Are Platforms Important for Authors Before Launching a Book?

Most authors will tell you that the publishing industry has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past few decades. Like many, publishers are having to work with less, considerably less actually. Smaller staffs, online competition and the current economy all play a significant part in how publishers are interacting with authors today.

For authors and writers, this means that it’s truly up to them to harness the power of marketing and public relations in order to develop a solid platform. In essence, a platform is an author’s base of potential readers that view that author as an expert in their field, niche or subject matter. From speaking engagements and networking opportunities to traditional and online media presence, constructing a platform with these components is more important now than ever.
  
Today, publishers have considerably tightened up their purse strings and rely on authors to do much of the promotional legwork. As a result, publishers spend a fair amount of time examining an author’s platform to determine the type of following they have and if they’re worth taking on as a book project. Outstanding creativity and superb writing won’t do much in terms of a publishing contract if your platform is nonexistent.

Having a well-rounded platform in place is proof that an author has positioned himself/herself as the best possible candidate in a pack of thousands. However, platforms don’t happen overnight. They require time, dedication and hard work. Whether an author is sending out press kits or participating as a guest blogger, platform promotion is a major commitment that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Some authors may decide to hire a professional to assist them in building their platform. Working with someone who’s knowledgeable and who understands your objectives is essential. An author’s platform is what showcases their accomplishments so take some time when choosing a professional to collaborate with. Ask around and do your homework to make sure that you’ve got the right person in place to cultivate an outstanding platform and help you reach your goals.

When establishing a platform, authors need to set realistic expectations and believe in themselves. The literary field is becoming increasingly more competitive, which is precisely why building a platform is central to the success of any modern author. There’s no time like the present. Putting together a platform strategy and executing it is the first step in rising to the top.

Leili McKinley s a sought-after speaker, social media coach, internet marketing expert and branding specialist. She has been interviewed by CNN and featured on Conversational Marketing. An award winning entrepreneur, Leili has built and sold two multi-million dollar companies and is currently working on a third. The Small Business Administration, The Colbert Foundation, and The Maui Chamber of Commerce have honored her and she is a SBA Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner. An in-demand speaker, Leili travels the world to address audiences on search engine optimization, online marketing, branding, pay per click, web analytics, email marketing, web design, blog design, website usability, ecommerce, social media and more. Leili's dynamic training and coaching sessions-both in groups and one-on-one-transform people, companies, and organizations. develop a solid platform. In essence, a platform is an author’s base of potential readers that view that author as an expert in their field, niche or subject matter. From speaking engagements and networking opportunities to traditional and online media presence, constructing a platform with these components is more important now than ever.

Branding: Importance for Authors

I attempted to unlock my car after a grocery trip, only to find the lock would not budge. I kept pushing the unlock button. Nothing. I pushed the lock button. Nothing. Okay, a bit strange but maybe the battery died. So I went to insert my key into the driver's side and nothing happened. I then called my daughter for her help. She quickly found the same thing, no button clicking or key insertion into the door lock would unlock the stubborn car door!

I pulled out my cell phone ready to call my husband. Why didn't my key work? As I rounded the back door of the car and looked at the bumper, I quickly realized my mistake. Have you guessed the problem? If you guessed this was not my car, then you are correct. I couldn't believe it! I sheepishly looked around to see if anyone was looking and thankfully my error went unnoticed. I quickly scanned the parking lot and found my car in a parallel space, one aisle over.

The car was identical to mine except for a bumper sticker. I don't have bumper stickers on my car. That brand or logo is what saved me further embarrassment from calling my husband and having him drive the ten minutes or so away. Of course I told him the entire story upon arriving home and we all had a good laugh. Branding helps to identify a personal object or a person.

As a child whenever we traveled by plane, my mother tied a red ribbon to the handle of our suitcase. It was easy to spot as it circled the baggage carousel.  Our suitcase stood out from the crowd.  And, come to think of it, she tied a red ribbon to the rear view mirror of our car as well. You never know when this might be important! These little identifying marks allowed us to quickly find our suitcase and our car! Funny how I had forgotten this until today.

When an author begins the process of writing a book a seasoned author will remember his or her brand. If the book is too far off track, she may reconsider writing the book. I often pass off book ideas that won't fit with my brand. With a name like "Media Angels" the emphasis is the Christian market. Brand...Logo...Identification. The three go together.

The ideal is to develop brand loyalty and an understanding that your brand contains quality, reliability and even dependability. So, how do you develop a brand or mark? With planning and focus. There are those who specialize in creating a "brand" such as a publicist or media specialist. These people focus on the strengths you possess, your literary gifts as well as your target market or focus. In this way your brand will appeal to the market demographics you are attempting to reach.


Of course you can do this yourself. Making your brand original, eye catching and one that conveys what you do is essential and a trademark of a good brand. You can test the market, ask your existing customers for input or if you are a brand new author, think about what you want your brand to mean.

Here are a few questions to ask:

1. Will my brand pass the test of time?

2. Will my brand be for a single product or a product line?

3. Can I sell my brand or is it "me"?

4. What is my target group and will my brand reflect their needs?

5. How will I implement this brand in my work? Will it become a book imprint or perhaps the brand of the entire company?


There are many more questions to ponder, but these will get you started on the right path. Remember that your goals and emphasis may change over the years and there is nothing wrong with changing your logo or brand purpose to encompass a larger segment of the population. Keeping true to the original purpose of my company, supply quality books and curriculum to the Christian market is still my goal, yet I've expanded my market to developing a line of Information books as well as those that would focus on Parenting. Whatever your goals there is no time like the present to begin.

John Kremer : 1001 Ways to Market Your Books

Okay, I admit it I'm a fan. When I interviewed John Kremer on my blog talk radio show, for authors I confessed, and he took the complement graciously. I explained that it was due to his book that I attribute much of my success. I have successfully self-published since 1994, and now work with many authors publishing their books under the Media Angels®, Inc., imprint.

I first read the sixth edition of John's book, "1001 Ways to Market Your Books" on a family reunion in North Carolina.

Everyone else was on a trek to view the mountain falls close up, while I was very happy to view the lake, and mountain view comfortably from the deck of our hotel. There I was, with my littlest son, and my book on marketing. I had been writing and publishing for a few years at this point, in a niche market, and the thought crossed my mind to expand this market into the schools and libraries. I had no idea where to begin and this book, this great resource, was able to answer all of my questions and all the others I didn't know I had!

I am a book purest. I’m coming alongside the eBook revolution very quietly although I am kicking and screaming inside. The idea of a wonderful book in my hands brings a smile to my lips. And, I would never in one-hundred years even contemplate turning down the page corners of any books in my personal library, which easily numbers over a thousand titles. Yet, John’s book broke all my carefully laid guidelines.

In fact I had to take some pictures of his book to show you.

You can see the pages are somewhat faded with age, written upon…

And, the corners are well… I really don’t know what I was thinking at the time. Was the kite-fold really necessary?

When an author begins writing, very few have a mind for marketing. Of course there are the exceptions, such as a friend, Eric Reinhold, author of the Ryann Watters fantasy series for children. Eric is a business man, a financial planner, and knows how to market. Not only does he have three books planned for the series, he has hopes for a movie to tie in with Mount Dora's 100 year anniversary. Mount Dora is the location of the book, a real place in Florida.

For the rest of us, just getting the book written is a huge undertaking. Many of the aspiring authors I work with begin to panic when I outline an underlying marketing plan to work toward, as they finish their manuscript. There are several choices according to John, one is to hire someone to market and publicize for you and the other is to do it yourself. I opted to do it myself and found the information I needed in John's "1001 Ways to Market Your Books".

What kind of information? Let me recount what this book did for me, personally:

1. I saved over $1000.00 on the print run of my book Information in a Nutshell: "Writing and Publishing" by using the printer information in John's book and website. I was able to obtain printing proposals; comparison shopped and asked my local printer if they could match the price. In this case the print run was large enough that they said, "Yes!"

2. Learned innovative ways to market, by including specific information that helped with sales. For example, the authors of book titles I mentioned in my book, mentioned my book to others. In one case the self-published author with a typical print run of 10,000 books, mentioned me in her “Digging Deeper” section. My sales soared.

3. Learned more about niche marketing, in my case the focus was on a particular group, and using my educational skills. I offered to speak to small groups, parent groups and state conventions. I taught workshops to adults and hands-on science workshops to children.

4. Marketing seasons: I found information about the best times to release books and tying this into what his happening locally. A great example is the one by Eric, mentioned above. John gives the author many ideas about how to tie this into your overall marketing campaign.

5. A book promotion time-line that is second to none. In this list, the author knows when to market and publicize and the order that it becomes the most effective. This is worth the ticket price of the book, in my opinion.

For the rest of the points you will need to listen to the radio interview I conducted with John. I am embarrassed to say that the interview went over the prescribed one hour. We clocked in at 90 minutes of excellent information! He was unselfish and generous as he continued to answer without an eye for the clock, and explained such marketing gems as the importance of a good front cover, testing the market, and building relationships.

You can learn more about John Kremer from:
Website: http://www.bookmarket.com
Group Discussion on his “Ning”: http://bookmarket.ning.com/
He has over 5,000 members, and I am one.

Happily, Blog Talk Radio selected this show as one of  Today's Top Picks!

The link for the radio show interview is: http://www.writingandpublishingradio.com.

You are always welcome to join the live event; every Monday at 3:30 ET, in order to ask the guest questions in “real time”… this interview was as much for my listening audience as it was for me. John has the experience of over 25+ years in the industry, and this interview reflected just the tip of his knowledge. Thanks John, from all of us who have profited from your research, time, energy and knowledge. I thank you for writing your book.

Publicity and Book Marketing

And so we begin April as the month of the publicists and book marketing experts. I will be interviewing four people this month who understand the publishing industry and know how to make the most out of your advertising dollar. Some of these experts are authors and others know the industry, inside and out. Getting the word out about a new book or product is very important, and the hope is that the advertising takes the form of social media viral “buzz”.

First let's look at the definitions of the terms publicity and marketing. Both appear to mean the same thing. The idea is to be noticed in order to find someone to purchase your books. Simply, publicity is local or national media coverage such as newspaper, magazine, or print reviews in the form of interviews or book reviews. It can also mean radio or television interviews. Today this definition is expanded to include media coverage via blog promotions, blog tours, or podcasts. Publicity is free exposure for you, and you gain notoriety in the form of the coverage. A press release is a good way to help shape your image and busy media outlets appreciate the help of a well worded synopsis of your book, photograph and bio.



Marketing on the other hand takes many forms. It can be paid advertising in order to present your product to the masses and is a direct approach in order to obtain sales from consumers. Marketing allows you to word the ad or hire a professional to write one for your use. This can also be the tools such as business cards, postcards, book marks, websites, pay per click ads, and other resources to use at book signings. Marketing can also take the form of author blog posts, and social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

I have interviewed many authors who have hired a publicist for their book promotions and were very happy with the results. Publicists are not cheap, yet if they obtain the contact and publicity you hope for, they are well worth the money spent. As with anything publishing related it helps to have a goal and share this with the person you hire. Do you want to travel and speak? Do you want to be paid for your speaking engagements? Do you desire bookstore book signings? Or, would you rather speak from a telephone at home and talk about your book project?

Can you successfully promote your own book? Yes, it does not matter if you are a first time self-published author or you are an author with a traditional press. You can promote your own book, all it takes is time. There are many resources and guides available and we will discuss this on the broadcasts on my radio show, this month.

Here is the upcoming line-up:

April 5, 2010 Marc Grant: Mentor Equity Press  http://www.MentorEquityPress.com
April 12, 2010 John Kremer: 1001 Ways to Market Your Book: http://www.bookmarket.com
April 19, 2010 Kathy Carlton Willis: Publicist http://www.kathycarltonwillis.com/
April 26, 2010 Leili McKinley: Branding for Authors: http://www.leilimckinley.com/speaker/  

Am I a Book COACH, or am I a Book CONSULTANT?

Okay, so what is the difference? It is all about semantics. As an author you would think I'd be very discerning when it comes to using words. In fact, words are the engine that  drive an author's ideas, without them an author would be well, not an author! So, what am I talking about when I say that I am a book consultant and not a book coach? In fact, why would I shun the word that appears to be the buzzword for those who help other people?

There are life coaches, finance coaches, book coaches, author coaches, business coaches, publicity coaches and, of course, athletic coaches, but  then  there are consultants. Business consultants, book consultants, author consultants... okay, I'm sure by now you get the picture. The bottom line is you use an expert (a.k.a. the "coach" or "consultant") to help you in whatever area you need help.

In my experience a coach can do marvelous things for your career. They learn about you and your needs and they work on the whole picture, allowing you to understand, via self-awareness, which direction you need to go. A knowledgeable coach can work in many areas and is not necessarily industry specific A good example of this is  a life coach. I have used life coaches (and blown more than a few away with my wacky and busy life!). These fine people have set me straight and we have worked toward my goals,  and here is where I believe the problem lies.

If you are a business owner, and knowledgeable, you have a definite idea of your goals, even if they may be haphazard, and that is where you can learn the value of a coach; they can think  you  through the process, effectively aid you in coming to decisions, and basically join with you, pointing you forward toward meeting your goals. That is where I part company from coaching.

As an author with a vested interest in "success," a term we can banter around until the end of time, the definition will be different to each of us; I have very goal-oriented ideas about what is involved in the publishing process, and the needs of an author to become published, especially if I am the one with the vested interest and the dollars to match. I consult with my clients, express my viewpoints, and make suggestions they are free to take or leave. I ask well- pointed and specific questions and garner from their responses the direction they should take to bring their book projects to completion.

So, what are your thoughts on the matter? What are the differences between coaching and consulting in your opinion? Does it really matter?