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Writing Workshops: How to Powerfully Build Your Author Platform

By Jane Friedman 16 Comments

Why do you need an author platform?

Maybe you want to get an agent, sell a book proposal, or promote a book (either self-published or with a traditional publisher). Maybe you’d like to have a well-trafficked website that you monetize. Author platforms aren’t just for established authors. Successful writers of all kinds need a powerful author platform.

Writers are often scared or baffled by platform because it’s seen as a marketing and promotion mindset—antithetical to the artist mindset. However, there is a way to approach platform that isn’t about selling, but rather understanding human behavior (including your own!). You’ll learn how to evaluate your platform by paying attention to six key components: your writing or content, your website, your social media use, your relationships, your network of influence, and your reach.

This class will address:

1. Why and how to develop different strategies for new readers versus loyal readers

2. Five basic elements of any website, plus two questions you should always keep asking yourself about that website as your career progresses

3. The difference between strong and meaningful social-media strategy and tactics versus time-wasting activities—and how to prioritize your time

4. The importance of e-mail, RSS, and other types of subscriptions to your online presence

5. The two types of relationships to carefully cultivate throughout your career, which help grow your platform in unforeseen ways

6. Why influencers are important to you and the best ways to get friendly with influencers

7. Three key questions to ask when looking at your metrics or analytics (whether from your website, blog, or social media accounts)

For this class, success will not be measured by how many followers or friends you have. It will be about focused and consistent effort over a long period of time, which leads to finding more and more people who love what you do. You’ll learn how to make informed and meaningful decisions about how to best spend your time, as well as what advanced platform building looks like for an established writer or author.

The Total Package: 8 Parts

• Three 1-hour recorded workshop sessions

• Two 1-hour evening chat sessions with workshop leader Jane Friedman, where your questions will be answered and you’ll be guided towards best practice

• A free one-year subscription to Scratch magazine—Jane Friedman’s new journal that discusses how to make money as a writer

• A $50 gift certificate to The Willingham Enterprise (usable within 18 months, on any website or print materials project $500 or more). Check out the distinctive portfolio to see websites that rise above the rest.

• A written critique of your website, identifying three things you can improve. If you don’t have a website, you can select a specific social media account for critique


Basic Course Approach in an Online Classroom, January 6-February 1

Recorded Component: There is no set class-time, as the private teaching videos will be available at all hours for your access to view, beginning January 6.

Chat Component: You will need to be available at set times for two evening chat sessions. Several options will be available, to accommodate different schedules. If you miss the sessions, you will be able to access a record of the complete chat sessions. Please let us know your preferred dates upon purchase, by choosing your favored option from the drop-down menu.


How to Powerfully Build Your Author Platform workshop, with publishing expert Jane Friedman. Jane Friedman has spent more than 15 years in the media industry as an editor, publisher, and professor. Currently she serves as the web editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review (VQR), based at the University of Virginia, where she also teaches digital publishing and online writing. Her newest digital media initiative is Scratch magazine, a quarterly publication for writers, all about the intersection of writing and money.

Before joining VQR, Jane was the publisher of Writer’s Digest, a $10-million multimedia brand where she was responsible for the business strategy and financial performance of a team of twenty, which covered editorial, design, advertising, and online media operations. She also worked personally with many authors and oversaw the publication of hundreds of books.

Her expertise on the transformation of the publishing industry has been featured throughout many events and media, including NPR’s Morning Edition, Frankfurt Book Fair, Publishers Weekly, SXSW, Nieman Journalism Lab, and AWP. Since 2001, she has spoken at hundreds of writing and industry conferences, and has also served on panels and advisory boards for nonprofits such as the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund.



What Our Workshop Participants Have Said

Elizabeth W. Marshall: The Writing Life Workshop wildly exceeds my expectations. It is extremely well-thought-through with regards to content. The online classroom system provides a fabulous set up for both content, assignments and feedback. This is life changing as a writer.

Brad Grout: I am personally getting so much out of this memoir workshop…you people are AMAZING!

Lane Arnold: I struck gold. An afternoon session of writing poetry is good for the soul. Poetry Workshop is a catalyst to creativity.

Darrelyn Saloom: I signed up for the Fiction Jumpstart class at a crazy/busy time. What was I thinking? With all the chaos in my life, I am so happy I did. I would NEVER have completed a 3, 000 word short story without Anthony. It was wonderful to have his guidance and feedback. And I am so pleased with the result.

Lexanne Leonard: The most important step I’ve taken is to join Tweetspeak’s Poetry Workshop 2013 with Anne Doe Overstreet. I cannot begin to thank Tweetspeak, Anne, and my fellow students for this journey.

Sandra Heska King: This was absolutely the single best whim I’ve followed.


How to Powerfully Build Your Author Platform • 8 Components, Registration now closed

Photo by Roberto Trm, Creative Commons, via Flickr.

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Jane Friedman
Jane Friedman
Jane Friedman reports on the publishing industry and helps writers understand the business they're entering. She runs an industry news pub called The Hot Sheet and is the author of The Business of Being a Writer. She has been featured by The Great Courses, NPR, The Authors Guild, and The New York Times.
Jane Friedman
Latest posts by Jane Friedman (see all)
  • How to Write a Powerful Book Proposal that Sells - June 2, 2014
  • Author Platform: Where to Start - February 11, 2014
  • Writing Workshops: How to Powerfully Build Your Author Platform - November 30, 2013

Filed Under: Blog, Book promotion, Workshops, writer's group resources, Writing Business Tips

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About Jane Friedman

Jane Friedman reports on the publishing industry and helps writers understand the business they're entering. She runs an industry news pub called The Hot Sheet and is the author of The Business of Being a Writer. She has been featured by The Great Courses, NPR, The Authors Guild, and The New York Times.

Comments

  1. Laura Brown says

    December 2, 2013 at 8:42 pm

    I’m in.

    Reply
    • L. L. Barkat says

      December 3, 2013 at 11:48 am

      We’re so happy about that, Laura! 🙂

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Poetry: This Week's Top 10 Poetic Picks says:
    December 5, 2013 at 8:00 am

    […] might consider other ways to build your author platform that don’t result in being voted off the show. Think about, for instance, a writing workshop […]

    Reply
  2. How to Become a Better Writer: Write Like a Painter | says:
    December 11, 2013 at 12:15 pm

    […] Learn how to build yours in our new writing workshop featuring industry expert Jane Friedman, How to Powerfully Build Your Author Platform. […]

    Reply
  3. The Art and Business of Reader Engagement + Author Platform says:
    December 13, 2013 at 5:00 am

    […] many times at writing conferences, but have yet to offer the curriculum in an online environment. Click here for more details about the course. It offers a lot of perks, including a website or blog critique from […]

    Reply
  4. The Art and Business of Reader Engagement and Author Platform | Marketing Aces says:
    December 13, 2013 at 1:01 pm

    […] many times at writing conferences, but have yet to offer the curriculum in an online environment. Click here for more details about the course. It offers a lot of perks, including a website or blog critique from […]

    Reply
  5. How Much Does Author Platform Impact Sales? | Jane Friedman says:
    December 20, 2013 at 5:01 am

    […] January, I’m teaching a class on platform, which makes me look like a rather biased party on this topic. I’ve been teaching some version of […]

    Reply
  6. How Much Does Author Platform Impact Sales? | Marketing Aces says:
    December 20, 2013 at 5:21 am

    […] January, I’m teaching a class on platform, which makes me look like a rather biased party on this topic. I’ve been teaching some version of […]

    Reply
  7. How Much Does Author Platform Impact Sales? | AuthReport.com says:
    December 20, 2013 at 1:08 pm

    […] January, I’m teaching a class on platform, which makes me look like a rather biased party on this topic. I’ve been teaching some version of […]

    Reply
  8. Christmas Poems: Apology to My Mother at Christmas | says:
    December 25, 2013 at 8:01 am

    […] how to build yours in our new writing workshop featuring industry expert Jane Friedman, How to Powerfully Build Your Author Platform. Registration closes December […]

    Reply
  9. A Hodgepodge of Useful Bits & Pieces – January 2013 | KD DID IT Takes on Books says:
    January 2, 2014 at 12:47 pm

    […] How to Powerfully Build Your Author Platform […]

    Reply
  10. one word 2014 - Sandra Heska King | Sandra Heska King says:
    January 2, 2014 at 1:02 pm

    […] plan to work on two books, and I’ve signed on at the last minute to Jane Friedman’s How to Powerfully Build Your Author Platform workshop through Tweetspeak Poetry. I’m kind of burned out on the concept of platform, but […]

    Reply
  11. A Hodgepodge of Useful Bits & Pieces - January 2013 - The Digital Reader says:
    January 4, 2014 at 3:29 am

    […] How to Powerfully Build Your Author Platform […]

    Reply
  12. Charity Singleton Craig Read and Respond: 279 Days to Overnight Success » Charity Singleton Craig says:
    January 30, 2014 at 4:55 pm

    […] Days to Overnight Success. That, and the fact that Jane Friedman recommended it in her workshop, How to Powerfully Build Your Author Platform, which I have been taking over the past […]

    Reply
  13. Jane Friedman's Author Platform Workshop says:
    February 3, 2014 at 12:24 pm

    […] She covers all the topics we need as writers, and then some. So when I saw her upcoming workshop: HOW TO POWERFULLY BUILD YOUR AUTHOR PLATFORM, I ran to catch the […]

    Reply
  14. Charity Singleton Craig My Word of the Week: Simple » Charity Singleton Craig says:
    February 13, 2014 at 4:44 pm

    […] then, as part of the author platform workshop I was taking, Jane Friedman did a critique of my site. Her planned critique was actually the […]

    Reply

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