Platform Building for Authors

Happy Writer Wednesday!

You probably hear the words platform building all the time. Your platform is your audience and the ways you reach and interact with that audience. For most of us, our platforms include things like our social media accounts, our mailing lists, blogs, etc.

Platform building can be a LOT of work. But it's also critical to your success as an author. Why? Because most people aren't going to happen upon your books by sheer happenstance. If you publish it on Amazon and do nothing else with it, it's unlikely that you're going to find your audience.

You have to put the time and energy into getting your book and your name out there. And that means finding and investing in your readers. Give them relevant content, keep them entertained, and get to know them! In exchange, you share your work with them, turning casual readers into fans (and hopefully friends).

Platform building can include:

• Connecting with readers and fellow authors on social media. 
• Building a mailing list.
• Starting and maintaining a blog.
• Starting a podcast.

And a whole host of other things. The goal is to build and get to know your audience. You can do this by sharing relevant content, giving them insight into your life, and adding value to theirs. The possibilities are endless.

Make sure you're spending time each week on platform building. Whether it's participating in a group promotion with other authors to gain new readers, staying active on one or two social media channels, blogging, vlogging, or doing a podcast... you want to engage as often as possible.

Schedule time to send out newsletters, write and schedule blog posts, schedule social media posts (don't forget to RESPOND and INTERACT if you're pre-scheduling posts), respond to email, wish your readers a happy birthday or happy anniversary, etc. And stick to the schedule! Don't blow it off because you're tired or bored or don't see immediate results.

Be personable and fun. Share your work, but don't share ONLY your work or it becomes less about interacting and engaging and more about sales, sales, sales. 

Sales are important...but so are people and building relationships. :)