What Is Your Author Platform?
The term author platform is popping up all over the place, but what exactly is an author platform? Essentially, your platform is based on your expertise. For nonfiction, this relates to the topic of your books. In some cases, your platform is obvious. For example, you’re a registered dietitian and former athlete who writes books about sports nutrition. If you write about a topic that doesn’t offer specific credentials (let’s say you write travel books about the Pacific Northwest), you can still develop a platform. You’ll just demonstrate your expertise in a different way.
Some authors have a different challenge — they write about multiple, unrelated topics. This used to be a challenge for me. My main area of expertise is technology, particularly anything related to the web or online marketing/PR. But I have a wide variety of interests and didn’t want to be pigeonholed. If this sounds like you, it’s still critical to develop a platform based on your main expertise. Having a platform doesn’t mean that you can never do anything else. But you should choose one area of focus, design all your communications vehicles (website, blog, etc.) about this focus.
What about fiction authors? Your platform, obviously, should focus on your genre. It’s even better to focus on a smaller niche. For example, get known for knitting mysteries, literary novels set in pre-WW II Europe, urban chick lit, etc. Even if you do write outside your niche from time to time, having one will help differentiate you from all the other novelists in your genre.
Tags: author platform, book marketing, book publicity, online book promotionRelated Posts
Second Edition of The Web-Savvy Writer Now Available
The second edition of The Web-Savvy Writer: Book Promotion with a High-Tech Twist
This edition contains extensive updates plus lots of new content about the ever-changing world of online book promotion. I cover the basics, such as author websites and Amazon promotion, and then delve into blogging, podcasting, social media, virtual book tours, book trailers, and more.
Tags: book marketing, book publicity, online book promotion, The Web-Savvy WriterRelated Posts
Book Promotion 2.0 Video
To celebrate the release of my latest book, The Web-Savvy Writer: Book Promotion with a High-Tech Twist, Second Edition, I created the following trailer. Hope that you enjoy watching it, and that it inspires you to create a trailer for your own book!
Tags: book marketing, book publicity, online book promotionRelated Posts
Promote Your Book on Social Networking Sites
If you participate on a social networking site, don’t forget to promote your book to your network. Just looking at the industry statistics should tell you why social networking book promotion is a smart idea:
- In June 2008, MySpace had 118 million unique visitors worldwide; Facebook had 132 million (an increase of 153 percent from the previous year).
- In December 2007, YouTube had 77.6 million viewers who watched 3.2 billion videos.
- Worldwide online social network ad spending is predicted to increase from $1.2 billion in 2007 to $2.2 billion in 2008.
- Mobile social networking is predicted to rise from 50 million to 174 million users by 2011.
- The top search term for all of 2006 was MySpace.
- Social networking isn’t just for teens. The largest audience segment is between 35 and 54, comprising 40 percent of total users.
Looking for a way to get started? Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook, XING, and MySpace. Also look for niche sites that fit your target reader profile. There are social networking sites for dog lovers, moms, skiers, surfers, mystery lovers, romance readers, and dozens more. To find them, just Google “social networking.”
Remember to follow the required etiquette of each site in terms of promotion. In general, you’ll get better results as an active participant than you will as a mere promoter.
Tags: book marketing, book publicity, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, online book promotionRelated Posts
Your Online Book Promotion Campaign: Is It Working for You?
This is a question that I’m asked quite often. As a busy author, you want to focus your promotional efforts where they count most. But it’s often difficult to determine what’s working and what’s not unless a very specific, isolated promotion generates a huge volume of sales. I love analyzing things and have a very detailed system for tracking my sales success. Here are some basic tips:
- Keep a detailed log of all your book promotion efforts. Track articles published online, posts on your blog and other blogs, press releases, ezine promotions, and anything else you do to promote your books.
- Track your sales statistics. Amazon and B&N sales ranks, royalty statements from publishers, and your own sales data (if you’re self-published) are all important.
- Track your web statistics. Use the web analytics tool your web host provides or a third-party tool such as the free Google Analytics to see where your traffic is coming from and when.
Using these three pieces of information, you should be able to get a clear idea of which promotional efforts are paying off in terms of sales, web traffic, or both.
Tags: book marketing, book publicity, online book promotionRelated Posts
Promoting Your Book When You Have No Time to Promote
Not having enough time to promote is one of the most common complaints I hear from authors. Yes, book promotion takes time, but you won’t sell many books without it. Here’s a trio of tips to make the process easier:
- Focus your time on the publicity efforts that generate the best results. You’ll soon know whether a mention on a blog or published article results in a surge in book sales. In addition, track your web statistics to see where your traffic is coming from and when. Google Analytics is a good tool for this. Drop the publicity efforts that aren’t paying off in favor of those that are.
- Create a calendar of book promotion activities. For example, you may want to publish one article a month, create a press release every quarter, update your blog twice a week, and comment on other blogs and discussion boards weekly. Factor time in your schedule for the promotional efforts that are working and it starts to become a habit.
- Outsource the tasks you don’t have time for. If you can afford it, consider hiring a virtual assistant or intern to handle some of the more routine promotional tasks. If your budget is tight, try the family approach. Skilled teens, retirees, or stay-at-home moms may have the time to help out the author in their family.
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Be Daring: Try Something New
Try one new publicity idea at a regular interval–either monthly or quarterly, depending on your available time. I know you’re busy, but unless your current promotions are resulting in thousands of new book sales, you need to keep trying new things to continue generating publicity, particularly for a book that’s been available for a while.
Some ideas could take considerable effort to implement, such as creating your own podcast, but others take only a few minutes of your time. This blog, my special reports, and my audio products provide plenty of inspiration for new things to try.
Tags: book marketing, book publicity, online book promotionRelated Posts
Focus on Your Audience
One of the most important rules of online book promotion — or any form of promotion for that matter — is to focus on your audience. Here are three tips for developing a reader-focused online book promotion campaign:
- Develop an audience profile. Knowing who might potentially buy your book and the sites they visit on the web is your key to success. Naturally, this is easier if your book is on a tightly targeted topic. But even if you’ve written a general interest book or novel, you can still develop some form of profile.
- Once you have that profile, focus your promotional efforts on the sites your audience frequents and the type of content to which they would most likely respond. For example, let’s say you wrote a book about skiing. Your audience could potentially visit websites devoted to skiing or to travel areas frequented by skiers. They could also respond favorably to your own site full of skiing advice and short ski-related video clips.
- Remember to focus on the interests of your audience, not your own personal interests. Many authors focus on online promotion techniques that interest them rather than their audience. Cool new technologies like video book trailers, multimedia, and podcasts work great for some books, but not so great for others. Pick the tools and techniques that will make your audience respond.
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Recycle Your Blog Content for Even More Publicity
Recently, reader Jane Beman asked my opinion about recycling blog posts. Actually, I think this is a great idea. It’s a big timesaver and also gets your message out to a wider audience.
I’ve taken material from my blog posts and reposted on my Amazon plog and on others’ blogs. I’ve also expanded blog posts into articles and created blog posts from sections of articles. Also consider converting blog posts into ezine tips and discussion group postings.
The only caveat is to be wary of recycling when someone expects original material (for example, you’re being paid to blog or write an article). Otherwise, get creative and start thinking of new ways to reposition your existing content.
Tags: author blogs, book marketing, book publicity, online book promotionRelated Posts
15 Favorite Ways to Develop Your Author Platform
Here are my 15 favorite ways to develop your author platform. Please use comments to add your own. And don’t forget to read my original post on author platforms below!
- Get credentials related to your specialty
- Join and participate in professional associations
- Create a website that demonstrates your expertise
- Publish a blog
- Publish a podcast
- Write and publish articles (online or in print publications)
- Publish an ezine
- Volunteer or do perform pro bono work
- Serve on committees and panels
- Teach — online and off
- Get quoted in magazines and newspapers
- Participate in social networks
- Give speeches
- Get on radio and TV
- Create a PR campaign — both online and off
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About the Author
I'm a freelance writer and author specializing in business technology.