“I want to see more author platforms.” This is the gist of feedback on a Zoom meeting with my client, Pam Oatis, MD, myself and a top literary agent I’d met through Harvard Medical School’s CME publishing course (where we both served on the faculty). The agent was interested in taking on the project—and said it was one of the most thorough proposals she’d received. Yet, she was not ready to commit until the author expanded her online presence in specific ways that I’m about to share with you.
My aim? So you can grow your following, whether to attract a literary agent and book deal or to create the foundation for marketing a self-published book.
How Pam Got Over Her “Shyness” Online
I’d been encouraging Pam Oatis, MD, to expand her platform and get firmer commitments from her contacts. This isn’t an easy step for many doctors and therapists I’ve worked with, who often see themselves as supporters in the background, reluctant to promote themselves.
To Pam’s credit, she realized that she needed more of a visible online presence if she wanted a traditional book contract and to have the most significant positive impact on parents and how they parent their babies and children. Shortly after we began working together, she agreed to contact some of her network ahead of time to get commitments about what they would do to promote the book.
Pam realized that she would not have enough “author platform” for a book deal without doing so.
As a result, Pam created a website, started blogging, got a commitment from a large nonprofit she taught for to promote her book in various ways, and received a foreword from her colleague who had founded the organization. Note: not just a commitment for a foreword, but the actual foreword, which means much more to publishers than a promise, which can be broken. She also worked on securing a few more speaking gigs.
All good, but would it be enough author platform for literary agents and acquisitions editors (publishers)?
The answer to that was “not quite.” At least for the exceptional literary agent I had in mind.
That was the answer from that agent, which is mentioned at the top of this post.
How to Grow Author Platform: Some Details
In many ways, the agent’s advice wasn’t different from what I’d been telling my client, but it inspired her to dig deeper and be a bit more proactive with her colleagues at the nonprofit.
It’s great that she had all these commitments from the nonprofit and this excellent foreword by its founder, but where was she on their website? Hard to find.
In addition, she’d neglected her blog for the past few years while working on the book proposal. She needed to get her own blog operational again.
With the agent’s feedback, we came back with a strategy to:
- Blog on her website. (Once her blog is up, I promise another post on the guidance I gave her, the template for blog posts, and a link to her posts!)
- Pitch a reprint of her blog posts (with a link) from the nonprofit website to her own, making her more visible as an integral part of the nonprofit’s community and expertise, which she is, and with the potential to reach hundreds of thousands of readers.
- Pitch a podcast to the nonprofit, where the doctor can share advice with their community of over a million visitors a year.
- Provide quotes to the nonprofit organization that they can use on their social media- quotes that will help parents with their biggest challenges.
- Comb the nonprofit website to see where else they might feature her advice, along with a picture of her and some place for her bio.
The agent also asked about products, including books and courses, that are currently on the organization’s website. How many people do they sell to in a year? This will help publishers “run the numbers” and develop sales projections to weigh into their ultimate publishing decision. Pam has asked for those numbers now and anticipates receiving them soon.
How Can You Leverage Organizational Relationships to Grow Your Author Platform
So, what opportunities are there for you to expand your online reach and demonstrate to publishers and literary agents that you’re already reaching a large audience? Particularly when it comes to leveraging organizational relationships and partnerships. Here are a few suggestions:
- Meet with PR and/or marketing to pitch your expertise: Many of my clients are affiliated with a hospital, corporation or nonprofit. These organizations usually have their own PR and marketing teams. I’ve worked with many doctors to meet with the head of PR or one of their associates and share their areas of expertise—and their plan to write a book. PR is often happy to support many possibilities—from pitching specific angles or stories to helping the author craft an op-ed or guest article to pitching them for a podcast! If you do this step, remember that you are appearing as a representative of the organization, and be sure to mention them in your interview and/or bio.
Pitch the organization to start your own podcast or column or to be a regular guest on an already established podcast, newsletter or blog: Starting your own thing on your own website can take a long time to establish and grow a community. But if you are already working with an existing organization (or work for them), this is an excellent opportunity to work with their already established community and grow more quickly. Just be clear about your agreements – how much will they promote the podcast or column? Is this sufficient for your vision and goals? You likely won’t be able to take your subscribers with you if you leave the organization, though some may follow. You can also mention your upcoming book and perhaps get a commitment that they will promote the book to your listenership or readership in additional ways (a solo email upon launch, for example, an ad for your book in the podcast episodes or posts).- Meet with the social media folks: Social media is another arena where the organization might be pleased to add you to their brand in a visible way. Are you already teaching for them? Perhaps they’ll feature quotes from you with your picture when your training courses are coming up and promote the courses directly—with your name in the posts and tagging you in the posts.
Here is the back cover for Breathe. Write. Breathe. featuring blurbs!Request endorsements: As Pam did, you can request that the founder or CEO or a well-known—perhaps bestselling author—colleague provide a blurb for the book or even write the foreword. Ideally, they would give that endorsement before you send out your proposal so you can include the actual text. It can feel uncomfortable to ask for a blurb before the book is entirely written, but this can make a massive difference to publishers and agents, so I suggest you mention that to the person, “I know it’s awkward to write a blurb for a book that’s not completely written but my book coach said I need those endorsements in my proposal. I can provide you with all my chapter outlines and sample chapters. Would you feel comfortable with that?” You can also offer to write some rough ideas or a first rough draft that they can revise in their own language to save them time and give them a starting place. This can make the prospect less overwhelming and more attractive to a busy professional! More here on how to get a foreword, blurbs or endorsements from bestselling authors and others.
- Suggest a sponsorship: Sometimes, a nonprofit or corporation will sponsor an author’s book. For example, a literary agent I know once suggested that my client, who was writing a book on surviving an auto accident, contact AAA about placing its seal of approval on the book and perhaps a commitment to purchasing books in bulk at a discount.
- Presell in bulk: If your book puts the organization or company in a positive light, it might be an excellent gift for their potential clients, donors, volunteers or conferences. See if they are interested in an agreement to buy in bulk directly from the publisher at a discount. More on bulk book sales or “Special Sales” and a bulk book sales case study here.
Pitch the organization to start your own podcast or column or to be a regular guest on an already established podcast, newsletter or blog: Starting your own thing on your own website can take a long time to establish and grow a community. But if you are already working with an existing organization (or work for them), this is an excellent opportunity to work with their already established community and grow more quickly. Just be clear about your agreements – how much will they promote the podcast or column? Is this sufficient for your vision and goals? You likely won’t be able to take your subscribers with you if you leave the organization, though some may follow. You can also mention your upcoming book and perhaps get a commitment that they will promote the book to your listenership or readership in additional ways (a solo email upon launch, for example, an ad for your book in the podcast episodes or posts).Your Turn
What organization and people do you highlight and lift up in your book? How can you partner with them?
What questions do you have about growing your author platform?
Share your insights, questions and comments below!
ing investors in Neuronetics’ introduced me to 
