It’s what you’ve done to make sure you have an audience waiting to buy your book.

The more you’ve done, the stronger your platform. A strong platform will make you more attractive to a publisher, but even if self-publishing is your best option, you still need that platform. You want an audience waiting for your book.

No audience = no sales.

12 author platform building blocks

But how do you build that essential platform?

Here are 12 building blocks to consider for your platform’s support, but before you think, “TWELVE? How can I do all that?“, understand that you only need a few of them.

Your platform should be built on the right elements; not everything in this list makes sense for you and your target readers. If you won’t reach your audience with one of them (for example, your readers might not be on Twitter), then cross that building block off your list of options.

Focus on the pieces that are right for your book and its readers, not anyone else’s.

1. E-mail list and newsletter subscribers.

How many e-mail addresses do you have, but more importantly, how many of them are in your book’s target market? Offer a free gift on your website – the first chapter of your book, a downloadable audio interview, a cheat sheet – in exchange for a name and e-mail address. It’s important to keep your name and topic in front of the people who are most likely to buy your book; a regular e-mail newsletter is an excellent way to do that. Make it useful, not promotional, so that people look forward to reading and sharing it.

2. Online group members.

While LinkedIn undermines its groups, Facebook groups are gaining steam. No matter where it’s hosted, an online group for your book’s topic or genre will help you learn more about your readers and what they want and need. As with everything else, the more members you have in your group, the more that group will add to your platform. (By the way, please join the Build Book Buzz Facebook group to talk all things book marketing!)

3. Media interviews and media outlets that publish what you write. 

Get interviewed by the press, get copies of those interviews, and create a database with the contact information for the journalists who interviewed you. You’ll want the clips, audio links, etc., for your book proposal and you’ll need the database to create a book publicity media mailing list.

Offline and online media outlets that regularly run your articles, videos, and so on will be more open to collaborating on book promotion. A regular column that reaches your book’s target audience is a big plus.

4. Instagram followers.

If your target audience is younger, Instagram is where it’s at for you and your book. Almost two-thirds of its users are under 30. And they are definitely sharing what they read there. Learn how author Kate Hanley does it in “How I use Instagram to sell more books.”

5. Pinterest followers. 

If your book relates to women’s lifestyles — cooking, decorating, crafting, and so on — make sure you’re getting images up on Pinterest. It’s dominated by women who use it to archive and share what they like — including books on these and other topics.

6. Twitter followers.

If you’re self-publishing, you’ll want quality, not quantity. If you’re hoping to get a contract with a traditional publisher, editors appear to be more interested in quantity than quality (sigh), so go for volume. (But understand that if your book is about the mating habits of Icelandic penguins, those 68 social media consultants who follow you aren’t going to buy your book.)

7. Facebook fan page likers/fans.

You don’t need a completed book to create a fan page for it. Post content that gets followers involved and engaged. Invite your fans to bring other fans along, too. Run contests to get more likes.

8. Speaking engagements.

A while back, an editor reviewing my book proposal asked for a list of speaking engagements for the previous and coming years along with the audience size for each. This level of detail helps publishers estimate how many books they can sell – and whether they think they can sell enough. If you’re a speaker who writes, you’re on more solid ground here than a writer who speaks.

9. A blog plus subscribers and traffic.

I’m surprised at the number of bloggers who don’t make it possible for visitors to receive their blog postings by e-mail or RSS feed. They’re missing the opportunity to generate repeat traffic – and to measure their fan base. Google Analytics and other tools and resources help measure traffic volume, too, but a truer measure of your fan base is that list of people who sign up to receive more of your content.

10. Industry leadership.

This not only reinforces your expert status, it also means that industry organizations will be more likely to share information about your book. They might even sell it.

11. Influential contacts.

A favorable testimonial (called a “blurb”) from a recognized expert or thought leader, especially one who is willing to recommend your book to her networks, is almost priceless. Several of these? Golden!

12. Popular YouTube channel.

YouTube is the second most popular search engine. That alone tells you that people watch YouTube videos. But if you need numbers to convince you, understand that more than 1 billion people use YouTube.

How many platform building blocks do you need?

How many of these building blocks do you need to support your platform?

That depends – on your book’s topic, the size of the market for it, and how that particular audience seeks/gets information.

A porch or deck has at least four supports — one in each corner — and sometimes more. The more of the right elements you have in your platform, the better positioned you will be to sell more books to the people who will love them.

What’s holding up your author platform? What building blocks do you have in place?

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in February 2012. It has been updated and expanded.)

There’s no question that Chris knows what she’s talking about. What’s more, she communicates clearly and effectively. As I was reading, just as I reached a point where I thought, “It would help me to see this in a chart,” POOF! a chart appeared! She understands what her readers need.

Who can benefit from this book

In the book’s introduction, Chris explains who will and won’t benefit from reading this book. She makes it clear that she wrote it for authors who believe they are responsible for marketing their own books and who are willing to learn how to do it — then spend time doing it. If you aren’t going to do the work, there’s no point in learning about how you can use less social media to sell more books.

I’ll expand on that, though. If you look at learning opportunities through the lens of college course numbers, you know that a 101-level course is entry level, 201 is  more of an intermediate level course, and so on. This book isn’t Social Media for Authors 101. It’s at least a 201-level guide and maybe even 301.

That means that if you know nothing about book marketing or social media yet, this book might not be the best starting point.

There’s lots of helpful content on this site about how to use social networks for book marketing, including a recent guest post about Facebook, an article on the three Facebook options (profile, Page, group), and a good Twitter primer. You might also appreciate a popular article here on how to promote your book without using social media at all.

In addition, Chris advocates spending on Facebook advertising, so keep that in mind. If you’re dead set on never spending a cent on book marketing, you’ll get less value from this than someone who embraces the concept that you have to spend money to make money.

Fiction-oriented

You’ll also want to know that the book addresses novelists more than nonfiction authors. The concepts and content apply to both, but there’s no question that Chris was thinking mostly about fiction when she wrote this. There are occasional references to nonfiction in the text, but if this were truly an equal opportunity book there would be a section on how to use LinkedIn for nonfiction marketing purposes.

Don’t let that stop you, though — just be aware of it. Nonfiction authors can get just as much out of Sell More Books With Less Social Media as novelists can. I just want you to know what to expect. What you’ll learn from this book applies to nonfiction, too.

What to expect and what not to expect

Understand that this book doesn’t cover everything you need to know about book marketing (and it doesn’t claim to). For example, there’s nothing in it about book publicity. Book publicity, as you might know, is that free news media exposure you can get that is said to be 10 times more effective than advertising.

It also doesn’t cover blogging, guest blogging, virtual book tours, or public speaking, among other book marketing tactics.

The emphasis is on these topics:

• Platform
• Content you’ll create
• Social media with an emphasis on Facebook
• E-mail marketing

It covers those topics well. I especially like the guidance on email marketing — what to send to your list, when, and so on.

The real value in this book, I think, is Chris’s work to help you identify your platform level — she defines and explains four levels for fiction and three for nonfiction — and then match your marketing activities to that level. With that “label” in place, she helps you figure out which marketing activities or tactics are the best fit for you.

Bonus video content

Finally, there’s both a plus and a minus to one of the book’s features — the one that makes this part book, part multi-media training program. Chris has created companion videos that expand on what’s taught in each chapter. On the one hand, I see this as generous. On the other, I find it frustrating because it forces me to stop reading and go online.

It interrupts my flow.

Plus, I like my training to be all-inclusive.

But, to each his own, right? It might end up being your favorite part of the book!

And . . . let me point out that the book is a whopping 99 cents. To get top quality written and video instruction for that price is quite a deal. Kudos to Chris for working so hard with Sell More Books With Less Social Media to help authors learn.

What’s your most successful book marketing tactic?

In politics and beauty pageants, your platform is a message or goal – “We have got to get more people working!” or “Stop bullying in schools.”

With beds and shoes, it’s about height.

But for authors, “platform” is the word the publishing industry uses to describe your built-in sales network. Who is waiting to buy your book as soon as it’s available? What’s your fan base or following? A publisher might ask, “How many books are we guaranteed to sell because of the author’s platform?”

Is “author platform” a Catch 22?

Sometimes the need for a platform feels like a Catch 22 – you’re expected to enjoy a certain level of celebrity status in your niche to get a traditional book contract, and yet, getting that status can be difficult without a book as a credential.

Not too long ago, an agent told me that she loved my unique nonfiction book idea, but wouldn’t be able to get a publisher for it until I had done several high-profile national media interviews on the topic. Could I get on “The Today Show” based on just my topic knowledge and a handful of successful workshop presentations? Of course not – I needed “author of . . .” after my name to snag that contract-generating exposure.

The social media explosion makes it easier to work around that “you need a few big national media hits” obstacle, though. If you’ve got enough blog or YouTube channel subscribers, Twitter followers, and Facebook-fan-page-likers, your platform might be big enough without a steady stream of national media interviews.

How are you going to build your platform so that people are ready to buy your book when it’s published? Think of it like a stool – the more legs you have under the seat, the safer you feel when sitting on it. Tomorrow, I’ll share a list of 12 platform-building elements to consider.

(Editor’s note: This post was updated in June 2018.)