50 Author Platform Ideas

​If you want to sell a book, whether through traditional publishing or self-publishing, you’ll want to have an author platform. Your platform is essentially your ability to reach people who will want to buy your book. You may reach those people online or in person—either way, these are the people who are in love with what you do and can’t wait to read what you write.
 
It can be hard to know where to start when building your platform. As you work through this list, ask yourself two questions: 1) Is this where my target audience is hanging out? and 2) Would I enjoy spending time building a platform here? By answering these questions, you can determine whether each of the methods on this list are worthwhile time investments.

I will put this disclaimer out there, though: don’t try to do all 50 things on this list. With your attention divided between too many projects, you won’t be able to keep up with all of them, much less invest in helping them grow. Choose a small handful of ways to build your author platform and put your attention into growing your audience in those places.
 
So, without further ado, here is a list of 50 ideas to build an author platform!

1. Write a column for a local newspaper
2. Start a podcast
3. Start an informational YouTube channel
4. Vlog (video blog) and upload the videos to YouTube or Facebook
5. Get by-lines in major magazines
6. Get by-lines in niche publications
7. Guest blog for a popular blog
8. Have other writers guest on your blog
9. Guest in an email newsletter that goes to a large audience
10. Send out an informative email newsletter
11. Add people you know as Facebook friends
12. Join a Facebook group
13. Make a Facebook author page
14. Create a Facebook group
15. Create a personal Twitter account
16. Create a parody Twitter account
17. Create a personal Instagram account
18. Create a bookstagram account
19. Create an Instagram account educating people about your field
20. Start a lifestyle blog
21. Start a personal blog
22. Start a short story blog
23. Gather an audience on Pinterest
24. Join a shared board on Pinterest
25. Make friends on Goodreads
26. Create an author profile on Goodreads
27. Create an author profile on Amazon
28. Attend writers’ conferences and conferences within your field
29. Speak at schools
30. Speak at libraries
31. Speak at retreats
32. Speak at events and venues within your niche
33. Write guest posts for other people’s blogs
34. Host a book signing
35. Host a reading of your book
36. Host a community poetry/story reading
37. Develop your LinkedIn portfolio for browsers to see
38. Gain LinkedIn connections
39. Sign up for HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and respond when a journalist wants to use you as a source
40. Create graphics related to your topic and distribute them online
41. Lead an in-person group related to your topic (support group, Bible study, etc.)
42. Host a discussion group over Skype or another video conference site
43. Hand out business cards when the topic of writing arises
44. Join a writer association
45. Make lots of friends!

 
Which of these platform-building methods would you like to start? Let me know in the comments!

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AUTHOR: MEGAN ALMS
Megan Alms writes books and teaches other writers how to write books, get their books into the hands of readers, and change the world with words. She also hosts a YouTube channel, where she shows behind-the-scenes glimpses of author life.

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