Add an Online Store

An author can add an online ecommerce store to their website by integrating a simple, book-focused shopping experience that sells both physical and digital products under their own brand. An author store built with Author Launcher lets you offer hardcover, softcover, special editions, ebooks, audiobooks, and related merchandise in one unified author online store while keeping sales and reader relationships in your control.​

Why add an author store?

An author store on your own site lets you sell directly to readers, keep more revenue per sale, and build a stronger connection with your audience than sending them to third‑party retailers. Instead of scattering links across multiple platforms, your author online store becomes the central hub where readers can browse your catalog, discover new releases, and buy in just a few clicks.​

With direct sales, you also control formats and pricing, so you can sell hardcovers, paperbacks, ebooks, audiobooks, and bundles exactly how you want. This flexibility makes an author store ideal for running launches, exclusive editions, and reader rewards that wouldn’t be possible elsewhere.​

What you can sell (physical and digital)

A well‑structured author online store can handle a wide range of products so readers can choose how they want to experience your work.​

Common product types for an author store include:​

• Hardcover editions, including signed or numbered copies.

• Softcover/paperback editions for everyday reading.

• Special editions with alternate covers, bonus scenes, sprayed edges, or bundled extras.

• Digital ebooks in formats like EPUB and PDF delivered instantly after purchase.

• Audiobooks delivered as downloadable files or via secure listening links.

Beyond books, many authors also sell merchandise and reader extras—such as bookmarks, prints, or workbooks—through the same author online store, using product categories to keep everything organized.​

How Author Launcher fits in

Author Launcher makes it easy to add a full ecommerce author store to your existing website without rebuilding everything from scratch. Because Author Launcher is a white‑labeled implementation of Go High Level, you get a professional marketing and automation backbone under a brand tailored to authors.​

Within Author Launcher, you can:

• Quickly create product listings for each format (hardcover, softcover, special edition, ebook, audiobook).

• Organize items into collections, such as series, formats, or launch bundles, so your author online store feels intuitive for readers.

• Configure taxes, shipping options, and basic fulfillment workflows depending on where you ship and what you sell.​

This approach lets you run a robust author store while still presenting a clean, book‑first storefront that aligns with your author brand.​

Planning your store structure

Before turning on ecommerce, it helps to sketch how your author online store should look and flow from a reader’s perspective. Start by listing your current and planned products: each book, each format, and any extras like bundles or merchandise.​

Then group products into logical categories your readers will instantly understand:​

• “Series” categories (e.g., Series A, Series B).

• “Format” categories (Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook, Audiobook).

• “Specials” categories (Signed Editions, Boxed Sets, Limited Editions).

These categories become the backbone of your author store navigation, making it easy for a new visitor to land on your site, click “Shop,” and immediately find the right version of the book they want.​

Setting up products in Author Launcher

When you add an ecommerce store with Author Launcher, each product in your catalog becomes a dedicated entry with its own details and options. For a single title, you might have multiple products: one for the hardcover, one for the softcover, one for the ebook, and one for the audiobook.​

For each product in your author online store, you will typically configure:​

• Title and subtitle that match the book’s cover.

• Product description that highlights genre, tone, and key selling points.

• Format (physical vs digital) and any options like signed vs unsigned.

• Pricing, including sale prices or launch discounts when needed.

• Cover images and interior previews to help readers decide.

Digital products (ebooks, audiobooks, bonus PDFs) are set up with attached files or secure delivery links, so once payment is processed, Author Launcher can automatically send readers to their download or access instructions.​

Organizing categories and collections

Thoughtful categorization is what turns a simple product list into a polished author store. In Author Launcher, you can create collections that group products in ways that reinforce your brand and make browsing enjoyable.​

For example, you might set up:​

• A “Start Here” collection featuring the best entry points into your universe.

• A “Complete Series” collection bundling all formats or full trilogies.

• A “Signed & Special Editions” collection that showcases premium, higher‑margin items.

These collections appear as menu items or featured sections on your author online store home page, helping different reader types—new fans, collectors, binge readers—quickly find what they want.​

Accepting payments and handling checkout

A key part of adding an ecommerce store is connecting payment processing so you can accept credit cards and other methods securely. Author Launcher provides a way to integrate modern payment gateways, enabling smooth checkout inside your site rather than sending readers elsewhere.​

When configuring payment options for your author store, focus on:​

• Supporting the main cards and payment types your audience uses.

• Making checkout as few steps as possible to reduce cart abandonment.

• Ensuring tax and currency settings match where you legally sell and ship.
  

Once this is set up, your author online store can take a reader from “I’m interested” to “order complete” in just a few clicks, on desktop or mobile.​

Automating notifications and delivery

One of the biggest advantages of using Author Launcher for your author store is built‑in automation for communications and digital delivery. Instead of manually emailing every purchaser, you can trigger automatic sequences when an order is placed.​

Examples of automation inside your author online store include:​

• Order confirmation emails with receipt and next steps.

• Shipping notifications for physical books with tracking details once fulfilled.

• Instant access emails for ebooks and audiobooks, including links and instructions.

• Follow‑up emails inviting readers to join your newsletter or leave a review.
  

These automated notifications keep readers informed, reduce support questions, and make your author store feel professional and reliable.​

Fulfilling physical books and special editions

For physical products in your author online store—hardcover, softcover, special editions—you need a fulfillment plan so each order gets packed and shipped promptly. Some authors store inventory at home and ship by hand; others work with print‑on‑demand or third‑party fulfillment services.​

Whichever method you choose, your author store workflow should include:​

• A clear way to see new orders and their status.

• A routine for packaging and shipping within your promised time frame.

• Updating orders as “fulfilled” so your automated notifications can send tracking or confirmation.
  

For special editions and signed copies, you might batch orders, sign everything at once, and then ship on a specific date, clearly explained in descriptions on your author online store.​

Integrating with your existing site

When you add an ecommerce store with Author Launcher, you connect it to your current author website so the experience feels seamless. Typically, this means adding a “Store” or “Shop” link to your main navigation that leads directly to your author store home page.​

To keep branding consistent across your author online store and the rest of your site:​

• Use the same logo, fonts, and color palette throughout.

• Match tone and imagery (e.g., genre‑appropriate visuals).

• Ensure that your About, Blog, and Store pages cross‑link, so a visitor can move smoothly from learning about you to browsing your books.
  

A cohesive look reassures readers they’re still inside your official author store and not on a third‑party site, which increases trust and conversion.​

Connecting your email list and marketing

Once your author online store is live, direct traffic and attention toward it using your existing audience channels. Because Author Launcher is built on a marketing platform backbone, you can tie store actions to your email and funnel strategy.​

Useful connections between your author store and your list include:​

• Adding email signup offers on checkout pages (e.g., bonus story for joining).

• Tagging subscribers by what they bought (hardcover buyer, audiobook fan) for targeted campaigns.

• Sending launch sequences that point directly to your author online store’s product pages.
  

Over time, your email list and author store reinforce each other, turning casual readers into long‑term fans who buy multiple formats and special editions.​

Tracking performance and optimizing

To make the most of your author store, track key metrics so you can refine your offers and layout. Analytics can reveal which pages visitors land on, how far they go into your checkout, and which products perform best.​

Important numbers for an author online store include:​

• Conversion rate from product view to purchase.

• Average order value, especially when you offer bundles or special editions.

• The share of sales by format (ebook vs paperback vs hardcover vs audiobook).
  

By regularly reviewing this data, you can test new product descriptions, adjust pricing, reorganize categories, or highlight certain items on your author store home page to increase sales.​

Bringing it all together

Adding an ecommerce author store to your website transforms your online presence from a static bio page into a working bookstore you fully control. With Author Launcher, you can quickly set up product pages, organize categories, accept payments, and automate notifications, all under your own branding.​

The result is an author online store where readers can buy hardcovers, softcovers, special editions, ebooks, and audiobooks directly from you, while you build a long‑term, data‑driven business around your books. This direct‑to‑reader approach makes your author store not just a sales channel, but the central engine of your author career.​