Smabooks
A publishing platform built for an author who’d outgrown Amazon from a limiting Shopify setup to a fully custom site with an admin dashboard, audiobooks, and zero third-party dependencies.
View the site
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Context
My director is a published business author who had been selling his books exclusively through Amazon. To build a direct relationship with his readers and take control of his publishing presence, we created SMABooks, a dedicated platform for his titles. The initial build used Shopify, which seemed like the logical choice for e-commerce. It quickly became clear it wasn’t the right fit.
problem
Shopify’s limitations kept surfacing. Adding audiobooks hit a 100MB file size cap. Building a clean, professional contact form required a paid plugin. Every feature that should have been simple required a third-party extension, and those dependencies were stacking up, adding cost, complexity, and fragility to what should have been a straightforward author platform.
APPRoACH
Discovery
Mapped the full feature set the platform actually needed: book sales, audiobook delivery, author bio and editorial content, a contact and meeting request flow, and a sales and inventory dashboard for the author himself. Shopify could technically handle some of this but not well, and not without ongoing plugin management. The platform needed to be rebuilt on something purpose-fit.
Strategy
Move off Shopify entirely and build a custom platform that delivered exactly what was needed without compromise. Prioritise the author’s autonomy, he needed to manage his books, view sales, and handle meeting requests without relying on external tools like Calendly or third-party dashboards.
Brand identity
The brand identity was defined by the author, who chose to continue using the infinity symbol as a key visual element across his work. I am responsible for designing the book covers and translating this identity into a cohesive visual system, while ensuring consistency across both print and digital platforms, including the website. The website design was developed to reflect this established direction with a clean, professional layout and strong readability, supporting the author’s voice and published work. Final creative decisions remain with the author to ensure the identity stays true to his original vision.
design
Full UX redesign prioritising a clean reading and purchasing experience. Audiobook delivery integrated properly without file size limitations. Meeting request flow built natively into the site, no Calendly dependency. Designed for an audience of senior professionals and business readers.
build
Rebuilt the platform using an AI-assisted development approach, with a Supabase backend powering a custom admin dashboard. The author can log in, see his sales, manage his book catalogue, and receive and respond to meeting requests , all from one place, with no third-party tools required.
launch
Platform became the author’s primary marketing asset, used across all his promotional materials, speaking engagements, and social content.
