Night Heron Media
  • Video
    • Postcards from Texas
    • Texas History Initiative
    • Birth of Texas >
      • BoT Scholars
  • Publishing
    • Submitting Work
    • Trade Publishing
    • Private Publishing
    • Manuscript Consultations
    • Editing
    • Book Design
    • Illustrations
  • Our Story
    • Meet Our Team
    • NHM Board
    • Houston Arts and Media
    • Blog
    • In the News
    • Contact Us
  • Support NHM
    • Make a Donation
    • Become a Member
    • Events
    • Our Major Funders
  • Shop

Blog Posts

How to Build a Strong Author Platform

10/22/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
We have good news and bad news. The good news: Congratulations—you’re a published author! Give yourself a round of applause for all your hard work. The bad news: You’ve still got some work left to do. A book hitting the shelves is only half the battle.

What do we mean by that? Well, after your book becomes available, you have to make sure people outside of your friends and family know it’s been released! You’ll also want to grow a following: a group of people who eagerly await your next release.

Don’t know where to start? That’s where we come in! Read on for Night Heron Media’s tips on how to build a strong author platform.
Get Social
First things first: Head to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads to make your own author accounts. Readers and publishers alike use social media to find new authors and follow longtime favorites. You can use these channels to interact with fans and even network. Many authors choose to combine their personal and professional accounts due to the informality of the industry. If you do go this route, make sure the majority of your content stays relevant to your books and ongoing projects.
 
Create a Website
Today, it’s easier than ever to build your own free website. You can check out two popular systems: Weebly and WordPress. Many authors use the latter to run a blog, where they can update their fans about current projects or provide writing tips. If you don’t have the time for a blog, you can always stick to brief Tweets and Facebook posts. At the very least, a website will legitimize your career and give people an easy way to access your books, info about you, and your social media information all in one place.
 
Start a Newsletter
You can also update followers through a newsletter. MailChimp and MailerLite allow you to send mass emails to whoever signs up. A newsletter allows you to transfer all your updates into an easy-to-read format. Maybe you want to send a monthly newsletter, or only a few a year; either way, stay consistent to avoid overwhelming your followers. Consider including upcoming events and links to relevant social media posts.
 
Build a Brand
Ideally, you’ll want your social media accounts to complement each other. Maintain a brand across your socials and website. Decide on colors, fonts, and styles you want to use in your posts. Your audience should determine how you brand yourself. If you write children’s lit, you might utilize vibrant colors. If you write nonfiction, you might stick to more sophisticated and sleek styles.
 
Be Yourself
Don’t stress over your author platform too much. Readers and publishers want to see you for who you are, not who you think you should be! So have fun—and enjoy getting to know people on the other side of the screen.

By Sydney Meve, Intern
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Book Design
    Book Marketing
    Books
    Community
    Documentaries
    Editing
    In The News
    New Releases
    Publishing
    Reading
    Texas
    Video
    Writing

    Archives

    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020

    RSS Feed

Night Heron Media
PO Box 5872
Katy, TX 77491
info@nightheronmedia.org
Help preserve our history and share our stories through the book and media arts by making a tax-deductible donation today.
Donate Now
Night Heron Media is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation registered in Texas.
Contact     Internship Program     Submissions     For Bookstores     Blog     Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 by Night Heron Media
  • Video
    • Postcards from Texas
    • Texas History Initiative
    • Birth of Texas >
      • BoT Scholars
  • Publishing
    • Submitting Work
    • Trade Publishing
    • Private Publishing
    • Manuscript Consultations
    • Editing
    • Book Design
    • Illustrations
  • Our Story
    • Meet Our Team
    • NHM Board
    • Houston Arts and Media
    • Blog
    • In the News
    • Contact Us
  • Support NHM
    • Make a Donation
    • Become a Member
    • Events
    • Our Major Funders
  • Shop