Help Center

Getting started

Here's the path from purchase to a live site.

1. Create an account and verify your email. We send a link when you sign up. Purchases need a verified email.
2. Build your package. On Services, pick a theme (or request a new one), any add-ons, and a storage plan. The one-time setup fee is paid at checkout, and it never exceeds $250.
3. Fill in your profile. In your dashboard, add your author name, bio, photo, banner image, social links and newsletter link. Then add your books.
4. Choose your site address. Claim a free address like yourname.pageandpixeldesigns.com under Your Site Address. See Site address.
5. Preview. Click Preview your site →. Until you launch, only you (signed in) can see it. Everyone else sees a "Coming Soon" page, so a preview link can't be shared early.
6. Launch. When you're happy, click Launch Site → at the top of your dashboard. This starts your monthly hosting ($5/month on the Basic plan), charged to the card you used at checkout. Your site goes live within a minute or two.

Each dashboard page has a guided tour. Find them under Help & Guides at the bottom of your dashboard.

Your site address & custom domains

Free subdomain

Every site gets a free address: yourname.pageandpixeldesigns.com. Pick it under Your Site Address in your dashboard. Names use lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens, and each one can only belong to one author. You can change it later with Change subdomain, but links to the old address will stop working.

Your own domain

Already own a domain like janedoe.com, or want one? Domains aren't included, but you can buy one from a registrar such as Namecheap and host it with us.

• I'll manage my own custom domain. We connect it on our side and send you the DNS record to add at your registrar.
• We handle the DNS setup. We walk you through it, or make the change with you.

Request either one in Your Site Address. If you already have a subdomain, just send us a message from Contact Support in your dashboard. We'll be in touch within 1–2 business days. Your subdomain keeps working either way.

Themes & theme requests

Changing your theme

In your dashboard under Change Theme, select a theme, then click Preview Theme to see a demo or Change Theme to apply it. You can switch any time, as often as you like. Your content stays the same and only the look changes. Browse every option in the theme catalog.

Requesting a theme

Don't see the right fit? Click Request a theme under Change Theme, or choose Request a New Theme when you build your package. Describe your genre, colors and mood, and mention any sites or covers you love.

• New theme is included at no extra cost. We design it for your genre and add it to the catalog for all authors. It takes up to 2 weeks.
• Exclusive theme is made just for you and never shared. It's a separate paid service, and we'll email you a quote before starting.

While we build it, your site uses the default theme so you can still preview your content. You don't have to wait to launch: pick any other theme and go live. When you pick one, we'll ask whether to keep your request (your new theme is switched on automatically when it's ready) or cancel it. When your theme is done, we switch your site over and email you.

Your exclusive themes

Exclusive themes you own appear under Your exclusive themes at the top of Change Theme. They stay there even while you use a catalog theme, so you can try something else for a season and switch back any time. Own more than one? They're all listed there.

Books

Add books under Books in your dashboard: cover, description, series, formats, and buy links for each retailer (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, and more).

Each book has a status:

• Draft: only you can see it.
• Coming Soon: shown on your site with a "coming soon" badge, great for pre-orders.
• Published: shown with its buy links.
• Out of Print: hidden from your site but kept in your dashboard.

Blog posts & scheduling

Blog add-on

Write posts under Blog in your dashboard. Save a post as a draft to keep working on it privately, or publish it straight away.

To publish later, set the status to Schedule for Later and pick a date and time. Your post goes live automatically within about 10 minutes of that time, even if you're not signed in. Until then, readers can't see it.

Events

Events add-on

Add signings, launches, readings and virtual events under Events. Drafts stay private. Once an event is saved as upcoming, it appears on your site and is labeled automatically: upcoming, then live while it's happening, then past. If you don't set an end time, events are treated as two hours long.

Meeting passwords for virtual events are kept private to you and never shown on your public site.

Gallery, reviews & worldbuilding

Gallery, Reader Reviews and Worldbuilding add-ons

Each of these has its own page in your dashboard. Every item can be public or private. Only public items appear on your site, so you can prepare entries ahead of time (character profiles before a reveal, for example) and switch them on when you're ready.

You can turn any add-on off for readers under Feature Management without losing its content. Buy more add-ons in the Feature Store.

Selling from your site

Direct Book Sales add-on

Sell signed copies, special editions, merchandise, bundles, ebooks, audiobooks and other downloads directly to readers. Readers fill a cart and pay for everything in one checkout. You're the seller: payments go straight into your own Stripe account. We take no platform fee. Stripe's standard processing fees come out of each sale.

1. Connect Stripe. On the Sales page, click Connect Stripe and complete Stripe's sign-up (about 5 minutes). Your store activates once Stripe approves your account.
2. Set up shipping. Open Shipping on the Sales page and choose where you ship (US only, US & Canada, or international) and a flat charge per order. Leave it at $0 if shipping is built into your prices. Every order with something to ship collects the reader's shipping address; downloads don't need one.
3. Add products. Click Add Product, or Import from Book to copy a book's details. Set a price and, optionally, how many you have in stock. Products sell out automatically when stock reaches zero.
4. Sell downloads. When adding a product, choose Download and upload the files (EPUB, PDF, MP3 and more, up to 500 MB each). The files stay private: readers get a download link by email as soon as they pay, each file can be downloaded up to 10 times per link, and the link stops working if you refund the order. Need to send a reader a new link? Open the order and click Send a new download link.
5. Write your shop policies. Under Shop policies on the Sales page, set out your returns, shipping and download terms. Readers see them on your shop, and checkout links to them.
6. Sales tax (optional). Under Sales tax, turn on Stripe Tax to add the right tax at checkout. Set up Stripe Tax first in your Stripe dashboard (Settings → Tax): your business address and where you're registered. Stripe charges a small fee per sale for it, and you still file your own tax returns.
7. Fulfill orders. We email you as soon as a reader pays, and the reader gets an order confirmation. Paid orders appear under Orders on the Sales page with the buyer's name, email and shipping address. When you post an order, open it and click Mark as shipped: add the carrier and tracking number, and we'll email the reader that it's on its way with a tracking link. Downloads-only orders are complete as soon as they're paid.
8. Refunds and disputes. To refund or cancel an order, refund it in your Stripe dashboard (each order has an Open in Stripe button). The order updates on its own, and an item that hadn't shipped yet goes back in stock. If a buyer disputes a charge with their bank, the order shows the dispute and the date you need to respond by in Stripe.

The Stripe account is fully yours. Sign in at dashboard.stripe.com to see payments, payouts to your bank, refunds and disputes. You're responsible for delivering orders and for any sales tax on your sales.

Reader messages

Your site's contact form sends readers' messages to your Contact Email (in your dashboard profile). Your address is never shown on your site. When you add or change it, we email a 6-digit code to that address, and messages start arriving once you enter it. That keeps anyone else from pointing your form at an inbox they don't own.

Just hit reply to answer a reader: replies go straight to them. The contact form works once your site is live.

Images & storage plans

Images you upload (covers, photos, gallery images) count toward your plan's storage:

Uploads can be JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP or AVIF, up to 20 MB each. Change plans under Manage Plan in your dashboard.

If you go over your limit (for example after a downgrade), nothing is deleted. New uploads pause until you're back under, and we email you. If you're still over after 30 days, image-heavy add-ons (gallery, blog, events, worldbuilding, store) are hidden from readers until you free up space or upgrade.

Billing, pausing & failed payments

• Invoices and cards: open Billing Management in your dashboard to view receipts, update your card, or change your plan.
• Pausing: cancel your hosting subscription in Billing Management. Your site shows "Coming Soon", but your books, posts and images are all kept. Click Launch Site → whenever you're ready to come back. There's no new setup fee.
• Hiding your site temporarily: turn off Site Active under Site Visibility. Readers see "Coming Soon" while your subscription continues.
• Failed payments: if a renewal fails, we email you and your site stays up for 10 days while you update your card. After that it goes offline until the payment goes through. Nothing is deleted.

Downloading or deleting your account

Download your content: under Account in your dashboard, click Download my content for a .zip of your profile, books, posts, events and every image you've uploaded.

Delete your account: under Account, open Delete my account and confirm. Billing stops and your site goes offline right away, and everything is permanently deleted after 14 days. You can cancel any time before then. Just want a break? Pause instead (see Billing).

See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service for the details.