By
Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
No matter if
you’re published or unpublished, the idea of setting up an author platform from
scratch can be really daunting. It’s
important to realize that establishing a platform and promoting a book is a
marathon, not a sprint.
If you’re not published (either traditionally or
self-published):
Spend most of
your time working on your book. If
you’re in a time-crunch and need to make the choice between setting up a
platform or writing your book, you should be writing.
However, if you
can spare the time … say fifteen minutes at a time … for establishing a
platform, I’d encourage you to set up the basics. Breaking these tasks into increments will
help get them knocked out without ending up with a time suck.
Getting started:
Have an email address for your writing
business. This should be your name
and an email just for you. You can get
free emails from Gmail and
from Microsoft, among other
providers.
Set up a basic website, to create an
online hub for you and your books. It’s a first step to being visible online. This
website should be in your name, not the book’s title (you may write other
books). You can get free websites
through WordPress (and can later transfer
to a paid WordPress site, if
warranted).
The website
should list a way to contact you (your email address, your social media
addresses), your name, a little bit about you and the types of books you’re
planning on writing. If you have the
time, you could blog once a week or every two weeks on this site, to bring in
traffic and search engine attention.
More on what to blog about in this post by industry expert Jane
Friedman: “What Should
Authors Blog About?”. Set up your
blog to automatically post to Facebook or Twitter, if you’re there.
It may seem silly
to have a newsletter signup when you
don’t yet have a book or readers, but the earlier you start, the better. MailChimp is free for up to 2,000
subscribers.
Social media. This is where you’ll want to pace
yourself. It’s fine to sign up on all the social media platforms (Twitter,
Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.), but only to reserve your name on these
sites. Later, you can find which one or
two appeal most to you. There’s no point
in trying to post on a platform that you don’t enjoy because you’ll struggle to
keep up with it.
Again, sign up
for these accounts with your name, not your book’s title. Be sure not to spread yourself too thin—it’s
very difficult to keep up with more than two social media accounts. Use free tools like Hootsuite to schedule updates, if
you’re pressed for time.
If you’re
published:
All of the above,
plus:
Amazon
Author Central. It’s important to set up your author page
on Amazon. When someone clicks your name
next to your book’s title, it will take them to your page and show them all of
your books in one place. You can add your bio, video content, connect your blog
feed, and include photos. What’s more, you can use this portal to add editorial
reviews to your book’s product page and check sales stats.
Do you have any
other advice for setting up an author platform? What’s your favorite social
media platform for connecting with readers?
Elizabeth is the bestselling cozy mystery
author of the Southern Quilting mysteries, Memphis Barbeque mysteries, and
Myrtle Clover Cozy Mysteries for Penguin Random House, Midnight Ink, and
independently. You can find her at Elizabethspanncraig.com . Elizabeth shares writing links on Twitter
that later make it to the free search engine for writers,
writerskb.com.
