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rkking's review
4.0
A really great guide to setting your foundation as a writer with an audience. Very practical step-by-step sections that allow you to build your 'platform' as strong as you can. I had already done most of the legwork before reading this, but I garnered some good bits out of it. I, myself, am guilty of having a sparse and sometimes 'too salesy' email campaign, so narrowing that down will do me wonders. Thanks David!
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joshuawalkerauthor's review
4.0
A brilliant, short yet concise look at many of the more crucial strategies that the author regards in the development of a self publishing career. I’ll be keeping this one open for reference for a long time to come, I think!
jwells's review
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
Excellent follow-up to Gaughran's Let's Get Digital. Both books are free; for this one you'll need to subscribe to Gaughran's mailing list, which is well worth doing anyway, if you want to learn about self-publishing. LGD is a guide to self-publishing, for someone who wants to make it a career or at least a side gig; Following focuses on the confusing topic of building an online author platform. Both books do an excellent job of cutting through the overwhelm and laying out a clear path to take the novice indie writer from zero to a decent foothold (a professional-looking self-published book, a website, a mailing list, and a start on social media). I really appreciate the sense of humor along with the simplicity and evergreen nature of the approach.
lolasreviews's review
4.0
Following is a great short read that deals with how to set up an author platform and also what the goal of that and how to manage that. I like how David Gaughran stuck the basics here, explained why the three things he picked (website, mailing list and facebook) are necessary in his opinion for an author platform and how to set those up and then build it.
There are some great pieces of information in here. Most of this wasn't really new to me, but I like how he explained everything in a way that's easy to understand and follow if you're a new author. I also think this will help authors not to feel overwhelmed as setting up 3 things is a lot easier than doing all the things and there are plenty of resources and tips to set those things up. I also liked some of the examples about content for social media and how to tie that in with your target audience. I think that is really awesome if you can do that and I know some authors who really do that well on social media.
The only thing I didn't really care for was how with the website he only recommended one company for domain name and one for hosting. I personally like to receive recommendations and understand why the author recommends that, but I felt like that part was missing here. Although it might be on the resources page for this book as I haven't checked that out yet. I like the idea of the resources page so info can be kept up to date there, but I usually don't check it out until after I finish the book. For the mailing list he did have a few possible recommendations listed, although the focus was on his recommended one, which I liked.
To summarize: if you want to know more about how to set up and start your author platform and how to make the most out of this, this is a great book to pick up. It's currently free if you join the author's newsletter. It sticks to the basics, namely a website, mailing list and Facebook. And delves into how to set that up, tie it together and then how to use that to build your platform. There is plenty of information and advice. I especially liked the tips about how to tailor content to your audience and how the author sticks to the basics, but also says how easy it is to add something to your platform if you want to broaden it.
There are some great pieces of information in here. Most of this wasn't really new to me, but I like how he explained everything in a way that's easy to understand and follow if you're a new author. I also think this will help authors not to feel overwhelmed as setting up 3 things is a lot easier than doing all the things and there are plenty of resources and tips to set those things up. I also liked some of the examples about content for social media and how to tie that in with your target audience. I think that is really awesome if you can do that and I know some authors who really do that well on social media.
The only thing I didn't really care for was how with the website he only recommended one company for domain name and one for hosting. I personally like to receive recommendations and understand why the author recommends that, but I felt like that part was missing here. Although it might be on the resources page for this book as I haven't checked that out yet. I like the idea of the resources page so info can be kept up to date there, but I usually don't check it out until after I finish the book. For the mailing list he did have a few possible recommendations listed, although the focus was on his recommended one, which I liked.
To summarize: if you want to know more about how to set up and start your author platform and how to make the most out of this, this is a great book to pick up. It's currently free if you join the author's newsletter. It sticks to the basics, namely a website, mailing list and Facebook. And delves into how to set that up, tie it together and then how to use that to build your platform. There is plenty of information and advice. I especially liked the tips about how to tailor content to your audience and how the author sticks to the basics, but also says how easy it is to add something to your platform if you want to broaden it.
dfs's review
4.0
Good.
I want to thank the author for writing this book. I liked most of the book, with the exception being the end. I noticed near the end of the book, I lost interest.
Nonetheless, if you want to build your following, I recommend this book.
I want to thank the author for writing this book. I liked most of the book, with the exception being the end. I noticed near the end of the book, I lost interest.
Nonetheless, if you want to build your following, I recommend this book.
storytold's review
3.0
This book is free, short, and does exactly what it says on the tin: introduces you to the basics of setting up your marketing platform as a creator. As an introductory volume, it's hugely helpful. The author has specifically trimmed the fat around his tips to create a concise volume with clear, actionable tips, but at times I found myself skimming through some of the conversational writing to get to what I was looking for. Some tips were invaluable, notably whether or not oughts-style blogging is helpful to the modern writer. At times it reads like a list of recommendations, but as it's free, the volume positions itself exceptionally well as a resource.
Indeed, the most valuable element of the book is that it demonstrates exactly what it preaches. This book successfully got me to follow the author on as many platforms as I frequent, and I will surely purchase some of his more specific volumes in the future. It's meant as an onboarding volume for more specific strategies offered in the author's other campaigns, and at times it felt like it; but that's literally exactly the point. It exemplifies its advice about reader magnets exceptionally well. Now it's up to you reading this to decide whether you like this strategy for yourself.
Indeed, the most valuable element of the book is that it demonstrates exactly what it preaches. This book successfully got me to follow the author on as many platforms as I frequent, and I will surely purchase some of his more specific volumes in the future. It's meant as an onboarding volume for more specific strategies offered in the author's other campaigns, and at times it felt like it; but that's literally exactly the point. It exemplifies its advice about reader magnets exceptionally well. Now it's up to you reading this to decide whether you like this strategy for yourself.
greendragonauthor's review
5.0
Good, solid advice. I was happy to learn I was already doing about 80% of it, and this book allowed me to refine that and improve my basic tools. Thanks!
stanwj's review
4.0
David Gaughran's latest on helping writers is a short volume on creating an author platform. With his usual wit, Gaughran cuts away the marketing hype and reassures the reader that an author platform is basically having an established presence online, not some great convoluted thing that would require a team of experts to assemble (though he does suggest outsourcing some aspects). He offers a mix of general and specific advice on what to do, ranging from what social media to focus on (to no surprise, he says Facebook is the one essential due to its reach, even if you may dislike Facebook as a company) to recommendations for hosting and content management systems (CMS)--and again, he not surprisingly recommends WordPress, which is to CMS as Facebook is to social media, though perhaps with less imperiling of modern democracy.
Much like his fourth (and now free) edition of Let's Get Digital, Following also comes with a link to online resources that Gaughran promises to keep updated, extending the book's usability beyond what is contained in the text.
For a beginning author, this is a welcome and even gentle way to introduce the idea of establishing yourself on the internet as a writer, even before you have completed your first book. Gauhgran's advice is sensible and much of it is based on his own experience--learn from his mistakes so you don't make them yourself! I especially like the tips that seem small or simple, but could have a profound effect (and may come as a relief to the starting writer), particularly in debunking some common beliefs, such as needing a robust presence on every social media platform, or needing to keep an active blog going. For those who have read Gaughran's other books on writing, it will be no surprise that he pushes hard on building a mailing list.
Gaughran teases the possibility that Following could be expanded in the future (and this would not surprise me, he has an admirable devotion to this set of books), but as is, it is still an excellent and recommended resource to the aspiring author.
Much like his fourth (and now free) edition of Let's Get Digital, Following also comes with a link to online resources that Gaughran promises to keep updated, extending the book's usability beyond what is contained in the text.
For a beginning author, this is a welcome and even gentle way to introduce the idea of establishing yourself on the internet as a writer, even before you have completed your first book. Gauhgran's advice is sensible and much of it is based on his own experience--learn from his mistakes so you don't make them yourself! I especially like the tips that seem small or simple, but could have a profound effect (and may come as a relief to the starting writer), particularly in debunking some common beliefs, such as needing a robust presence on every social media platform, or needing to keep an active blog going. For those who have read Gaughran's other books on writing, it will be no surprise that he pushes hard on building a mailing list.
Gaughran teases the possibility that Following could be expanded in the future (and this would not surprise me, he has an admirable devotion to this set of books), but as is, it is still an excellent and recommended resource to the aspiring author.