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Platform Building Prompts

Mastodon is the fast-growing alternative to Twitter. Mastodon is similar to Twitter but it is not owned by any one person so rich people cannot buy it and spoil it. I recommend the Tusky app for Mastodon as that has worked out well for me. All platform prompts that talk […]

Discover Mastodon

21st January 2023 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Mastodon / social media / Twitter by Matthew Brown

woman holding black camera — We’ve suggested before that you need to make sure you have a good quality profile photograph. In addition to that, it can be helpful to have additional photographs that the press can use when writing about you. One way to get some great photographs are local photography clubs. Try contacting […]

Platform Building: Local photographers

14th January 2023 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / photograph by Matthew Brown

shallow focus photo of man holding floor brush ceramic figurine — It’s a brand new year so that means time to tidy up our social media. However, that would be boring so let’s make it into a game. Note: While this is about Twitter, you should be able to apply the same ideas to other social media things. Twitter clean up: […]

Platform Prompt: New year; new you: Twitter clean up

7th January 2023 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / social media / Twitter by Matthew Brown

people toasting wine glasses — As the year draws to a close, this is the perfect time to talk about the year ahead. You could create a blog post listing five (or seven, or ten…) things you hope to achieve this year. You could make a blog post on ten predictions (guesses) about the year […]

Platform Building Tip: The year ahead

31st December 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / blogging / new year by Matthew Brown

fashion man love people — Take some time off from your platform building and invest it in friends and family. It is the holidays and you deserve it.

All work and no play…

24th December 2022 in Platform Building Prompts by Matthew Brown

photo of a man sitting in front of a camera — This week, let’s focus on supporting characters. On your blog, post a short interview with a supporting character covering what they want (but can’t or can’t have), some memorable moments from their past, and a secret no one else knows. This helps in a number of ways: The post will […]

Platform tip: Supporting characters

17th December 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / blogging / character by Matthew Brown

person writing a to do list — This week try making a list post on your blog. List posts are easy to write and easy to read. What would “10 things only readers of Your Genre understand” read like? Other lists might include 7 things I wish authors would stop doing 12 things readers don’t understand about […]

Platform Building: Make a list and check it twice

10th December 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / blogging / lists by Matthew Brown

woman carrying a baby — One way to spread a little love and point your readers to something interesting is to review or profile another writer’s blog. The writer will love the attention, paying it forward is good karma, and your readers will learn to trust you to recommend things if your recommendations are consistently […]

Platform Building: Review a smaller blog

3rd December 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / blogs by Matthew Brown

close up of christmas decoration hanging on tree — The holidays are quickly approaching. Give yourself some time off by scheduling some blog content to publish while you focus on celebrating. Even if your posts just say “Happy Christmas” and has a cat picture, that’s more than letting the site go dead.

Platform Building: Prepare for the holidays

26th November 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / Christmas / scheduling by Matthew Brown

woman shouts on man using megaphone — While heated debate too often can be tiring, the occasional question that splits the audience can lead to a lively exchange. Try to think of a few hot button topics that your readers would likely respond well to. Especially if you address the theme or topic in your book(s). This […]

Platform Building: Experiment with controversial questions

19th November 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / questions by Matthew Brown

cheerful young woman screaming into megaphone — Streamline your social media posts by automating shares of your blog posts to social media. Depending on your blog platform there may be many tools available. WordPress, for example, has JetPack and many other auto-posting tools. You could also use dlvrit.com to read your blog feed and post it to […]

Platform Building: Auto share blog posts

12th November 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / blogs / feeds by Matthew Brown

light people woman art — This week, let’s focus on blog content. Try writing a post or two exploring some of the common clichés and tropes of your genre. This has three benefits. Your readers will have something they can reply to You signal your understanding of your genre Readers can get a sense of […]

Blogging Prompt: Clichés and Tropes

5th November 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / tropes by Matthew Brown