I meet a lot of aspiring authors who have great ideas for a book. However these wannabe authors often have a million questions looming in their heads like…
- How do I know what to write about?
- How do I know if anyone is interested in my topic?
- How do I start writing a full length book?
Both answers can leave aspiring authors in a state of panic. However they often miss the one question that puts everything into perspective…
WHO’S GOING TO BUY THE BOOK???
Most aspiring authors may have a passion or a glimpse of an idea that they think would make a great contribution to the world, however they often never think about WHO or HOW they are going to sell the book.
Creating an Author Platform
Whether you are a business owner, a speaker, healer, coach, or an expert of some kind and you have dreams of writing a book, then you are going to need to have an author platform. What is an author platform? An author platform is your online space where you create relationships with people who want to read what you have to say.
An author platform can consist of:
- a self-hosted WordPress website with a blog
- a system to cultivate an email list
- 1 or more social media outlets to disseminate your voice to a broader audience
Why You Need an Author Platform
An author platform is particularly important to aspiring authors for a number of reasons:
- It allows you to build an audience of readers who will buy your book when it’s ready. Whether you have a business — or you just have an idea for a business — it makes no sense to put the time and energy into a book that no one but your Grandma will buy. Business owners think strategically. Think of your platform as a tool to grow your business or to further your message. You will know when it’s time to write that book.
- It gives you the space to find out what your audience is interested in buying for very little cash investment. Writing, publishing, and marketing a book — whether it’s a paperback or an ebook — takes considerable investment of time and money. You don’t want to invest your time and money in the wrong activity. Any good business owner will do their research to find out whether or not there is an audience for the message or product they want to deliver before actually putting it out on the market.
- It gives you time to practice developing a voice that is uniquely you. I remember writing my first few blog posts over 10 years ago. I didn’t have a book in mind at the time, I was simply blogging to increase my professional status as an adult educator in Washington, DC. I agonized over every word, sentence, and punctuation mark. I wanted it to be right. And you know what? A lot of what I wrote for the first few months was downright terrible! But I had to work through the process of developing my own unique voice that eventually led me to job offers, a few consulting gigs, and a great professional network that I am still connected to today.
Take the time to invest in building your author platform before you start writing your book. I guarantee that as you build your platform, your ideas about what you want to write about and how you want to present it to the world will be much more enriched because you did the hard work BEFORE jumping into writing a book.
Do you have questions about creating an author platform? Ask away in the comments below!
Halona Black
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