When it comes to being a self-published author, the most important thing isn’t actually your typed words on a page, it’s the relationship you have with your readers. So with this final lesson, we’ll touch on how you can develop that relationship and build a platform as an author.
If you already have a social media or blogger following, you know exactly what I mean by platform. You have a number of “followers” that have an interest in what your doing, and/or what your writing. So you can leverage those followers into readers and in turn sell books.
As previously discussed in an earlier lesson, there are millions of avenues you can use to market your book. From social media advertising to email campaigns, to search advertising. These channels can be effective but building your own platform can reduce your dependency on these expensive avenues. By growing your own platform (or following) you can increase your sales organically!
So how do you build your platform?
Get out there! Depending on your genre and target audience, you’ll want to have a website, social media page or pages and/or a mailing list. Research other authors in your genre and see what they’re doing, and figure out which technique is best for your readers.
Author’s Website: These are helpful for those in various different genres. If a readers falls in love with your book, they’ll surely google you! And if you have an author’s website, they’ll land on your page! This is one of the first steps to building an online presence. It’s a place you can call home, where someone can go to find every aspect of your author platform!
Social Media: If they made it to your website, they may search for you on Facebook or Twitter next. If you used your website to it’s capacity, you have links right on there to these social networks!
Social media, while it may be a handful, can be a great way to interact with your readers! You can easily share original content from blog posts, to podcast interviews. Or even spring for a giveaway! And when someone else has something to say about your content, you can comment or respond to their tweet! Interaction in the digital age!
Mailing List: These too can be a little tricky. Send updates too often and your readers may unsubscribe; leave them hanging and you may find that they loose interest. It’s a delicate game, but one you should partake in. As previously said, having a mailing list will give you the avenue to provide a more personal touch. You can provide them with exclusive access to your new work, or give them first dibs on being a pre-launch reader for your next book!
The idea is to share unique and valuable content on a regular basis. So set up a schedule that works for you, and start producing some sort of content for current and future fans! It doesn’t always have to be pieces of your work, and you don’t necessarily have to find your way onto someone’s podcast! You can post little blurbs about other books you like, or photos of your book out in the real world. Depending on your genre, you can tweet what you ate for breakfast and how it matches a character. Or quirky questions that opens it up for your fans to get involved!
By developing an authors platform, you’re giving your readers a place to explore, a place where they can stay engaged with you (their favorite author). And it’s also a way to expand your audience as new readers come across your work!
So that’s it. That’s all I’ve got (for now)! I hope this was helpful! And that you got something from this course!
If you want to see any of my other self-publishing recommendation, check out my Pinterest! (Which we haven’t talked much about because I’m new to it!) I have a board full of articles I’ve read on the topic! That sounds to daunting, follow me on twitter and ask me a question! Or tell me you hated my course! I swear you’re not intruding, I’d love to hear what you have to say!
Either way, thanks for sticking it out til the end!