Leave a Comment:
(21) comments
I always want to learn more on this, ever evolving, subject! Great article.
Reply
I feel I have many of the elements of maintaining a good social platform in place: I have three sites I enjoy being on (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) and I interact with people there. have Pinterest and Tumblr sites as well, but neither platform appeals to me much, so I tend not to use them. I post to my website at least once a week. I have pages/profiles on Goodreads, Amazon, and Bookbub. The weakest link in my platform as I see it is my mailing list.
I’ve tried participating in list-builder things, only to get a bunch of people looking for freebies and nothing else. I recently switched from one mailing service to another, and in the transfer, only about a quarter of my list decided to move to the new mailer. I figure these people really want to be there, so that’s a good thing, but I’d love to know how to build a mailing list of core followers.
Reply
Hi McKenna, a great “to do” for you would be to add a (prominent) newsletter signup form to your website. I visited but didn’t see how to join your email list. An accompanying lead magnet (dare I say, free book if possible? Short story?) would be a useful addition and would help ensure that readers who *want* your content join your list.
Reply
HI McKenna – good insight there about the mailing list. I know last year’s #NaNoProMo we had several posts about email marketing and mailing lists. I know @sugarbeatbc writes quite a bit about it as well.
I also find the list-builder sweeps are a lot of fake accounts and junk, sadly. I’ve stopped participating in them myself.
Reply
Hi McKenna,
I agree with Pauline – try adding some kind of incentive for people to sign up to your newsletter e.g. a short story or novella from one of your three series (or is there something that ties all three series together?).
Also, do you have an invitation to sign up to your newsletter at the back of each of your novels? That’s another popular option.
You then need to write an interesting first email that delivers your freebie and convinces people they want to stay on your email list and open your future emails. Yes, you might get some people who just sign up to get the freebie, but they will hopefully unsubscribe quickly as well.
Reply Yes! I love the encouragement that you don’t necessarily need a massive platform, but that making a start counts for so much more than just “intending to do it”. I suspect authors don’t realize that even a basic beginning puts them way ahead of many others. And it’s an important mindset distinction, to show the publisher that the author doesn’t assume it will all be taken care of on their behalf.
Reply Thank you, Pauline. You’re right – authors don’t need a lot, but they need something, and they need to understand they will need to market their own book whether they’re self-published or traditionally published.
Reply
This is a very insightful post. About a year and a half before I published I set up a Twitter and website (which I blog once a week on). A few months later once I got the hang of that I moved to Facebook and finally an email list.
A lot of authors don’t realise that a platform, even a small one, can help them with their marketing.
Reply Good points, all. Thanks for sharing your own experiences, Jessica!
Reply Thank you! It sounds like you’ve done things the right way by starting with a website and a single social media account, and expanding when you have the time and headspace.
Reply
G’day there, I’m an older writer (coming to it later in life) and struggling with all that’s involved with writing, editing and publishing. I’ve hesitated with developing a platform as it is more stuff to take in and am afraid it will overwhelm me even more. But, I realise it is what is needed to get going properly. So, thanks for the informative article, Iola and Rachel.
Reply Ray, the thing to remember is that you don’t build a platform in a day. But you can do something to build your platform every day. Lots of baby steps, and you’ll get there – and that can be more effective than one big effort you never quite finish.
Reply
Wow. I really need to add to what I already have. Thank you for the pointers.
Reply 
Always love your posts. So clear and then they spur me to action or in this case encourage me to ‘keep doing what you’re doing’.
Reply 
Do I know it’s essential for an author to have a platform? Yes. Am I doing all you suggest in this article? No. Have I tried and am still struggling to land anyone serious to become part of my audience? Yes. Great article, I feel like perhaps though you make blogging and building an email list as easy and it’s really not. Solid points though.
Reply No, it’s not easy. Nonfiction authors can usually come up with a list of four or five topics their target reader will be interested in, and write about those topics (whether for a blog or newsletter). That’s the start of a good content marketing strategy – something I’m a strong believer in, because it’s providing value to the readers.
I do think it’s harder for fiction authors, but it’s still possible. What genre do you write? Who is your target reader? What are they interested in? I know of one Biblical fiction author who blogs about all things Roman. It’s good background to her books, but also attracts people researching the Roman Empire … who might then be interested in reading a novel set in the same time period.
Reply
Thank you Iola and Rachel for your advice. I have been struggling with the concept of an author platform for some time now. Although I have great dreams about publication, I have been confused about the right path forward. My knowledge in the area of marketing is limited and despite my own research, I still haven’t taken a step in the right direction. I know that making a start is important and I’d like to make progress.
Reply
This is a really great post. I’m slowly building an author platform, but I know I could do better. Your tips were very helpful. Do you think for social media twitter and FB are enough?
Reply