Having recently moved onto WordPress’s Premium plan for a website I knew that I would have some work to do to make it look exactly how I wanted it to. The suggestion is that this is relatively easy, but it is not. Unlike the previous software package that I used, Serif WebPlus, WordPress themes and blocks are not WYSIWYG, that is: they are not What You See Is What You Get. With Serif WebPlus I enjoyed a significant degree of freedom in designing a website. Over time I became quite proficient. I was able to utilise all manner of plugins to make my website look interesting and up to date. WordPress distinctly lacks this freedom of creative expression. For example, I upgraded to the Premium plan that I thought would give me access to WordPress’ ‘Premium plugins’, but no, it does not. I have to upgrade to a Business plan to get to use them, which begs the question why have a plan called ‘Premium’ and a set of plugins called ‘Premium’ when the two are distinct from each other? I have to say, I felt deceived!

There are alternatives of course, and WordPress are keen to sell me, or tell me, of there availability. I could pay someone to build my website for me, which is number one on their option list. I am kind of reluctant to go down that path as I am working with a budget and as stated above I am able to build my own website, albeit with a different platform. Another alternative is to learn how to do the coding myself, but that takes time and I am already stretched being involved with several ongoing projects at the moment. I did have a job doing something very similar but that was a few years ago and I have forgotten much of what I learned then.

I was also hoping to use the ‘WooCommerce’ option but this comes with a cost also, both a subscription and an upgrade to a Business plan. I have this idea of selling my novels from this website direct to interested readers. I know that this is possible and it occurred to me that I could sell the books at a lower price in digital format as I would receive 100% of the takings. My current budget, however, is not going to run to the WordPress buy a more expensive plan option, so I looked elsewhere.

The Google internet search engine is great. We probably all use it and do not realise just how good it is. Thanks to Google I came across a digital shop platform called ‘Payhip’. It allows people to set up a store and sell all kinds of products, including digital copies of the novels that they have written, directly to customers and even handles taking payments. Like WordPress, Payhip suggests that setting up your online shop is relatively easy but of course it is not. It uses a similar block and themes function as Wordpres. The guide is pretty good however and includes a number of videos that proved helpful. I am now well on my way to establishing my shop and linking it to this website. There are still some technical challenges to overcome but they are manageable. The plan is that prospective customers will click on the ‘buy this book’ button and that they will be transported seamlessly to my shop, which has more that a passing resemblance to this website, then from there they will be able to buy the said book in the correct file format for their eReader.

Although I find the blocks and themes used by both WordPress and Payhip to be clumsy they can be battered into a useful shape. It has taken me longer than I had hoped to get to the stage that I am now at, but at least I am close to being able to sell my books. This of course means that I am also creating another outlet for them. One good thing is that Payhip allows for flexible pricing, which means that I can run promotions whenever I want and for however long I want. As I can link these promotions to this website then I can influence the traffic that it experiences as well. Previous attempts to do this relied on sending prospective customers to established outlets like Smashwords or Amazon, which only increased their traffic numbers and also ran the risk of said prospective customer being distracted by something else and forgetting to buy my book! Soon I will have the opportunity to guide them much more directly to where I want them. I do not know if this will lead to bestseller status, but I am definitely going to give it a try!