Lisa Tener

Book Writing Coach

author's platform

Blogging: The Fastest Way to Grow Your Author Platform

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writing coach Lisa Tener
Your Writing Coach

On a phone call last week with one of my clients and her new literary agent, the agent mentioned how pleased she was with the author’s platform. I was thrilled to hear it since, not long ago, the author had almost no platform.

What changed? She started her own blog about a year ago and, several months ago, pitched a blogging column to a major blogging platform. She’s not the first of my clients to dramatically grow a platform through blogging.

In fact, blogging is the easiest way to grow your platform and develop the kind of following agents and publishers now require for their authors.

Having said that, it’s easy to waste one’s time writing a blog no one reads. So, how do you create a successful blog? Here are a few blogging tips.

 

writing a book? Know your reader
Write your blog for the people who will buy and read your book.

1. Pick a Clear Niche Audience: Certainly, write for the same people who will buy and read your book. Some bloggers have success combining more than one interest—yoga and writing, business and spirituality, dogs and painting. You can develop a nice niche audience that way of people who connect more deeply with your message, but that can also be risky. You can lose many readers if they’re interested in your yoga posts but not your writing posts. If you have many interests, try to always tie them back to the central interests of your readers.

2. Have a Big Goal in Mind: If you want to eventually write for the Huffington Post, WebMD or Psychology Today, read other bloggers there. Comment thoughtfully. Spread the word about posts related to your expertise through social media. This way, you’ll a) get a feeling for the kind of posts that blog picks up b) develop relationships with bloggers on that network and c) be seen as a voice in that field already.

3. Invite Engagement: One of the main differences between blog posts and old fashioned news is the interactivity and discussion that posts can generate. How do you invite engagement? At the end of your post, ask a question of your readers or invite them to share their experiences or opinions.

Are you blogging? If so, share what’s worked for you.

If you’re just starting out as a blogger, what are your biggest challenges?

And if you’re not blogging, what’s holding you back?

Author’s Platform? What’s That and How Do I Get One?

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If you’ve spent any time around people in the publishing industry, or attended a conference about getting your nonfiction or how-to book published, you’ve probably heard the term platform. An author’s platform refers to your fan base, and the media vehicles you already use to reach people with your message.

Your internet platform includes your blog, online articles you publish, your presence on facebook(pages, profile, friends, groups), your twitter presence, blogcasts, an internet radio show, videos on youtube and other sites, your website and the amount of traffic it gets. When people visit your website they should have the opportunity to become part of your community or fan-base. Perhaps they subscribe to your blog or newsletter. Maybe you offer a free tip list or mini-course in exchange for their e-mail address and first name. Here’s an example of how to enroll people in a free course.

Your platform also includes everyone on your mailing list. You want to build that list through your website, speaking engagements, courses, and however else you can. Ideally, you aren’t just collecting names. You communicate with your mailing list and offer value to them.

Another area of platform is your traditional media base–articles in magazines and newspapers that have featured or quoted you, TV or radio interviews, as well as any articles you’ve written and published, or radio or TV shows you host.

The term actually comes from the speaker’s podium, or platform, and public speaking, teaching workshops or seminars and other public appearances also compose your platform, as do any memberships you have in local, regional and national organizations.

If you don’t have an extensive platform and you want to get published or promote your self-published book successfully, it’s time to develop it now.

Small Publisher or Work on My Platform & Hold Out for the Majors?

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What would you do in her shoes? Today I received an e-mail from a client asking me “writing coach” advice. I’ve changed a few details to protect her anonymity. It’s the kind of question you might be asking yourself, even if you don’t have a publisher yet.

“Lisa, I was offered a “direct” publishing contract for my book by a small independent publisher.  They were very excited about the book…(came to me through a friend) and though they don’t do a lot in my genre, they want to use my book to break into this market.

“They offered me a very small author’s advance ($16K).  My agent advised that I turn them down…and work to build my platform [national audience, mailing list, reach]– then go to a bigger, brand name publisher, where I might get better attention and more money.

“What do you think?  I’m torn…would love to get the book published and ‘out there’ … but also like the idea of getting a better known publisher behind me…even though this will take more time and effort on my part.”

My answer isn’t cut and dry.  Is $16K a bad advance? Not for a first book. In fact, a typical advance for a first book is around $3K – $4K. Could this author get a bigger advance? Yes. Is it worth waiting? Maybe. Let’s look at the issues: effort, money, timing.

Effort: Either way, she’ll need to build her platform– before or after the book deal–if she wants to sell books.  So the platform will need to be built. That effort remains equal.

In terms of effort to get books into bookstores, she needs to get a better sense of the sales force and past performance of this publisher. How big a run are they planning? How effective is their sales force? To whom does the sales force sell? Is it a match? If not, this author may have to spend alot of time trying to get her books in stores.

In terms of publicity, she can probably expect to expend equal effort with either publisher, but she shouldn’t assume that. She should ask the small press what they would do. Perhaps, if they want to get into this market, they’re willing to do more publicity than average.

Money: Yes, she could make more money with a big publisher, certainly in the short run with her advance.

Timing: Does she want to have the book out within a year? Will it help her reach other current goals, such more public speaking, more consulting clients? If so, the small press might be a good bet.

But if she wants to have a bestseller, she probably needs to focus on building her platform before the book comes out. Of course, even if she signs a contract today with the small press, she has some time before publishing to focus on building her platform. Yet the waiting strategy would probably provide time for a bigger, more solid platform.

What would you do in her shoes?

Is it Harder to Sell a Book to Publishers in a Recession?

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The unfortunate answer to this question is, “Yes.”  Yet, sometimes, “Obstacles can be turned into opportunities,” as my friend Patricia Raskin is fond of saying.

I sent an e-mail to an agent two days ago for a very exciting how-to book, with a clear audience, from a first time author with some regional (but not national) platform. Platform refers to your current audience–the people who are on your mailing list, reading your articles, coming to your talks or workshops, reading your blog, etc.

The agent wrote back that she “LOVES” (and, yes, she used capital letters) the book concept, but doesn’t think she could sell it unless the author has a national, or otherwise significant, platform. The author decided to beef up her platform before showing the proposal to agents.

What does this mean for you? The lessons here are:

1.  If you want to find a traditional publisher, you need to be working on your platform. A great book concept, sample chapters, and even a killer promotion plan, may not be enough to get you a contract nowadays.

2. The good news is that this makes the competition narrower. If you can beef up your platform, you have less competition.

3.  In addition, the work you do now on creating a platform will make it much easier to sell many books when your book is published.

You don’t have to do everything when expanding your platform–blogging, making and posting viral videos, public speaking, teaching workshops, writing national magazine articles, interviewing on TV, radio, and newspapers, syndicating a column, creating your own internet radio show, social networking, social marketing, pay per click advertising, website SEO…

You can pick a couple of areas to focus on and grow your platform in those areas. At the same time, you may not want to put all your eggs in one basket. Pick two or three areas for best success.

Be strategic about your activities. So many people on the internet want to sell you a single tactic for book sales or platform growth–sit back and develop a strategy that matches your strengths and goals.

Once you’ve created a strategy, find an expert, mentor or class to help you implement effectively, efficiently and successfully.

And, yes, self-publishing is a viable option, too. But if you want to sell books, whether your book is self published or traditionally published, you’ll still need that platform for book sales. You’ll be glad you developed it when you have that book in your hands and you’re ready to get it into the hands of readers everywhere.

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