When it rains, it pours! I am buried in the editing cave with projects, so I am bringing back this tongue-and-cheek post from eons ago. It’s hard to believe that this blog is turning six this year. Time flies. Though on the lighter side content-wise, I do hope you’ll chime in and offer some wisdom or tales of woe when it comes to the many steps required when it comes to how to establish and author platform.
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How to Establish an Author Platform
Self-published and traditional authors alike shoulder much of the responsibility of promoting their own work and often cringe at how to establish an author platform. Essentially, an author-platform is how a person reaches an audience of book-buying people. Rather than get overly frustrated at the amount of time it takes to create a platform, view it as a challenge well worth the learning curve.
So here’s what you do…
- Get a Blog
- Start Tweeting
- Make a Facebook Fan Page
- Participate in LinkedIn Discussion Groups
- Join GoodReads
Yep, just like that you will have a platform. But you gotta work that platform and work it good! Notice how my tone now turns to mockery.
But what about Google+ you might say? Maybe you’ve amassed a growing circle of Authors and Bloggers there. Or perhaps you’ve became involved with Triberr, Networked Blogs, SheWrites, BlogHer, The Independent Author Network, or countless other communities. And what about Instagram, Pinterest, FourSquare, Digg, and Reddit? You got me on Reddit. I tried it but got booted for spamming.
Oh, and establish a YouTube account while you’re at it because apparently book trailers are an author essential. Helpful pointer: don’t make a trailer unless you hire someone or have the skills for it not to scream amateur attempt. And for the love of brevity, any three-minute book trailer is a snoozefest.
While you’re at it, make sure you’re checking your Google analytics account and fretting over your site speed as if your life depended on it!
On many days, you probably wonder where it all ends. Will you ever feel your author platform building duties are complete? Here is where self-control comes into play. Decide how much time you can devote to the task and stick with it. Building that author-platform takes perseverance. Like learning anything new, the road can be bumpy at first. Don’t give up. You can do it!
BTW … you can get sued for “borrowing” images from other websites for your blog. Download pictures labeled for use in the public domain.
And just as you feel overwhelmed, you can attempt to start scheduling your online presence with the likes of Buffer, HootSuite, and TweetDeck. Oh yeah, and somewhere in there you have to finish writing your novel. Don’t despair. Little by little it will all fall into place.
Tweet This
In all seriousness, what advice do you have when it comes to how to establish an author platform?
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like reading Finding 1,000 True Fans.
Image Credits: Help by Kosta Kostov and Out Of Energy by Frits Ahlefeldt
Please share responsibly. Jeri Walker, 2018.
This whole “platform” thing is more exhausting than writing the book but you are so right. The real mastery comes when you know just which of these “socialization” sites will give you most bang for your buck.
I just have to keep reminding myself that Rome wasn’t built in a day 🙂
That was my thought, too. Choose your sites wisely. Better to use a handful of sites well, then to be on “everything” but manage it poorly. Who uses what platforms? Are they truly your “audience” or just a random bunch of people who won’t care because what you write is not in their interest range? Choose your battles 🙂
Life would be much simplier if there was only Twitter and my blog!
I can totally relate to everything you said. It does have a tendency to make us a bit cranky… at least it does me. 🙂
I felt the same way about my first year of teaching too. I miss the feeling of being an expert at something, but I know the more I keep at it, the sooner I will find my stride.
You must have been reading my mind. I was out on my walk and saw your post come up. I stopped to read it. I was laugh so hard my neighbor thought I was losing it… seriously!!! I can relate to EVERYTHING. As far as advise, when the fog clears and I have an AH HA moment you will be one of the first I will share it with.
It’s good to know I made you laugh. I intended the post to be all serious, but my brain just didn’t want to do there. It would probably do me good to let-go like that a little more often when I write!
Jeri — just reading your post tired me out. It’s impossible to keep up with every social media network. You simply must make choices. Like you, I feel guilty when someone says, “Oh, you’re not active on XYZ network?” We each have to find out own path to where we want to go.
At least when I look at where I am now in all of this as compared to a year ago, then I start to breathe a little easier 😉
Exhausting but true!
I’m passing this one along to the memoirist I worked with recently. She’s in charge of this aspect of her book and I want her to do it right.
I love this post Jeri. I can totally relate. It sometimes all seems like so much work, and on days when I’m feeling cranky I wonder if I put the time I spend on building a writers platform into my writing would I ultimately just be as well off. I think the answer comes down to if you want to find a publisher or go indie. If the former, then in a way you may as well wait until you have an agent, because it’ll be a long road until you’re published anyway. Plus a publisher will help you get interviews etc. My thought is that already having a presence may help you to actually stand a better chance of getting an agent in the first place.
That all said, I’ve connected with some great people in the process , yourself included,so the personal benefits are already there. Learning how to write a blog is a great skill , and who knows what the future may bring.
So I say keep going with the platform building with whatever level feels comfortable. It’s def. an art not a science.
A.K. I’d have to say I agree too that all this social media toil will definitely pay off when trying to find an agent, which is where I think I’m at in the process. Then, if I can’t get signed anywhere, I will already have my platform in place to self-publish my novel.
Hi Jeri
Thanks for retweeting this one.
I love the succinct way you boil down months of work to a few easy steps!
Although, in reality, that is pretty much it. It’s making that platform somewhere that people like to spend time with you that’s the challenge. I must confess since work kicked back in on Monday I’ve been struggling to maintain it, so it’s nice to know I’m not the only one.
I guess the advice I’ve got is to be consistent and on-brand, let your tribe and commentators know what to expect of you and don’t let them down, and only post/say stuff that has value. Just as you would face to face I think.
cheers
Mike
Mike, I agree that’s it is key to have a platform where people like to spend time. I’m forever tinkering with that aspect 😉
Whatever sort of platform you’re trying to build I think it’s important to find your own groove when it comes to all the social media out there – if you hate updating your Facebook page or can’t get on with Twitter then maybe concentrate on the other stuff. So for me I wholeheartedly agree: life would be so much easier if it was just my blog and Twitter!
Kirsty: Thanks so much for stopping by! Admittedly, on the day I wrote this post, I most definitely was not feeling my groove 😉
Yup this sums it up well in my opinion
Jen, even though I wrote this post months ago, I’m still trying to figure out how to best spend my platform building efforts. Mainly, I just do what I can and have learned not to try to do it all.
Nice to know I’m not the only one who sometimes feels like she’s traded in her author’s hat for that of professional platform builder. It’s been hard for me–I’m allergic to connections that feel more “professional network” than genuinely human. One way I’ve managed to begin growing some real relationships among other readers and writers: book reviewing. I write honest, constructive reviews and some great friendships have blossomed from this.
Carrie, at one point I was going many more book reviews and author interviews, and it really was such a great way to meet new writerly folks. Every so often, one of those connections does turn into a good friendship. It’s one of the things I most love about blogging.
That’s why I stick to blogging and Twitter. (I’m on Google+ but don’t do much with it.) I can only do so much and I want to spend time where I enjoy it.
Alex, I hear you on that front. I got carried away with trying to be on too many social platforms when I first started this blog, but I’ve learned my lesson over the years. Concentrated effort on one or two platforms is much more viable than spreading one’s self thin.
Ho Jeri, this subject never gets old. I had to l ugh at my own original comment. But mostly I can’t believe this is from so long ago, and yet there is still no magic answer. Nor am I published 🙂
Kathy, it really is hard to believe it’s been six years. This blog has been through a lot of iterations in that time! I know you’ll keep on keeping on in your path to publication.
Hi Jeri, great re-post. Always on point. My latest beef is trying to keep up with the changes on Instagram and learning to use it effectively as an author. But of course, there are so many platforms one has to pick and choose the best for their type of work or where their audience is hanging out. It’s an ongoing battle and so I get the tone of ‘mockery’ in this post. As if we can be everywhere and even if we are, who’s actually listening? LOL.
Lisa, agreed!
Lol Jeri, sounds so much like my every day life, what to do first. 🙂 I’m with you on all counts, but I don’t pre-schedule my tweets I check my Twitter for about 20 mins every morning and then tweet other articles I come across during the day and evening. How do I know what I feel like posting one week from now? Lol . Great post! 🙂
Debbie, I do some pre-scheduling of Tweets with Hootsuite, but just for new posts. It’s hard to stay on top of. I’m much better about scheduling images and curated content for Word Bank’s FB page.
Ah yes. Platform. The best I can continually keep up with is my blog. >_<
Loni, you have a great blogging community that you’ve built up
I would just say only do what you are going to do well. If you try all these different platforms you’ll find pretty quickly where you can build an audience. So figure that out then clean house.
Ken, that’s sage advice. I once went to a talk at a conference and the speaker said the exact same thing. If you don’t like Twitter or “get it,” don’t do it. Use the platforms where one is best spent concentrating their efforts while also enjoying the process as much as possible.
Happy to hear you’re busy! Ugh to a platform. My site/blog has gone through a number of iterations in my too many years of giving it a whirl. I feel like I stabilized it this year (but that could be wishful thinking!). Remember the blog I wrote about all the things not to do in WordPress? Oh, groan!
My biggest advice for starting a platform is to give first, then think about receiving.
RoseMary, I definitely agree that giving is always good, especially in blogging land.
Every lesson goes better with a little sarcasm, I always think. Seriously though, this is such a great reminder that it takes time to build any type of platform or audience.
Meredith, platform building can be so time-consuming, but when done little by little, eventually it all adds up to a helpful bigger picture. It’s hard to keep sight of that at times when mired in the muck, so to speak.
What do you think of Quora for building a network? I see people commenting who seem to be trying to build a following.
It’s all so much work. And while I’m not trying to market a book, marketing myself often feels like two steps forward and 1 step back. But it’s always great when you do see a payoff.
Erica, I’m a bit mystified by Quora. I have an account there and people follow me, but I’ve never participated so far. If someone is a subject-matter expert in a nonfiction field, I can see it being potentially helpful for reaching new readers who are interested in a certain topic.
Congrats on 6 years of the blog, Jeri! And I think this post is so good that it deserves a relaunch 🙂
Christy, time flies!
It’s still difficult to self-publish but I think since you originally wrote this post, the practice is becoming more mainstream and book reviewers are taking note. That’s why it’s so important, as you say, that writers make sure they’re exploring every communications channel to find the ones that really work for them and then leverage them to the hilt.
Jeannette, self-pubbing has come a long way over the years. Those who go that route are getting more savvy all the time.
This is when knowing your audience is paramount. It’s best to figure out who they are, and build a presence where they hang out. Anything else is wasted effort.
Crystal, so many inexperienced writers love to quip how their book will appeal to general audiences or that there is something in it for everyone. Yikes! But it takes a while to learn the ropes. During a developmental edit, I asked one client where they pictured their book being shelved in a bookstore, and they listed three different sections. It doesn’t work that way!