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!
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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. Get by-lines in online publications
8. Guest blog for a popular blog
9. Have other writers as guest posters on your blog
10. Guest write in an email newsletter that is sent to a new audience
11. Send out an informative email newsletter
12. Add people you know as Facebook friends
13. Join a Facebook group
14. Make a Facebook author page
15. Create a Facebook group
16. Create a personal Twitter account
17. Create a parody Twitter account
18. Create a personal Instagram account
19. Create a bookstagram account
20. Create an Instagram account educating people about your field
21. Start a lifestyle blog
22. Start a personal blog
23. Start a short story blog
24. Gather an audience on Pinterest
25. Join a shared board on Pinterest
26. Make friends on Goodreads
27. Create an author profile on Goodreads
28. Create an author profile on Amazon
29. Attend writers’ conferences and conferences within your field
30. Speak at schools
31. Speak at libraries
32. Speak at retreats related to your topic
33. Host a retreat related to your topic
34. Speak at events and venues within your niche
35. Host an event related to your topic
36. Write guest posts for other people’s blogs
37. Host a book signing
38. Host a reading of your book
39. Host a community poetry/story reading
40. Develop your LinkedIn portfolio for browsers to see
41. Gain LinkedIn connections
42. Sign up for HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and respond when a journalist wants to use you as a source
43. Create graphics related to your topic and distribute them online
44. Lead an in-person group related to your topic (support group, Bible study, etc.)
45. Join a writer’s group or critique group
46. Start a book club in your genre
47. Host a discussion group over Skype or another video conference site
48. Hand out business cards when the topic of writing arises
49. Join a writer association
50. 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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