Brick by Brick: Building Your Following
Building a following is a journey, author. It will not be accomplished overnight. You must spend time consistently working on this or you will not see results.
Like a house, you need a strong foundation. This is your author brand. Define your identity through genre, niche, tone, and your unique voice. Create a consistent look through your logo, website theme, book covers, and your social media profiles. This is how your audience will know and recognize you.
You need to frame your house before you can start building onto it. This is your online presence. You need a website, an author newsletter, and social media accounts. Your website must have your bio, contact page, a list of your books, and a signup page for your newsletter. Your newsletter is important, author. This is how you talk directly to your audience.
Your social media accounts are also important, but they have a slightly different aspect. With your social media accounts, you have content. This is like the siding of a house; it is what people first see when they find you. Most of your audience will find you on social media first, then your website. You want your content to look good, look consistent, and be engaging.
The roof encompasses your community. This includes building relationships with other authors, reading communities, and your local spaces like libraries. These are the folks that will help protect you from any storm. Choose wisely, and support them back.
The final touches can be similar to engagement. Often during building, the final touches are what takes the longest. And then you have the interior upkeep of cleaning the house. Engagement can be similar, where it is necessary and constant, but rewarding. Keep your head up and focus on one task at a time.
Making your house into a home takes time, effort, and a lot of patience. By working consistently you will ultimately build a strong home for yourself, your followers, and your work.
