What is An Authors Platform And How Do I Build One?

It is Good For Authors To Have A Platform

The previous post was about how published authors can make money. One of those ways was advances, but there is something that can impact how much you get in advances and royalty: an author’s platform.

You may have read or heard this term as much as I have, exploring anything having to do with writing, publishing, or being an author. And it not only has an important role in displaying who the author is but also can help how much an author makes.

What is an Author’s Platform

              An author platform can mean many things but generally, it measures an author’s audience/readership, their ability to reach their audience and get more reads/sales, and their influence and presence across multiple platforms and areas.  It is something that is built over time and usually before a publishing deal.

Why Does This Matter? 4 Benefits of Building an Author’s Platform

              An author’s platform affects an author’s money, skills, audience, voice development and etc.

             Money- As stated previously in the introduction and in the previous blog post a strong author’s platform can help an author get a higher amount of money in advances. Because with a strong author’s platform tons of books, sales can come from the author’s following or already developed audience alone. Simply the stronger and louder the platform the more possible money ( keeping in mind that these amounts must be agreed on between the publisher and agent and author.)

              Skills- An author’s platform can help an author better their skills. Through discipline and feedback. Having an author’s platform no matter the type requires the author to write frequently, and frequent writing aka practice develops writing discipline. And writing discipline contributes to a higher quality of writing. In other words, you’ll be a better writer.

              Through feedback, interactions, and reactions, an author would be able to get a sense of how the audience understands and receive/perceives his/her work: In other words to see if my audience is picking up what I’m putting down: If they can understand my works and messages in the way I portray it.

              Audience- And in the same way I can also get a sense of who my audience is, through who reads and likes my work. As an author having an intended audience is important because it helps to shape the way I write. But as a new author or even a seasoned author, an unanticipated kind of audience can like or read your work more than the intended audience. Which can help you either alter your work or further build the audience that is growing and better understand and develop the messages and themes of your work.

              Voice- Through practice and in understanding and discovering your audience to then developing themes and messages that cater to your audience, can authors develop their unique voice. 

7 Ways to Build Your Author’s Platform

  1. Gain good contacts in the writing/publishing industry
  2. Develop a following of people who are aware that you are a writer or have books and works published. People who read a bit of your work, in the beginning, may read more of it.
  3. Get some of your work out there
    • Enter some writing contests
    • Have some short stories or poems in literary magazines or showcase your writing on your platforms (social media, blog, etc. )
  4. Gain expertise in your type of work and in the topics that you write about, then show that you have that expertise
  5. Display how unique you are as an author and writer through these methods
  6. Produce good writing
  7. Have a website or place where you showcase your writing, works, and books

……

              These are not the only ways you can build an author’s platform, but only some that’ll help you get started or continue to do so. As it has helped me. Considering that this blog one way I am building my platform and presence as a writer. Building an author’s platform definitely takes time and is different for everyone. Like climbing stairs, aim to reach new goals, new people, new levels in your writing career, and build a strong author’s platform that will display who you are as a writer.

Until  my next words (on here that is)
Christa

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