Author Buzz

Where Authors & Readers find each other

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

green leafed tree — Did you know that acorns and squirrels can teach us something about selling books? Stick with me, and you will see exactly what I mean. 1. Grow then flower: Build your online presence first A tree does not invest effort into blossoms until it has first established itself. Likewise, if […]

10 things trees can teach authors about online marketing

31st January 2022 in Sell more books tagged Author Platform / books / readers / social media / trees by Matthew Brown

man in blue suit — Do you want to know how to use Author Buzz to generate SEO, book promotion, and buzz generation? I assume you do. After all, you just clicked on this article. Author Buzz UK Basics At the heart of a good Author Buzz strategy is a well-defined user account. It pays […]

How to use Author Buzz UK like a boss

3rd January 2022 in Uncategorised tagged Author Platform / blogs / groups / guide / readers by Matthew Brown

It was my birthday recently and with that day came a perfect case study on how to not promote a book. In this post, I am going to break down three things: What the author did wrong, why it was a bad idea, and a few suggested changes that should […]

How not to promote a book on Facebook: A case ...

25th September 2021 in Social Media tagged Author Platform / case study / Facebook / spam by Matthew Brown

“I know I need an author platform,” say some writers, “but I don’t feel ready to set one up right now.” You are never going to feel like it. Platforms need time to grow. A lot of time. The most optimal time to start platform building is two years ago. […]

You are never going to feel like it

23rd November 2020 in Publicity tagged Author Platform / blogging / blogs / social media / Twitter by Matthew Brown

For us authors, our biggest and most important brand is our own name. That means when people Google us, the first result should be our own. Let us take a look at how you get content about your name to the top of the search results for your name. 1. […]

Getting your name out there as an author

15th November 2020 in Publicity tagged Author Platform / name / self-promotion by Matthew Brown

books — Is it possible to get more book sales on, say, Amazon without advertising? Can it be done and if so how? Let’s be honest, what most authors want is to sell more books. It would be nice if there was a set of secret magical words that could just keep […]

How do you get more book sales without advertising?

16th May 2020 in Sell more books tagged Amanda Palmer / Author Platform / email list / lists / self-promotion / sell more books / start a movement by Matthew Brown

Whenever I read advice about authors building a platform it is always something you have to do alone. Why? Who says a platform cannot be shared, social, and collaborative? This is why I created Author Buzz. Rather than each of us labouring alone, we can collaborate and each benefits from […]

Collaborative platform building for authors

8th May 2020 in Author Buzz tagged Author Platform / blogs / collaboration / free / sell more books by Matthew Brown

sheep — I wrote recently about my hatred of email lists and now I have a new approach that I hope will totally replace email – relationships. Lorraine Hamilton wrote an article a few years ago about giving up on lists and doing something better. As soon as I read it, I […]

Screw lists – build relationships

25th July 2019 in Publicity tagged Author Platform / email list by Matthew Brown

Starting last night I began work on the most comprehensive guide to author platforms. The author platforms guide was so big I had to put it in its own site. I am busy filling the pages of the site with useful information, videos, and links just as quickly as I […]

The complete guide to Author Platforms

12th July 2019 in Site News tagged Author Platform / guide by Matthew Brown

Author Buzz UK is, fundamentally, a social network for authors. British authors in particular but all writers, authors, readers, publishers, and agents are equally welcome. In this post we will take a look at the ways you can use Author Buzz as a social network and where else you might […]

A social network for authors

27th June 2019 in Social Media tagged Author Platform / authors / blogs / directory / Facebook / Good Reads / groups / Reddit / Social Network / Stack Exchange / Tumblr / Twitter by Matthew Brown

hand reaching up — Your reach as an author is pretty much the only limiting factor when it comes to selling books. The more people you can reach and get interested in you and your writing, the more books you can sell. That reach your author platform. Here are seven things you can do […]

7 things that will improve your reach as an author

3rd June 2019 in Publicity tagged Author Platform / blogging / social media / theme by Matthew Brown

Tumblr is a hybrid of a blogging platform and social media. It can be used to reach out to new audience members nut it can also be used in ways that no was probably not the intention of anyone who created it. These are some of the more creative uses […]

How to (ab)use Tumblr for fun and profit

27th May 2019 in Social Media tagged Author Platform / SEO / Tumblr / Twitter by Matthew Brown