Author Platform

So there’s this author platform thing that everyone’s talking about: you’re supposed to be building an online platform and networking with existing and potential readers. But what on earth is a platform, anyway?

Other industries refer to it as an online presence, which may make more sense to you: it’s the places where you present yourself to the world, showcase what you do, and interact with others online. It’s where you build your network, or tribe, of your target audience of readers. It’s where you show your authentic self and engage with people who are existing and potential new readers of your work.

Your author platform is a blend of your own website, your media kit, and social networking sites like Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube. Above all, an author platform is something that takes time to develop. It’s important to start building it before you write your first book or before you begin your next one.

An author platform is not negotiable.

Both self published and traditionally published authors need to develop a solid author platform. If you’re looking to get picked up by an agent or a traditional publishing house, one of the first things they’ll ask about is your platform. And if you’re looking to sell books, as either a traditionally published or self published author, you’ll need an author platform.

You probably became an author because you are passionate about writing and wanted to share your work with the world…not because you wanted to build an author platform or learn a bunch of new marketing terms. But maybe you feel that the effort you make in writing your books isn’t reflected in the number of books that are sold.

In reality, getting people to buy your books can be frustrating sometimes. You’ve invested long hours of work to write them, and you’ve probably invested money to get it edited, proofread, and formatted. You’ve paid to have a professional cover designed. You’re a writer, and you probably don’t have a background in business or marketing. The mere thought of marketing or building an author platform might even make you cringe.

I think many authors would be happy if readers magically found out about their work, clicked to buy their books, and then wrote glowing reviews on both Amazon and Goodreads…without all that platform stuff. But as I mentioned earlier, your author platform is not negotiable, and while I can’t wave a magic wand to boost your book sales, I can make building your author platform a whole lot easier.

I work with authors like you, who want to sell books and get their work known without driving themselves crazy building their author platform. I have a solid background in business, marketing, and coaching and I leverage this experience to help you achieve your business goals. Business? Yes, because a book is a business too.

Building an author platform is easy once you know how to do it. Many authors even consider it a break from their regular routine of writing. Of course, like anything, you need to learn certain skills and techniques that will help you make the move from struggling with book sales to finding readers who not only purchase your books, but who write raving reviews online.

Working with me, you’ll learn how to build your author platform and develop your tribe of loyal readers. I’m looking forward to helping you sell more books and get more positive reviews online.