Real by Brian Woods
authorbrianwoods.com
- Performance
- 99
- Accessibility
- 100
- Best practices
- 100
- SEO
- 100
Lighthouse · mobile ·
Facts
- Client
- Brian Woods
- Industry
- Author and book sales
- Services
- Built with
- Astro
- Stripe Payment Links
Story
Challenge
Real is Brian Woods’s debut novel. It’s a paperback, and it’s sold only direct from the author. You won’t find it on Amazon or in bookstores right now. Brian packs and ships every order himself.
So the site has one job. Sell one book, take payment safely, and tell the buyer exactly what happens next. A big online store setup would be a lot of extra weight for a single $15.99 paperback.
Build
I built the site in Astro and used Stripe Payment Links for checkout. There’s no cart and no account to create. You pick how many copies you want, and one button takes you to Stripe to pay.
Here’s what a buyer gets:
- A simple quantity picker. Choose 1 to 10 copies. The order summary shows the total before you click.
- An automatic discount. Order 3 or more copies and you get 15% off. That’s $13.59 a copy instead of $15.99. No code to type in. It’s a good fit for book clubs.
- Safe checkout. Stripe handles the payment. Card details never touch Brian’s site.
- Clear shipping info. Free US shipping, with ship times and the return policy spelled out in plain words.
- Answers up front. An FAQ covers the questions buyers ask most, like where the book is sold and who it’s for.
The rest of the site is small on purpose. There’s an author page, a contact form that sends messages to Brian, and a policies page. The book is written for adults 18 and up and deals with mental illness, so the site says so clearly and lists the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Results
Lighthouse mobile scores, measured October 12, 2026:
- Performance: 99
- Accessibility: 100
- Best Practices: 100
- SEO: 100
Measured
