Many authors work hard to bring readers to their website. They create a blog, set up a newsletter sign up form, add book links and build a home for their brand. Yet the moment they offer bonus chapters or exclusive content, they send readers to a completely different platform.

For many authors that platform is BookFunnel.

BookFunnel is convenient. It lets you upload bonus files and deliver them easily. The problem is simple. Every time you send a reader there, you are pulling them out of your world and into someone else’s. You give up control, you lose engagement and you pay monthly for something your own website can handle.

There is a better way.

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Your Website Should Be the Heart of Your Reader Experience

Your readers trust you. They want to stay in the world you have created. When you redirect them away from your site, the journey becomes fragmented. The connection weakens.

A members area solves that. It keeps everything in one place and turns your website into a powerful reader hub.

Imagine this pathway
A reader joins your newsletter
They click to get your bonus chapter
Instead of being pushed outside to another platform
They are welcomed into your private member space on your own website

No extra jumps
No confusion
No lost attention
Just a smooth experience that feels personal and professional

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You Keep Your Readers Instead of Sending Them Away

A members area lets you host all your bonus content inside your own digital home. This keeps your readers on your site longer. It increases the chances they will join your list, browse your books, buy from your shop or explore your world.

Every click matters.
Every second of attention matters.
Every distraction costs you potential superfans.

When readers stay with you, you build deeper trust and stronger loyalty.

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You Control Every Part of the Journey

When you rely on a third party, the platform owns the environment. They decide the interface, the layout and the overall experience. They control the data. They handle the delivery but they also control the space.

A members area hands all of that back to you.

You choose the design.
You control the files.
You host the bonuses.
You decide how readers access the content.

Nothing feels borrowed. Everything feels branded and aligned with your books.

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You Save Money by Eliminating an Extra Subscription

Many authors pay monthly fees for BookFunnel when their own website could easily serve the same purpose. A members area lets you upload bonus chapters, short stories, artwork, maps and private content without relying on an outside service.

One website
One platform
One home
No extra subscription for content delivery

This saves money and reduces technical headaches. Authors often do not realize how much they are spending on tools that duplicate features their site already could provide.

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You Create a Professional Reader Ecosystem That Scales

A members area is not only about hosting files. It is about building an ecosystem that grows with your author career.

You can create
Exclusive bonus chapters
Reader only updates
Special behind the scenes content
Downloadable artwork
Secret character files
Private maps
Even early access to new material

All of this stays in one branded space that you control fully. It builds anticipation, reward and connection. Readers love feeling like insiders and your members area becomes your digital clubhouse.

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P.S.

If you want a website that keeps readers with you, hosts all your bonus content in a private members area and removes the need for BookFunnel, Author Elixir can build it for you. Send us a message or click our link to learn how your website can become the center of your reader universe.