section>
Praise for Build Your Author Platform
“A rapid-fire, soup-to-nuts overview that will help authors see just how much they’re able to choose from in building a platform.”
— Seth Godin, author of 17 bestselling titles, translated into more than 35 languages
“An author who knows and is known by their potential readership can be the difference between a book being signed or not, between succeeding or failing, between having sustained success or being soon forgotten. Author platforms are not given; they are hard earned. This book will show you how to build yours.”
— Craig Smith, Executive Commissioning Editor at John Wiley & Sons
“A fantastic book for any aspiring or established author. Publishers seek authors who know their audience, know how to reach them, and know how to grow them … Build Your Author Platform: The New Rules provides the perfect path to turning a great book into a great, successful book.”
—Kevin Harreld, Executive Editor of Cengage Learning
“As the waters in the publishing world get muddier and it gets tougher to rise above the noise, it’s more critical than ever to build the right audience and platform to get noticed and get your work published. This book is your road map to making that happen.”
— Brook Farling, Senior Acquisitions Editor at Alpha Books and member of Penguin Group
“One of the first criteria a publisher utilizes when assessing a proposal is the evaluation of the author’s platform for marketing and publicity. This practice has been consistent for much longer than my forty years in book publishing. However, the Internet and social media have created a whole new dimension to gaining an audience. By offering clear definitions and ‘how to’ procedures for authors in her well-written book, Carole Jelen has provided much-needed clarity to this fast-evolving, confusing topic.”
— Kenzi Sugihara, Publisher at SelectBooks, Inc. and former VP/Publisher at Bantam/Doubleday/Dell and Random House
“Even experienced authors will find the advice and new rules in Build Your Author Platform are worth their weight in gold.”
—Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus, author
“This is a great reference and how to guide for any author who is looking to navigate the perils and opportunities of today’s social media outlets!”
—Christopher Will, Senior VP of Jones & Bartlett Learning
“This book will be required reading for my authors! Carole Jelen and Mike McCallister really nail it in Build your Author Platform: The New Rules. These 14 New Rules are what every author needs to know.”
— Steven Elliot, Publisher at Morgan Kaufmann & Syngress Imprints, Elsevier
“This book will show you all of the tricks, tips, tools, and loopholes you’ll need—empowering you to take control of and build your author platform. When pitching a new author, one of the first questions I’m always asked by my publisher and our sales force is, ‘How’s the author’s platform?’ In the new age of publishing, nothing is more important for success (aside from great writing, of course!).”
— Andrew Yackira, Associate Editor at Tarcher/Penguin Group USA
“With increasing amounts of books coming to market, authors must build up a wide audience platform ready to buy their books. A strong author platform is the most important factor in making or breaking initial and long term sales. Here in this book you will find the keys to the castle.”
—Glenn Yeffeth, Publisher at Benbella Books, Inc.
BUILD YOUR
AUTHOR
PLATFORM
BUILD YOUR
AUTHOR
PLATFORM
T H E N E W R U L E S
A Literary Agent’s Guide to Growing Your Audience in 14 Steps
Carole Jelen
and Michael McCallister
BenBella Books
Dallas, TX
Copyright © 2014 by Carole Jelen and Michael McCallister
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
BenBella Books, Inc.
10300 N. Central Expressway
Suite #530
Dallas, TX 75231
Send feedback to [email protected]
First e-book edition: May 2014
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jelen, Carole, date
Build your author platform : the new rules: a literary agent’s guide to growing your audience in 14 steps / Carole Jelen, Michael McCallister.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-939529-25-1 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-1-939529-29-9 1. Authorship—Marketing. I. McCallister, Michael. II. Title.
PN161.J45 2014
808’.02—dc23
2013045454
Editing by Paul Eisenberg
Copyediting by Stacia Seaman
Proofreading by Cape Cod Compositors, Inc. and Chris Gage
Indexing by Clive Pyne
Cover design by Sarah Dombrowsky
Text design and composition by Publishers’ Design and Production Services, Inc.
Printed by Bang Printing
Distributed by Perseus Distribution
To place orders through
