You’ve reached the pinnacle of your writing career and published your first book. Perhaps your second or third. So why are you struggling to find speaking and media opportunities? Book marketing is a complex process, and getting your title out there requires a careful balance of visibility and credibility. Without those opportunities, you risk falling behind.
The answer may sound obvious – seek out further opportunities. Yet, developing a strong author platform requires an equally strong online presence. Unfortunately, this is something that many authors struggle with, and goes far beyond a simple Amazon author page.
The truth is that traditional publishers seek out authors with a strong following, a proven audience ready to digest their latest offering. Developing that following falls on the author’s shoulders, complicated by the competitive nature of publishing.
Marketing on a Budget
Author branding relies upon a platform, consisting of an established audience, strong social media following, and searchable content. This cannot be achieved with book credentials alone, yet publishers themselves have limited marketing budgets. Because of that, publishers expect authors to drive book sales, making writing far beyond a creative endeavour.
Despite the risk of self-publishing, most authors prefer the traditional route, but this doesn’t reduce the marketing burden on their shoulders. This reality is why so many choose to work with agents to increase their author visibility.
The reality is, you wrote the book, but you can’t prove your authority online. Over time, this leads to reduced sales because authors with a strong following tend to grab the largest market share.
How Speaking Bookers Evaluate Authors
One way to build a strong platform is to seek out speaking opportunities. Yet, these can be difficult for authors with less visibility. Conference organisers often look for authors to participate as speakers, but they prefer those with visible expertise, predominantly online. Speaker credibility is vital in this situation; conference organisers simply don’t want an author who doesn’t have proven experience because they won’t attract the same crowd size.
While planning, organisers turn their attention online first. They evaluate platform size, interactions, and popularity, choosing authors who have a proven following. They’re looking for searchable expertise, with book credentials appearing further down their priority list.
Yet, the reality is that high quality authors with strong speaking skills are often overlooked simply because they don’t know how to build a strong platform that shows expert authority.
The same goes for media coverage. Media producers research authors prior to sending invites. They verify not only expertise but their online presence, along with their potential for on-camera charm. Those with a weak, or worse, non-existent digital footprint often miss out.
Amazon Isn’t Enough
A strong Amazon bio is a strong step, but it’s not to be relied upon. Amazon author pages are there to boost book sales; they don’t show thought leadership positioning or rank in searches. Far more is required to obtain speaker and media opportunities.
Many authors now choose to go down the Q&A format route. This means creating a bio that is not only SEO-optimised, but also allows them to answer the questions conference and media organisers are looking for. It’s a big step beyond the generic, and allows them to create searchable and tailored author visibility.
Ultimately, creating an author platform will always take time, but appearing on the first page of search results is a huge boost. That is exactly what interview formats allow, and platforms like Discussli make creating these bios easy. Simply answer a series of curated questions and upload a headshot. The result is a fully optimised bio that can be shared online and ranks for clear visibility. AI engines also love this Q&A content – they use it to influence and index within their algorithms when generating answers.
Visit discussli.com for more information.
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