What is an Author Platform?

At MSB, we aim to make traditional publishing more equitable and diverse by sharing our industry expertise freely. I want to start off this new year by answering the most commonly asked questions that my team and I get about our work.

What is an author platform?

I like to think of an author platform as who you can uniquely sell to.

It’s a built-in audience for your content and also your ability to market and promote your future book to a target audience of potential readers. The reason I choose to work with entrepreneurs and experts is because y’all need a platform to promote your work. The trick is that often, the size of an audience that an entrepreneur or expert needs to succeed is much smaller than what literary agents and traditional publishers want to see.

There are four categories to an author platform. Keep in mind that every author’s platform is unique. There’s not one “right” way or mix of these that guarantees success.

• Press/Media

Interviews/profiles/mentions, TV, radio, blogs, and podcasts (guesting and hosting)

• Audience (Email List / Social Media)

If your book was out tomorrow, how many people could you tell about it?