The buzziest of buzzwords: author platform. What is it? Do you need one? How can you get one?
Your author platform encompasses a lot of ideas, including but not limited to your "brand," social media presence, and professional qualifications/experience. All of these pieces work together to give the world, and the reader, a sense of who you are.
The good news is that for fiction, you don't have to have an author platform established in order to get published (you do for non-fiction). But the savvy writer who aims to be traditionally published would be wise to work on one, growing their brand, online presence and experience over time. As soon as you decide to write a novel that you hope to get published, you should have your platform in mind. Then you'll build it, slowly and gradually, over time.
Let's start with your "brand." Brand is a buzzy and nebulous term that basically boils down to: how you present yourself to the world and, in turn, how you are seen/perceived by readers. Companies, of course, have brands--you buy products and consume media. An author is a brand, too, though in our industry it's tricky because authors are not the same as celebrities, like an actor. There are blurry lines between who you are IRL and who you are As An Author.
Start by thinking about your genre. What do you write? YA, MG, picture books, adult romance, mystery, sci-fi? What is the community for your genre like, and who are your readers? How do those readers find out about books? Interact with authors? What can you do, in terms of social media, presentation, etc., to appeal to this audience?
Your brand should be an intersection of who you actually are as a person, and who you are writing for/what they should see. A good brand takes reality and just polishes and packages it for consumption.
Overall, you always want to seem nice and approachable, but if you've written a Serious/Dark book you have more leeway to be mysterious/serious, etc. Still, if readers think you are "nice," (friendly/professional, etc.) they may be more likely to think favorably and consider buying your books. This means you should be friendly, professional, maintain positivity, and balance book promotion with seeming like a real person. The latter is crucial: readers don't like to feel constantly marketed to. Branding is a subtle but crucial aspect of marketing.
Part of platform is also engaging with the community, which includes other writers, potential readers, bloggers/booktubers, editors, and agents. Twitter is a GREAT place for writing community engagement, which is why I recommend it to most authors when they're building platform. I'll go into more detail on social media platforms in another chapter. Here are some things you can do to both build platform and engage with the community/learn about the industry:
Follow industry experts & leaders, including agents, authors, editors, and publications and retweet/quote-tweet/engage with interesting content. Make your feed both personal and interesting (non-promotion)
Attend festival, conventions, conferences with applicable content, listening to panels, getting books signed, meeting other writers, etc. Some examples include: YALLWEST/YALLFEST, SCBWI conferences, Book Expo America (and BookCon), local book festivals, events at your local library, book signings at your local bookstore.
Join a professional writing organization and attend their local meetings/national conferences. SCBWI, RWA, SFWA, etc.
Read lots of books in your genre and engage with that content/those authors (genuinely!)
Now, I'd like to extrapolate on an earlier point, re: positivity. This is not to be mistaken with the "keep YA kind" movement whereby some individuals in the community find it distasteful that other members, especially authors, are standing up for what they believe in.
If you believe passionately in political topics, or speaking out about community issues, you should do so. But bear in mind that this is also a branding decision that you need to make. Once you are "outspoken," that is going to become a part of how your community and potential readers see you. Are you going to be the author who stands up for what they believe in? Who is active and engaged and unafraid? If so, be that author!
You'll want to analyze whether you can handle the downsides that come with this positioning, which may include Twitter trolls, backlash, and other vitriol. The good news is that there will always be amazing people in the community who will have your back, and ultimately you will do good work. Personally I admire authors who stand up for what they believe in, fearlessly and consistently. It isn't a position that is organic to my personality and thus not the best choice for me (I choose to be political on only a few key topics that have deep personal meaning to me and otherwise offer signal boosting and support for others), and you should make the same decision for yourself.
This is not to exclude any politics from your brand, but to disclaim that being a full-fledged "social justice warrior" is a brand position. (So is being a writer who also critiques the work of other writers, very relevant if one is transitioning from book blogger to author.)
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#HowToAuthor: Book Deals & Marketing
Non-FictionAdvice for writing book-shaped things and getting them traditionally published. This series will cover everything from querying to agent fit, to building a platform and marketing yourself.
