As a Writer, think like a A Reader: How I began building a platform

On Sunday's #Writechat at Twitter, we started to discuss building of platforms. I'm fairly new to the business side of writing. I'm still working on the Creative side, you see. So, I didn't know what the heck a platform was, much less how to build one!

As it turns out, an Author platform is everything. Your writing, how you present yourself, and getting yourself out there. Also as it turns out, I had already begun to build said platfom via my fanfiction, and doing various things like Twitter, Facebook, and my Wordpress blogging of reviews and things of that nature.

As I continued to listen (read) the discussion, I began to see that I had naturally begun to do all of these things, and indeed, I knew what made me do it. Basically, this is what I did: I started thinking like the reader that I am. When I go looking for an author, I want them to be accessible, and know things about them. Simple things, not stalker-type stuff. So, I made a decision early on that I was going to make myself as acessible to my readers as possible.

This is my advice then. When building your platforms try and think about what your favorite authors have done. Think about what you would want to see from your favorite authors. What makes them so appealing to you? This is a part of building your platform. You're not just selling your writing. In a lot of ways, you're also selling yourself. Keep that in mind.