How to Build Your Author Platform
Are you an aspiring author dreaming of publishing your novel? Or maybe you’ve already published, but you’re looking for a way to increase book sales.
Either way, if this post sparked your curiosity, you’re searching for a way to create a thriving writing career that allows you to earn a living doing what you love — writing fiction.
The answer is building an author platform that grows your audience.
You need to market your work to increase book sales, and an author platform helps you do just that. In this post, I will walk you through the steps to set up your author platform.
You can get started today even if you haven’t published a book. In fact, the sooner you start, the better because growing an audience takes time.
Here’s a bonus …
I’m also going to show you how to monetize your author platform. Not only will you learn how to grow an audience to increase book sales, but I will also show you how to create additional sources of passive income with your platform.
You can skip this step if you are solely focused on increasing book sales, but here are some pretty compelling reasons why you should consider creating multiple sources of income with your platform:
- Your author platform can open the door to different passive income sources, not just book sales.
- Your passive income will come in handy when your book-writing income fluctuates.
This isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. The steps I will share require effort, time, problem-solving, and patience, but you will see results if you put in the work.
So, if you’re ready to take the first step to thrive as a writer, keep reading.
What is an Author Platform?
An author platform is your online space to market your work and connect with your audience. Generally, it’s made up of your website, content, social media, and email list.
When all these pieces work together, you have a platform to establish yourself as a serious writer and the marketing foundation for book sales.
The truth is that writing a great book isn’t enough to create a successful writing career in today’s competitive publishing world.
You need a way to market your books. This is true whether you go the traditional publishing route or want to be a self-published author.
An Author Platform Helps You Get Noticed
Your author platform establishes your brand, helps you gain visibility, and creates the connections you need to market your books.
In the publishing industry, having a strong author platform can make all the difference.
Authors with an online presence and a loyal following are a big plus for publishers and literary agents because book marketing will be easier.
An established author platform provides credibility and reassurance to industry professionals that your work has an existing audience.
A strong author platform can demonstrate your ability to connect with readers and promote your work, which is a big plus when seeking a book deal.
Your Platform Helps You Connect with Future Readers
An author platform lets you connect directly with readers and build a community around your work. You can share updates, start conversations, and form relationships with your audience through your platform.
Connecting with your ideal readers helps you understand their interests and create loyalty and trust. Building strong relationships with your audience can turn into book sales and a dedicated fan base.
The good news is you don’t have to be a published author to start your platform. You can start today!
Phases to Building Your Author Platform
Building an author platform and monetizing it will require new skills. But don’t panic because you can master these skills with practice and consistency. Here are the key phases and steps to build a profitable platform:
Phase One – Set up the foundation
- Decide on your ideal audience
- Choose a niche
- Create your visual brand
Phase Two – Build your platform
- Set up your website
- Open social media accounts
- Set up your email marketing strategy
Phase Three – Add a blog to your website
- Start a blog and publish consistent content
Phase Four – Choose a monetization strategy.
- Beginner and advanced strategies
Phase Five – Grow your platform
- Implement SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Pinterest, and social media strategies to generate traffic to your platform.
Phase One – Set Up Your Foundation
Before you get into the building, monetizing, and growth aspects of your platform, you have to set up the foundation.
This involves deciding on the following:
- The audience you want to attract with your platform
- The value you want to offer your audience when they visit your platform.
- The impression you want to make on your audience.
Let’s dive into each part of setting up the foundation.
Step 1: Choose Your Audience
What type of audience do you want to attract? This audience should include your future readers—those who will buy your books. Better yet, buy them on preorder.
In marketing, you will hear the word “ideal customer avatar.”
An ideal customer avatar is a fictional person who helps you understand where to find your ideal audience and how to help them. Think of it as creating a character for your writing business.
For example, my ideal client is Jenn. She’s an aspiring author in her 30s to early 40s who loves to read YA books and is a major fan of Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone series. She dreams of quitting her job to finish her novel and follow in Leigh’s footsteps.
Now it’s your turn. Using Jenn as an example, develop your ideal customer avatar. Give her a name, age, likes, and wants.
Get specific, but don’t overthink this. Just go with your intuition. You can always come back and flesh out your avatar a little more.
Step 2: Get Specific About Your Niche
A niche refers to a segment of the market you will focus on. I like to think of it in terms of the value I want to offer my ideal client, which will give me an idea of the market I want to focus on.
For example, Jenn, my ideal client, wants to quit her job so she can work on her novel full-time.
So, to help her, I will teach her how to set up her author platform and monetize it to generate book sales and passive income. I have experience setting up websites and knowledge of how to monetize those websites.
Jenn also loves to read YA fantasy, so I will share how I save money buying books. After all, Jenn will need a good book to read when she takes a break from building her platform, so why not help her save money?
Also, since I write YA fantasy, I know Jenn will love my novel when it’s finished, so I’ll keep her updated on how the writing is going.
In niche terms, I am in the creative writing niche with an emphasis on entrepreneurship or in other words Authorpreneurship. This is my perfect niche because I love reading, creative writing, and entrepreneurship.
The important thing in choosing a niche is that you enjoy the topic. You will be motivated to consistently create content for your author platform because you enjoy the topic.
Don’t be afraid to get specific with your niche. While it may seem counterintuitive, niching down can help you stand out in a crowded online space.
Now, it’s your turn to find a niche.
The long-term goal is book sales, so your ideal customer will be other writers, book lovers, or both (like me).
If your ideal customer is a book lover, here are some potential niches:
- How to save on books (book boxes, discount stores, etc.) Help readers save money on their next favorite book.
- Gifts for book lovers. You can make the art of gift-giving easier.
- Technology for book lovers. Everyone loves a good gadget that makes reading life easier.
If your ideal customer is a fellow writer, potential profitable niches are:
- Writing advice and tips. Help new writers figure out their plot.
- Productivity and organization. Help writers manage their time to achieve their writing goals.
- Self-care and wellness. Writers can use self-care to stay creative.
The possibilities are endless. Remember, the more specific and unique your niche is, the easier it is to find an audience to connect with your content and help them.
Step 3: Establish Your Visual Author Brand
Your author brand is the perception you will create in your audience’s mind.
Your brand is what makes you different from other fellow writers. It’s a way to show who you are, what you’re about, and what your audience can expect from your work.
A well-defined brand helps readers recognize and remember you. This makes book promotion easier.
Creating a brand is a whole process in itself. Business schools dedicate entire classes to the subject. But you’re not designing a brand for a mega-corporation. You are designing your author brand.
To keep things simple, you will focus on your visual brand, which includes your brand personality, fonts, and colors. You will carry this brand through your website and social media channels.
Your brand personality will likely match the type of stories you write. Is it whimsical, mystery, or fantasy? Here are some author examples to get your creativity going:
Jenny Han – Feel good and romantic.
Leigh Bardugo – Dark Fantasy
Stephanie Garber – Whimsical
Once you decide on your brand personality, your next step is to pick fonts and colors to match. To help you in this process, I’ve created a Brand Board template in Canva. You can download a copy and edit the template by requesting access to the Writer’s Library below.
Phase Two – Build Your Platform
Step 4: Create a Professional Author Website
Your website is the center of your author platform. It’s where readers, agents, and publishers can learn more about you and your work. To create your author website, you will need the following:
- Domain Name: This is your web address. I recommend going with your name, such as http://www.sarajenniferlee.com. If your name is taken, consider adding the word “books” or “author” to the domain, such as http://www.adrieneyoungbooks.com or http://www.stephaniegarberauthor.com. I purchased my domain name via Bluehost.com. It’s easy and affordable.
- Website Hosting: You will need a web hosting account, which is a service that provides you with storage space to house your website and content online. Blue Host is a one-stop shop for domains and hosting services.
- Choose a Website Theme: A theme is the layout of your site. Many people get stuck here because they think they need a fancy website. The name of the game is to keep it simple. Here’s an easy-to-set-up theme:
- About Me Page: Your author bio page is where you introduce yourself to your readers. Share your background, writing journey, and what inspires you as a fiction writer.
- Legal Pages: You need a few pages on your website to make it legally compliant. Especially if you intend to make money with your website, at the bare minimum, you need a Privacy Policy Page, Disclaimer Page, and Terms and Conditions. To make things super easy, consider buying attorney-drafted templates. They are super affordable.
- Book Page: Showcase your work-in-progress and published works, including book covers and blurbs.
- Contact Information: This page makes it easy for readers and industry professionals to contact you.
Step 5: Establish a Social Media Presence
Social media is a great way to find your tribe, connect with readers, and expand your reach to promote your work.
Establishing a social media presence takes time, so choosing the right platform for you and your target audience is important. Here’s an idea of the audience you can find on each platform:
- Facebook is a popular social media platform for men and women aged 35 to 44. You can create a Facebook page to share updates, engage with readers, and join relevant writing groups.
- Most users on X (Formerly Twitter) are between 25 and 34. On X, you can share snippets of your writing, interact with readers and fellow new authors, and participate in writing-related conversations using hashtags.
- Instagram is the place for people between the ages of 16 and 24. If you’re a YA author, Instagram is the place to be. Instagram is also a good fit if you enjoy posting visual content like photos and videos. You can share content related to your writing process and book covers and offer glimpses of your life as an author.
- TikTok: Just about everyone is on TikTok. So, it’s a great social media platform for most authors. If you enjoy making videos, TikTok has easy editing tools you’ll enjoy.
Consistency is key when it comes to social media. Once you start, it’s important to post regular content and respond to comments and messages.
But don’t feel you have to be everywhere at once. It’s okay to take it one step at a time and start on one platform before starting on another.
Or if you’re just an Instagram person and want to stick to Instagram, that’s fine, too.
You can also wait to start on social media after your website is up and running. Multitasking is not our friend. Focusing on one part of your author platform before moving to the next is a great strategy.
Remember, slow and steady wins the race.
Step 6: Set Up Your Email Marketing
The sooner you start an email list, the better. It’s one of the best ways to promote your content. Even better than social media.
Setting up an email list and newsletter lets you connect with your target audience by delivering tailored content they’re interested in, which, over time, helps develop relationships.
Email marketing is how you communicate with your audience.
Email marketing is also the best way to monetize your author platform. Who better to buy what you offer than the community you’ve been engaging with?
Think of it this way. Your email list is better than social media. While both allow you to connect with your audience, only email marketing is an asset for your writing business.
Your email list is an asset that you own. That’s not the case for your social media accounts, which you can easily lose access to.
If Instagram locks you out, you can still access your email list. It’s all about the email addresses and not social media followers.
Phase Three – Decide Your Content Strategy
Step 7: Start a Blog
Now that you have your ideal client, niche, and website all set, it’s time to learn how to produce content.
You can deliver your content by writing blog posts, recording podcasts, or videos.
Writing blog posts is the easiest way to start. That’s why I recommend starting a blog. You can add podcasts or videos down the road.
Too busy to start a blog?
You might think it will take too long to start a blog and write posts, but with AI, you always have options when you’re in a time crunch.
I recommend writing your own posts, but if time is an issue, technology has made the process easier and faster.
Ideally, you want at least five blog posts on your site before launch. This will give your readers some content to explore while you continue building your website and blog.
Writing blog posts involves a few steps, like learning keyword research and SEO optimization. I will share more about this in later blog posts.
But for now, I recommend learning the format of writing a post before diving into the technical aspects of blog post optimization. Here’s a helpful video to get you started.
Phase Four – Choose a Monetization Strategy
Step 8: Monetization Strategies
And now, the moment you have been waiting for – strategies to earn passive income.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to start earning income. Especially as a new blogger because you can earn income without creating your own product.
When you sign up for an affiliate program, you are assigned a unique link to share with your audience, and when they click on your link and make a purchase, you receive a commission.
The key to affiliate marketing is to focus on products that will help your “ideal customer” solve a problem. Always focus on delivering value to your audience.
For Jenn, my ideal client, who wants to start her own author website, I can share my Bluehost link so she can get a good deal on her domain and web hosting. I personally use Bluehost, trust them, and know Jenn will also have a good experience.
You want to share products that have been helpful to you and that you trust.
Digital Products
Once you master affiliate marketing, you can expand into creating your own digital products.
Digital products include printables, ebooks, planners, etc. The sky is the limit. Again, the key is to create digital products that solve a problem for your ideal client.
For example, going back to my ideal client, Jenn, I could create a planner that helps her organize the steps to build her author platform.
Jenn wants to quit her job to write full-time, so she’s decided to build and monetize her platform. I can create a planner that outlines all the steps, helps her set goals, and keeps her on track.
Online Courses
To expand the products you offer, consider creating an online course. This strategy takes time and effort, so I recommend starting with affiliate marketing and digital products.
However, once you are ready, selling online courses is a great way to make passive income. Online courses allow you to expand the information you share on your blog.
Thinking of Jenn, I can create a course that takes her step by step through setting up her author platform and implementing monetization strategies. This course would be great for her because she has spent time on my blog and learned the process, but she’s ready for more in-depth lessons.
The great thing about having an author platform with a website is that you now have the option to implement several monetization strategies. To learn more about monetizing and creating passive income, check out “The Best Passive Income Streams for Writers.”
Phase Five – Grow Your Platform
Blog traffic is the number of visitors to your website, and it plays an important role in building your online presence and income potential.
Driving engaged traffic to your site is super important if you want to grow a community of readers and generate income through book sales and other passive sources.
Step 9: Generate Website Traffic
There are a few ways to bring traffic to your website and blog.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
SEO is all about tasks that get your content to rank and show up in search engine results. The main SEO step to improve your content’s ranking is keyword research. This means that in your content, you included keywords and phrases about your blog topic that people search for.
My preferred tool for keyword research is Keysearch. Although it’s a paid tool, it costs significantly less while providing all the features of higher-priced tools. It’s also so much simpler to use. Having used other tools, I can confidently say Keysearch takes the top spot.
Posting pins on Pinterest is a favorite among bloggers to drive organic traffic. Most people don’t realize, but Pinterest isn’t a social media platform but a powerful search engine that can consistently generate traffic for your website.
To make the most out of Pinterest, you want to design attention-grabbing pins using images and graphics that catch the eye and stand out in the Pinterest feed. You want to optimize your pins and boards by using relevant keywords, descriptive titles, and detailed descriptions.
Also, create a pinning schedule and try to stick to it as best as possible. Consistency is the key to seeing traffic from Pinterest.
To boost your content, you can join Pinterest group boards to collaborate with other bloggers in your niche. Group boards enable your pins to reach a bigger audience, which will help drive more traffic to your blog.
Key Take Aways
Building an author platform is an important step in marketing your books. Your platform can also be a great way to create passive income to support your writing.
Building a platform and blog can seem challenging, but it’s worth it. By following a plan and staying consistent, you can get your platform up and running, grow an audience, and earn money.
Remember to focus on providing value to your readers and building genuine connections. With dedication, consistency, and a strong platform, you can elevate your writing career and make your mark in the literary world.
Here are the main steps I shared in this post:
- Start with the foundation of your platform by deciding on your niche, ideal client, and what value you will offer them.
- Establish your visual brand by deciding what perception you want your audience to have when they visit your platform.
- Create a website with an easy-to-install theme and the proper pages, including your About Me page and legal pages.
- Establish your social media presence, but keep it simple by focusing on the best social media platform for your audience.
- Set up your email marketing strategy.
- Create content to deliver value. A blog is the most recommended for beginners.
- Choose one monetization strategy to earn passive income, and slowly add more strategies as you gain experience.
- Drive traffic to your blog through SEO and Pinterest.
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