Your Author Platform

We've all heard the news. If you're going to be an author, especially a self-published one, you need a platform.

I recently wrote an article on this very subject, but it's so important that I wanted to post another one just to drive the point home. If you'd like to read the first one, along with a good smattering of great links on the same subject, here's a LINK to it.

What I wanted to concentrate on in this post is the Facebook phenomenon. Nearly everyone has a FB presence today. And there are new pages being set up every hour of the day, even as I write this and as you're reading it. So, because it is so popular and growing, because it's now considered the "thing to do," you need to be there.

You can start out with a simple personal home page. Then, you can create a personal page. Most writers create an author page that their fans can visit and post questions or comments. You can post the art for your new cover (that's always exciting!). Or you can include a link to your "buy" page on Amazon or B&N. You can link to your blog where you've posted an excerpt or a character interview. There's lots of things you can do. The important aspect of all this is that your author page will give you another marketing channel. You'll have different visitors than you have on your blog. Different friends than you have on Twitter. It helps expand your universe.

On a personal note, my personal page is getting very close to the 5,000 friend limit that Facebook imposes. Because of that, I've created an author page. It's currently gaining some new followers. It's important that you promote it so you can increase the number of friends who follow you. Those are members of your potential market.

If you'd like to visit my author page, here's another LINK. I hope you'll "LIKE" it.