THE AUTHOR PLATFORM: ELEMENTS AND BENEFITS

If you have any hope of marketing your books — er, selling your books — you need to understand that selling books is a business. Art is commerce. You are part of the machine that you are so vehemently protesting, says best-selling author Rachel Thompson in a recent blogpost.

“Your platform consists of how visible you are, your authority on a particular topic(s), proven reach, and knowing your demographic,” she continues. A basic list of an author platform elements includes the following:
1. Active and interactive social media (Twitter; Facebook — both a personal account to connect not sell, and an author page; Google+ brand page, and either Pinterest or Instagram; and, depending on your demographic, LinkedIn or Snapchat)
2. A fully SEO-optimized website and blog
3. Minimum 25 reviews of your book (debatable; some say helpful, others say this number is BS. I say, how can it hurt?)
4. Awards and/or writing contest wins
5. Guest articles, interviews, blogging
6. Writing for publications
7. Advertising
8. Subscriber list and email newsletters
9. Promotions, contests, giveaways
10. most importantly, building long-term relationships with influencers and readers

Read the full article, here