What it is, why it matters, & how to build your own. The author platform 101 step-by-step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I remember when I first learned about author platform building\u2013 and its extraordinary power to deliver readers, sales and publicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was writing non-fiction for HarperCollins at the time (I\u2019m quite proud of this book<\/a>), and I shared an editor with the mighty Ben Goldacre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you haven\u2019t come across Goldacre\u2019s work, he\u2019s the guy behind Bad Science<\/em> and Bad Pharma<\/em> \u2013 essentially a scientist\u2019s quest to expose poor quality science across the globe. He\u2019s a campaigner for truth and loves nothing better than exposing fraudulent \u2018scientific\u2019 claims for what they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was early into the blogging arena, and quickly built up a substantial worldwide following. That following was big rather than huge, but it was<\/em> passionate. These were people who cared about the same things as Goldacre, and loved the fact that he was making a noise about them. (The blog is here<\/a>, by the way. The design now looks rather elderly.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The result?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Goldacre didn\u2019t use HarperCollins as a marketing<\/em> operation. He used it as a fulfilment one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To paraphrase my (somewhat stunned) editor, Goldacre effectively walked in and said, \u201cHere\u2019s the manuscript. I\u2019ve arranged these online promotional activities. I\u2019ve got this many science editors from the major international newspapers agreeing to review it. I\u2019ve got endorsements from all these famous people. Now can you please get this thing printed up and into bookshops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, OK, I\u2019m sure it wasn\u2019t quite as simple as that, but you get the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HarperCollins provided the sales network, but it was Ben Goldacre who actually brought the readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The result?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Half a million books sold . A further best-selling book to follow. A hyper-successful career as public speaker and campaigner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And more than any of that? He changed the world. The British government recognised the truth in much of what Goldacre was saying, and used him to reshape the way they fund and support science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You want to know what an author platform is?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s that. It\u2019s what Goldacre did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s owning your audience<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or, if you want a more formal definition, then author platform can be defined as the ability to deliver readers, through having direct and effective channels of communication with them<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And please note, the issue here \u2013 the thing that this definition makes central \u2013 is your ability to deliver readers<\/em>. It\u2019s not how many Twitter followers you have, or how many likes you\u2019ve acquired on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fact is, the scale of your platform is measured in terms of the number of people who, when you say \u201cBuy!\u201d will go right ahead and buy your book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While we\u2019re still on definitions, it\u2019s also worth distinguishing between your author platform and your authority. Authority is about how much kudos and respect you have acquired in your niche. It\u2019s a measure of your knowledge<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Platform is about your communication<\/em> potency. It\u2019s about your ability to reach \u2013 and influence \u2013 readers in your niche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, in the popular science space, a Harvard Professor of Physics might have super-high authority, but zero platform. Equally, the host of a TV science show might have great platform but relatively low authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both routes can generate sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ben Goldacre had a huge platform . . . and he sold a lot of books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Daniel Kahneman had no platform to speak of, but he did have a Nobel Prize \u2013 so, when he wrote his Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/em><\/a>, people wanted to read it, and it too became a global bestseller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Authority and<\/em> platform at the same time? Not many people can bring that. Jordan Peterson<\/a> \u2013 psychology professor and YouTube sensation \u2013 can. This guy<\/a> outscores him in both dimensions, though.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n If author platform equals your ability to deliver readers, then it\u2019s sort of obvious why it matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But depending on what type of author you are, the specific<\/em> issues vary a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are a non-fiction<\/a> author seeking traditional publication, then most literary agents will demand to see evidence of either:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, it can sometimes seem that if you can\u2019t provide evidence of excellence on one of those two issues, then you simply won\u2019t be able to sell your book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luckily (for most of us), that\u2019s just not true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I sold my This Little Britain<\/em> \u2013 a book of popular history about Britain\u2019s role in the world \u2013 I had no platform at all. Nor did I have any authority: I didn\u2019t even study the subject at college..<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what the heck? I had a great concept. I loved my subject. I could write well. I could make people laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My agent and I laid three sample chapters in front of a bunch of publishers, and we had a blow-out book auction that netted a two book \u00a3175,000 ($250,000) book deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That wasn\u2019t thanks to my platform, or my authority, just plain good writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fact is, quality sells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to fiction, there will, of course, be some authors who bring a platform with them: oftentimes, celebs wanting to cash in by writing a book that relates in some way to their celebrity. For example, a political reporter writing a political thriller, or a reality star \u2018writing\u2019 romance. (The inverted commas are needed there because those books are often ghostwritten. If you\u2019re a reality TV star, why would you actually need to write<\/em> anything? You can get staff for that.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the vast majority of times, debut authors will bring exactly nothing by way of platform. Yes, maybe a couple of thousand Twitter followers. Yes, maybe a blog \u2013 \u2018My Writing Journey\u2019, that kind of thing. But those things won\u2019t impress publishers. (What would be impressive? Well, I think you\u2019d need to look at monthly blog traffic in excess of 100,000 visitors. Twitter followers in the several hundred thousand.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n So for ordinary writers, the short message is: just don\u2019t worry<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That said, there is<\/em> a caveat here and it\u2019s a very important one. It actually has the potential to alter and enlarge your entire career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How come? Well, just consider the following question for a moment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n How do self-published authors sell their work?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n After all, indie authors don\u2019t have the ability of Big 5 houses to get your book into bookstores across the land. They can\u2019t get newspaper reviews. In fact, most of the options open to Big 5 publishers are closed to indies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet these guys now sell more adult fiction than all the Big 5 houses combined. So something\u2019s going on there . . . and that secret sauce is something that absolutely any author should be interested in concocting for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More on that subject coming right up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How indies do it \u2013 and how you can do it too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When self-publishing first became serious business, back in about 2010 or thereabouts, the new breed of indie authors had to figure out how they were going to crack this exciting new market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pretty quickly, it became clear how not<\/em> to market your book. Failed approaches include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, in truth, I\u2019m not absolutely certain that the last of these methods doesn\u2019t sell books, because I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s been tried. (The zeppelin gambit has probably already been used a few times by now. But zeppelin and<\/em> monkeys? That\u2019s cutting edge.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, the indie community has come to cluster around a few author platform examples and techniques which do, absolutely, 100% guaranteed, sell books. (If done right, and if the books are good enough, and so on.) Those techniques are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n These techniques only partially work for trad-published authors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the free\/deeply discounted book idea: just try running that past your editor. Her laughter may be loud and demented enough to crack glassware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the featured deals on Bookbub : well, yes, trad publishers do make more use of those than they have in the past. But they don\u2019t always use them well, and, in any event, you\u2019ll only enjoy those once a year or so, and the benefits won\u2019t flow mostly to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the advertising: yeah, right. Publishers do extremely little online advertising, and it won\u2019t be worth your<\/em> while to do any at all, because you can\u2019t make ads work if someone else is collecting most of the revenue generated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which leaves emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which sounds sad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And boring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And kinda hopeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Except that email marketing is one of the most potent tools ever invented and you have it in your power to do it exceptionally well.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A well-built, carefully curated email list is, in fact, one of the most potent author platforms it is possible to build. And you can build it. And I\u2019ll show you how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just add monkeys<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, in a nutshell, is how email marketing works:<\/p>\n\n\n\nPlatform Vs Authority<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Why Author Platform Matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tradtionally Published Non-fiction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Traditionally Published Fiction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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How To Build Your Author Platform<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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How Email Marketing Works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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