Every Writer Needs a Platform. Start Building Yours Like This.

And avoid the pitfall too many authors tumble into.

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

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I’ve been writing online in various forms for years, and I’m more convinced than ever about one thing: every writer needs a platform.

Let me explain.

When I first started my business, I had no audience (give me a break, I’d just started the darn thing!) and no experience cultivating one. I barely used Instagram before that point, and the other two (Facebook and Twitter) were exclusively for arguing with friends about football.

My business — really just a blog at that point — was like a fart in the wind.

Had I wanted to sell something at that stage, it simply wouldn’t have been possible. I was just a lonely voice yelling into the void.

“Hey, look at these photos! Read this article! Acknowledge my existence!”

Maybe you can relate to that sort’ve jazz.

Nothing much happened with my fledgling company until I accidentally stumbled across a gloriously-straightforward way of gathering content. Content, as you know, is the lifeblood of business in the 21st century.

And for me, that content came from other people.

Photo by Skye Studios on Unsplash

To sum it up, I shared other people’s amazing content (crediting them, of course) on my Instagram feed, other people noticed, and started tagging my company so I’d share their content too, and the rest is history.

I had a platform.

It wasn’t long before that platform grew, expanded across multiple social media accounts, funnelled people to my website, and fed my email list.

Now, I had a platform that could actually sell.

I created an eco-friendly clothing brand inspired by my home country of Northern Ireland, sold advertising space on my website, and developed training materials for the business owners who partnered with me. And now, Trek NI is my 9–5, bread and butter.

But none of that would’ve been remotely possible without a platform.

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Enter the novelist

He’s written a fantastic young-adult thriller and he couldn’t be happier.

It’s been beta-read, edited and polished until it gleams, and a plucky little indie publisher’s snapped it up. It’ll be on bookshelves within six months.

Amazing, right?

Well, it would be, if our Hero Author had a way to sell the gosh-darn thing after it’s been released.

Sure, his best mate’s promised to grab a copy. His Mum’s buying a dozen (she “couldn’t be more proud!”). He’s sure he’ll be able to shift a few more to his Facebook friends. It’ll be fine. He knows it’ll be fine.

But before long, something worrisome starts to become apparent…

Nobody’s pre-ordering his book.

Once he’d exhausted his closest family members and the friends who responded to his Facebook DMs, the orders dried up. He’s nowhere near where the publisher hoped he’d be by now.

Panicked, he opens an account on Instagram. And then Twitter. And then even TikTok (everyone’s on TikTok, right?). He follows a few people, gets a few followers in return. His hope was briefly rekindled. He sees a solution.

Yes, here it comes! They like my nice promotional Canva graphic. They like my captions. Some of them even watched my reel! The orders are about to start flowing again.

He painstakingly prepares his launch post. It’s ready to go on every platform imaginable. He punches the send button…

…and nothing happens.

Crickets.

Photo by CLARA METIVIER BEUKES on Unsplash

I won’t flog this poor horse any longer. You all know why it didn’t work out for our Hero Author, why boxes stuffed with copies of his young-adult thriller are still stacked in the corner of his garage.

He didn’t have a platform. And by the time he tried building one, it was far too late.

Fellow writers, trust me when I say I want what’s best for you. I mean it. I’m a writer myself and it breaks my stony little heart in two every time I see another author’s “I give up, it’s too hard, no-one cares about my book” post on social media. Especially when the solution’s right there, ready and waiting.

I’m more convinced than ever that every writer needs a platform. One that they control, one that they can scale. One that’ll help them sell their books and fuel their motivation to write more books, and sell those too.

Want an incredibly bare-bones version of how to cultivate an audience who’ll support your writing? Here it is.

1. Post content online as often as you possibly can. Every post is a waymarker. Keep them valuable, informative and (or) entertaining. Make your followers crave your next one. Your fans will love you; those who don’t, won’t (so who cares?).

2. Create and regularly promote your newsletter. Add a link to it in your social media profiles. Scatter posts about it among your other content. Convince people they need to join it.

3. Once people are on your subscriber list, only send them your highest-value content. The kind of stuff they’d be deeply disappointed to miss. Stuff they won’t delete from their inbox even if they don’t read it right away. Nurture them, and only promote your wonderful book when the time’s right.

Online content to newsletter mailing list to sales.

That exact process works for my business (even if I’m selling recycled beanie hats instead of books) and it’ll work for you, too.

But start building your platform now. Today. Yesterday, if you have a time machine in your downstairs loo.

Build it alongside your writing. Grow your follower count. Draw people to your newsletter. Nurture respect, loyalty and anticipation.

Once your platform’s in place, your books will sell.

And your books deserve to be sold.

What’s been your biggest challenge building your personal writing platform?

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