Why You Need To Build An Author Platform Now

What’s the most important thing that all aspiring, self-published and about to be published authors need to do? (After writing their book, of course!) The answer is to build an author platform. Why? Because having an author platform can help you through all stages of your publishing journey. And it can lead to greater success once your book is finally out there, ready for readers to buy.

WHAT is an author platform?

An author platform refers to your personal reach on and offline. It’s about how many people you can connect with via your various networks. As well as how you can leverage off these existing networks to reach readers and sell books.

An author platform can include your reach through:

• your author website
• a popular blog you run which has a good number of subscribers
• published articles in a popular online/offline publication. (Are you a regular contributor/columnist/guest blogger on a platform with a large following?)
• an email list
• your business (if you’re a business owner with a large reach)
• your social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube etc. (Do you have a large following on one or more of these social networks? If you do, this means you’ll be able to market your book to a ready-made audience (if they are your target readership.))
• podcasts you run yourself or appear in as a guest
• your reach through your professional profile/network (Are you an expert in your field who speaks regularly at industry events? Or do the media contact you when they need an expert to quote?)
• your reach through the work you do in your local community. (Do you run a special event or charity? Have you done anything newsworthy and your name is recognisable to a large audience?)

Please note that you’re not expected to be on every social media platform on earth, or tick all the points above. These are just some examples of what an author platform can be.

WHEN should you build your author platform?

Now! You should start building your author platform right now — before you get published. Don’t put it off because you’re not technical or you hate the idea of marketing yourself. If you want to build a community of people around you who will support you and your book when it comes out, you need to start as soon as possible. Because building a platform that can help you gain recognition as an author takes time. You can’t build it overnight. Therefore, the sooner you start, the better.

WHY do you need to build an author platform BEFORE you get published?

Because having an established author platform can help you land an agent or publisher. Why do you think so many celebrities and social media megastars end up with book deals? It’s because they already have a huge audience of people interested in what they have to say. Publishers are ever hopeful that these big followings will lead to big sales. This is particularly true with non-fiction books.

But if you’re a fiction author, having an established author platform is still important. It can be what sets you apart from the huge number of writers out there all vying to become published authors. According to Books + Publishing: “28 publishers produced over 100 titles in Australia in 2017. This figure has remained relatively stable over the past few years. Another 100 publishers produced between 20 and 99 titles (up from 91 the previous year) and 96 produced between 11 and 20 titles (up from 91).” When you consider that much of these lists are made up of books from already established authors, it doesn’t leave much room for debut authors. Then think of how many writers are vying to become one of these new published authors.

If you’ve already started building your author profile and platform, it shows an agent or publisher that you’re serious about making it in the industry. It makes your book proposal even more attractive to them. Of course, writing something amazing is still your number one goal. It’s of the most importance. Am I saying that having a big author platform will guarantee that you get published? No! But if a publisher is trying to decide between a couple of books to acquire, both well-written and with great sales potential, your sizeable author platform could tip the scales in your favour.

Publishing is a business and publishers want to publish books that sell. If you have thousands of people subscribing to your blog, or following you on Instagram, those stats help you get noticed. It takes some of the risk out of the publisher’s decision because you’re bringing an audience along with you.

Plus, the decision whether to acquire a new author and their book is not only made by the publisher – the sales, marketing and publicity team all have a say too. The heads of all these departments get together for an acquisition meeting and talk, not only about the quality of the writing, but it’s marketability.

They ask questions like: Does the author have an existing platform? Will this platform help the marketing team market the book? Does the author have personal connections that the publicity team can use to get the book media? Can the sales team leverage off this information to sell the book into book retailers? Are there already too many books like this one out in the market? But wait, the author has an interesting platform that could help sell this book, so let’s give them a go…

But don’t feel disheartened if you don’t have an author platform yet. Or if you do, but you only have a hundred Twitter followers. Everyone has to start somewhere. You just need to get started NOW. And it’s better to start now than one month before you get published. Because building an author platform and a community of engaged people takes time. It’s a long game, not a short game.

You might be thinking, but isn’t it the publisher’s job to market my book and get me an audience once I’m published? Of course, publishers will market your book, but first they have to agree to publish it.

The reality is that book publishing is like gambling. Every time a publisher takes on a new first-time author, they are taking a risk. They want to know that there is a chance betting on you and your book will pay off. If you come to the table with not only a fantastic book, but an impressive author platform then this will help them make their decision.

Do you need to build an author platform if you get a publishing deal?

If you’re lucky enough to get a publishing deal without an author platform, you might think that the marketing team will whip together one for you. They won’t. That’s all up to you. Publishing houses usually don’t have the time, budget or staff resources to create a platform from scratch for authors. They are too busy churning out hundreds of books a year. Every month, dozens of new books are released, all with their own budgets and marketing plans. You are one more author with one more book in this never-ending cycle.

There’s also the reality that many new release books (even debut novels) may have little to no marketing budget attached. Times are tough for publishers. Not every book gets a book launch or a big advertising budget. The lion’s share of the marketing budget is allocated to the books with the most chance of succeeding, such as books by already bestselling authors. Or a book by a famous person with a huge public profile. The greater a book’s print run, the more books need to be sold. Therefore, the more marketing budget is needed to promote that book.

Your book will only get a small marketing budget if it’s having a small print run. This lack of budget limits how the publisher’s marketing team can spread the word about your book. That’s not to say your team won’t work hard on your book. Your marketing team will do their best, regardless of the print run. With this in mind, your marketing team will love it if you come to them with some sort of author platform. Your existing connections and platform will help to strengthen their marketing plan for your book.

What can a book marketer do for your book if you have an author platform? They can help you reach readers through the network you’ve already built. As well as provide you with marketing collateral like posters, chapter samplers and bookmarks. They can even create digital assets like book trailers, web banners, email signatures and social media graphics for you to share via your platform. You can use your author platform to help promote any of your publisher’s marketing activity to your followers. Such as pre-order links, competitions, cover reveals, extracts, bookstore events and author signings.

When the social media manager posts about your book via the publisher’s social channels, they can tag your author page in these posts (Facebook, Instagram etc). Connecting you to the publisher’s vast network of followers. You may even gain more followers for your own platform. The marketing team can also help you set up giveaways that will boost your eNewsletter subscriber numbers and much more.

But if you don’t have a website, a social presence, nothing …it makes marketing your book with little to no budget challenging.

Do you need to continue building your platform AFTER your book’s publication?

Yes, you do! The marketing and publicity phase of the book cycle is short and sweet. As a marketer, I do most of my promotion in the lead-up to a book’s publication and the month or two after publication. Then it’s time to move on to other books. After that it’s up to you to promote yourself and your book. You should keep building on your network, attracting new readers and generating sales through your author platform. Continuing to work on your author platform will help keep the interest going in your book, long after your publisher’s marketing campaign is over.

This is something that can be hard for new authors to understand. Publishing is an endless monthly cycle of new books coming out. Book marketers would love to have the time and resources to keep pushing your book forever. But the reality is that there are new books coming out every month that need their attention. That’s not to say your book won’t get social mentions or some publicity attention if something noteworthy occurs after publication. Your book might be nominated for an award, or you are invited to speak at a writer’s festival. Both these examples involve extra marketing and publicity activity. Your book might also feature in book catalogues for Mother’s Day or Christmas or be mentioned from time to time via your publisher’s social team. But your marketing campaign is mostly over.

Booksellers also have to move on to the next cycle of books. Your book may be in book stores in large quantities for a few months and then booksellers will start returning unsold copies to the warehouse. Now it’s up to you and the author platform you’ve built to be the main promoter of your book. You need to keep building on your author platform and nurturing your readership and network.

Do you need an author platform if you’re self-publishing your book?

Yes! You need to build an author platform more than anyone. Why? Because promoting your book is completely up to you. Some self-publishing houses might offer you a marketing package. But again, you’ll need an author platform to help you reach readers. If you already know you want to self-publish, you need to start building your author platform NOW.

You won’t have the vast resources of a publishing house with a national sales team, publicists and marketers at their disposal. It’s just you, doing all these roles. You will need to identify and find where your target audience hangs out. And develop marketing strategies and promotions to reach them. The bigger your author platform, the larger your reach.

You’ll need a website to house information about you and your book. Social accounts to help spread the word about your book to readers. And you’ll need to find various ways to network with readers, bloggers, influencers and other writers. All who can help you promote your book.

The more people in your network, the greater number of readers you can reach. An author platform helps you build word of mouth and get readers onboard. These readers will in turn spread the word about your book to others.

Two more reasons to build an author platform

1. It gives your readers a place to connect with you

Have you ever read a book that you loved and then Googled the author? Maybe you wanted to read more about the author and get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of their book. Perhaps you wished to follow them on social media to find out about their events. Or you wanted to subscribe to their newsletter to find out when their next book is coming out. Or you had a burning question to ask about their book. But when you searched for them, they had no online presence. Or they only had a book page and author bio on their publisher’s website. What a missed opportunity for the author and you as a reader!

By having an author platform, you can keep your readers updated on your news and events about your books. You can share a behind-the-scenes look into your life and writing. You can let them know when your next book is coming out. Or when you have an author event coming up. You can run giveaways just for your followers and share samples of your work in progress. An author platform can help you find beta readers and reviewers for your next book. You can get readers excited about your upcoming books. Readers can become invested in you and your writing journey. And ready to go out and buy your next book.

You’ll also find that spending time to engage with readers via your author platform will help grow these platforms. The more people you reach, the more relationships you build, the more books you will sell. It’s as simple as that.

2. It increases your visibility as a writer and helps you network

An author platform is a great place to showcase your writing credentials. You can share other aspects of your writing — blog pieces on your writing process, funny stories about the ups and downs of the writing process. You can use your author platform to network in the writing community. Read and review other writers’ books. Interview other writers about their books. Do shout-outs and share the triumphs of fellow writers. Because chances are, they will do the same for you! You can use your platform to network and chat to other writers. They can share your writing journey and you can share theirs. You could even ask other writers to contribute to your blog and vice versa. That way you can tap into a new network of readers.

You can also share positive review quotes about your book via your author platform. As you build your community, you will find that you make friends and valuable connections. You might find that other authors and readers alike will be happy to promote your book on their own platforms. By nurturing relationships, many exciting possibilities for promotion will come your way organically. The more you give in the writing and book community, the more you will receive back.

Last thoughts on why you need to build an author platform NOW

An author platform doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to build. That’s why you need to start NOW! And whatever form it takes, you will have to keep on working on it. It may change overtime as one social platform gains popularity over the next. It may seem overwhelming, but you can do this! You just need to start.