Dear Reader,

This past year has instructed us, I hope, in more ways than we yet realize. For one, never wait until you can see the cardboard core of the toilet paper roll to stock up. Two, that previous hassle of a trip to Barnes & Noble with your significant other now feels like date night. And three, having more time to clean your house doesn’t mean your house stays cleaner.

Successfully writing for publication presents similar challenges: Waiting until you want to launch a book to shore up your platform might leave you high and, in this case, dry. Setting your book up for success requires getting out to do some on-the-ground reconnaissance—but who doesn’t want an excuse to leave their house these days? And even a great author website needs some annual dusting and polishing to keep the yawns and cobwebs away.

Get the truth about author platforms in How to Build an Audience. And throw on that mask to Spy on the Competition at your local bookstore and Maybe Take Over the World.

We pray you and your projects remain healthy!

How to Build an Audience

The Truth About Author Platforms

by Kelli Sallman

OnA potential client reached out to me recently, wanting help increasing his platform for his six-figure, nonfiction book launch this year.

“Wonderful,” I said, “what publisher?”

“I don’t have a publisher yet.”

“Oh, okay, so your agent is negotiating?”

“I don’t have an agent.”

“I see. May I look over your proposal?”

“Oh, I haven’t written it yet.”

The man had an elevator pitch but no book. Not even a proposal for a book. He runs a successful business, has a weekly radio show, and has published posts online with big names like Forbes. But a six-figure book launch? Yes, I did mention that radio show. And he wanted help promoting his niche topic outside of radio. He’s on his way to a six-figure platform.

But he also self-published two books about a decade ago. The two books together add up to only one hundred pages. One book has eight reviews. The other, eighteen. That history hurts his reliability rating. His body of work has some skeletons, and skeletons form poor support posts for platform.

Spying on the Competition

How to Position Your Book and Maybe Take Over the World

by D. H. Persephone, disgruntled alter ego of Callie Johnson

Getting published is no walk in the park. I have enough rejection letters stuffed in boxes, tubs, and random corners of my house to sink the Bismarck. I’ve tried getting all sorts of books published: fringe science curricula for elementary students, an adult fiction series following a tragically anthropomorphized hotdog, even a special series of ramen noodle cookbooks. No takers.

I was halfway through my traditional post-rejection-letter-Ben-and-Jerry’s when I had an epiphany of sorts. It hit me as I scrolled through Amazon’s best-seller list, wailing, “What do they have that I don’t?” through a mouthful of Cappuccino Chunk. Truly, what did they have that I didn’t? All these best sellers had something going for them, some special spice. And if I could figure out what made their books sell, I could steal that spice and get published too.