Build an Author's Platform:
Welcome! I hope this article helps and motivates authors like you.
Remember you are an amazing and strong person,
It’s a little difficult when you start writing. Several questions may rise in your mind like: Will I be any good? Am I capable? Is my plot okay? Will people like my story? And many other similar questions.
Believe me you are the best and you will be successful. Every plot is unique in its own way and people will enjoy a new and refreshing story. All you need is determination, confidence and will to keep learning and writing. You may sometimes feel it’s not going well or things are not working out, but keep writing. Gradually you will learn and improve, and your progress will amaze you. I am saying so from my own experience, so don’t let anything discourage you.
While I think marketing of books is a difficult thing to do, it can be done, I have read amazing stories that didn’t gain a lot of attention and in turn it made the writers question themselves, which is wrong! Just because your book didn’t get as much attention as you anticipated doesn’t mean your story is not worthy. Maybe the story isn’t getting the exposure it needs because it isn’t being marketed well or maybe it isn’t being marketed to the right demographic. This happened with my book as well. So I have come up with a solution.
Why not build an author platform?!
I have compiled some of my ideas on building a platform for authors. Hopefully it might help you, especially for the new/upcoming writers:
Create your own author’s website:
Creating a website may attract not only readers, upcoming writers but publishers as well, your site should be a marketing tool where you can showcase all types of activities like your experience, how you motivate yourself to write, your ideas and aspirations. You can also share your selling plans for your upcoming books.
Add email auto response to you website:
It can create a good impression on the people who subscribe to your website. You can send them a welcome email along with a few samples of your books or provide a link to your e-books or even freebies expressing your gratitude for subscribing to your website.
Set up a blog on your website:
Blogging usually attracts lots of visitors as some visit to seek inspiration or learn from the experience of other writers. Try to be consistent, it's the important part! Blog at least once or twice a month. Over at your blog, write about your book recommendations, your achievements and struggles, be yourself and a truthful author as it can spread positivity among visitors as well as in yourself. Update your website, regular updates is highly recommended. In the beginning you may update monthly but subsequently it may take place fortnightly as it will make you look active and determined towards your work. Soon you will notice fans have started adoring you and your work.
Set up a social media profile:
It’s well known that social media has a great impact on today’s world, so why not use it? Pick a platform of your choice and create a profile. It can be of any kind like: a quotes profile where you can post self-made quotes as well as quotes from your book or you can build an author blogging profile on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn and many others. I tried it myself and it’s quite effective! But make sure to provide links to your book. For e-books, you can use apps like, Wattpad, Inkitt, Webtoons, Kindle, WebNovel and others. It will be quite difficult at first to get recognized but slowly you will gain attention and fans.
Make books available globally:
There are millions of readers and writers all around the world, try to reach out to bloggers like yourself and maintain a cordial relationship. Make your book as relevant as possible by giving a brief description of your book or making appealing covers. Help each other as much as possible, try to make your personality stand out along with your book. Be polite to your readers, communicate with the readers by answering the comments as much as possible even if it’s a negative comment, be nice and take it as a lesson. This will make you stand out which will attract more readers.
Looking out:
Often when you write there are common errors which can be missed. I mean nobody is perfect, right? But unfortunately this can hinder you when promoting your book. There are vigilant readers and critics who judge stories with so much gravitas, so try to get help by reaching out to editors or writers for advice and help. This creates a good relationship as well as help promote your book, having negative critics can sometimes turn down the readers so take advice but don’t be discouraged, we make mistakes so that we can learn. Enjoy the journey of writing and reading. You can also look for reviewers who will tell you their thoughts on your book which I should add is very helpful! Like dang! Because it provides you a glimpse of a reader's thoughts on your book and you can improve accordingly which will make your story better. The better the story is, the more the readers.
Pop ups on your website and social profile about new arrivals:
Always update your fans about the new story release, you can create suspense by revealing just the title or book cover. Even better you can organize a sort of guess game by asking your fans to guess what type of story you’ll be writing next. It creates a fun and friendly environment that hooks your fans completely. You can also organize some quizzes about your story or free sample giveaways or give the first copy of your new book to a lucky fan. Be enthusiastic and creative in your approach and try to involve your fans as much as you can.
I really hope my suggestions help because this is something I am looking forward to doing myself. I will advise you to just keep on writing, don't care what people will think because in the end it is just you, so do what makes you happy. Don’t let anything make you feel like writing your masterpieces is a burden because if you're not enjoying it then there’s no use. Remember starting is always hard and full of struggles so always think of how good the end will make you feel, and just like that you will see yourself putting more effort into it.