Building a Strong Author Platform: It’s Not Just About the Numbers

When writers are trying to build platform—in order to land a book deal—they often ask me questions like:

How many Twitter followers do I need?
How many Facebook likes should I have?
How many website or blog visits are required?
How many people need to be on my email newsletter list?

Every agent or publisher will throw out a different number to such questions, and usually that number is made up. What’s even more frustrating: building a platform only to land a book deal usually ends up short circuiting. (Here’s why.)

A smarter and more strategic author should evaluate their platform strength on three levels:

ability to reach new readers,
ability to engage existing readers, and
ability to mobilize super fans.

Over at Writer Unboxed, I explain how to take a holistic view toward building your author platform.