Building an Author Platform

Course details

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of becoming an author is creating a solid author platform. But what does that mean…author platform?

Once your book is complete and you publish, then what? If you think your readers are going to come seek you out or are going to stumble upon your book, I'm here to tell you, it doesn't work like that. Marketing your book is an ongoing process, and the best way to prepare for a book launch is by setting up a solid author platform well in advance. Your publisher may join you in some marketing, but the majority of marketing efforts are all your own.

As a publisher and author coach, I'm often asked by my clients, "When should I start building my platform?"

My answer is simple: "The moment you decide you want to write a book."

You might be wondering why you would want to start building an author platform before you even begin writing. Simply stated: Finding your tribe takes time, as does gaining their trust, often more time than it takes to write the book.

If you are an aspiring author, or perhaps even a published author who is having trouble finding an audience to market your book to, then Building an Author Platform may be right for you.

You'll learn...

Section One: Branding YOU and Finding Your Target Audience

• Develop your unique brand that sets you apart from your competition
• Clearly define your ideal avatar and the best ways to reach your target audience
• Create an author biography, both a short and long version (Yes, you need both! I'll teach you why, when and where to use each.)
• Create a Branding Board with Pinterest
• Create a Mood Board with PicMonkey

Section Two: Your Author Website & Blog

• Step-by-step process to build an author website (and all the key pages and elements you need to add!)
• Tutorials for many platforms including WordPress, Weebly and Squarespace
• Domain registration and web hosting (where to get it and how to integrate it)
• How to add a blog to your site
• What a blog post should entail including SEO, word count, topics of interest, keywords and categories

Section Three: Setting Up Your Mailing List & Newsletter

• Step-by-step instructions to set up your list and start collecting leads
• How to add an email signup form to your website
• Tutorials for many platforms including Aweber, MailChimp and Converkit
• Create a lead magnet (freebie) that entices your target audience to join your list
• How to create a quick and easy lead magnet with Canva or Microsoft Word
• Design an email header using Canva
• Set up an email sequence to begin communicating with your list regularly

Section Four: Let's Get Social!

• Which social media platforms to join and how to set up your business/author page
• Design tutorials to show you how to easily create logos, banners & graphics that match your unique branding
• How often to post and what to post to grow your following and entice interaction
• How to use Facebook advertising and promoted posts effectively to drive traffic to your website and grow your list
• Clever ways to reach your target audience through blogging, guest blogging, social media and video!
• Everything you need to know to get started on Facebook LIVE! (The fastest growing tool you can use to reach and grow your tribe!)

In this course I'll show you step-by-step how to create your unique brand that sets you apart from the competition, how to craft an author bio and find your target audience, how create an author website, how to set up and grow your list, and how to utilize social media to your advantage. 

This course is packed full of design tutorials for free and easy to use software such as Canva and PicMonkey. 

Are you ready to begin building your author platform? Scroll to the top and enroll NOW! 

To your success,

Shanda Trofe

Bestselling author of Authorpreneur: How to Build an Empire and Become the AUTHOR-ity in Your Business