#HowToAuthor: Book Deals & Marketing

How much online presence do you need?

Here are the bare bone basics you need for author platform:

A website with your basic information

At least one social media profile on the platform of your choice, that is regularly updated

A nice photo of you that is well-lit and makes you look friendly/approachable/on brand (more on author photos later)

Let's start with your website. As an aspiring author, you should have some kind of web presence, whether that is a formal website, blog, or even a Tumblr that looks like a website. You need a "home" on the web where people can find basic info about you: about you, your book, your agent. Personal writing/anecdotes ala a blog are a bonus, though I do think if you're a really smart and good blogger it can be extra beneficial to you.

I advocate having a URL, which will cost approximately $15 a year. You can just purchase the domain and "attach" it to a free hosting service, such as Wordpress, Blogspot, Tumblr, etc. That said, a "yourname.blogspot.com" address is totally fine up until the point you have a book deal. After that point, you are going to need a personalized domain.

If you are a branding over-achiever: I recommend getting your personal domain earlier rather than later. When you are querying/after you get an agent is a great time.

Now onto the big bugaboo: social media. The bare minimum recommendation is one platform, but I believe maintaining 2-3 regularly is best practice. I'll go into much more detail in the next chapter about what social media platforms there are, what they are good for, and which ones make the most sense for authors. Some require more time than others, and each will tap into different skillsets.

The key is to understand the scope and limitations of each platform, how you can channel your personality and "brand" into them, and then being consistent. Social media that hasn't been updated in years isn't very helpful.

Why is social media important? Engagement. Not all platforms enable as much engagement as others, but overall social media uniquely offers authors the opportunity to engage, both with fellow industry members and readers. Engagement does not always lead to sales, and social media followers don't t equate to "people who will buy your book." But feeling accessible and real to readers can "move the needle" on sales indirectly. If readers feel they know--and like you--they are more likely to pick up your book, forgive its faults, recommend it to friends.

I don't think a modern author, writing anything even remotely commercial, can get away without having an online presence. The only exception I can imagine is a literary author whose publisher is doing all their promo, and who is going for "this book is so smart; it should win alllll the awards" type focus as opposed to a commercial, sales driven approach. So much of selling books nowadays is branding the author, and online presence is where you brand yourself.

I think if THE HUNGER GAMES came out today, it wouldn't have done as well seeing as Suzanne Collins is more or less completely unavailable. If HARRY POTTER came out today, JKR would need to be doing what she's doing now--be wonderfully active online. I don't think a publisher would LET their author get away with it at this point in time. That said, your publisher won't force you to do social media. But the marketing & publicity team may favor you if you do have your stuff together and are able to augment/complement their efforts.

All this doesn't mean an author has to DO ALL THE THINGS online, but they have to do something. At the BAREST minimum, have a nice website.