I don’t know about you, but google+ confounds me. I’ve tried to use it on various occasions and it is not very user friendly, at least for someone like me who did grow up eating in front of a computer screen. So I thought you also might appreciate this blog post I came across from Gary Fox from his tribalcafe site. Thanks Gary for helping demystify this for me.
p.s. Gary also did a part 2 to this blog that I’ll share as well (in case you’re too lazy- I mean busy to look for it yourself)
Got connected with Michael Anderson and his blog, Strong Blogs, today and saw this post. I thought it would be a good follow-up on my and Terry’s platform posts. I think Michael has some sound ideas. Thanks Michael!
I wanted to share this post about the scary word to most indie authors – PLATFORM.
I think that creating a platform: what you are known for, is easy if your famous. Your platform is created by just writing your books and selling tons of them.
But then, most of us aren’t famous, so what do most of us do?
If you write non-fiction, I think it is a bit easier. You have a topic that you have written a whole book about. You can share your knowledge with you target audience. But you have the same task as all of us have; you have to get your name and your expertise out there (the same marketing conundrum).
For fiction writers I think it is a little harder. Fiction writers aren’t experts per say. They may be expert at writing a particular genre or few different genre’s but I think that is harder to “sell,” so to speak, harder to stand out as an “expert” writer of westerns, or an expert writer of horror. There are a lot of fiction writers out there, so standing out among that large crowd is not easy, especially when your exposure to the world at large is up to you. (But thank goodness for the internet – the indie writers friend!)
In both cases, for the majority of indie authors I agree with Terry in that it really is a matter of time. It also takes a lot of persistence : going to book stores, speaking at clubs, writing a blog, tweeting, facebooking, connecting to readers on Goodreads or Amazon and with others in the writing world… You name it, you can do it.
Or not.
I’m not convinced a platform has a big impact on actual sales, but it is connected. I think sales are the number one platform creator and that comes back to marketing again – which is tied to all those things I mention above plus more. All these things are things we, as writers, can do to get our names, and hopefully, our books out there. But again, it takes time.
The biggest thing is to not fret about it. Continue to write and edit and write some more. Make contacts where you can, spend as much energy on putting yourself out there as you have. As I mentioned, the internet is your friend, so use it. Just hang in there. Some of what we have realize it that fate plays a part in all this, as well. If that newspaper editor happens to pick up the press release your sent, and if they happen to like your story and they decide to print an article about you and your book, and it happens to resonate with readers of the article who decide to actually go online or to your local indie bookstore to pick up your book…
Need I say more. Give it time and keep writing 🙂
Click on this link to see what Terry has to say on the topic.
This is a must read for any writers aspiring to self-publish thanks to Mark Coker from Smashwords and the RT Booklovers convention in Kansas City last week. Smashwords: New Smashwords Survey Helps Authors Sell More eBooks.
I was turned onto this gentleman via The Savvy Book Marketer/ Dana Lynn Smith. (You should check this site out if your a writer, it’s a very good one!)
Terry has a set of blogs about marketing your book. Over the next few weeks, I’ll share the ones that seem to make the most sense. This one on your target market is very important so you don’t waste your time and energy – read carefully. Hope they are helpful.
Some information about crowd-funding (and bookriot) : How to Crowd-Fund Your Next Publishing Project – BookBaby Blog.
Why Established Authors Are Starting to Self-Publish. (from the Bookbaby Blog)
Hope you feel better now!
Something to think about before you publish – and don’t forget to create that press release!
CreateSpace Community: Resources: Building Buzz Before You Publish.
Come and get your book publishing questions answered at this free event!
This next Wednesday, April 17th, at 6:30 at A Room Of Ones Own Bookstore in Madison, three other Madison authors and I will be offering a free forum on book publishing.
The other authors:
Marty Drapkin, author of Ten Nobodies and Now and at the Hour. He has a master’s degree in English education from the University of Wisconsin. Learn more at the author’s website!
Spike Pedersen, author of the self-published novel At First Light. Follow Spike’s blog!
Sarah White, author of 3 books published the traditional way as well as the self-published Write Your Travel Memoirs. She coaches self-publishing and writing. Find out more about Sarah at her website First Person Productions!
Come join us for a night of inspiration, and become the author you were meant to be.
Some interesting ideas, some odd ones too (open a store front?)
CKBooks Publishing 