Following: A Marketing Guide To Author Platform

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Indie writer David Gaughran published the ebook Following: A Marketing Guide To Author Platform. It’s a free bonus you can download by subscribing to David’s weekly book marketing newsletter.

David Gaughran’s Following ebook in Google Play Books on a Pixel 2 XL phone
David Gaughran’s Following ebook in Google Play Books on my Pixel 2 XL phone.

The book brings clarity on the confusing issue of building an author platform writers and authors face, especially when going indie and self-publishing. Its greatest value is a concise and clear definition of what an author platform is and what it's supposed to do, along with a prioritized roadmap.

Although you’ll find practical advice in Following, the book comes with an online resource section David keeps up to date with how-tos, step-by-step guides, videos, lists of service providers, and more.

David presents a framework grounded on two pillars, an author website and a newsletter. You can add other activities and online presences modularly on top of those as your time and resources allow.

David recommends setting up an author website with self-hosted WordPress. I disagree.

WordPress is an outstanding, infinitely customizable tool with limitless learning resources and supported by a vast community. But there's a compelling reason to prefer hosted platforms or website builders like Squarespace and Wix over self-hosted WordPress, especially for non tech savvy users.

With website builders you get a team of experienced engineers working for you 24/7 to fix technical issues or vulnerabilities and enforce security. While you sleep. You'll realize how valuable this is when — not if — your self-hosted WordPress installation is compromised and you must fix the mess on your own. Maybe deep at night while you're on vacation and have limited Internet connectivity.

David makes available other free ebooks for authors, including a guide to the basics of self-publishing.

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