I know, I know. I need to stop changing my website. 😂
Thing is, I never felt my previous web designs for this author site were “me.” Like, “me as an author.” I kept including stuff that was reflective of me an a web designer / developer too, and that just doesn’t work for my author brand.
Looking back now, I don’t think I really knew as a designer what my author brand was.
I thought it was the “city skyline at night with some magic” theme my site recently sported. But the scenes in my book(s) usually take place in the afternoon or morning, and I love afternoons and mornings myself. My writing will always have a touch of humor no matter how sad or serious the stuff is. Dark and romantically magical just isn’t my vibe. This became especially evident when I saw my final book cover for My Fate According to the Butterfly.
For once, I saw a visual representation of my story. My amazing team at Scholastic, book designer Baily Crawford, and illustrator Oriol Vidal captured Sab and Butterfly’s vibe perfectly—hopeful, magical, and fun. Urban. Very Filipino. So very me 🙂
Having my book cover on my website was a realization that that particular design wasn’t me as an author. It fit but not quite.
The irony is that I’ve already designed and developed a lot of author websites. I couldn’t understand why I found it easier to nail a client’s brand than it is to nail my own. I guess it’s just like writing—I was too close to it to see its entirety.
It was sooooo frustrating.
For months and months I’ve been stuck not knowing how to do a website that fit my author brand. I’ve always prided myself of being able to separate my personal stuff with my business ones (I rarely get emotional attachments to my work), but in this case, I couldn’t. I really wanted to do this whole thing on my own, and it wasn’t working.
I asked my good friend Rae Somer what she thinks my author brand is, and it was through her feedback that I was finally able to come up with something I was happy about—a website that shows me as an author, not as a web designer. (Thank you Rae. LOVE YOU! 😘)
So, here we are. My new website. Hope you guise like it! ❤️
*** The duck on the homepage is based on my pet Pekin duck, Quackie. She recently got sick a few days ago, and I was so, so, so afraid this website will be a memorial for her. Thank goodness she’s improving now! 😁🦆💕
