Building a Writing Platform: One Writer's Results for 2013

[Randy]

One writer opens the kimono and reveals his numbers. If you're having trouble building a book marketing audience, your not alone.

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[Ed]

One of my sites http://malinche.info/blog, dedicated to one book, got 27,109 unique visitors who visited 59,157 times.

To tell you the truth, despite all the work that went into that, I probably sold a whopping 5 of those books because of it.

I think your stats have to be in the millions before it makes a difference.

[Randy]

Ed wrote: "One of my sites http://malinche.info/blog, dedicated to one book, got 27,109 unique visitors who visited 59,157 times.

To tell you the truth, despite all the work that went into that, I probably s..."

Thanks, Ed! That's a lot of traffic. I've read somewhere that you will sell books to 1% of your fans/followers. I'm wondering if all this social media is a waste of time when it comes to selling books!

[Richard]

I don't think social media is a waste of time, as long as you use it correctly. I would NEVER rely on a tweeting service to get you any sales.The only people who follow them are other authors. I also would make sure to get as broad a range as follower/friends/whatever. Again, authors aren't going to buy your stuff from you. We can't afford to do it. I think my best use of social media has been connecting with people I know in real life, and keeping them aware of my activities. I've had success meeting people at book signings and things, and then adding them to my social media sites. They are much more likely to be involved in my events and releases. Still, I'm not turning massive numbers by a long shot. No matter what you do, I think this is a very crowded sea and we are all tiny fish.

[Edward]

Richard wrote: "Again, authors aren't going to buy your stuff from you. We can't afford to do it. "

People, please stop speaking in absolutes!

The last book I bought (several days ago) is one that I saw while following the author on Twitter. It sounded interesting, so I checked it out on Amazon, then I bought it.

Why don't people say, "I'm an author and I'm not going to buy anyone's books, and I can't afford to," instead of this nonsense, "authors won't do this" and "authors won't do that."

Speak for yourselves.

I tried giving some advice to an author yesterday that included advice about Twitter. He told me he's already active and successful on Twitter and one of the things he does is to not allow authors to follow him because "they don't buy books. They're promoting their own books."

WTF people?

Does it not occur to some people that authors are guaranteed to be readers? Don't be so quick to judge other authors based on your own proclivities.

[[deleted user]]

I just assumed that Richard and others were speaking in generalities and knew that there are exceptions. It's probable that many of the authors here, like me, do not derive an important part of their income from book sales, so they probably could afford to buy books. I buy books. I bought one the other day from a Goodreads author. I don't know if that makes me an exception, or if I'm in the majority, but I treat all people as possible consumers, authors and all. Yes, I promote my books; but I also read.

[Bibi]

Edward wrote: "Richard wrote: "Again, authors aren't going to buy your stuff from you. We can't afford to do it. "

People, please stop speaking in absolutes!

The last book I bought (several days ago) is one th..."

I completely agree. I am an author but I love reading and take my recommendations from all over the place :-)

[J.D.]

I too am becoming disillusioned with "the absolute best, guarenteed technique for building a platform that will make you a millionaire best-seller in 30 days." Obviously that's a bit of exaggeration and sarcasm, but you know what I mean.

I think a lot of the platform building advice and publishing wisdom that's running now has just become quickly outdated. The new publishing world is evolving and growing so fast that it's already changed from how yesterday's self-pub heroes made it big. It's like cellphones -- by the time you're trying out the latest and greatest, it's already obsolete. Now that there are likely MILLIONS of us all doing the same thing, it's diluted from when the pioneering visionaries did it just a few years ago.

Take Goodreads itself, for example. I still believe this to be the best way to reach readers and get your name out there (that I've found anyway, plus it's just nice to engage other writers like this), but there are A LOT of us. Maybe it's because I frequent the writing spots here, but there seem to be more writers than readers sometimes. And yes, I do believe that some of those "post your new book here" is 90% authors posting books and running to the next one to do the same, and maybe 10% of people actually finding books there.

But you guys are right too, that writers are by definition readers too, so we are at least gaining one another as fans and readers.

But for me, I'm beginning to realize that all my blogging and cyber-time spent "building a platform" may be better spent writing books. I am agreeing now with the side of the fence that says more books sell more books, rather than a lot of "hello, here I am" online. I will certainly continue to do that, as well, but it's taking away from actual writing time with very little in the way of return. For me, anyway. Results may vary.

(Sorry, I can be long-winded.)

[Ed]

Two points: I am an author and I buy at least 25 books a year. Buy, not receive for free.

Two: the current rule of thumb is that authors spend 50% of their time writing and 50% marketing. This goes for both published and self published since the publisher often arranges book tours.

I have also found ten when I stop blogging or commenting (on Goodreads for one) my sales drop off pretty quickly.

[L.L.]

50/50! I wouldn't have the stamina to spend as much time marketing as I do writing. Running twitter/ facebook/ websites where the only reason for doing it was marketing would just be so soul-destroying.

Mind you, unless you do that your marketing is probably restricted (like mine) to a half-hearted blog and a few posts on the self-publicity forums no one reads. So it depends on your dedication.

[J.L.]

One of the things that helps me (as a writer who reads) is my book club. It's an awesome group of retired reading teachers. We've read the most interesting books and have great discussions.

As for platform, my first novel was an easy historical topic that I speak on all over my state. It's prequel is almost ready fro publication and already have given a talk on its subject as part of a community read. I use twitter to find articles on marketing and platform. I have never used a packaged deal for that, but have taken free or low cost webinars with some of the best in the business. Will take a class on creating audiobooks, my goal for 2014.

[Ripley]

J.D. wrote: "I too am becoming disillusioned with "the absolute best, guarenteed technique for building a platform that will make you a millionaire best-seller in 30 days." Obviously that's a bit of exaggerati..."

Yes! Someone who gets it. And I'm that author who would rather have people follow me on twitter, and would rather follow real people. I loved it when half the authors who were following me bailed, overnight!

I never sold books to people on Facebook, and I had several thousand friends at one time. My author platform was a massive waste of time, and twitter for me works, but not like you think it should.

I can do what here? Promote an event, give a book away, and advertise? Socially interact? To authors? Mostly authors? I see nothing but authors here. Yes you read. Good for you. Keep up the good work. I feel happy for you!

I can attend a local event and press the flesh as I pass out information. I can give a book for free during that one event. Go here, use this coupon code during checkout. The information I pass out will be cheaper than any ad I can buy online. And I'm just guessing at this, but if I meet 1000 people in a half day, not one of them will be an author! I get all twitterpated just thinking about it.

And I'm crazy for wanting to reach real Joe and Jane Readers! WOOT! WOOT! Then let me be crazy! I'll just be crazy and write more books, and enjoy living life, pressing the flesh, and they will sell a lots of cool foods on sticks.

You can join me. You can be crazy with me. Share crazy secrets.

http://ripleyking.blogspot.com/