Scribbles@Arpita – Revamped with new theme and custom menus!

So, the other day I was looking at the free themes available on WordPress for my blog. Ever since I started my blog, I wanted it to look like an author’s website. At the same time, I wanted it to be a platform for my works, one where I could talk about the books that I had written and promote them.

I had previously been using the Big Brother theme, which was beautiful. I had arranged all my widgets on the right side (my about.me page, links to my social media, an image  of my upcoming book clicking on which will take you to its Amazon link, plus Archives and the Categories widgets,and a widget for the top posts and pages on my blog). Now, having those on the right side meant I had less space for my content, and more distraction for the reader’s eye. As an author, my pivotal aim is to focus on the content that I share with my audience. I wouldn’t want anything to distract them while they’re reading what I have written! But I haven’t always thought so. Earlier, I was like, “I really want the people on my blog to buy my book and read it! If I keep an widget of it in plain sight, the chances of them clicking on it would be greater.”

Now, my widget has been there for a long time, and people have clicked on it as well. But have I received any pre-orders yet (the book releases this 20th June)? NO!

So, it got me thinking: the only way I can probably sell my book is by putting forward content that really hooks the reader. If they enjoy reading my stuff, they would themselves look for my book and buy it.

So, this morning I shed all my inhibitions and revamped my blog for the… umm, let me check, the fourth time! Yes, that’s right. I have been experimenting with themes for a long time now (Hew, Chateau, Big  Brother, and now the Book Lite theme). And I really love my present theme! It is so simple and clutter free, and the font size is just perfect. It puts emphasis on my content. Also, I created the custom menu bar, which has all these new things that weren’t on my site before. I updated the About/Contact page, created a publication page that lists all my recent publications (including of course, my debut book Bound by Life), as well as this cool Need A Review? feature. Need A Review? is for  all you beautiful folks out there who have been trying their hands at story-telling and would like a second opinion on your works. I have forever loved to read others’ works and provide some meaningful feedback, if  possible. It helps me grow as a writer. And guess what? I received my first review request from Soumya, who has this story called Cold Barren on Wattpad (Do check the story out if you’re on Wattpad. Soumya’s Wattpad username is theLushgreenMeadow). It’s a work in the fantasy genre. I hope my feedback was useful to the author.

The one downside (or maybe it’s not really a downside) is that all my widgets now lie at the very bottom of  the page. So you kinda have to scroll down a lot to get to the Archives. I just hope those who’re new to WordPress can find it out.

Right now, I am thrilled with the look of my blog. Finally, I feel like I got the perfect look for my author’s website. Do you like it as much as I love it? Please let me know in the comments below.