CASE STUDY
Debra Palmer, PhD
Website Strategy & Design for a New Author’s Memoir Launch
Client Overview:
Debra Palmer, PhD, is a nurse practitioner, author, and speaker whose debut book, Between Wounded and Well: Lessons in Healing, explores the deeply human journey of emotional and physical recovery. She initially approached Solazzo Designs to add a book page to her existing professional website, palmeraces.com, however, during our consultation, it became clear that integrating the book into her current site could blur the boundaries between her nursing career and her emerging author identity. We recommended creating a dedicated author website as a focused platform to promote her memoir and establish her personal brand as a writer.
Goals:
Design a professional website that reflects the author’s calm, reflective voice.
Build a cohesive digital presence to promote her upcoming book and support her launch strategy.
Separate her author identity from her nursing career to avoid brand confusion.
Feature pre-order options and lead magnets to engage early readers.
Provide a scalable platform for future books and media opportunities.
Ensure an intuitive structure for easy navigation and updates.
Challenges:
Our primary challenge, which we often encounter with new authors, was that the book hadn’t been released yet, but still needed to be promoted pre-launch to generate excitement and engagement ahead of the launch. We accomplished this through preorder forms, teaser blog posts, and a downloadable media kit, creating early momentum and a list of interested readers before publication. Once the book was released, we updated the website to feature new information and links to purchase.
Process:
The project began with a detailed intake session to define Dr. Palmer’s goals, audience, and desired tone for her new author platform. Her existing medical practice site is hosted on HostGator and built in WordPress, so we decided to do the same for her new author website, allowing for flexibility, ease of use, and consistency in management. Both sites shared hosting while maintaining distinct brands.
We developed a color palette inspired by nature: deep greens, warm yellows, and soft neutrals to evoke feelings of calm, trust, and reflection. Organic imagery throughout the site reinforces these themes, aligning with her book’s message of healing and growth.
View the Color Palette below.
We designed a clean, thoughtful author website featuring:
Homepage: Introducing Dr. Palmer as an author, and the memoir’s core themes.
About the Author page: Sharing her story and background to build authenticity and connection.
Book page: Highlighting Between Wounded and Well, with pre-order options, a downloadable reading guide, and later, purchase links to Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Press page: Featuring her media sheet, interviews, and speaking opportunities.
Blog: Extending the book’s themes through short, reflective posts.
Contact page: Featuring Mailchimp forms for reader engagement and media inquiries.
Cross-Linking: A new Author page on her nursing website (PalmerAces.com/book) directs visitors to her author platform.
Future-ready structure: Allowing easy addition of future books and content.
Results:
The website launched in June 2025, with updates finalized in October to coincide with the book’s release. The final product is a polished, professional site that clearly differentiates Dr. Palmer’s roles while providing a space for ongoing growth as an author and speaker.
The integrated Mailchimp forms successfully generated a list of interested readers before launch, and her media kit has since been downloaded by journalists and podcast hosts for interviews, now featured on her Press page.
Visitor feedback has been overwhelmingly positive:
“Debra, I just have to say, I’m blown away by what you’ve done. The website is top-notch… I was amazed.”
Our Client shared,
“Shea at Solazzo Designs was great to work with. She listened to my vision and brought it to life. Her skills and patience are exceptional. I trusted her through the stages from a vision to reality of my author web page and book launch, and she kept me going with a steady hand at the helm, guiding the webpage development.” – Debra Palmer, PhD.
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