BOOK 2 BRAND - AUTHOR PLATFORM BASICS
In Episode 1 of the Writes4Women podcast we talked about the first steps to creating your author platform, what an author platform is and when you need to realistically start thinking about it. If you are a total newbie, like myself, then this stuff can get confusing and overwhelming...especially when you are trying to learn how to write a book or create something new! So what does it all mean? What do you really need? And when? An author platform is basically your online and social media presence. It is the way you extend your writing brand, let people know who you are and what you are up to and is the best tool for building and growing a readership or audience. It is pretty much expected by most publishers nowadays that anyone submitting a manuscript, will have some kind of author platform to support it. The info on what you need and when you need to do varies dramatically. Some say start as soon as you start to write and others say wait until you have a manuscript, some say do everything at once and others say stagger it. Like with everything there are no absolutes and it will all depend on your personal circumstances...time, money, resources, babysitting and good old fashioned know how. Most of us are poor on all of those fronts, to some extent which is why Pam’s advice of keeping it simple and growing over time works perfectly for me and if you are at the beginning of your journey, writing your first novel, then it might be perfect for you too.
Pam’s Basic Tips for Newbies:
WHEN - The best time to start is when you have finished your first draft.WHAT - You don’t need much to start. A simple blog or website will do. A space to let people know who you are and what you are doing. This does NOT need to be wizzbang stupendous. Simple, clean and manageable is what you are looking for to begin with. Something you can use as a foundation to build everything else around over time. Social Media will come later, once you actually have a manuscript ready to shop around. Dreaming big is great but it’s just as important to be realistic about what you can do on a daily basis. First GET THAT BOOK FINISHED! (and don’t start a Podcast midway through!)HOW (or more to the point...How Much?) - How long is a piece of string? You can start with a basic blog or website for free AND do it yourself or you can spends thousands getting a pro to do it. The choices are purely up to your personal circumstances. Long gone are the days where you had to learn a foreign language called HTML or be a coding wizard to build a website. Now it’s as simple as creating a Word or Powerpoint presentation and how complex you want to go is purely up to you. Here are your 4 basic options:
- Free and fast - You could go right now to Word Press for example and create a blog for free. Simple as that.
- Paid and simple - You could sign up to a website builder like Squarespace or Weebly or even buy a package of website templates.
- Hosting Services - You will find a lot of domain hosting sites like GoDaddy and CrazyDomains provide website packages you can roll into your monthly hosting cost.
- Bidding Sites - Finally there are also websites like Freelancer.com where you post your job details to the site and people pitch/bid for your business, which can create a competitive price environment and lots of options.
Now are NOT recommending any particular site or provider here, we are just trying to present the options in an unbiased way. We recommend conducting independent research on each to find what and who is right for you.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BUT NO-ONE TELLS YOU:
Usually we find this is where most posts will leave it BUT as we discovered setting up the website for this podcast there are a few other things you need to be aware of along the way. Such as (this is only for a website - need not apply to just a blog):
- You need a domain - It is ridiculous how many places you can purchase domains and hosting from. A quick google search will bring up pages of them. Just like insurance, it’s always a good idea to search comparisons and consumer reviews before picking the best one for you. Depending on the name and how many domains you want to secure, it could cost anywhere from $12 to $200. We got ours for around $40.
- Register a Business - A “.com” domains is free BUT a “.com.au” Australian domain requires a Australian Business Number to purchase. So if you want to secure the aussie domain you will need to register a business. Which will also require a business name and structure (sole trader, partnership etc). The name doesn’t have to be the same as your website or blog either. Consider what you might run through the business number in future and pick a name based on that. Always think long term and plan for future growth if you can. All of this will cost around $150 and you can sort it out at The Australian Business Registry. Go to ABN Look Up to search your name.
- To buy a domain you first need a name - and you need to think ahead when picking this one because you will eventually want that name available across multiple platforms, even if you aren’t using them right away. Namecheck.com is a good one but there are many out there so have a look for yourself. You may want to check the Gmail address availability too.
- Decide on a Web Host - To have a website you will need a host. For this you will pay a monthly fee starting at around $10/mth depending on what you need. With hosting you can upgrade so don’t go for the biggest package if you don’t need it. Start small and build on an as needs basis. There are so many web hosts out there it can make you dizzy. So as before we recommend doing research, finding comparisons and reading user reviews.
Then it’s just a matter of picking a package or hiring a freelancer to create the site and go from there. In terms of actually putting content on that site once it;s up and running ... well that’s a whole other episode but we can recommend the Australian Writer’s Centre Blogging for Beginners Course with Valerie Khoo (co-host of the “So You Want To Be A Writer” podcast’) It is online, it is inexpensive, it gives you access for multiple uses over a year with ongoing resources through the AWC, it’s simple and it will give you everything you need to know to get started. Watch out for the next episode of the Writes4Women podcast, where we flip the script and focus on the professionals and how to extend your brand as an established author. Don’t forget to subscribe in iTunes and if you like the show please gives us a rating or review in iTunes because it helps other people find us too. Happy blogging! Kel