Screenshot of a website, shown in a standard web browser and an iphone mockup. The site's header reads Ken Gagne, with navigation links to bio, books, news & updates, faq, contact, and Facebook pages. Next are three colorsful book covers in a row against a white background. Beneath that is a light gray band that has an About Ken Gagne paragraph and photo, and a News and Updates section with a place to enter an email address. The footer of the site has an illustration of a pink banner that says love in the middle, and play above and read beneath. The phone shows the responsive version of the site in which the navigation links are collapsed into a green hamburger menu. The book covers are in single vertical column.

Website for a Writer

Ken Gagne is laid-back, jovial guy who also happens to be a seriously talented and accomplished writer. We designed his website, kengagnebooks.com, to reflect that duality, so when his friend commented, “browsing through your website is like hanging out with you”…mission accomplished!  

Homepage

As an introduction to his work, the site’s homepage highlights Ken’s books; their colorful covers are arranged responsively according to screen size (a horizontal row on desktops and a vertical column on mobile phones). Rolling a mouse or finger over a book cover reveals a short summary and button to learn more by clicking to the book’s corresponding page. The homepage also includes a current photo and brief passage about the author, which links to his bio page. Lastly, there is a section for news and updates in brief, which links to further details.

A detailed view of the website homepage, showing a hand cursor over a greyed-out book cover. There is white serif text in the middle of the semiopaque grey which says "A haunting drama about grief, forgiveness, and the crushing grip of personal trauma." A rectangular button is beneath the text which says "Learn More."
homepage book cover rollover
A screenshot of a web page for a book called "Wave Her Home." On the left of the page there is a photo of the book cover and button to buy it now. On the right is a two-paragraph description of the book. Beneath the description is a still from a video trailer about the book. Across the bottom are reader reviews in grey boxes, each starting with five yellow stars.
"Wave Her Home" book page

Book Pages

Each of Ken’s books has a dedicated page which provides all the customary information a reader would expect: a detailed description, reader reviews, and a purchasing link. What’s special about this site is a video trailer for each book, courtesy of the author’s previous experience as a television producer. These trailers are embedded directly from YouTube to the associated book page and are an exciting way to engage current and future readers.

Email List & Illustrations

Besides presenting and promoting Ken Gagne’s work, a fundamental goal of the website is to encourage visitors to sign up for his forthcoming newsletter. As such, every page of the site features a field for entering email addresses, and the WordPress engine allows easy management of these submissions behind the scenes.

Illustrations by Emily Glynn are the cherry on top, adding a friendly, fun vibe to the site and connecting visitors to Ken’s life from newborn to now. The coordinating image at the bottom of each page provides a motto for the site, the authors, and his readers: “play • love • read.”
Mockup of 2 iphone screens. One shows the Books page of the Ken Gagne website, featuring a color illustration of Ken in Kindergarten (a blond boy with tousled bangs and a mustard yellow shirt with red tie). Another shows the FAQ, with an illustration of Ken in college (a young man with brown hair in a grey suit with a purple tie).
two of the illustrations by Emily Glynn

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