How do authors display books in a gallery on WordPress?

My Books page used to be a mess. Not just a mess. A hot one. Flaming hot. It was an embarrassment. Especially when I realized, “Oh no! I forgot Amazon stopped serving linked images and went to links only.”

A realization I only made recently, like this week. It all started because I was trying to decide if I wanted to switch web hosting services. I guess I’m using too much storage, so Bluehost is bumping me up a tier. Pricey. In my search for alternatives, I started asking other writer friends what they use. I also Googled it to see what results that might turn up.

I came across “What’s the best website platform for authors?” by Charlotte Ducksworth. She listed the top four platforms that authors use. She also included links to author websites that used each one. (WordPress was one of them, but wasn’t one she recommended for authors because it’s more complicated.)

After seeing how the authors she used for examples displayed their books, I realized what a catastrophe my book display page was. For years, I’ve wanted to improve it. I really wanted something crisp, clean, and efficient. A gallery look of sorts.

But how could I accomplish that with WordPress as it was? I needed something specialized, which is why I went in search of a plugin. Did any exist? To my delight, I even had options to choose from!

Books Display Plugins

The first two I came across included WordPress Books Gallery and RS WP Book Showcase. Both looked promising, but the first one hadn’t been updated in four months and there was a message it might not be compatible with my current WordPress version. It had the most installs (2000+) and five-star reviews, though. However, after reading them, most seemed to give full stars to customer service for helping fix issues encountered after installing the plugin. Good to know customer service is responsive, but what else was there?

The second one had less installs (800+) and reviews. The reviews only averaged four-stars. While it had been updated recently and was compatible with my WordPress version, two reviews in particular gave me pause. One mentioned needing to use a lot of zip files. The other said the “Buy Now” button was only available on the pro version. That all gave me pause.

I dug deeper and discovered Mooberry Book Manager. Compatible with my version? Yes! It was right in between the other two as far as the number of installs (1000+) and reviews (averaged 4.5 stars.)  Some people did encounter install issues. Customer service helped resolve them, so it was also responsive. But the majority of comments praised the actual plugin features. It sounded like exactly what I was looking for. Turns out, it was.

Making my site look better has played on my mind for years now. In fact, I think it even contributed to why I’ve been dragging my feet publishing anything new. But now that that’s about to change, I had to address the elephant in the room. Done. Phew.

P.S.

I’m sticking with Bluehost for now. I realized if I was actually selling and writing books, the hosting fee increase would be more palatable. So that was also the kick in the pants I needed to get my rear in gear, finish the edits, and start cranking out these books. After all, they’re mostly written. They’re just gathering dust (or the equivalent thereof) while being stuck in Word purgatory.

And now, with the spiffy book display page that I’ve always wanted, there are no more excuses. Their “faces” (covers) will have a nice place to hangout.