and client listings, efficient illustrators' gallery, catalogue downloads, mobile-compatible animated presentation banners, and an extensive and attractive news section with fully searchable and sortable archives. Full documentation provided for interns and agents to edit, update, and maintain in house.
Allen has 4 reviews
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Mark B.
Apr, 2023
Blant H.
Sep, 2020
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Aug, 2020
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Jul, 2020
