The Reason Your Author Platform Matters

Rachel, wonderful post. My plan is to never give up, never surrender, and to follow to your advice.

Rachel,
This is such a great article. I need to read it everyday. It seems discipline and focus is where I need to direct my attention. I think your very point of marketing and social media as a tool for your work can be a source of constant distraction while you are trying to stay focused on writing the material that you need to get out to the media. I find that very ironic don’t you? I really admire your work Rachel. Your article about the fact that you seldom mention your books in all your social media reminded me of the volunteers that worked on this year long project largely I believe because of caring relationships we have between each other. I will be a speaker at The Chicago Flower & Garden Show this year, last year, show owner, Tony Abruscato, asked me if I could help him get rose growers interested in his show and to get the rose gardens there for the first time in over a decade. Rose gardens blooming in March, in Chicago, which most rose growing experts we approached told us it would be impossible due to the early date in March, the climate of Chicago and the process called ‘forcing’ the roses into early blooming. Rachel, we heard quite a few ‘No’s. However we, Tony and I believed it could be done and never gave up, that’s been our goal and God willing we will have now two rose gardens with over 1000 blooming rose bushes! A classic rose garden and a miniature rose garden. Garden Design Magazine ( http://www.gardendesign.com/visit/roses-bloom-early-at-the-chicago-flower-garden-show)
interviewed me and I will tweet you the link. I am so proud of all the folks we got together to do this. And its mostly all volunteer. Your article reminded me how most all of us worked on this because of our passion for what we do and came together because of friendship. Thank-you for all you do Rachel to inspire me and the people I see out there. It’s about giving back.
http://www.gardendesign.com/visit/roses-bloom-early-at-the-chicago-flower-garden-show
Warm Regards,
Susan Fox

Thanks for the great information and the motivation this morning. I, like so many writers, am not a great fan of marketing. I can be quoted as saying “Writing is my Passion, and Marketing is my Pain”. However, after having said that, I do market quite a lot now on social media, and your articles and your gentle pushes have been instrumental in helping me with that work. You might say that now, even though I still don’t love marketing, I have now followed many of your suggestions and it’s now less of a pain and sometimes even a little bit enjoyable.

Thanks for sharing!

Kate Woods

Shared this! Heaven knows the message needs to get out. Too many of my writer friends hit “publish” on Createspace and then…nothing…. They ask me, “Why do you bother blogging, book reviewing, helping out at Facebook parties. How many books has that sold for you?” The honest answer is that I don’t know. People are buying/borrowing the books. Not in droves. Not yet, anyway. And it’s true that when someone I meet on Facebook or Twitter or through attending a webinar ask me which of my books they should try first, I invariably send them the Kindle for free. I figure why not? It’s not like the .65 to 3.00 profit would change my life–the relationship and goodwill is worth way more than that. Some of these individuals have gone and bought the book anyway or another of mine. But even when they don’t, invariably something good happens. Someone I’ve chatted with on Twitter will choose my book for their book club, or post a fabulous review, or pass my name along to a book promotion site looking for people to guest post. I feel my career building momentum, but since I can’t show a one to one correlation between activities and sales, my writers friends poo-poo a lot of my efforts. At times their attitude does make me second guess myself, but not for long. My gut tells me I’m on the right track, so I’m sticking with it.

[…] The Reason Your Author Platform Matters […]

Great article. I must admit, I’ve been trying to grow my social media reach. I suck at blogging, but came up with an idea: post an excerpt from a WIP each Friday morning until the novel is finished. That way folks get to “try” me out for free. I post on Blogger and Wattpad and it seems to have helped. I tweet, FB, and a do little Google. I have a great time interacting with my fans- heck, I even invite them to my house! (once I know they aren’t freaky stalkers). I don’t have kids, but I do have an entire farm of animals and a big house to take care of. Still I try to take time each day and do a little PR. Lately, though, with the exponential increase in the number of titles published, sales have slipped. I hope that changes. But I still write because I love telling stories.

You make a great point about interacting and engaging with others, Rachel. I think it can be challenging for people at first, especially us writerly types who are more introvert than extrovert, yet I’ve found the interaction and engagement via social media and my blog to be so beneficial – both to me as an individual and as a writer. That social engagement has contributed in so countless ways to my artistic growth. I can’t imagine being a writer in a day and age where such immediate interaction was impossible.

Thank you for sharing your successful actions and being such a voice of wisdom in the online community.

Thank you so much for sharing these words with us! This is exactly what I have begun to focus on but need to improve in “sharing” more “outside” of my books! I feel inspired and with hope!

[…] The Reason Your Author Platform Matters […]

[…] 2. I don’t usually hear negative things at writing conferences, but it seems like there is one thing that can bring out the negative in a few writers at every conference I’ve attended. And that comes when a presenter brings up writing platforms. So with that in mind, why don’t we let Rachel Thompson tell us The Reason Your Author Platform Matters. […]

[…] and use them (Tip: check their HELP section first), you’ll find each new channel improves upon the brand that is you. Twitter will showcase your quick thinking and attention to the latest trends, Instagram will […]

Great article, Rachel, and always worth a re-read.
Marty

[…] The Reason Your Author Platform Matters […]

[…] The Reason Your Author Platform Matters […]

[…] for any favors — I used my own blog, over many years, to establish my expertise (why are you still not blogging again?), and then pitched them. I’ve had my fair share of rejections, too (Elephant Journal […]

[…] suggested he rethink his author platform completely, create a robust marketing plan which he then implement, and lose the expectation that […]

[…] suggested he rethink his author platform completely, create a robust marketing plan which he then implement, and lose the expectation that […]

[…] much impact does your author platform have on book sales? People ask me this all the time — they want hard […]

I’m taking a course (Publish and Sell Your E-Books” and an assignment included reading about Rachel Thompson. I didn’t want to because I’m always in a hurry and felt I didn’t have time. However, I decided to be different this time as being in a hurry has gotten me nowhere. I’m very glad I decided to do the assignment as you have proven to be very helpful and informative. I never thought about a “Writer’;s Platform” before. Visibility impressed me most as I’ve discovered you cannot get to author status without visibility. I don’t have a website but I will have one soon. I didn’t understand blogging but for visibility purposes I will blog. I’ve been using Facebook mostly to play games but that is very boring. Therefore I’m going to use as much social media as I can to increase my visibility by following your suggestions. I’m so glad I did this assignment. Thank you.