Should I really build a following prior to writing my book?

[Jan]

I belong to 3 author's groups, all of which recommend building your audience (via your platform) first. This can be both online and offline.

Otherwise, you have a book with no one to sell it to.

Coming from the field of marketing, that makes sense to me. My genre is self-help nonfiction.

I have a blog, and I'm using Facebook, Twitter, Quora, and a few others. I've had the most success with guest blogging for prominent websites. My articles link back to my blog and people to sign up for a free ebook.

I think speaking gigs give the most leverage and I'm beginning to venture into that forum.I

What are your thoughts? Which should come first, the chicken or the egg?

[Pamela]

Absolutely build your following first. I think I launched my first book too early, before I had a fanbase, but I was aware I should have waited and just didn't have the patience when I was on a roll. Hopefully, as I have built a decent following now, my next launch will be much better!

[[deleted user]]

Definitely following first. If an author releases a book and no one is around, will it ever be read? (That's supposed to be a play on the tree falling in a forest thing. I'll just excuse myself... :P )
I've just started out, but am trying to build up a bit of a following before I release my book. Knowing me, it means I've got a good half a year to a year's worth of time to get my name out there. I think I'm spending as much time researching how to get a following as I am researching for my book.

[Mary]

I have released two books and do not have a following.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this topic. I cannot see how I would call myself a member of an "audience" for a writer who is unpublished. I need to read at least a couple of books from an author before I would consider myself a part of their audience.

Yes, I have facebook and all that, but most of the "followers" there have not bought even one book from me. So, they're followers of my social media, but not fans of my books.

[G.G.]

I am with Dwayne on this. The ones you would most likely follow before you even write a book would be those who would readily follow AFTER you published, so why waste time on building a following when the book isn't even written yet? Shouldn't you concentrate on actually having a book to offer first?

If you mean having a presence on Facebook/Twitter/Goodreads etc, that's another story. You make friends and those friends might become interested in what you offer later on. (And I emphasized on might.)

On the other hand, I have a couple of friends whom I met on Goodreads who haven't published yet but their following is so huge that I don't doubt they will have loads of sales when (and if) they publish.

I think it all depends on each person. Some have a natural to attract people and yes, that will help. Others not so much and having something to offer first might be their best chance.

[Marie Silk]

Jan wrote: "I belong to 3 author's groups, all of which recommend building your audience (via your platform) first. This can be both online and offline.

Otherwise, you have a book with no one to sell it to.

..."

Fortunately, it does not really work that way. There are many ways to reach audiences of readers without having your own personal following. One way which is effective for many authors is through ebook promotion sites which already have mailing lists and websites dedicated to putting books in front of readers. You can look in the book promotion discussion thread for more info if you'd like. I didn't have a website or following when I started out. It is helpful to have a platform if you can, of course, and if you're inclined to blogging and can get a following that way, it can be a great marketing tool. But it's not required for sales imo.

[Jane]

I'm with the write it first camp. To be frank I don't see how you can build a following as an author until you have some work published. Certainly you can build a website and stuff like that, but you can't expect people to see you as a writer until they can read your writing

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Not that I have a huge following, but what I did to build what I have is to publish a lot of short stories before publishing any full length novels. For some time I would make some of the stories free for a few days. I think this is a much better way to get readers interested in your work. I "follow" a lot of authors on social media, but seriously, it's becoming nothing but a vast sea of covers and blurbs and soon it all looks about the same, especially since some of them are putting out the same pictures of their books six or eight times a day. I believe that worked at one time, but now that social media is becoming glutted with authors trying to sell books, it doesn't seem to be the right approach anymore.

[P.D.]

I would amend "prior to writing my book" to "prior to publishing my book". I have a few ambitious friends who are very into building their platforms and understanding all of the ins and outs of publishing and copyrights down to the last detail... who haven't even started to write their book. They are so enamored with the idea of writing a book and getting it published... but will they ever actually write it?

I know that trad publishers are concerned with the issue of building a platform before the book is published as well. They are looking at authors' social media reach and other issues before deciding whether to look at them or not. But social media reach is only part of the equation and won't keep food on the table.

[C.P.]

I really think it depends on what type of following you want to have, as has been mentioned. I think that having a presence on social media is good because you have more connections and people who, even if they personally don't end up reading your book, are likely to share stuff once you start publishing. I don't think that you will likely be able to build a reader base before you start publishing, but some it doesn't hurt to have some interaction with the reading community before, during, and after publication.

[Mary]

I have three books now and another two in two weeks.

I have sold two books and given too many away so I am going back to first base.

Nielsens Metadata

Bookbub list all books and special prices

Bookfunnel for the book listing

Booksprout the book app

there are too many platforms for people to look on.

Inghrams for better book printing.

then epubs on 7 sites directly.

that is what I am dping and let see what works.

[Christina]

Jan wrote: "I belong to 3 author's groups, all of which recommend building your audience (via your platform) first. This can be both online and offline.

Otherwise, you have a book with no one to sell it to.

..."

Hi Jan, I think the biggest thing to take into consideration here is your genre.

Most of us here are fiction writers and I agree with them that having a book (well, books plural in my personal opinion) is absolutely necessary prior to trying to build any kind of following (if you even bother building one at all).

However, self-help is a whole different subject and one that I'm sure requires a lot of research and credentials. I would think having a website or blog that is relevant to your field of study would actually be beneficial. Then, once you've been established, announcing a book is in the works would likely draw readers.

[Kat]

I have chosen a pen name prior to writing, and made a facebook page for this 'author'. I didn't invite anyone to like the page because I wish to remain anonymous behind this pen name, and inviting friends to like it would defeat that purpose. I sometimes post links to book-related articles that interest me, and sometimes link to a blog where I put some fairytales I wrote. I mainly created the page to ensure the name would still be available when I need it in the future.

Somehow, it got a few dozen likes from people with indian-sounding names, and I get 1 or 2 new likes each week. I have no idea whether any of those people would like or buy my book if and when I ever finish writing it, and I seriously have no idea how they found me in the first place. Maybe they're bots - I don't know.

But that#s about all I did so far. I don't think I'll be doing any more until I'm actually finished writing.

[Pamela]

Non-fiction is different from fiction, but I'd imagine a blog or social media presence would be a good way to start making a name for yourself. People want to know that you know your stuff.
As for fiction writers, releasing short stories, prequels etc. Is the way to go. I have a respectable 600 mailing list subscribers thanks to Instafreebie giveaways. I'd have maybe 10% of that without the giveaways.
As always, people have to go with whatever works best for them.

[Katia]

I think it makes business sense to circulate your product before it becomes commercially available so people become interested in it. When it boils down to it, you and your words are your product. If no-one knows about it, it isn't going to be bought. I've not finished the first book in a series I'm going to publish yet, but am working on a web site, promotional video, artwork, short stories as give aways to get my name out there and help build an email list etc. I guess I will find out towards the end of the year if it works and when I launch if my words sell.

[Ben]

I think that building your following should coincide with your book being published/available. If people are interested and following you, then they'll want to buy your book, but if you don't have a book will they lose interest while they wait and move on? Or will they all grab that book when it's eventually released? It's a tough on!

[John]

Ben wrote: "I think that building your following should coincide with your book being published/available. If people are interested and following you, then they'll want to buy your book, but if you don't have ..."

I agree!

Why does anyone follow someone else? Usually it's celebrity. Think Kardashians. Famous for what? But, look at their followers!

No one is going to be "followed" because she joined a few book groups. It's not that easy.

Amanda Hocking has followers today, but she didn't prior to her books being available and discovered.

[Seaby]

This is a complex issue. I have two blogs, one under my legal name, and another under a very different name so that I I could separate my professional life as a high tech entrepreneur / inventor from my very intense science educator / pseudoscience "skeptic" movement essays. I'm using a pen name different than both for my sci-fi novel set to be released on Amazon on the 15th. But I posted about the novel on both blogs. I got only two pre-orders from my science blog in spite of having far more readers there, tens of thousands over the past seven years who read my over 120 essays... and 17 from my professional circles though that only numbers in the few hundreds. Now, I'm trying to build a reputation as a writer the old fashioned way... hopefully from actual readers of my book after is is published.

Why the difference? I think it is because in my professional circles, they know far more about me as a person AND as a very successful technologist. Some of my career work seemed like SciFi when I first started working on it. Now, half the world is using my tech... right in the palm of their hands (the color displays on their smartphones use my tech).

The question is... how do I convert that tech success into fiction writing success?

[Sherri]

In your case yes, absolutely you need to build a following. That is imperative in non-fiction. Fiction is a different story. It's kind of hard to build a following with nothing to offer them to follow.

[Lynn]

Personally, I started my Twitter account long before I finished my book, but less to gain a following than to figure out how it worked and learn the social norms around it. As long as you're posting interesting things that showcase your personality, I'll follow you whether you've published anything or not, and maybe I'll eventually buy your book. But if all you plan to post are ads and book links, I wouldn't follow you. So as long as you're going to be a real person on social media, I say go for it no matter where you are in the process!