We’re working our way through the components of a book proposal: Part 1 covered the project itself, Part 2 discussed positioning your book, and today we’ll talk about your platform as a nonfiction author. While all of these pieces are important, I have to admit that this is the information I look for FIRST as an acquisitions editor. Side note: Your platform is also important for fiction writers, but generally, fiction is more dependent on the strength of your writing. 

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Whether you like it or not, your platform is a large part of what will sell your book. Platform can be described as your reputation as an expert; the accumulation of your credentials, experience, and work online in a certain topic or area; and the systems you’ve set up or acquired for reliably getting trusted information into people’s hands. Platforms are built over time, with consistent effort and careful planning. It is nearly impossible to acquire a platform overnight, unless something extraordinary happens to you and you’re suddenly famous. For example, Dr. Fauci has a strong platform as a doctor and immunologist. Sure, the COVID-19 crisis gave him even more visibility, but prior to that he already had the credentials, experience, and recognition to put him in the position of advising six presidents. 

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Your platform tells a publisher:

• Whether you are an expert in the field you are writing about
• Whether you already know how to reach your intended audience
• How big of a readership/client base you already have - i.e., how many people a publisher can count on buying your book
• How you’ll be able to contribute as a marketing partner (because remember, publishing is a partnership, with the publisher bearing all of the risk for producing, manufacturing, warehousing, and distributing your book.)

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An Example

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Returning to our yoga for chronic pain book, a publisher is going to want to see that you are not just an expert in yoga, but ideally that you also have expertise in chronic pain. A 200-hr certified yoga teacher - even if she has 200,000 followers on Instagram - is not going to have as strong a platform as a physical therapist specializing in managing chronic pain, who also has her 500-hr RYT certification. Who would you rather buy a book from? 

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Let’s say a PT is pitching this yoga book. This physical therapist consults and regularly speaks at medical conferences, encouraging other doctors and physical therapists to advocate for yoga in their practices. She would have a two-fold audience: not just people who suffer from chronic pain, but also their doctors. Those doctors might even become the best advocates for this new book by sharing it with their patients.

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You can see how it would be difficult to acquire or quickly manufacture such a sophisticated system of trust and the ability to move information - but it is absolutely essential.

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Platform

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So let’s see what you should include in your book proposal regarding your author platform.

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Author Bio

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The first piece is your author bio. Hopefully, if you’ve been establishing your platform for a while, you already have an author bio that you regularly send out for speaking engagements, podcast interviews, blog interviews, articles you write, etc. I recommend that the author bio you include in your proposal be no more than 1 paragraph - again, editors and publishers are busy people! Even if you’re self-publishing, your readers don’t want to read more than a paragraph or so of all of your accomplishments. 

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Your author bio should include:

• Your role(s) and where you work, if applicable
• Any boards or organizations you are a part of (especially those that would be relevant to your book topic!)
• What you write about
• Any previously published works
• Accolades, like awards, certifications, or prizes
• Don’t be afraid to include an interesting piece of personal information - just don’t go on too long about it!

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To help you with crafting your author bio, here is a handy checklist (with examples!) I’ve created for you.

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Awards/Certifications/Education:

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This is pretty straightforward, but you should include a list of degrees, awards you’ve received, certifications, or other related education that makes you uniquely qualified to write on your topic. Usually a bulleted list is just fine! And if you don't have any, just delete this section.

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Social Media

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Social media is usually what people think of with regard to their platform, and it’s true that social media is a part of your platform. Having more followers is always going to be better than having fewer followers - but every publisher knows that social media followers canNOT be counted on for book sales. Just take a look at how many people you follow on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. Would you buy a book from all of them? Are you even aware of all of the people you follow who have books? Following someone is no guarantee that you’ll even see one of their posts about a book they published. You can think of your social media and email list like a funnel, where only a small percentage of the people from the top level will reach the bottom level and convert to actual book buyers.

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Publishers have this funnel in mind when they’re looking at the strength of your social media following - they know that those numbers aren't reliable sales.

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Another caveat about your social media numbers: It doesn’t count if it’s not related to your book. If our physical therapist author has 20,000 followers on Twitter, but all she does is post pictures of her cat, that’s not going to help in any way when it comes time to market her book. (But, if she’s smart, she’ll start slowly transitioning her Twitter feed to be more focused on yoga and PT - and hopefully she won’t lose too many followers.)

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Despite this, publishers and agents still want to know what your social media looks like because it gives them an idea of how good you are at attracting the right audience. And, hopefully, you are able to convert a lot of those social media followers into email subscribers through your website.

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Website & Email List

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For nonfiction authors, I believe having a website and an email list is almost a necessity. Your website is the one-stop-shop where a potential book buyer can find everything they need to know about you and your book. I won’t dwell on this, but it’s important to be attracting a large audience to your website in order to turn those viewers into email list subscribers. Email list subscribers have given YOU their explicit permission to send them information about your work, so they’re extremely valuable as potential book buyers.

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There are tons of marketing professionals and resources out there who can tell you all about how to build a strong email list, but my two favorites are Tim Grahl’s book, Your First 1000 Copies, and Amy Porterfield. They will coach you through selecting an email service provider, creating lead magnets, and delivering engaging content. 

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Once you do all of that, you’ll want to include the number of website views and email list subscribers you have. You may even want to include your open and click rates. Keep in mind, the only way subscribers will buy your book is if they open and click the emails you send them!

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Speaking/Consulting

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I’ve put a lot of emphasis on social media and having a website/email list, because I believe they are that important. But there’s also another important category that can contribute to your platform: speaking/consulting gigs. 

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Let’s say our physical therapist has a robust client list and, like I said, she’s regularly speaking at medical conferences. That is another incredibly powerful way for her to get in front of the right audience. Hopefully, she’s using those opportunities to entice people to her website and her email list (see how that works?), but at the very least, those engagements will be opportunities in the future to market her book to a captive audience. These engagements can be even more powerful than social media!

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Potential Endorsers

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One of the most underrated pieces of your platform is your network! And yet, when you talk to authors about their publishing journey, almost all of them talk about how someone in their network helped them out. Maybe someone introduced them to their agent, or gave them a compelling endorsement. When you want to be well known for something, it behooves you to get to know the other people who are also known for that topic. They are not your competition; they're actually the people who will be able to help you the most! 

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Make a list of all of the influential people who realistically might be willing to endorse your book. These should be names that will be meaningful to your potential readers. Ideally, these folks will be willing to help you promote your book when the time comes.

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For more information on finding endorsers and requesting endorsements, read this entire post about it!

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Here’s the bottom line with developing your platform: you need a system for reliably getting information to your audience - and getting them to engage with your content. That is what will make you a valuable partner in promoting your book.

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Stay tuned for Part 4: Promotion!