How Self-Published Authors Can Choose the Right Website Hosting to Showcase and Sell Their Books

“If you build it, they will come" only works in baseball movies. For indie authors trying to sell books, building a reliable, professional website starts with choosing the right website hosting—a topic that sounds more technical than it actually is, once you break it down.

You’re here because you want to create an author website. Maybe to display your books, gather newsletter subscribers, or sell signed copies directly. Before you can do any of that, you’ll need a website—and behind every website is website hosting. It's like the foundation of your house. Without a solid one, the rest crumbles.

This article will teach you everything you need to know about website hosting for self-published authors. By the end, you’ll know which hosting providers are best, what features matter most, and why getting it right the first time can save you a lot of future headaches. We'll also touch on how services like ScribeCount, which leverages enterprise-grade hosting on Microsoft Azure, play a role in your author business.

What Is Website Hosting (and How Is It Different from a Website)?

Let’s clear up a common confusion: your website is not the same thing as your hosting.

A website is what visitors see—your homepage, your book list, your contact form. Website hosting, on the other hand, is the server space where all of that content lives. Think of it as your book’s shelf space in a bookstore. Without a shelf, there’s nowhere to place your book.

Good hosting ensures your site loads fast, stays online 24/7, handles traffic spikes, and is secure from hackers. Bad hosting? Your site crashes, loads slowly, and you lose readers before they even know your name.

How to Know What You Need From a Website Host

Not all authors need the same kind of website. If you only want a portfolio-style page with a contact form, your hosting needs will be basic. If you want to:

• Sell ebooks or print books directly

• Create a members-only section

• Collect email addresses through landing pages

• Integrate sales tracking and analytics

Then you’ll need more robust hosting with room to grow.

Here’s what to consider:

Security

A hacked author website can lose reader trust fast. Look for hosting that offers free SSL certificates, daily backups, malware scans, and strong firewalls.

Storage and Retrieval

Hosting plans often offer between 10 GB to 100 GB of storage. For most authors, 10–20 GB is plenty, unless you’re storing audio files or high-res video.

Speed

Readers have zero patience for slow websites. You want fast-loading pages backed by high-performance servers. Look for SSD storage, content delivery networks (CDNs), and caching tools.

Reliability

Your website should be up at all times. Look for uptime guarantees (99.9% or higher) and check real reviews for performance.

Scalability

What if you run a successful BookBub promo and 20,000 readers hit your site in one day? Choose a host that can handle traffic surges without crashing.

The Hosting Providers Worth Considering (and Why ScribeCount Recommends Them)

These are the hosting services trusted by tech-savvy authors and approved by ScribeCount:

SiteGround

Cost: $29.99/month for the GrowBig plan
Pros: Fast, secure, excellent support, free daily backups
Cons: Price increases after the first year
Best For: Authors who want premium hosting without enterprise pricing
Monthly Visitors Supported: ~100,000

Randall’s note: “This is what I personally use. Their interface is simple, their caching is excellent, and their support team actually knows what they’re doing.”

DreamHost

Cost: $2.59/month for the Shared Starter plan
Pros: Affordable, generous storage, free SSL
Cons: Slower than others, fewer advanced features
Best For: Budget-conscious authors who want reliability
Monthly Visitors Supported: ~50,000

InMotion Hosting

Cost: $4.57/month for the Launch plan
Pros: Strong uptime, solid support, free backups
Cons: Interface can be dated
Best For: Mid-level users who want room to grow
Monthly Visitors Supported: ~100,000

Flywheel

Cost: $13/month for the Tiny plan
Pros: Sleek UI, secure, built for WordPress
Cons: No email hosting, less control
Best For: Authors using WordPress and wanting hassle-free performance
Monthly Visitors Supported: ~5,000 (Tiny plan)

WP Engine

Cost: $25/month for the Startup plan
Pros: Premium hosting, excellent security, scalable
Cons: Expensive for beginners
Best For: Authors with big goals and budgets
Monthly Visitors Supported: ~25,000

WPX Hosting

Cost: $20.83/month
Pros: Lightning fast, fantastic support, malware cleanup included
Cons: Not ideal for non-WordPress sites
Best For: WordPress users with growth in mind
Monthly Visitors Supported: ~100,000+

Cloudways

Cost: Starts at $11/month
Pros: Cloud-based, scalable, great for tech-savvy users
Cons: Not beginner-friendly
Best For: Authors working with a web developer
Monthly Visitors Supported: Varies based on chosen cloud provider

All of these hosts are reliable, secure, and recommended by ScribeCount because they provide excellent uptime, support, and flexibility for indie authors.

Hosting Services to Be Wary Of

These providers dominate Google ads, but many authors (and developers) report frustrating experiences.

Bluehost

Pros: Cheap first-year pricing
Cons: Slow, upsells everything, poor customer service
Why Avoid: Notorious for bait-and-switch pricing and sluggish performance

Hostinger

Pros: Very cheap
Cons: Difficult to cancel, inconsistent speeds, poor support
Why Avoid: Great for tech experiments—not serious author sites

GoDaddy

Pros: Big name, offers domains too
Cons: Clunky dashboard, overpriced for what you get, outdated tech
Why Avoid: Better hosting for the same price elsewhere

Namecheap

Pros: Affordable domains
Cons: Hosting is an afterthought, performance is hit-or-miss
Why Avoid: Great for buying domains—but host elsewhere

Why Getting Hosting Right the First Time Matters

Changing hosts later is not like switching coffee shops. It’s more like moving houses: everything must be packed, moved, and reconnected, and if you get it wrong, your site goes down.

From broken email forwarding to DNS confusion, migrations can lead to lost sales, broken pages, and SEO hits. Start with a host you can grow with.

ScribeCount, for example, runs on Microsoft Azure—a cloud platform used by Fortune 500s. While that’s way more power than you’ll need, it illustrates how important reliable infrastructure is to any online business.

Conclusion

Your author website is your digital home, and website hosting is the ground it stands on. It affects your site’s speed, security, stability, and reputation. Choosing the right host doesn’t have to be confusing, but it does require planning.

Stick with hosts trusted by authors and developers alike: SiteGround, DreamHost, WPX, or WP Engine. Avoid the cheap tricks from overly advertised services. And remember—what you build your career on matters.

Choose wisely. Build smart. And may your words find the readers they deserve.