Writing.Com General Discussion

It's called Author Platform. It's the whole package that makes you marketable and enables you to promote.

It's your skillset, who you know and your audience

What I know:
I researched the heck out of publishing and the craft of writing
I am technical and can setup up my own site, etc.
I am funny and witty

Who I know:
Writers lower on the ladder ask questions, and I can answer them, that earns me street cred with them and they MIGHT check out my book or pass it along to others.


I know authors that are ahead of me. When folks ask questions, I can route them to these people for specific help/advice (ex. I've mentioned Mike Kowis's self-pub book a few times). In turn, when a local small convention needed another guest panelist, a writer asked me. That got me more exposure to audience and experience being on a panel. If that went well, I may get invited back for more panels in more places because that author is hooked into the events network (Covid put a crimp in that plan...)

Who knows me:
I built my website with a blog on it. It has varied topics, but now and then I write about writing or author platform building. Then in the various writing groups I am in (using the same author name on site and social media), I can answer a question with a link to one of my articles. I look smarter, helpful, and convert another person to my audience. Plus Google started finding me in all those places because of the links, which promotes me as an answer guy the next time somebody searches for that question. Likewise, I am in groups discussing my genres (ex. Urban Fantasy). Now and then I'll write a short story and on the right day, I can share a link in those groups. Keep in mind, I also participate as a fan. So people get to know me, which makes them more interested and likely to have a the "oh cool, you also write, I'll check it out" response.

I don't have a book out yet, but I already have more than 3K followers on twitter. I've a smaller direct following on FB as that works a bit differently. But when my book is ready, I have a better chance of getting some sales and some reviews because some people know me. It's that simple. I will sell zero books if all I did was put it on Amazon and wait. And it'll be harder to start from scratch on launch day without having those early followers.

If you'd like, I'll post a link to my author platform series, which describes the steps from name picking, card design to site and social media management. it also has links to the books and articles I bought and read on the subject.