Your Writer Platform

Build your platform. Engage your fans. Sell more books.

8 Marketing Strategies for Self-Publishing Authors that Get Results

by

In this post, guest author Helene Cue covers eight of the most effective marketing strategies for self-publishing authors to help you finally get some results and grow your writing career.

If you want to become a successful self-published author, you need to have both a talent for writing as well as some practical marketing skills. You must know (or must learn) how to present your books to your audience in a way that makes them sit up and take notice.

Got the writing talent, but lack a background in marketing? No worries! If you genuinely want to become self-published, you can quickly learn basic marketing strategies and start using them to promote your work and your author brand. 

Here are eight powerful marketing strategies you can start implementing today.

1 // Identify Your Ideal Reader 

If you want to promote your book effectively, start with a clear understanding of who your target audience is.

Identifying your ideal reader is an essential step in developing a marketing plan. How do you describe your readers? Who are they?

[Read more…]

Using Fanfiction to Build your Audience, Brand, and Platform

by

fanfiction to build and grow your author brand

This is a guest post by writer and marketer, Hayley Zelda, on using fanfiction to build your audience, brand, and platform. She’s written on major writing platforms and worked with a number of self-published authors on marketing books to the YA audience.

Have you ever been so interested in an artist or musician that you searched to find like-minded people so that you could enjoy your idol’s works together?

Have you ever been so fascinated with a character or setting of a book or TV series that you wanted to create your own story inspired by them?

If so, welcome to the world of fandoms and fanfiction.    

What is a Fandom? 

Fandom is a term used to describe communities built around a shared enjoyment and fascination with an aspect of pop culture, such as books, musicians, celebrities, internet personalities, movies, or TV series.   

Fanfiction archive website FanFiction.net declared the Harry Potter fandom as number one in their list of the most popular fandoms online. In fact, according to the data they released, there are around 821,000 stories about the books and movie series. 

[Read more…]

The Best DIY Website Themes to Build your Writer Website

by

The Best DIY Website Themes to Build Your Writer Website | YourWriterPlatform.com

This is a guest post by Georgie Peru, a Content Contributor for UKWebHostReview on the best DIY website themes to build your writer website. Please find her full bio at the bottom of this post.

More than ever, budding writers are searching for the best website themes to build their portfolio and author websites.

Website builders like Wix, Squarespace, and even CMS platforms like WordPress, are a great way for writers to build their own websites, without much or any coding knowledge.

DIY builders are appealing for many reasons: they’re easy to use, there’s plenty of templates and themes to work with, and most importantly, most website builders offer a free plan or are incredibly good value for money.

[Read more…]

Why Every Author Needs a Book Sales Funnel and How to Get Started Today

by

author sales funnel

A book sales funnel is a series of steps carefully designed to guide readers toward your book, your brand, and ultimately toward making the decision to purchase from you. In this guest post, bestselling author and co-founder of BookAds.co, Brian Berni, shares his insights on why book sales funnels are a critical component to growing your book sales (while still allowing time to write).

Most writers got into the game to write, not spend every waking hour of the day promoting their books. 

However, there is a way to sell more books, reach new readers, and build your audience, all while giving you more time to write. 

It’s through building a book sales funnel.

Ultimately, the goal of a book sales funnel is to bring new readers into your world. A solid book sales funnel will help you get reader email addresses, so you can stay in touch, build a connection, and sell more books with ease.

Below you’ll learn how book funnels can help your author career, and the steps you can take to build a funnel today.

Why You Need a Book Sales Funnel

Imagine spending hours pouring over your new book. You’ve done rounds of editing, have the cover designed, book copy all finished up, now it’s time to launch your book to the world. 

[Read more…]

Build Your Writer Platform & Fanbase: A Fiction Author Case Study

by

I had the opportunity (and the pleasure) of working with fiction author, Abby Arthur, a few months ago. During our one-on-one session, we worked on defining her author brand, identifying her ideal audience, and developing her online presence (building her author website, email list, and network). We uncovered some specific promotional campaigns that would entice her readers and help her meet her objectives. In this post, Abby is sharing the steps she’s taken and her results (so far), so you too can learn how to grow your audience and writer platform.

Are you an author trying to grow your mailing list and fan base? 

Are you lost at what to do?

I was right there with you. And though I’m not done with my marketing mission for the year, I’ve made some steps towards building my fan base that I’m sure can help and encourage you.

But first, who am I? 

I’m Abby Arthur. I write young adult fantasy in a fascinating modern world full of magic and adventure for teens who want an escape from reality. 

For the last twenty years, writing has been a passion and way of life for me. I can’t count how many novels I’ve written while I’ve learned to perfect my craft (not all are great, I promise). 

[Read more…]

Authors with Platforms Sell Books.

It’s that simple.

Get on the Insiders List to receive the free Quick Start Guide to Building Your Writer Platform, exclusive content via email, and instant access to a growing library of downloadable resources.