What is an Author Platform and Do I Need One?

In this blog post, we will look at what an author platform is and why it can be so vital to being a writer, whether you intend to self-publish or go the more traditional route with a publishing house. There is no exact definition of an author platform, as different people make slight distinctions. However, it is essentially your ability to sell to readers because they know who you are. It has to be the ability to sell, however, as simply having a following on social media does not guarantee these people will buy anything.

The concept of an author platform is one that originally started with nonfiction books. Publishers would reject nonfiction book proposals if the author could not provide evidence of their platform. Sometimes this was that they were in the public eye, for example, a celebrity’s autobiography that their fans would buy. Other times it could be that the author is a well-known expert in their field who would appeal to both their professional network and the general public.

To prove that you have an author platform, you will need some sort of evidence of your reach. How do people know about you? Where has your work been featured? What public appearances have you made? Have you had reviews in a well-known publication? Answering these questions in your book proposal is a good way to demonstrate how good your visibility is to a publisher. Give details where you can, for example, website traffic and the size of your mailing list.

The other thing you will need to show is that you are reaching the right target audience. Of course, you would ideally have sway over as many buyers as possible, but this is unlikely to be everyone! Therefore, it will be important to your publisher that your platform reflects whichever niche your book taps into. It’s no good if your book is about architecture but your platform is focused on IT, for example. It should be easy enough to prove this to a potential publisher by linking to your website or describing the content of your blog. If your platform is partly from your professional network, you can simply explain this.

Do You Need an Author Platform?

So, is an author platform a necessity? This may depend on a few things. Firstly, are you writing a fiction book or a nonfiction book? If you are a fiction author, it is possible to sell your book without a platform if your book acts as its own advertising by intriguing potential readers. Focus on writing a new, creative story with a blurb that draws readers in. This is often enough to make sales, even if you do not already have an author platform.

It isn’t easy to build an author platform as a fiction writer before you publish a book, as it is usually your writing that both attracts and keeps your audience. Of course, it is possible to already have an author platform, if, for example, you have a popular blog or are a celebrity. However, it is more likely that you will build your platform as you go along, and more readers become aware of you. This will then help you if you decide to write a sequel, or simply another book, as you will already have your platform established.

However, an author platform might be more of a necessity if you are writing nonfiction. It depends on what sort of nonfiction you are writing, but if it is standard, informative nonfiction aimed at academics, you will need an established platform. This is especially true if you are submitting your book proposal to any of the major publishers. They will want to see some evidence that your book will sell before they take it on.

If this is the situation you are in and you don’t have an author platform, you will need to start trying to build it as a priority. We will be looking at how to do this in my next blog post but things such as speaking engagements and establishing yourself as an expert in your field are good places to start here.

On the other hand, you may be targeting the smaller publishing presses. In this case, having an author platform is slightly less important as they tend to be more interested in your expertise and knowledge. You may later be able to sign on to a bigger publisher if you build an author platform through your first book.

Another exception is if you are writing narrative nonfiction, such as a memoir. For this kind of book, it is similar to fiction in that the focus will be on how interesting the book premise is and whether the publisher can market this. Your existing platform is less important than your writing ability, although it does help if you have already had something published, such as a magazine article.

Wrapping Up

I hope that this helps you to decide whether you need an author platform or not. If you do, my next blog post will be looking at some of the ways you can build your platform, so come back in two weeks for that!

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