author platform

This post was first published in 2012 and is regularly updated. First things first: an author's website, whether it gets

Social media is just one component of your author platform, and not necessarily the most important component. It works best as part of a holistic book marketing and promotion strategy.

If you're preparing to pitch your nonfiction work to agents or publishers, you may have heard about the necessity of platform. What if you don't have one?

How a self-publishing poet achieved visibility for her book—and landed a book deal with traditional publisher Andrews McMeel.

Getting traction for your online presence—especially a new blog—can feel like an impossible task when you're an unknown writer. But it can be done.

Just about every writer would love to have more readers—more readers of their books, their blog, their articles, or whatever creative work they’re producing. But few writers have given much thought to having a call to action that's associated with their work.

Social media and marketing expert Andrea Dunlop lists five questions you should ask yourself when starting to plan your book launch.

Kirsten Oliphant explains how to reach out to others who can help you build your author platform and how to generate a great pitch for collaboration.

Author and social media expert Kirsten Oliphant explains how to manage your platform-building activities on social media sites.

How do you treat subscribers after they sign up for your email newsletter? An autoresponder can usefully and effectively welcome people to the community.

Author platform is one of the most difficult concepts to explain, partly because everyone defines it a little differently. Here's what agents and editors mean by platform, plus a clear definition of what platform is NOT.

What authors need to know about current marketing practices and emerging business trends in the book publishing industry.

Author Gigi Rosenberg describes how she redesigned and relaunched her author website primarily on her own, only hiring assistance at the end.

The primary function and value of an author website is marketing related.

Agent Laurie McLean discusses the platform and book launch strategy for author/musician Simon Curtis.

No one used to question the value of a publisher, but now everyone's wondering: What are they good for?

Kirsten Oliphant discusses how to effectively use Facebook pages and groups.

I'm often asked: How can I be so productive? Or how does one balance creative work and other life demands? Here's the most truthful answer I have.

Writer and blogger Kirsten Oliphant explains how to build your platform on Twitter in only 15 minutes a day.

How do you build an online platform when you don't have advice or ready-to-go insights (and don't like offering either)?

Be careful before applying someone else's social media advice to your situation.

Author and former literary agent Nathan Bransford discusses (among other things) the ongoing emphasis on author platform, publisher and author marketing responsibilities, and in what way being a literary agent influenced his writing.

Jane discusses building a digital presence, querying 15 years ago vs. now, agents vs. self-publishing, crowdfunding, and the future of publishing.

Build a bio that's not only better than most you have read, but also compelling enough to attract the fans & clients you'd like to have in the first place.

In a 30-minute video interview, I discuss the basics of author platform.

I was delighted to be a guest on Stephen Campbell's podcast, The Author Biz.

This 101 guide describes best practices for authors using Facebook for book marketing, with tips on when you should set up a fan page.

Note from Jane: Today's guest post is by Marcy Kennedy (@MarcyKennedy). Almost as soon as authors were told they should

Today's guest post is by author Tiana Warner (@tianawarner). The Art of Marketing conference in Vancouver was a full day

Business is personal. In the long-run game, anyone who treats business as though it is not personal is going to end up stepping on toes and leaving a trail of poor impressions.

How many authors do you know who seem more renowned among their peers than readers—not because these "thriving ink-slingers" (Michael Deacon) are writing books only other authors could love, but because their output seems to focus on these redundant how-to's designed to crib a few more bucks from fellow would-be renowned authors?

Note from Jane: Today's guest post is from Dan Blank (@DanBlank) and covers a topic that was recently addressed on

The following advice is from Michael Hyatt's newest release, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World. The book is one of

Today's guest post is from Dan Blank of We Grow Media. Author platform is about more than your homepage. Perhaps

Nonfiction authors have probably heard the refrain, "Build your platform! Build your platform!" but may not know what a strong