31-Day Author Platform Challenge: Prep Day

Getting Ready to Rumble

Before we start the challenge, grab a fresh new notebook in order to create a new “31-Day Author Platform Challenge To Do List.” Or, create a new Word Doc or new To Do list on your phone (the Notes or Keep apps work well). You’ll want ONE separate and central place to keep track of all your thoughts, notes, and To Dos this month–of which there may be many!

Any task you don’t need to tackle because you’ve already completed, you can come back to this list and pick something to work on. Any day you complete in a flash or any time you have a few extra minutes, come back to this list.

Also, I wanted to clarify some things. I am making an assumption here, that you not only KNOW what an author brand is, but that you HAVE or are WORKING ON one. I’m not defining or going into detail on what an author brand means here because that’s a whole different can o’ worms. But when I talk about your personal brand, I am referring to how you present yourself to the public, how you are seen/viewed by readers, agents, editors, fellow writers/artists, and anyone else paying attention. Scribe Media describes it this way: “Book positioning tells someone why your book is the right book for them. Author branding tells someone why they should read your book, as opposed to anyone else’s.” I’d add to it by saying it tells people why to follow you vs someone else.

That means my assumption is you have already thought about how you are presenting your unique qualities, the ones that “brand” you as a person, as a writer, or artist. (To not confuse your brand with your image, scroll halfway down this blog post: https://bitsykemper.com/2016/03/10/creating-an-author-platform/.)

For help on creating an author brand, find great posts by Rocket Expansion, NY Book Editors, and PW here, here, and here.

If you DON’T have a brand, or haven’t given it a thought, now is the time! Everything we do over the next 31 days will be supporting it. But if yours isn’t defined yet, don’t panic and bail. What you do over the next 31 days can help you figure out and hone your brand so you’ll be better prepared when you’re ready to define it.

For now, just be thinking about your brand as an author (NOT your book’s brand or image). We’ll spend time working on it throughout the month.

Recap:

1. Get a new notebook to capture To Do list
2. Refer to To Do and complete and item on list when you have an easy day or free time
3. If you aren’t familiar with the term “author brand” check out the three provided links
4. Don’t use lack of a solid brand as an excuse to bail (nice try, though)
5. Have your author brand in the back of your mind at all times this month

Now get some rest and be ready to start on the first of the month!