The Most Powerful Social Media Tool for Building an Author Platform-Part 1

Image courtesy of Kristy K. James via WANA Commons

There are few tools more powerful for creating a brand than a good author blog. The Digital Age is fast-paced, and information is fleeting. Many of us are struggling in a sea of 0s and 1s for something of substance to hold onto. We all know social media is vital to any author career, but we are also aware that modern audiences seem to have the attention span of a crack-addicted Pomeranian, and social media sites are not exactly known for possessing long shelf-lives.

Even the leviathan Facebook seems vulnerable to the shifting tastes and preferences of an increasingly distracted audience. What is an author to do?

There are a number of reasons why blogs can be a superior tool for constructing a platform. Because I have promised brevity, we will discuss them one at a time. The first reason I feel blogs are one of the best social media tools for building an author platform is simply:

Blogs are More Resilient

Facebook and Twitter are not immune to going the way of Friendster and MySpace, and “Gather”-ing dust. It seems the second some new craze hits the scene and gains traction, the old site loses participation. As the participation declines, the “formerly hip” social site is then forced to sell more ad space to make up for the losses. More ads irritate remaining users who then flood to the new shiny site that has fewer annoying ads, while old site dies a lonely death in the cold vacuum of cyberspace.

Blogs, on the other hand, can be done off the author’s own web site, so the author has total control. Even those who want to use one of the more popular blogging platforms like WordPress will still enjoy a similar advantage. Why? Blogs have a simple and timeless goal—share thoughts, information, stories and observations via words. That’s it. Simple.

Notice how similar the mission is to books.

There are all kinds of blogs. Some are funny, informational, anecdotal, and some use just pictures, but they are all still basically the same, and they aren’t going to change.  WordPress might offer new sharing tools or plug-ins. They might offer upgrades and fancy backgrounds, but the overall experience people are looking for remains fairly unchanged. We go to blogs to be informed or entertained.

Again, much like books.

Blogs will remain until we take them down or the Internet implodes, and, if the Internet implodes, we have far bigger problems than our author brand. Thus, I would have to say that in a sea of shiny distractions, one of the best investments is a good blog (that leaves plenty of time for our most important activity—writing more books).

If you want to learn how to create a good author blog that appeals to readers not just other writers, please sign up for my next class. Registration is now open and there are all types of packages for every price range. The class can be done at your own pace and in your own time and you will have a team of support.

And, yes there are already too many blogs, but there are too many books, too and that hasn’t stopped any of us from wanting to write them . I am here to help shorten your learning curve and offer you a system of support you likely won’t get from home (if your family is anything like mine was).

What are your thoughts? Who are some of your favorite bloggers? What do you think makes a blog bad, boring, unappealing? Some of the WANAs out there, share your success stories. Brag! You worked for it!

I love hearing from you!

To prove it and show my love, for the month of January, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. If you leave a comment, and link back to my blog, and mention my book We Are Not Alone in your blog…you get your name in the hat THREE times. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly.

I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).

NOTE: December’s winner is Steph Scottil. Please send your 5000 word Word document or your synopsis (no more than 1000 words and in a WORD doc) OR your query letter to my assistant Chad at c carver at wana intl dot com.

And also, winners have a limited time to claim the prize, because what’s happening is there are actually quite a few people who never claim the critique, so I never know if the spam folder ate it or to look for it and then people miss out. I will also give my corporate e-mail to insure we connect and I will only have a week to return the 20 page edit.

At the end of January I will pick a winner for the monthly prize. Good luck!

I also hope you pick up copies of my best-selling books We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer . And both are recommended by the hottest agents and biggest authors in the biz. My methods teach you how to make building your author platform FUN. Build a platform and still have time left to write great books.