Troubleshooting guide
Author Websites: Diagnostic Guide
Author Websites: Diagnostic Guide organizes the decisions that matter for independent authors, publishers, writing brands, and book-series creators: the current workflow, ownership, implementation choices, rollout risk, and acceptance evidence.
Working artifact
Author Websites acceptance checklist
Turn broad completion claims into checks that a project owner can repeat after handoff.
| Acceptance check | Evidence | Responsible owner |
|---|---|---|
| Prove author and publisher websites | Repeat the affected journey and test readers cannot tell where to begin a series | Owner of structured book and series catalogs |
| Prove book catalogs and series reading-order pages | Repeat the affected journey and test book information is fragmented across retailers | Owner of email-list and reader-magnet workflows |
| Prove reader magnets and mailing-list growth | Repeat the affected journey and test a launch has no permanent campaign home | Owner of direct sales and retailer integrations |
Record the symptom before changing it
Readers cannot tell where to begin a series. Confirm who encounters it, where it occurs, and what changed before it appeared. Then distinguish the visible symptom from dependencies such as structured book and series catalogs.
- Save exact error text
- Record the last known working date
- List recent code, content, vendor, DNS, or account changes
Separate reachability, data, and behavior
For Author & Publisher Websites, confirm account ownership, current exports or backups, recovery options, and recent changes before touching production. Preserve exact errors and timestamps that may disappear after a restart or update.
- Reachability check for direct sales and retailer integrations
- Data or content check related to author and publisher websites
- Behavior check for book catalogs and series reading-order pages
Use stop conditions
Frame the first scope around author and publisher websites and one observable acceptance journey. Treat book catalogs and series reading-order pages as a later phase unless the evidence shows it is a true dependency.
- No confirmed backup
- Unknown production ownership
- Security or payment data may be involved
Verify the repair in the real journey
Repair fits when the core remains sound. Extension fits when the boundary around structured book and series catalogs is understood. Replacement fits when ownership, architecture, or operating risk prevents a responsible change.
- Author and publisher websites
- Reader magnets and mailing-list growth
- Press kits and downloadable resources