Connecting a Custom Domain

Business plan authors can connect their own custom domain to their BookAuth author website, giving your site a fully professional URL like www.sarahmitchell.com instead of sarahmitchell.bookauth.com.

What You'll Learn

Prerequisites for custom domain setup
Step-by-step DNS configuration
SSL certificate provisioning
Troubleshooting common issues

Prerequisites

Business plan subscription — custom domains are a Business plan feature ($29/month)
A registered domain — you need to own a domain from a registrar (Namecheap, GoDaddy, Google Domains, Cloudflare, etc.)
DNS access — ability to edit DNS records at your registrar

Step-by-Step Setup

Step 1: Enter Your Domain in BookAuth

Navigate to Website > Domain from the sidebar
Enter your custom domain (e.g., www.sarahmitchell.com or sarahmitchell.com)
Click "Add Domain"
BookAuth displays the DNS records you need to configure

Step 2: Configure DNS Records

At your domain registrar, add the following DNS records:

For Root Domain (sarahmitchell.com)

Type	Name	Value
A	`@`	`[IP provided by BookAuth]`

For WWW Subdomain (www.sarahmitchell.com)

Type	Name	Value
CNAME	`www`	`[CNAME target provided by BookAuth]`

Pro Tip: Many authors prefer to use www.yourdomain.com as the primary address and set up a redirect from the root domain (yourdomain.com) to www. BookAuth handles this redirect automatically.

Step 3: Wait for DNS Propagation

DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours to propagate globally. Typical propagation time:

Registrar	Typical Propagation
Cloudflare	5-15 minutes
Namecheap	15-30 minutes
GoDaddy	1-6 hours
Google Domains	15-60 minutes
Others	Up to 48 hours

Step 4: SSL Certificate

Once DNS propagates, BookAuth automatically provisions a free SSL certificate:

SSL is powered by Cloudflare's Universal SSL
Provisioning typically takes 1-10 minutes after DNS verification
Your site will be accessible via https:// with a green lock icon

Step 5: Verify

Return to Website > Domain in BookAuth
Check the domain status — it should show "Connected" with a green badge
Visit your custom domain in a browser to confirm your website loads
Verify HTTPS works (green lock in the address bar)

What Happens to Your Old URL

After connecting a custom domain:

Your yourname.bookauth.com URL continues to work
Visitors to the old URL can be redirected to your custom domain (optional setting)
You can choose to keep both active or redirect one to the other

Troubleshooting

"Domain Not Verified" after 24 hours

Double-check DNS records at your registrar
Ensure you're editing the correct domain in your registrar (not a subdomain)
Remove any conflicting A or CNAME records for the same name
Try a DNS lookup tool (e.g., dig or dnschecker.org) to verify propagation

"SSL Not Available"

SSL provisioning depends on DNS being correctly configured first
Wait 15-30 minutes after DNS verification
If still not available after 1 hour, contact BookAuth support

"Website Shows Wrong Content"

Clear your browser cache
Check if any CDN or proxy (Cloudflare on your side) is caching old content
Verify the CNAME or A record points to BookAuth's server, not another hosting provider

Managing Your Domain

Changing Your Domain

Navigate to Website > Domain
Remove the current domain
Add the new domain
Configure DNS for the new domain

Removing Your Domain

Navigate to Website > Domain
Click "Remove Domain"
Your website reverts to yourname.bookauth.com

If You Cancel Business Plan

If you downgrade from Business to Pro or Free:

Your custom domain connection is deactivated
Your website reverts to the .bookauth.com subdomain
Your books, pages, and blog posts are preserved

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I use a subdomain like books.mydomain.com?
A: Yes. Enter the full subdomain when adding your domain and configure a CNAME record for it.

Q: Do I need to buy the domain through BookAuth?
A: No. BookAuth does not sell domains. Purchase your domain from any registrar and connect it to BookAuth.

Q: Can I connect multiple domains?
A: Currently, one custom domain per author website. Additional domains is planned.

Q: Will my email be affected?
A: As long as you don't modify your MX records, your email service will not be affected by connecting a domain to BookAuth.

Your Author Website — Overview
SEO Settings for Your Author Website
Managing Your Subscription (Free/Pro/Business)