The WHY Behind Building Your Platform

Have you lever listened to Simon Sinek’s TEDx Talk, Start With Why? If not, I’d highly recommend you do. Sinek explains the importance of understanding why you’re doing what you’re doing. And when it comes to platform building, your WHY is just as important.

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: If you’re writing for the sake of great success and fame, I’d highly recommend that you pursue it through something other than writing. That said, from my interactions with writers, most of us write for love of writing. Assuming that’s the case with you, let’s continue.

Author platform is hugely important for writers today. It can also be hugely frustrating. You may be feeling like you’re trying to sell something that doesn’t even have a contract yet. Here’s the secret: Don’t build a platform to sell a book.

What?

Just as it’s important to think reader-first when writing, it’s essential to think reader-first when building your platform. People don’t like getting sold to. It strips individuals of their humanity and reduces them to a conduit for a cash flow that has nothing to do with them. So how do you build a platform? Share what’s important to you. Share your passion, specifically, the passion that has something to offer your reader—your book.

If you write nonfiction, sharing your book could look like sharing bullet points on social media that will directly help your reader’s pain point, whatever that is (baking, self-help, wellness, etc.). Maybe it’s creating a shortened work book eBook that readers get for free when subscribing to your email list. Maybe it’s a short video series of you talking through each chapter (I’d probably save this until the book is out).

If you write fiction, sharing your book could look like offering giveaways if readers subscribe to your email list or follow your other social media platforms. It could be going live on Instagram and talking about your process for writing your book, and giving away a free copy for whoever asks the most interesting question at the end.

In all of these instances, you’re giving readers free content, streamlined for their interests and needs, while engaging them as individuals and as a bonus, building your platform.

At the heart of writing is storytelling, not sales. If you want to make sales, there are many, many jobs out there that will help you succeed much faster. But if you want to bring helpful content to individuals, share your passion, and influence people for the better, an author platform is a great place to start.

Set aside the idea that building a platform is about self-promotion and making sales, and instead think reader first. You’ll be off to a great start. Just as your book isn’t about you but rather about your readers, so is your platform. Best wishes out there!

Sarah Rexford is a Marketing Content Creator and writer. She helps authors build their platform through branding and copywriting. With a BA in Strategic Communications, Sarah equips writers to learn how to communicate their message through personal branding. She writes fiction and nonfiction and offers writers behind-the-scenes tips on the publishing industry through her blog itssarahrexford.com. She is represented by the C.Y.L.E Young Agency.

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