Alternate Themes

If you’ve already found a theme that you love…

Let me know what it is and I’ll let you know what price tier it will fall under. You can browse themes from ThemeForest, ElegantThemes, StudioPress, Themify, iThemes, Modern Themes, Woo Themes, Mojo Themes and more!

Single License Themes

$100 fee is waived

Occasionally, I obtain licenses for WordPress themes that I don’t need. As a graphic designer, I purchase a lot of resource bundles that include fonts, Photoshop brushes, Photoshop styles and actions, illustrations and more… including WordPress themes. But they only include one (1) license for the theme so I can’t offer them as a regular Author theme. Most of the time I don’t have a need for these themes so the licenses are wasted.

So I’m offering these themes as an option for your alternate theme and the $100 fee is waived.

Since I only have 1 license for these themes, I can’t create a demo site with the customization I make for author websites. So the demo links I provide here are the real demo sites for each theme. I describe how each one could be transformed into an author theme.

Worker Bee – $749

Amsterdam by Maelstrom Entertainment

Demo: http://maelstromentertainment.com/amsterdam/

Description: Responsive design, minimalist

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• Use an image that represents the genre for the background image
• The front page shows portfolio items displayed in a mason layout. Portfolio can be used for the book pages.

Auberge by WebMan Design

Demo: http://themedemos.webmandesign.eu/auberge/

Description: Elegant and boxed design

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• Even though the demo is for a restaurant, it can still work for any author website
• Use an image that reflects your genre for the front page
• Make a graphic of your name (or site title) to be placed on the front page over the image
• The menu page (http://themedemos.webmandesign.eu/auberge/menu/) can work as your book archive page. The different sections could be fore different series.

Blog Simple by Automattic

Demo: https://blogsimpledemo.wordpress.com/

Description: Very simple and text based.

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• Even though the demo doesn’t show it, you can still add images to this theme. However, this theme is ideal for those that don’t want to include a lot of images in their posts.

Calm by KS Designing

Demo: http://ksdesigning.com/themes/calm/

Description: Simple and clean with fancy animated transitions

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• Make a graphic of your name (or site title) to be placed on the top of the sidebar
• Portfolio page would make a good book archive, the single portfolio pages would make good book pages

Cefe by Major Themes

Demo: http://demo.major-themes.com/cefe/

Description: Very simple and clean design for a blog-focused website

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• Make a graphic of your name (or site title) to be placed on the top of the sidebar
• Create simple pages to display book archive and book pages

Clean Photography by Theme of WP

Demo: http://themeofwp.com/cleanphotography/

Description: Responsive design

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• Each section on the front page can feature a different book (ideal for authors with not too many books yet)
• Portfolio single pages can be used for the book pages or series pages
• Can feature a book trailer prominently on a book page (see http://themeofwp.com/cleanphotography/projects/simplecity-and-powerfull/)

Crescent by Bottomless Design

Demo: http://bottomlessdesign.com/demos/crescent/

Description: Very simple and minimalist design

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• Make a graphic of your name (or site title) to be placed on the top of the website
• Place author photo in the “Welcome to Crecsent” section
• Featured slider can feature books
• Portfolio pages can work for the book archives and single book pages

Roma by Maelstrom Entertainment

Demo: http://maelstromentertainment.com/roma/

Description: Responsive design, minimalist

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• The front page shows portfolio items displayed in a mason layout. Portfolio can be used for the book pages.

Sport by Visualmodo

Demo: http://theme.visualmodo.com/sport/

Description: Responsive design

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• Home featured slide can be used to showcase books or use images to depict genre
• Built-in Events section for your virtual or real appearances
• The gallery pages can work as a book archives page and book pages

Studio London by Colibri Interactive

Demo: http://www.colibri-interactive.com/themes/studiolondon/

Description: Responsive design

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• Use an image that depicts the genre for the background image
• Featured slide can be used to showcase books
• Portfolio and portfolio single pages can be used for the book archives and book pages

Utmost by WP-3Sqrd

Demo: http://utmost.wp-3sqrd.com/

Description: Responsive design

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• I’m not a fan of the typography in the demo so I would definitely change the font and sizing
• The gallery page (http://utmost.wp-3sqrd.com/gallery/) can work as a book archive page. The different sections could be fore different series.

Whiteout by Ryuka Design

Demo: http://www.ryuka-design.com/WhiteOut/

Description: Clean and minimalist design

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• Featured slider can be used to showcase books or for special announcements
• Projects can be used for book archives and book pages

Wire by Automattic

Demo: https://wiredemo.wordpress.com/

Description: Clean and minimalist design

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• The main header image can be something that represents your genre
• Make a big graphic of your name (or site title) to be placed in the middle of the header.
• Instead of the blog feed, change the home page to introduce the books you have written

Zen by Ruven Pelka

Demo: http://ruvenpelka.com/demos/zenbox/?color=black

Description: Clean and minimalist design

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• Each box can represent a book with just the title. On hover shows the book cover.
• Colors can be changed: dark blue, white, black

Honey Bee – $999

Forefront by Automattic

Demo: https://forefrontdemo.wordpress.com/

Description: Clean design, fully responsive

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• The main image on the front page can be something that represents your genre or I can create an image that features 3D mock-ups of one or few of your books
• If you’re promotion a specific book at the moment, the button can be a buy link for that book
• The grid page (https://forefrontdemo.wordpress.com/page-templates/grid-page/) would work perfect for a book archive page.

iSloping by Gb Themes

Demo: http://gbthemes.net/isloping/

Description: Responsive design

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• The featured homepage slider would be great for showing off the books and/or special announcements
• The portfolio can work as the book archives and book pages

KeOne by WP Design Inc

Demo: http://keone.wpdesigninc.com/

Description: Responsive design, one-page design

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• The featured slider would be great for showing off the books and/or special announcements
• The portfolio can work as the book archives
• The single portfolio pages (i.e. http://keone.wpdesigninc.com/portfolio/awesome-graphics/) can be used for a book page.
• The “New Achievements” (counters) can be used for your book stats: number of books written, characters written, words written, etc)

More by Code WP Element

Demo: http://more.wpelement.com/

Description: Responsive design, feature rich

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• The featured slider would be great for showing off the books and/or special announcements
• Projects can be used for the book archive and book pages

Paragon by Code W3 Masters

Demo: http://codew3masters.com/wordpress_themes/paragon/

Description: Responsive design, feature rich

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• The featured slider would be great for showing off the books and/or special announcements
• Book archives and book pages can be created with the page layouts
• Diagrams (http://codew3masters.com/wordpress_themes/paragon/diagram/) can be used for book progress

Propel by KS Designing

Demo: http://ksdesigning.com/themes/propel_wordpress/

Description: Responsive design, one-page design

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• The featured slider would be great for showing off the books and/or special announcements
• The portfolio can work as the book archives and book pages.
• The “And Their Skills…” (progress bars) can be used for your progress on completing a book

Queen Bee – $1,499

Aegaeus by HB Themes

Demo: http://hb-themes.com/themes/aegaeus_wp/

Description: Very feature rich, responsive design, boxed layout

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• Lots of available features
• The portfolio and single portfolio pages can work as the book archives and book pages. Several layout choices to choose from.
• It comes with a lot of built-in shortcodes

Roen by ThemeFocus

Demo: http://www.themefocus.co/roen/demo/

Description: Very feature rich, responsive design

Suggestions for transforming it into an author site:

• If you look at the demo, you’ll see that this theme has a lot of features.
• The portfolio and portfolio items can work as the book archives and book pages. In the demo there are several options for the page layout.
• It comes with a lot of built-in shortcodes that you can use form counters, testimonials, call to actions and more

Disclosure: Some of the links in this page are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, I will receive an affiliate commission.