BUILDING YOUR AUTHOR PLATFORM is a topic for which you are going to need some really good advice. No one is born knowing how to do this, and no matter what other authors and their online personas you study, you cannot know what went into the decisions to appear as they do online. Along the way to publishing his book on Amazon, author Kevin Barhydt gave careful consideration to how to promote it. Here he is offering advice on building your author platform.
Building Your Author Platform:
Pillars of Vulnerability and Engagement
by Kevin Barhydt
Author — a writer of a book, article, or report
Platform — a raised level surface on which people or things can stand
When it came time to build an author platform it felt like I was preparing to have my name plastered on a billboard, an anonymous smiling face as people drive by on the way to buy milk.
I understood that an author platform was meant for me, not my book. The internet is rife with lists of pillars to create a typical author platform: launch a website, join social media, write a blog, publish anywhere and interview everywhere you can. As I began building these pillars, I found myself uninspired. The website just sat there. My social media seemed futile. A blog was a lost cause without an audience. I was already so busy pitching my manuscript, the last thing I wanted to do was rack up more rejections for minor works that no one would ever read, much less interview me about.
I felt hopeless and helpless. But not vulnerable.
It’s my tendency as an author to hide behind the bookshelves, so it was helpful to acknowledge that a platform’s primary purpose is to lift the author up. The first objective is to be seen, to make myself visible, and yes, vulnerable.
It was my fear of vulnerability I needed to face. That’s where my writing coach came to the rescue. We didn’t do any deep therapeutic work, nor did she send some tough love my way. Instead, she asked a question: What is it you like to do?
“Well, I like to write” I stuttered, staring at her smiling face over Zoom.
Yes, Kevin, and you’ll probably want to write a blog, submit short stories and articles to publications, but that’s not what I’m asking. Move beyond the obvious. What other talents do you bring to the table?
My coach was being coy. She knew I was a trained actor.
“I perform.”
Yes, you perform, Kevin. Where could you use that skill set to build your author platform?
“I could turn my book into a one man show.”
Good. What else?
“A Netflix series?”
Okay. That’s a good ‘down the road’ idea. What about right now? What could you do with your acting skills to build an audience for your author platform today?
I stared at the screen.
“Kevin, have you heard of something called YouTube?”
It’s the absurd ideas that sometimes catch fire.
To say that I fought her on this suggestion would be an understatement. “I’m a theater guy. I do plays, not click-bait thumbnails with videos of me cleaning my house. I’m a real actor!”
My coach knew my real objections. It was tough enough to imagine people reading my memoir, but the idea of talking about my life of abandonment, adoption, child sexual abuse and addiction on video? How the hell was I supposed to make a YouTube channel about that? That’s a long way beyond vulnerable!
And that, of course, was the point.
She was kind enough to keep asking questions. The same questions I pose to you now.
It’s not always about perfect timing. But, always, it’s about time.
Other than writing, what are you good at? Begin with the creative: singing, dancing, drawing. I’m not asking what you’re an expert at, or how accomplished you are, just what you enjoy other than writing that lights the spark of creativity for you?
Next, consider how you can express the topics or subject matter of your writing in this alternative creative outlet. Can you draw images to accompany some excerpts from your manuscript? Perhaps you can play the piano as a backdrop to a voiceover of the prologue.
When you have determined your course of action, don’t wait. It won’t be perfect. It’s not meant to be a masterpiece. Remember that this is not your book, this is an ancillary yet illuminating effort to draw attention to your writing. It is giving your prospective readers a perspective they may not have otherwise. A specific, private insight not of your book, but to you as a person. This is the most vulnerable part of building an author platform, and it is the most essential.
YouTube to the rescue?
To say my first YouTube video was subpar would be generous. The lighting was bad, no color correction to speak of, terrible audio and I rambled on without stopping. My one saving grace was I ran out of words and kept the length under seven minutes. (you can find the masterpiece here)
A rough start for sure but, as rickety as it was, this new pillar of my author platform found an audience. I kept making videos and, as I got better at it, my audience responded. Each week I learned new ways to communicate, and my subscribers count grew, as did my body of work. The first pillar of my author platform was in place, but a platform propped up on one pillar could never stand for long. I needed to develop new pillars to give my platform the stability to hold me up and make it level enough so I would not easily fall.
Enter social media. Always say thank you.
With this new pillar of YouTube videos, I finally had something of interest to post on Twitter. As those tweets gained traction and my audience grew so did my engagement. I reached out to my new tribe and they were welcoming and responsive.
I braved the deep waters and created a Facebook Author Page. I found private groups that were receptive to the topics and issues I discussed in my book, as well as those tailored to writers and publishing. When I engaged within those groups my subscribers on YouTube increased, as did my new Facebook friend requests and my followers on Twitter.
What I’m describing here is known as organic growth. As I developed relationships with these subscribers and friends and followers each of the pillars of my author platform became stronger. Most importantly, I actually enjoyed being an active participant of these vibrant communities. I consistently continued to engage, always keeping as my first priority the goals of remaining vulnerable, honest, and kind.
Podcasts, and Interviews, and Publicity – Oh My!
The funny thing about being vulnerable and putting yourself out there on social media is that people actually find you interesting. The more I interacted with people the more I was invited to join them on their media platforms. After doing my first podcast I found it easier to do the next, and then to line up two or three a week. Guest blog posts followed. None were household names, but they were excited to have me, and their audiences were readymade for my message. I reached out to local reporters and found them receptive to developing a spot for me on the evening news, or interviewing me for an article in the local newspaper.
I did consider hiring an agency, and perhaps that would have been money well spent. However, I’ve measured my marketing and publicity activity against other authors and found that my results nearly always mirrored, or even exceeded, those who employed professionals. I believe I’ve had this level of success in part due to my determination and relentless desire to share the message of my book. My biggest advantage in comparison to the pros, however, is the same as for you, or for any author: no paid service would ever care about me or my book as much as I do.
I wasn’t yet a brand name, but I was now an author with a platform. As my book launch approached, I shared on all of my social media pillars how nervous I felt, describing the lost nights of sleep that still found me waking up early, refreshed and excited for the next part of the publishing process. I shared each moment on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, posting words, pictures, video and audio. As the engagement climbed, I responded to each question or comment, made sure to read every post, and replied with comments and questions of my own.
“Dear Stephen Michael’s Mother” had its official birthday on Amazon, on November 10th, 2020. In the middle of the pandemic, just one week after the most contentious American election, when all anyone could talk about was death and politics.
I kept my focus on my audience. I posted news of the book launch on every pillar of my author platform. With every post I remembered always that they had been there with me through the journey. With every interaction I made sure each time to say exactly what I want to say to you now.
“Thank you for your support and encouragement. It means the world to me.”
Dear Stephen Michael’s Mother, an excerpt
From Dear Stephen Michael’s Mother, by Kevin Barhydt
The letter arrived on a Tuesday, just two days before Thanksgiving. I left work early, drove straight to my parents’ house, and found my mother sitting at the table, her face streaked with tears. I sat down to talk with her, letting the letter wait, opening myself to experiencing and remembering every single moment. I felt Mom trembling when I put my hand on her arm. Her tears came again, and she brushed them away quickly.
I said softly, “You read the letter?”
“Yes.” Her voice caught. She tried to laugh and cleared her throat.
“I’m sorry you’re crying. Are you sad, or are these happy tears?”
“Both.”
“I’m so sorry, Mom.” I knew that hearing me say mom would both help and hurt. I focus on the moment—caressing her arm, holding her hand, as she clasped mine hard, squeezing my fingers, releasing, squeezing, holding on tight.
“I could never do what she did.” She took a deep breath. “I could never be as strong as she is.”
She blew her nose and wiped her eyes, taking some deep breaths and exhaling out hard through pursed lips, as if releasing her weakness and pain. She pushed the letter toward me on the table and left the room. As I read the letter, my tears blurred the words so carefully placed on the unlined page, the handwriting I was seeing for the first time. Her words were not written to me, but about me. Because of me.
* * *
Eri was waiting for me at home and I fell into her arms. I cried, and my body heaved, every breath a gasp, and she held me without a word. I was overwhelmed, my senses heightened, as if stumbling through fog, fighting to keep myself upright and on my feet, just trying to keep moving.
I handed Eri the envelope, and she sat at our dining table as I stood at the kitchen sink, hand washing some dishes. The water running over my hands, I scrubbed the plates and cereal bowls and spoons from breakfast, staring out the window at the treetops over the neighbor’s house, until I realized how much time had passed. English is Eri’s second language, but it wouldn’t take her that long to read two pages.
I shut off the water, wiped my hands, and turned to see the letter open on the table and Eri sitting in the chair, crying in silent agony, tears dripping off her chin. She imagined the unimaginable, read the letter as if she wrote these words for Kentaro or Tyler, for her sons. I stood, barely able to breathe, seeing the face of my mother as she writes, her hands shaking, unable to stop crying for her son, for her baby boy that she will never see again.
To Stephen Michael’s Mother,
About Kevin Barhydt
Kevin Barhydt was born and raised in a little town called Rotterdam, in Schenectady, NY. The bumper stickers say “Rotterdam: A Nice Place to Live. That’s all it is, nothing more, nothing less. Kevin dropped out of Schalmont High School after 10th grade, graduated from Schenectady County Community College when he was 26, received a Bachelor of Science in Acting and Directing from New York State University at Albany when he was 29, and at 55 years of age completed a master’s degree in Education from The University Wisconsin, Stout.
Kevin developed a YouTube channel specifically to serve individuals healing from the adverse effects of abandonment, adoption, child sexual abuse and addiction. In the past two years Kevin has created over 70 episodes and conducted in-depth interviews. He has appeared in media & podcast interviews as an addiction recovery, adoptee, and child sexual abuse victim’s advocate. Kevin serves on the board of the Rainbow Access Initiative, dedicated to ensuring the comprehensive physical and mental health care and human services for the LGBTQ+ community. He is a Senior Learning and Inclusive Technology Analyst at Union College in Schenectady, NY.
Dear Stephen Michael’s Mother is his first book. He can be reached at his website.
Want more help? Come see me in any one of my online classes.
Memoirama: Live, 90 minutes. Everything you need to write what you know.
Memoirama 2. Live, two hours. Limited to seven writers. What you need to know to structure a book.
How to Write Opinion Pieces: Op-eds, Radio Essays and Digital Commentary: Live, 90 minutes. Get your voice out into the world.
And keep in mind that I am now taking names for the July-December 2021 Master Class, the prerequisites for which are Memoirama and Memoirama 2. Live, once a month. Limited to seven writers who are determined to get a first draft of their memoir finished in six months.
Want more help? I am a memoir coach, memoir teacher and memoir editor. Come see me in any one of my online classes.
Memoirama: Live, 90 minutes. Everything you need to write what you know.
Memoirama 2. Live, two hours. Limited to seven writers. What you need to know to structure a book.
How to Write Opinion Pieces: Op-eds, Radio Essays and Digital Commentary: Live, 90 minutes. Get your voice out into the world.
And keep in mind that I am now taking names for the 2022 Master Class, the prerequisites for which are Memoirama and Memoirama 2. It’s live, once a month, and limited to seven writers who are determined to get a first draft of their book-length memoir finished in six months.
