How to Build a Huge Following Online

A question I get a lot is “What’s the best way to get more followers on Instagram?”

And honestly, I don’t f*ing know.

I have a social media manager who does everything on Instagram for me. I made the decision to hire her early on, when I looked at Canva and thought, not for me.

Truth is, I don’t need thousands of followers to succeed. I’m not trying to grow my audience organically, and I also don’t want to get a traditional book deal. But for you, it’s different. Because you want to be a traditionally published author, your social media presence is important. Publishers and literary agents expect authors to be on social media.

However, social media is just one component of an author platform. You can, and will, succeed at getting your book deal with less than 100,000 followers. My client Dr. Katrina Ubell — whose book comes out this September — is a great example. Her book sold to Grand Central Publishing with only 3,000 followers on Instagram. In her case, the opportunity to attract readers to her book was from her podcast, which had thousands of listeners. She also had an active and engaged email list that she sent content to weekly, as well as an ability to reach readers through her ads and sales funnels.