resolutions

Author Platform New Year’s Resolutions

There’s nothing like the clean slate of a new year about to start—especially after a year as all around rough as this one has been. Time to cut free and start over! Along with that excitement, I’m a huge geek for resolutions and big, hopeful plans. Yes, even now. I cannot squash my new-year optimism…. Read more »

Platform

Strengthen Your Platform During a Pandemic

The pandemic has taken a lot from us. As authors, it has been a huge blow to our options for growing our community—events, libraries, book shops, conventions, festivals, workshops. I could go on. But it can’t steal your platform. I know: it’s hard. Even I, extreme introvert extraordinaire, have missed face time with readers and writers…. Read more »

What To Do When Your Social Media Growth Stagnates

We’ve talked before about red flags when your social media following is growing too quickly, but you should always see a little steady growth happening month to month. That said, theory and practice rarely align perfectly. As your following grows, it’s also inevitably evolving. Which means you will have times when what has worked for… Read more »

How and Why to Clean Your Email Subscriber List

As indie, small press, or otherwise “emerging” authors, we are told a lot how important it is to have an email list. It’s even a foundational piece of our DIY MFA Pixels to Platform course. It’s a core principle of platforming I hammer home for my coaching clients, too, in early sessions, and I emphasize… Read more »

How to Grow Your Online Platform In Real Life

Most of us know the basics of online platforming by now – slap those links on your home page, post regularly, be engaged. But when I tell people that I do a lot of my best online platform growth at in-person events, I get a lot of raised eyebrows. It can already feel like a… Read more »

What to do About Twitter Non-Followers

In my last column, I talked about using the follow-back practice to build a following. In this one, we’ll look at what you should do when others don’t follow you back. As a quick recap, so we’re all moving forward from the same understanding: The follow-back strategy is based on the Twitter etiquette that if… Read more »