strategy for your author platform - author website (part 2/3)
TRANSCRIPT
Here’s What We’ll Cover Today:
Putting strategy behind your author platform
For: Fiction Writers, Memoirists, & Poets
1) What’s an Author Platform + How it Can Serve You
2) The Author Website
3) Blogging & Social Media
Can’t See Well?
Click the View Fullscreen buttonGo LARGE
3 thingsto keep
in mind…
Wait. What’s Content?
• Content in this context could be:
• Examples:
• Video• Text • Images • Audio
• Blog Comments• Blog Posts • An About Page • Pictures• Infographics• Drawings • Illustrations • Video Clips
• Audio Clips • Podcasts • Books • Polls
Wait. What’s Content?
• Content can be repurposed & delivered in multiple formats.
• Examples:
• You can type a poem onto a blog post.
• You can create a decorated image out of it.
• You can create an audio recording of yourself reading it.
• You can record a video of you reading it to a crowd.
Wait. What’s Content?
• Content appears on blogs, websites, social media, books, presentations, podcasts, email newsletters, and more.
• The content you create and the content that others create about you and your writing is a part of your platform.
The Author Website
Creating a site like this one is not going to be easy…
(So please don’t try…)
Pottermore.com
SuzanneCollinsBooks.comBut you can probably do better than this website…
I mean, she wrote the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games! (It is now a huge franchise, if you missed it.)
Talk about not taking yourself too seriously (and connecting with true fans – the image up there is for them.)
But you can probably do better than this website…
SuzanneCollinsBooks.com
Start with these 4 Pages:
Homepage
About
My Writing/Books (etc.)
Contact
And possibly a blogCLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE CHEAT SHEET
Example: The Bare Essentials
RaoulWientzen.com
Your Home Page
Example: Your Blog as
Your Homepage
In this case consider:
• First impression =
Your most recent post
(can you guarantee it’ll
always be relevant?)
• To keep it fresh you’ll
need to keep blogging
(or a visitor may land
on a post from four
months ago and
assume you died.)
HughHowey.com
Oh, and Howey’s site used to look like this. Which WORKS. (The new one is great, though.)
Hugh Howey is a great source of information and inspiration for writers. (And he’s a pretty good writer, I think.)
Click here to read his thoughts about the benefits of starting your platform early.
HughHowey.com
LisaBurstein.com
Example:
A Dedicated Homepage
Pretty clear what the author wants you to do next
LisaBursteinauthor.wordpress.com
As an aside: this is Lisa Burstein’s blog. There’s no reason to separate your blog from your website.
[If you have questions on this topic, contact me.]
Your About Page
The About Page – Outline
1. Immediately grab the reader (just like with your writing) + show them that they are at the right place
2. Tell them what you write and what you write about
3. Share some personal info about your life and/or path as a writer
4. End with something actionable (=Call To Action)(e.g. invite them to follow your blog/join your mailing list)
+ Include a picture that fits your brand
The About Page – Tips
• Quotes – things said about you – are great!
• Because…
• They allow you to show and not tell
• They are credible (+ at least one person knows your exist)
• AND – They take away the awkwardness of tooting your own horn
The About Page – Tips
• Be conversational
• Be you, as you are professionally
• Sprinkle relevant credentials.
• You can also add: bio (multiple formats), for the media, more images, FAQ, fun facts, interviews with you, videos, etc.
That’s a nice credential
Example: About Page
+ Using Site Design
You know you’ve hit a romance
author’s site before reading the
first line.
catherinebybee.com
Example: Another About PageUse a format that works for you (this example works great for the target audience too)
gayleforman.com
fallsapart.com
Example:
Using Quotes
Yes. I love this one…
Contact
nopageleftblank.wordpress.com
Example:
Contact Page Alternative
Including a contact page with a contact
form on your site is extremely simple
(at least when using WordPress).
Yet, some writers opt-out and only
allow people to connect with them via
social media and blog comments. For
some target audiences that works.
Consider…
Part 2 – Done; One More To Go.
Putting strategy behind your author platform
For: Fiction Writers, Memoirists, & Poets
1) What’s an Author Platform + How it Can Serve You
2) The Author Website
3) Blogging & Social Media
To Part 3: Social Content
www.oritofri.com