Today’s post is by Vanessa Riley, a writer dedicated to English Regency. 
Her mission is to have the world fall in love with powerful Regency heroes and heroines who battle for peace with a flintlock and a prayer. But today, she talks about the need to build a solid writer platform.
You woke up one day and decided to be a writer. Next thing you know, you’re sneaking away with your netbook and finding stolen minutes to slip words into Microsoft. After months or years of laboring over a keyboard, you finally write the magic phrase, ‘The End’. Nonetheless, it’s not the end. It’s the beginning. As you wait for an agent or publisher to spot you across their crowded slush pile, take a moment to consider your online platform.
If you happen to be a celebrity, you have a platform. If you’ve been on the news for white-collar crime, you have a platform. Yet for the millions of unwashed masses looking for a contract, only your mother knows you, and she may not be online.
In my case, I had a dream in high school of a complex family, an English Regency family (think conflicted Pride and Prejudice), who struggled with issues of honor, scandal, and faith. I let the idea sit dormant for years, until my obstetrician told me I had to sit my workaholic bottom down and not move. Of, course that meant I could sit around and write. When I started winning contests, I knew it was time to build a platform.
Yet, three years ago, I had no book to hock. Just contest wins. At the time, I didn’t think a blog to talking about my random life would be interesting enough to draw an audience. Offering writing tips again did not seem credible as a new unpublished writer, unless it was a list of duh’s. Then it hit me. I write Regency. I should have a site dedicated to Regency.
Thus, my platform started as a web site to highlight all things Regency. My site, www.ChristianRegency.com, is a resource for everything a reader wants to know about the life and times of the English Regency. On this site, a reader will get to see a Regency fashion show, articles, and other resources on this dynamic period in history. It also hosts a book parade of great Christian Regency books. It’s the one stop shop concept. Currently, it receives over 11,200 visits per month (120,000 hits per month).
From the day it launched, I branded the web site as Vanessa Riley’s Christian Regency. Now my debut book, MADELINE’S PROTECTOR is featured there. It was a great pleasure to put it on the Book Parade.
If you are a writer and you are beginning to think about platform building, here are some tips that can help:
- Think about the themes you write. Do you write about quilts or craft makers? A site displaying pictures and articles about the art of quilt making would be of interest to those who like quilting and potentially those who read about quilts. Do you write about espionage? Maybe your site will review other spy books.
- If you are not a blogger, don’t do one. The worse thing in the world is to start a blog and let it die of neglect. Look for guest blogging or group blogging opportunities. Check out RegencyReflections.com or InfiniteCharacters.com to see what I mean.
- Create artifacts, anything online that will link you to your topic: articles, reviews, etc.
- Go ahead and grab your twitter name, pinterest
name, and Facebook name before it’s gone. You can keep them idle until you are ready, but I would start engaging: pinning, tweeting, and liking, now. - Make your online platform professional. Yes, your cousin’s barber’s son may know html, but this is where agents, fellow authors, publishers, and readers will find you. First impressions count.
As you wait for publication, use those spare moments to create your online platform.
Vanessa writes from the comfort of her southern porch with a cup of Earl Grey or Cinnamon Spice.
Madeline’s Protector
If all young men leapt off a cliff, Madeline St. James wouldn’t care. Yet a chance meeting and a bullet wound change everything. She must trust that the Good Shepherd has led her to marry a dashing stranger, Lord Devonshire. Can
they forge a true bond before the next disaster strikes?
See the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2OnXfFNwps
What a smart gal to recognize the theme so quickly 🙂 great advice, Vanessa!
Thank you, Angie. Angie introduced her newest release, A HEALING HEART with MADELINE’S PROTECTOR at Infinitecharacters.com. Her help made this week easier. Teaming is a great way to share the burden of reaching readers and meeting some cool people. Oh, the contest is still going on until 7:00 pm Sunday night. Still some great prizes left and Rick’s Café Americain has been fun.
Great advice, Vanessa. I write a weekly crime review blog because I write mysteries. And now I receive free books, many by the authors I’d be reading anyway! It’s a win- win for me. And I’ll have Earl Grey please!
Very good. You are becoming a go to place when a reader thinks mystery. Keep it up.
Thank you so much, Vanessa, for your wise, wise words of wisdom re blogging. I know my limitations. Blogging is one of them. The path of the guest blogger is exactly right for me. Thanks again for confirming what I have already felt. And again, for your encouragement and insight.
Being true to yourself and knowing your limits are very important. Be authentic and you’ll reach more than by doing something ‘we are suppose to do’. Oh, make sure somewhere on your web site you link to all the places you guest blog. That way readers who find you can read what you’ve done.
Anyone who writes and blogs while sipping tea is a friend and sister of mine, and my protagonist, Maya French, in Murder’s Last Resort. The most frequent comment I get about Maya is, “She sure drinks a lot of tea.”.
Your tips are concise and correct. Thank you, Vanessa. Thank you, Jim, for hosting this post.
Thank you.
Maya should come to Rick’s Café Amercain on InfiniteCharacters.com. This is going to be a regular feature on a team blog I’ve joined. Sounds as if she’d fit in well.
Nice concise advice. Platform building is key, and I like how you tied in your blog to your Regency theme. Good luck on Madeline’s Protector.
Thank you. Blogging is important. It’s a great way to touch new potential readers, but with millions of blogs you have to think of how to be different, memorable. You also have to be sure of what genre you’ll be published. Luckily, my voice is Regency.
We would be sad as we ate a ton of chocolate.
If all young men leapt off a cliff, what would we girls do?
Great post, thanks for sharing, Vanessa.