Thursdays with Amanda: How To Grow Your Author Platform…2012 blog posts

December 13, 2012 | Written by Amanda Luedeke

Amanda Luedeke Literary AgentAmanda Luedeke is a literary agent with MacGregor Literary. Every Thursday, she posts about growing your author platform. You can follow her on Twitter @amandaluedeke or join her Facebook group to stay current with her wheelings and dealings as an agent.

Assuming that the world will NOT end and that 2013 is YOUR YEAR to get things together and develop (or further develop) that coveted author platform everyone keeps talking about, I figured I’d put together an index of all my posts this past year.

The catch? You aren’t allowed to casually skim it. I want you reading the ones that jump out at you while you come up with a goal list of

10 Things I WILL Do in 2013 to Grow My Author Platform

2013 is your year! Make the most of it. Your career will thank you.

How it all started

Growing Platform Through Articles

Growing Platform Through Blogging

Growing Platform Through Conferences

Growing Platform Through Ebooks

Growing Platform Through Facebook

Growing Platform Through Goodreads

Growing Platform Through Pinterest

Growing Platform Through Public Speaking

Growing Platform Through Tumblr

Growing Platform Through Twitter

Growing Platform Through Video

Growing Platform Through Websites

Misc

So what’s on YOUR to-do list for 2013? I want to hear some of your goals!

Posted in Marketing and Platforms, Web/Tech

  • Meghan Carver

    Amanda, I’d like to guest blog more. This month, I’ve had a guest post twice on the same website, and although I haven’t seen a spike, I can tell my traffic has gone up. Writing and submitting a guest post usually gets shuffled to the bottom of the to-do list, but I’m going to bump it up a few numbers. Thanks for the list.

    • http://www.facebook.com/amanda.luedeke Amanda Luedeke

      Sounds good to me! A great plan, Meghan.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=840645444 Adam Blumer

    Wow. This is awesome—so many great links, all in one post. Thank you, Amanda! Your articles have been the best.

    • http://www.facebook.com/amanda.luedeke Amanda Luedeke

      Thanks for the kind words, Adam. And thanks for reading!

  • Charity Hawkins

    I love Thursdays.
    Okay, I’m so glad you asked that question because I’ve been needing to figure out what I’m doing for about the last 3 months. This made me sit down and think about it. Here are my top goals for next year:
    1. Blog – Broaden my audience- 20ish guest posts on mom blogs NOT related to homeschooling. (preschool/reading/motherhood/budget/homemaking etc.)
    2.FB- Research how to use FB more effectively. Post 2-4x/wk.
    3. Blog – pray for opportunity for consistent posting on HS conglomerate blog
    4. Blog – include humor in every post – part of what I offer that’s different
    5. Blog – invite 5-10 guest posters to my blog
    6. Craft – deconstruct/analyze everything Jenny B. Jones has ever written because she’s astoundingly brilliant
    7. (if time) Pinterest – create board for books we read during year
    Wow, that’s a lot. But you asked. :) Now I’ve said it, so I better go print this out and stick it on my wall. And go reread all your posts. BTW, the moneysavingmom blog has a great series on increasing blog readership, for those who are interested. I’m off to reread that too. Thanks as always.

    • http://www.facebook.com/amanda.luedeke Amanda Luedeke

      Lots of blog work! And that’s great. It’s better to focus than to spread your efforts to too many things. This looks like a great list!

  • Laura L. Smith

    Thanks for all the great advice and inspiration. My platform improved greatly in 2012 thanks to your insights. Hoping 2013 will bring more of the same, starting with that masthead ….

    • http://www.facebook.com/amanda.luedeke Amanda Luedeke

      Oh, that’s so GREAT to hear! Very cool. Keep up the good work, Laura :)

  • http://www.facebook.com/anne.r.love Anne Reed Love

    Thanks for the challenge. Guess I have some goal-setting to do! Yippee!

    • http://www.facebook.com/amanda.luedeke Amanda Luedeke

      It’ll be worth it, Anne :)

  • http://www.facebook.com/melissa.tagg Melissa Tagg

    Amanda, this is awesome! One of my goals for this weekend, actually, is to work on a marketing/platform plan for 2013, so now I’m pumped to re-read your articles as I get to work on that. Thanks for the info!

    • http://www.facebook.com/amanda.luedeke Amanda Luedeke

      Great timing! I hope it helps :)

  • http://www.healthyspirituality.org Jean Wise

    Ah, my homework assignment: “You aren’t allowed to casually skim it. I want you reading the ones that jump out at you while you come up with a goal list of 10 Things I WILL Do in 2013 to Grow My Author Platform” Seriously I am working on my 2013 goals so this is a great place to dive in. Thank you so much for this list. Merry Christmas!

    • http://www.facebook.com/amanda.luedeke Amanda Luedeke

      Let us know what you come up with, Jean!

      • http://www.healthyspirituality.org Jean Wise

        Ok began my homework so here I go with my initial goals for 2013;

        1. Update blog and webpage. Possibly redesign and evaluate a move to wordpress. Add more content to attract readers and to support my brand.

        2. Explore and try to utilize Goodreads and Tumblr.

        3. Update and distribute Speaker one page marketing sheet. Continue to lead at least two retreats and present at least 4 times in 2013.

        4. Attend writing and spirituality conference for networking and knowledge building: Write to Publish in June, Indy Christian Writers in Nov. Spiritual Directors International and Richard Rohr in April.

        5. Write and submit at least 4 articles and/or guest posts and seek guest posts to my blog

        6. Increasing marketing efforts for self published book, The Great Communicator

        7. Continue to post on blog four times a week and on writer’s blog on my monthly rotation.

        Ok now that I have made these public, I guess I have to work on them, right?

        Thanks Amanda for getting me started on these. I needed the push.

  • Leah E Good

    What a great list of posts. Thanks for posting this!

    • http://www.facebook.com/amanda.luedeke Amanda Luedeke

      Thanks for reading!

  • :Donna Marie

    Thank you, Amanda! This is very timely for me, actually since, over the past month, I’m finely developing a blog. It was only last week when I was here doing a search for all your posts on blogging, but only a handful came up. Now I have what I need! Yay! :)

    • http://www.facebook.com/amanda.luedeke Amanda Luedeke

      Glad this is helpful, Donna!

  • http://www.facebook.com/ardis.nelson Ardis Van Boxtel Nelson

    Amanda, what a great idea–everything I need in one place. This is definitely going to require some devoted time with a cup of tea to relax and ponder my platform goals for 2013. Thanks for the inspiration.

    • http://www.facebook.com/amanda.luedeke Amanda Luedeke

      It will be time well spent, I promise :)

  • DisneyMuse

    QUICK QUESTION, Amanda: I was skimming each post and on Feb.9th you mentioned that the following week you were going to post about Blogging as a Fiction Writer. It wasn’t in the February archives and not on this compiled list. Did you end up deciding against the topic or perhaps post it at a much later date? Thanks!

    • http://www.facebook.com/amanda.luedeke Amanda Luedeke

      Thanks for catching that. I must have missed it when I was compiling these…I added it above!

  • :Donna Marie

    I get so confused with posting on different blogs. I showed up as DisneyMuse instead of : Donna Marie. Same person!