The Author's Guide to Building an Online Platform: Leveraging the Internet to Sell More Books (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The buzz word in publishing houses and at writer s conferences these days is platform.
As in, What is the author s platform?
With more than 175,000 new titles published each year, publishers want to sign authors who are capable of helping to sell their book.
The platform may be that the author is a widely syndicated columnist, is the internationally acclaimed expert in his field, or is a highly sought-after motivational speaker. Or perhaps the author is a New York City television news anchor. These types of platforms make a publisher s mouth water.
But what about authors who aren t widely known or acclaimed? How does the ordinary guy build a credible platform?
The answer: the Internet. Today you can build an international platform right from your kitchen table even if your kitchen table is in Manhattan...Kansas.

About the Author

Stephanie Chandler is the founder of BusinessInfoGuide.com and Pro Publishing Services. Chandler, a recognized small buisness expert, has been featured in Entrepreneur, Inc., Business Week, and the Los Angeles Times. Books include From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with Books, eBooks, and Information Products, and The Business Startup Checklist and Planning Guide which received a Book of the Year award by Foreword Magazine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Quill Driver Books (May 31, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1884956823
• ISBN-13: 978-1884956829
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #379,199 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Internet Marketing guide for consultants who have written and published in some form in order to promote themselves., September 14, 2008

By	Jeff Lippincott "www.Jlippin.com" (Princeton, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book was not one of my favorites. I did not find it to be particularly well written, nor outlined well. And to make matters worse, I didn't think it was long enough to legitimately be called a real book. The body of the book is only 132 pages long. Then comes a less-than Directory of Resources from pages 133 to 140. And the book ends on page 143. There is an Introduction and 9 chapters as follows:

1. The truth about publishing
2. Web site strategies
3. Setting up your Web site
4. Web site enhancement tools
5. Building your expert status
6. Online marketing strategies
7. Online media opportunities
8. Amazon.com success strategies
9. Final thoughts

Without question this book is just another of a long line of Internet Marketing books on the market today. There is little new between its covers. Ever since early 2006 I have been aware of the author's "Internet Platform" because I read a couple of her books and Googled her name to find all the marketing techniques she had been using to promote herself and her business ventures. Overall, I have been impressed with the author and the self promotion techniques she has employed online. Unfortunately I have not found her to be a particularly good writer. Sorry. She does not focus on a subject well in her books and fully explain it. She tends to get sidetracked. And her editors (if she has them) don't catch her on this.

The title of the instant book provides that this book is an "author's guide" to Internet marketing. But what kind of author are we talking about? Is it an author of fiction, i.e., romance writers, fantasy writers, science fiction writers, chik lit writers, mystery writers, etc? If so, then why was there a need for Chapter 5 regarding "Building an Expert Status?" Is it an author of nonfiction, i.e., business writers, how-to writers, or some other book that needs to be written by an expert? If so, then why didn't the title to the book specify it was about authors who write nonfiction? Or is it not really an author at all, but instead a consultant who does some writing? If so, then why did the title to the book even include the term "author" at all?

The book is clearly an overview of the Internet Marketing tools and techniques the author has used to create her own Online Platform. But is she just an author? Or is she more like Dan S. Kennedy who she profiled in Chapter 4? He says he is first and formost a consultant and he publishes primarily for self-promotion reasons. He says there may be some profit from publishing books, but that is a distant consideration. So having said all this, is the book really one for authors? Or is it one for consultants? I think the latter.

Knowing what I know about Internet Marketing for authors, I was disappointed in the coverage of Amazon.com. I don't think an author should have shopping cart technology embedded in their author Web sites. I say this because authors should seek to maximize sales of their books on Amazon so the books will rank high on Amazon's top sales list ranking. The author should become an affiliate of Amazon and direct sales from their author site to Amazon where Amazon will process the sale. Their author blog or blogs should direct traffic to Amazon for book sales, too. If Amazon processes the sale, then there is no need for the author to have a shopping cart on their site.

I was also disappointed in the coverage of Amazon.com since Chapter 8 did not come close to helping the reader with Amazon as compared to the coverage presented in "Sell Your Book on Amazon" (ISBN: 1432701967). The instant book being reviewed could have re-written the best of that book and included it as Chapter 8. But that is not the case, unfortunately.

If the title were changed so it properly reflected its content, then I would give the book 4 stars! But that would have been a gift because I would have been rounding up my star rating from a 3.6. But since the title is off, and the book is short and not particularly well outlined or written, I am dropping my rating to 3 stars. It's just an OK book. 3 stars!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Straightforward Advice For Every Author OR Would-Be Author, July 20, 2008

By	W. Terry Whalin "Publisher/ Editor / Writer" (Scottsdale, Arizona) - See all my reviews

Every writer has great dreams and aspirations of selling many copies of their published book. Stephanie Chandler gives you the real story about publishers. They can make beautiful well-crafted books but selling those books? That's a key responsibility for the author. THE AUTHOR'S GUIDE TO BUILDING AN ONLINE PLATFORM gives writers the critical tools to sell their books into the marketplace.

As Chandler writes at the bottom of the first page of Chapter 1: "The reality in the world of publishing is that without marketing, a book simply cannot be successful. And even if you have the biggest publishers on the planet behind you, it is unlikely that they will run your entire marketing campaign for you. You will still be required to do the majority of the work."

Publishers use the word "platform" a great deal and Chandler explains, "The formation of a platform is essential for publishing nonfiction and helpful for writers of fiction. A platform encompasses your ability to reach a broad audience before the book is even released.". . ."Authors of fiction and gift books aren't always required to have a platform first. But if you come to the table with one, your chances of getting published will be dramatically increased. Agents and publishers want authors who can sell books. Once you realize this and figure out how to demonstrate that you can do that, your future in publishing will be bright." (page 6)

In a no nonsense style, Chandler gives you the details to stand apart from the run of the mill book submission or published book author--because you will be motivated and informed to sell more books.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Useful Book I've Yet Found on Online Marketing for Authors, June 28, 2008

By	John Joyce "Author - The Virtual Trilogy" (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As an author struggling to establish a presence on the web for my own books Virtually Maria (Virtual Trilogy) and A Matter of TimeI found Stephanie Chandler's book by far and away the most useful to date.

Why is this? Simply because it is full of very practical steps - from website strategies, to building your website and (very importantly) establishing your "expert status" as a "platform" from which to sell your books.

Stephanie Chandler's philosophy is simple - publishers will be far more interested in publishing your book (or your own sales will increase if you are a Print of Demand self publisher) if you are already a known expert in the field of your books, or you have an established presence on the web in the form of a high-traffic site.

This book tells you have to achieve these things in very practical step-by-step terms.

Congratulations to Stephanie Chandler and many thanks, not just from me but from all the POD book producers out there, who were looking for the secret key to promoting their books on line. That lock has just been opened!