Publication Design


Self-published and Independent Authors


Web Design


“Daughter of Kura” by Debra Austin

Overview

Debra Austin had secured a book deal with publisher Simon & Schuster for her first novel Daughter of Kura, but she needed a new website to promote it. The book presented a thorny challenge: set 500,000 years ago, its characters are not even human, but homo erectus who are on the evolutionary road to humans. They use some basic tools and cook their food, but they don’t yet wear clothes and use their hands to speak. How best to connect a reader to these long-distant characters?

In a “Snap”

Mary Holste Design started by designing a plan for engagement with the world of the book, including maps, illustrations, the author’s method, and historical information. It was all with the goal of getting to know “Snap,” the protagonist of the story.

Together with artist Chandler O’Leary, we crafted a series of watercolor illustrations of scenes in the book.

Using ExpressionEngine, we made it easy for Debra Austin to update the site with news and reviews, or to edit text on the pages.

Results

Before the book launch, the site was operational, with a full variety of features including downloadable discussion questions, a place for email collection, and a contest for a free copy of the book.

And because of the flexibility of ExpressionEngine, it was easy to update for the paperback release.