30-Day Author Website Launch Plan | Minimum Viable Website for Indie Authors
Your Author Website. Built in 30 Days.
A day-by-day action plan that takes you from zero to a live, professional author website, with email integrated, SEO in place, and a system you can actually maintain.
You don't need more time. You need a plan that makes good use of the time you already have. This is that plan.
Why the Digital Version Works Better
Type directly into the workbook (no printing required)
Save your progress and come back anytime
Reuse pages for multiple projects
Designed for clarity, structure, and real implementation
SAMPLE PAGES
Identify the essential pages you need for your site for email integration and content.
Know the best foundation to establish for your website.
Know how to set up your book pages so that readers can easily discover them and eager to buy them.
WHAT YOU'LL HAVE AFTER 30 DAYS
A complete, functional author website — built to last.
This isn't a website you'll need to rebuild in six months. The plan builds in the right foundations from day one, so you're not patching problems later.
By Day 30, you'll have a live, professional author website with 4 essential pages (Home, About, Books, Contact), email signup integrated and automated, basic SEO foundation in place, 3–5 initial blog posts if you're blogging, and a sustainable maintenance system.
Total time: 60–100 hours over 30 days, averaging 2–3.5 hours daily — achievable alongside a full-time job, your next book, or whatever else your life currently contains.
THE PROBLEM
Most authors don't have a website problem. They have a starting problem.
You know you need a professional author website. You've known it for a while. The issue isn't motivation, it's that every time you sit down to work on it, you're not sure what to do first. Platform research leads to design decisions leads to content questions leads to a browser with eleven tabs open and nothing actually built.
The 30-Day Minimum Viable Website Plan removes that friction entirely. Each day has a defined focus, a realistic time estimate, and a clear list of tasks to complete. You know exactly what you're doing, why it matters, and what done looks like.
No guessing. No spiraling. Just steady, sequential progress that ends with a live author website.
HOW IT WORKS
Four weeks. One clear goal per week.The plan is divided into four focused weeks, each building on the last. You're never jumping ahead or doubling back.
Week 1 — Foundation and Setup Platform configured, domain connected, essential accounts created. By the end of Day 7, three of your four core pages are live.
Week 2 — Essential Pages, Email Integration, Content Contact page complete, email forms live on all pages, welcome automation tested, first blog post published. Your site is functional and collecting subscribers.
Week 3 — Technical SEO, Additional Content, Optimisation XML sitemap submitted, meta descriptions and title tags written for every page, images optimised, site speed checked. Your content library is growing and your technical foundation is solid.
Week 4 — Final Polish, Launch Preparation, Documentation Lead magnet completed (if using), privacy policy in place, pre-launch testing done, launch materials prepared. On Day 30, your site goes public.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Built for authors who keep putting it off, for good reason.
The author who's been meaning to do this for months Life is busy. Publishing is busy. This plan breaks the project into daily tasks small enough to fit into your actual schedule, not a theoretical one.
The author who's tried before and stalled Usually that's not a motivation problem — it's a structure problem. When you know exactly what to do each day, it's much harder to lose momentum.
The author who doesn't want to hire someone This plan gives you everything you need to build it yourself, with platform-specific guidance and troubleshooting built in for when things don't go exactly as expected.
The author who wants to do it right the first time The plan doesn't just get you to launched — it gets you to launched with analytics set up, email integrated, SEO foundations in place, and documentation so you know how to maintain it.
WHAT'S INSIDE
Every day. Every task. Every milestone.
Each day in the plan includes a time estimate so you can plan your schedule accurately, morning and afternoon task breakdowns for days requiring extended work, specific platform guidance where relevant (WordPress, Squarespace, Wix), a clear "By end of Day X" milestone so you always know if you're on track, and a notes section for your own observations and decisions.
The plan also includes a Troubleshooting section covering what to do if you fall behind, hit technical issues, or find the content writing taking longer than expected — and a Post-Launch guide covering Days 31–60 so the momentum continues after launch.
Need more resouces to build your website? Check out the Author Digital Toolikit for additional useful resources.
THIS STANDS ALONE
A Note on the Book
You can complete this plan without buying anything else.
Every task in the 30-day plan is self-contained and actionable. You don't need the book to follow it.
The book — The Author Website System: A Strategic Framework for Visibility and Email Growth — provides the reasoning behind each decision, extended troubleshooting, and strategic context that helps you adapt the plan to your specific situation. But the plan works as a standalone resource.
If you encounter a step where you want more depth, each day references the relevant chapter. The choice of whether to go deeper is entirely yours.