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Is an Author Platform Essential?

Any writer who wants to market and sell their books (or even be looked at by most literary agents) must build and maintain a solid author platform. In the market, as it exists today, it’s essential—and not all that easy, at least in my experience. I’ve been writing since I was 14, but only for the past year have I made any attempts to become published and sell my book. I’ve discovered that I must build an author platform and that it isn’t easy—especially for an introvert.

What is an author platform? Simply put, it is how a writer contacts their ideal readers and sells their books to them. Readers won’t automatically appear out of the ether to buy your book once it is published. You must reach out to them and show them that you exist and you’ve written a book, but you must convince them it’s a book they must read now.

I began building my author platform in April 2023, so I’m still very early in the process and don’t consider myself an authority. However, I’ve learned that there are five steps I need to take to build an effective platform. Without an effective platform, my chances of being published through traditional means and selling my books are nearly nothing. It’s a process that I’m taking very seriously and working hard on. I encourage you to join me on this journey. Here are the steps I’m taking to build my platform based on research I’ve conducted from numerous sources.

The Five Steps:

1.     Building a Backlist:

This is where I produce (and publish) novels that give my audience something to purchase and read. What exactly am I trying to market if I have no works available for people to read and enjoy? This can be like a cat chasing its tail. If I have nothing published for people to read, it is challenging to build a platform. If I don’t have a robust platform, publishers won’t be interested in signing me and publishing my manuscripts. If I can’t get my manuscripts published, I can’t build a backlist, and so on. I find this most daunting, and my only suggestion is to attempt to get signed by a publisher and go the traditional route of publishing. Still, if that fails, self-publishing is always the alternative to get that backlist started. Once you’ve got a backlist you are marketing, it may be easier to attract literary agents and publishers to go the traditional way for future novels. I’m still navigating my way through this. I’m currently querying agents without a huge platform by presenting the work I’m putting into building that platform. I’ll keep you updated on my progress.

2.     Creating and maintaining an author website and blog (or podcast, YouTube account, etc.):

One of the first things I did when I decided to begin publishing my manuscripts and marketing them was to build my website and keep a blog to produce written content to display myself and my work on said website. If you read this blog post, chances are you’ve found my website; if not, you can find it at www.paulinejgrabia.com. My blog is titled “Musings of a Sparrow,” I write about everything to do with my writing journey and lifestyle and include samples of my fiction writing. I’m currently posting a full-length novel called Filling the Cracks. The first ten chapters are available to the public. Chapters eleven through twenty-five are available only to subscribers to my email newsletter.

Your first step is to find a web hosting service that works best for you. There are several of them, and I don’t receive any money for advertising any of them, but the host I chose for value, convenience, and user-friendliness is Squarespace. I found them the most user-friendly, and their website creation features made creating my website incredibly easy.

I have developed a blog to promote my written work as a writer, but if you’re not into blogs, you could consider creating a podcast or YouTube channel to promote your product. Because I’m an introvert, blogging is most comfortable for me.

3.     Building a solid email subscriber list:

Your email list is your means of gaining permission from people to send them information and updates about your author platform, including the books you’re marketing. You are developing a list of fans who will eventually buy your books. For that reason, an email list is essential for the development and health of any author platform. It’s also one of the more difficult things to do, at least for me. I’m still educating myself on the most effective ways of building my email list. It’s based on gaining subscribers to my newsletter tied to my author’s website and blog. I have read the book Your First 1000 Copies by Tim Grahl and am attempting to implement his system for building a solid email list and promoting my work. At the same time, I’m also focusing on promoting myself on Pinterest (more about that later). Again, I will update you about my success as I continue to work on this area of building my platform.

4.     Establishing a social media presence:

This step involves creating a presence for myself as an author on social media platforms. There are many of them, so it’s best to do your research and first find out who your ideal reader is and, second, research which social media platforms your ideal reader uses. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to create accounts on one or two of those platforms and build your presence. This can be done by posting regularly, creating content people want to see/utilize, and boosting your posts through paid ads through the platform. It can also be achieved by joining groups and forums on these platforms and getting your name and face recognized by as many people as possible. Since I am an introvert who avoided exposing myself on social media until recently, I’m still trying to figure out how to build my social media presence. I’ve selected Facebook and Instagram as my chosen platforms to focus on. (I’ve avoided “Twitter,” or whatever it’s called now, because of all the controversy and instability I’ve perceived at that platform.) I’m still researching how to promote myself on Facebook and Instagram and produce great content. Again, this is a work in progress. I am exploring involvement in Facebook thread groups for pinning to Pinterest since I am working to increase my discoverability on Pinterest.

5.     Increasing my visibility using search engines (and SEO), especially Pinterest:

Many people view Pinterest as just another social media platform. In fact, it is less a social media platform and more a search engine like Google, except in Pinterest’s case, it is a visual search engine, which gives it characteristics similar yet unique from Google. There are books and online courses that describe Pinterest and how to utilize it effectively to build one’s brand or business, so I won’t go into the details of what I’ve been learning here. Suffice it to say that if you are interested in building your discoverability on Google for your author website and blog, you should investigate establishing a Pinterest business account to promote your platform and increase your discoverability there. People like me who read your books and are interested in the topics you write about often go to Pinterest to seek answers to their questions or look for material you have for them. Pinterest, like Google, relies heavily on SEO (Search Engine Optimization), so you will have to learn about that to utilize Pinterest to the greatest extent possible. However, I highly recommend you investigate using Pinterest to build your platform. It doesn’t offer instant results, but over the long term, it can and will drive a lot of traffic to your author’s website if you learn how to use Pinterest optimally.

Other Steps I’m Taking:

In addition to the five steps I listed, I am doing other things to get my name and work into the public realm and expand my influence as a writer. I participated in two online writers’ conferences this past summer, where I learned more about the business and mechanics of the craft and networked with other authors, editors, and literary agents. The knowledge and experience I gained from these conferences have been invaluable, and I intend to continue to attend them in the future. I also plan to attend at least one in-person writers’ conference next year. I’m looking at one that is registering soon and takes place in the Chicago region. There is also a conference taking place closer to home next spring that I might consider attending. The point is that conferences are educational and allow you to network, get known by industry insiders, and develop relationships with people who share your passion for writing.

I also participate in writers’ groups, writing circles, and online and in-person forums. These smaller get-togethers allow me to network with others in the writing industry, develop relationships, and hone my writing skills.

Soon, I will seek opportunities to write guest blog posts for other bloggers like me and talk about my fiction and the topics behind my fiction on writers’ podcasts. This is jumping out of my comfort zone because I’m not accustomed to pitching myself and my skills and knowledge to others in the hope of sharing my knowledge and experience. It takes courage to put yourself out there like that, but the writing industry is no place for cowards. It takes courage to share one’s thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and fantasies.

Are you a writer who has just started building your platform? Are you struggling with certain aspects of the process like I am? I’d love to hear about your journey, so leave a comment below. Do you have a robust and established author platform and would be willing to share your wisdom and knowledge with the rest of us? Please let me know in the comments below.

Please subscribe to my email newsletter. By subscribing, you will receive advance notice of upcoming blog posts, news updates about my website and publishing journey, and exclusive content available only to subscribers on my Subscriber Content page. This content currently includes the Prologue and Chapters Eleven through Twenty-Five of my novel Filling the Cracks, the first ten chapters available to the public on my blog. If you want to read the novel's conclusion, subscribe! You can begin with Chapter One here if you haven’t read Filling the Cracks.

Thanks again for reading! Check out my social media accounts and return for another informative post next week. God bless you richly!

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