7 Advantages of Building an Author Platform Before You Write a Book

It can be difficult to get your book noticed when you’re a first-time author. There are so many books published every day, and it’s hard to stand out from the competition and mark your presence in the market. But there’s one thing you can do to give yourself a head start as an author: build an author platform. 

An author platform is your online presence in the form of a blog, social media account, and email list. These platforms allow you to connect with your audience and promote your work. Also, if you want to build a fan base before your book is even published, an author platform can help you build a community of readers who are eager to follow your work.  

Below are 7 more benefits of building an author platform discussed in detail. 

1. It Makes Your Work Easier to Discover

The internet has made it easier than ever for authors to reach a wide audience. With a few clicks, you can now publish your work online and share it with the world. The author platform will make it easy for readers to search and find your work and learn more about you as an author. 

This can help you reach a larger audience and connect with readers who might not have otherwise found your work. This ultimately helps build a personal relationship with your readers and find a loyal and supportive audience. 

A wider network of readers will also provide you with more opportunities as an author, such as speaking engagements and book deals. 

2. It can Serve as an Online Book Store

With the rise of the digital world, brick-and-mortar bookstores are slowly becoming a tale of the past. This has ultimately led to increasing sales of online bookstores. When you have your own author platform, you can use it as a medium to promote your book as well as sell it directly from your store. 

This way, your blog or website can serve as another bookstore, which will increase the sales of your book. You can also post your other works on your platform to show your audience what you have got under your belt. 

3. It Helps You Network with Other Writers 

Your author platform not only gives you a space to share your work with the world, but it also helps you connect with other writers in your industry. This will help you build a community of like-minded individuals where you can share your work and get honest reviews. 

Moreover, this can be a great resource for finding writing jobs, networking for book deals, and more. With other writers in your network, you will get to connect with publishers and literary agents who can be beneficial to promote your book and give it the best possible shape. In short, if you’re looking to build a career in writing, the author platform is a great place to start and further your career. 

4. It Helps You Showcase Your Talent

Even if your book is a bestseller, your readers don’t know who you are and what other works you’ve got to show, they won’t take you as an experienced writer. An author platform like a website or blog will give you an opportunity to showcase your literary work. 

Literally, it’s your website, your rules. You can post blog pieces, articles, poems, useful insights, and excerpts to give your readers a glimpse of your work. Once they get to know your literary abilities, they are more likely to take you as a thought leader, and your chances of getting sales increase gradually. 

Posting on your author platform will also give you an idea to get marketing insights into your best-performing blogs and writing pieces. This way, you can analyze your audience’s preferences and produce content that is most likely to get a response. 

5. It Helps You Establish Your Brand Identity

As an author, it is very crucial to build your brand identity and create a consistent brand image. With the help of an author platform, you can send a consistent message across all your channels, which helps build brand recognition and trust with your audience. And as your audience grows, so does your platform. 

A robust author platform will also help you reach new readers, get more exposure for your books, and even attract new opportunities to work. And once you have built up your brand, you can easily build a loyal following and achieve your publishing goals in no time. 

6. It’s an Affordable Marketing Medium

If you are a novice writer and don’t have enough revenue to market your book, an author platform can serve as a great option. You can build a website or blog yourself with the help of several website-building tools available online, and it won’t even cost a dime.

Moreover, building a strong social media presence is also only an investment of time, but all of these platforms can save you hundreds of dollars when the time comes to promote and market your book or other work. By creating and sharing quality content, you can reach a wider audience without breaking the bank. 

In addition, these mediums can be a great way to build thought leadership and establish yourself as an expert in your field. 

7. It Can Convince Publishers to Take a Chance on You

The book publishing industry is notoriously difficult to break into, and it can take so much hard work for you to convince publishers to publish your work. With so many authors vying for attention, many publishers are only interested in working with authors who have a pre-existing audience. 

But if you have a strong author platform, you can increase your chances of getting published. If you have a large and engaged following on your author platform, publishers will take notice. They’ll see that you already have an audience of potential readers for your book, and this can convince them to take a chance on you. 

So, if you’re a novice writer hoping to get published, start building your author platform today. It could be the key to getting your book into the hands of readers.