Build an Author Platform That Brings You Joy

___

BONUS FREEBIE: I have a resource for you that will help you prepare to talk with media and audiences. It’s the 10 Questions Every Author Needs to Answer. You can grab the fiction and nonfiction lists here.

___

If you’re publicizing a book or building your author platform, you know how busy and overwhelming the process can be. Especially in today’s media landscape, where it seems like there are endless places to connect with readers — social media platforms, podcasts, YouTube channels, blogs, magazines, radio shows, and television programs. Figuring out where to focus your energy is no small feat.

It’s so important to be intentional about where and how you seek out publicity. The process of building a platform doesn’t need to be stressful! In fact, finding the kind of publicity that brings you joy (and the biggest return on investment!) is totally possible.

In fact I’m teaching a full-day workshop called “Build The Audience That Sells Books” with Literary Agent Jessica Berg at the 2026 Writer’s Digest Conference in New Jersey.

Here’s how to build a joyful platform:

Define your goals.

Sit down and answer this question honestly. It makes a huge difference to have these goals articulated for yourself. That way, you can seriously consider whether marketing opportunities align with your goals, or whether they’re taking your time and energy away from what really matters.

So many authors overlook their goals when they are marketing themselves and their books. It’s easy to get caught up in the process and start putting a little bit of effort into a lot of different areas of publicity. But it’s so important to slow down and stop before you get spread too thin. Publicizing a book and building an author platform isn’t a race. It’s about building a career and a sustainable platform. Here are some common goals that I hear from my media training clients:

Write more books
Become an invited speaker
Sell more books
Something specific – like getting a Times Square billboard with the book cover on it!

It’s worth really thinking this through. You might have to dig deep and remember why you wanted to be an author in the first place. Once you have your goals defined, it’s a lot easier to tell when something is going to bring you joy — and bring you closer to your goals.

Reflect on joy.

Consider when you have felt positively about a marketing or publicity experience. What are the common denominators of those experiences? Maybe you love connecting with people through in-person events. Maybe you feel great on Zoom. Maybe video makes you queasy, but you love doing podcast appearances. You can even interview yourself (this is one of my favorite author hacks!).

There’s no judgement here about what brings you joy and what doesn’t. You don’t need to put your energy into things that you don’t enjoy. That’s not to say that there aren’t times when it’s appropriate to push yourself and try things that are outside of your comfort zone. But your strategy for building an author platform can absolutely be centered on experiences that bring you joy.

Make it worthwhile.

Joy and satisfaction are one piece of the puzzle. The other piece is your return on investment of time and energy. You can’t do everything (and you probably don’t want to). Reflect on opportunities that have brought you closer to your goals. What did those ask of you? How did they feel? What can you do to seek out more of those opportunities?

Everyone will have a different answer to this. It all depends on your goals and the opportunities that align with them. For example, I recently met an author at a workshop, and she asked me what I thought of getting a billboard in Times Square for their book. I said, that’s cool for your Instagram, but I doubt it will sell many books. If the goal is reaching readers, it may not be the best use of resources. On the other hand, if the goal is making a splash and getting visibility (and bragging rights) — go for it!

Same goes for appearing on podcasts versus spending a lot of time pitching the big morning shows. Maybe being on Good Morning America is your dream (even though it doesn’t usually translate into selling a ton of books). Then start building towards that by pitching smaller shows, gathering great clips, and proving your credibility to those producers.

On the other hand, maybe you love podcasts and you feel more comfortable doing audio. You want to connect with readers and sell books to people who need to hear your message — so focus on podcasts and forget about GMA! Don’t be a snob about what opportunities you seek out. Those smaller shows really make an impact too.

I always tell my media training clients that it’s really personal and everyone does it differently. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else.

As you build your author platform, think about your goals. You want to focus on the Venn Diagram of opportunities that bring you joy and opportunities that have a high return on investment of time and energy. The middle is your sweet spot and that is how you decide what publicity and marketing strategies make the most sense for you.

___

BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

___