Building Your Platform as an Author

Remember, your platform is the group of people interested in you and what you have to say.  When you publish your book, members of your platform are typically going to be the first to purchase it. 

Ways to build and maintain your platform:

• Create a list of contacts.  At the bare minimum, have email addresses and names on file.
• Keep in regular contact with the people in your platform. Authors have a tendency to be a bit reclusive, but that’s not YOU, right?!  To combat this image, make sure that you drop a line to your friends and contacts every so often to inform them that you’re still alive and working on your book.
• Don’t spam your contacts. This is a good way to lose members of your platform.
• Stay active in the social media scene. When possible, stay in tune with current social media and marketing trends. Explore, and see what works most effectively for you.
• Blog regularly.  Regularly publishing content will draw interest toward your website and ideas.
• Regularly publish material (articles, tweets, blogs, letters to the editor).

So You’ve Hired A Ghostwriter… Now Build Your Platform!

Your platform consists of everyone who cares about you and what you have to say.

A good rule-of thumb is to spend at least a year and a half building your platform and promoting your book before it is released.

In the next vlog, I’ll talk about ways to build your platform.

Hiring A Ghostwriter to Write Your E-book

E-books, or electronic books, are excellent ways to break into niche markets and to inexpensively spread your ideas. With popular eBook devices such as Kindle and iPad, it’s easy to reach a wide audience.

If you are under a strict deadline to write your new eBook, you may consider hiring a ghostwriter. Ghostwriters specialize in writing quality content quickly and are able to assist you in the writing process.

Steps to Take Before Hiring a Ghostwriter

Before contacting a ghostwriter, there are several things you should have in place:

• Time— To ensure that your finished project sounds as though you wrote it yourself, it is imperative that you dedicate at least a little time to the project. At Rachel Brownlow Ghostwriting, I require clients to set aside at least 1 hour per week to discuss their projects with me and provide feedback.  
• Audience— Toward whom is your book geared?
• Writing Samples— Have writing samples on-hand to share with your ghostwriter. This will help the Writer imitate your voice or writing style convincingly.
• End Goal— Can you envision your completed work? Are you planning on self-publishing or publishing with a traditional publisher? At what length do you envision your completed book? Remember, the power and prestige of authorship are within your reach.