Author Platform

An author’s platform is the totality of the author’s ability to command or engage the interest of others. Specifically the author’s ability to engage the interest of potential readers. Typically, a platform strategy would include a blog, social media, press releases, and a mailing list.

It might be said that an author’s platform is the number of people that they can reach who will be happy to hear from them.

For a detailed introduction to Author Platforms please see our post “A comprehensive introduction to author platforms“.

See also: Followers, Fans, and Readers

Related concepts: Publicity, Audience, and PR

top view of a cup of coffee and and variour other items n top of the november month calender — National Novel Writing Month is coming up soon (November). On your blog, schedule a few short writing tips for your fellow writers. This not only brings timely advice to your readers who are also writers but gives you a chance to play to your strengths as a writer. If you […]

Platform Building: NaNoWriMo

29th October 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / NaNoWriMo / scheduling by Matthew Brown

happy friends hugging each other — Some blogs (like this one) accept content from guest writers. Guest posts give the blog’s readers a fresh voice and allow the writer to reach new people. Share some of your strengths as a writer by writing content for other people’s blogs. Don’t forget to leave at least one link […]

Platform Building: Try guest posting

22nd October 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / blogging by Matthew Brown

woman holding microphone standing in front of crowd — One way to build attention and create a buzz is to hold an AMA. AMA stands for Ask Me Anything. AMAs are quite a big Reddit thing but you could answer questions live on most social media platforms. If you think your followers are attentive enough, you could do a […]

Platform tip: Schedule an AMA

15th October 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged AMA / Author Platform / social media by Matthew Brown

man in blue and brown plaid dress shirt touching his hair — Ask your readers about what challenges and problems they struggle with. We rarely find anyone showing an interest in our problems so when someone does we feel drawn to them. By being genuinely interested in your community, you will build stranger bonds and brand loyalty.

Platform Building: ask your readers about their pain points

8th October 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / pain / questions by Matthew Brown

woman reading book — Give your readers something to whet their appetites. Craft a side story involving one of your characters – it does not need to be the main protagonist. Publish this story on your blog or on another story sharing site. This works well because readers can get a sense of your […]

Platform Building: Share a short side-story

1st October 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / short stories / side story by Matthew Brown

shallow focus of letter paper — On social media as well as on your blog, make a point of replying to as many people as possible. If a follower, reader, or visitor has taken the time to say something or ask a question – get in there and offer a reply. If nothing else, this will […]

Platform Building: Engage in a “week of replies”

24th September 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / blogs / reply / social media by Matthew Brown

person holding whiteboard — On your prefered social media platform, ask your followers some open-ended questions. You might also want to post a poll. This benefits you in two ways: First, your followers are enticed to interact with you which is usually good for the algorithm. Second, you will have a pre-made blog post […]

Platform Building: Ask some questions

17th September 2022 in Uncategorised tagged Author Platform / questions / social media by Matthew Brown

man running on paved road — The true elegance of writing contests as an author is that you never have to mention the ones you did not win; only the ones you won. A shiny list of competitive writing contest wins that you have been awarded will impress readers, agents, and publishers alike. I like to […]

Platform tip: Enter writing contests

10th September 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / Competitions by Matthew Brown

abstract art cobweb connection — Author Buzz is introducing IndieWeb features – something we hinted at a few months ago. What is IndieWeb and why should authors use it? First the boring answer IndieWeb is a community of people building software to enable independent websites to maintain their social data on their own web domains. […]

What is the IndieWeb and how can it help authors?

7th September 2022 in Social Media tagged Author Platform / blogs / IndieWeb by Matthew Brown

man playing wind instrument — Your website or blog needs an about page. That page should be all about you. It should answer common questions the press might ask and supply common things bloggers might want to use when they write about you – like quotes, a photograph, and some biographical information. I call this […]

Platform tip: Your about page

3rd September 2022 in Platform Building Prompts tagged Author Platform / press information by Matthew Brown

As an author, you are going to have to show your face sooner or later. You might as well invest in that one recognisable headshot now. Putting a face to your name makes you seem more trustworthy and a single image that you use everywhere gives you an easy to […]