I am teaming up with the Writers With Wrinkles podcast, hosted by the lovely Beth McMullen and Lisa Schmid, to go round three on the informal Author Platform Challenge I created last year. Join us! We’re spending the month of July doing one thing every day that will ripple across our social media outlets, to engage (if not educate and entertain) and grow our followers.

Since many writers are introverts, I know marketing and promoting ourselves doesn’t come easily. Being asked to “up our social media presence” can feel like a trip to the dentist. Since I researched the heck out of what to do, when to do it, how to get it done, I’m going to share it with you.

You’ll find that while it’s easy to put off or “get to later,” it’s honestly not all that hard. It’s just tedious. We simply need to decide to make it happen. I means, we can all commit 5-15 mins a day to do it, at least for a month.

Sure, there are a million paths to success. It’s daunting. It can be easier to do nothing (I’ll speak for myself). That’s why I created this “31 Day Author Platform Challenge.” I figured if I went through all that trouble narrowing down what roads I want to take, that there are probably LOTS of other writers that wouldn’t mind looking at the same map. So I figured why not share these ideas, and we can challenge each other along the way?

I first challenged writers in May 2023, and the feedback was amazing. Writers (and illustrators) rocked it! I personally upped my following by well over 1,000 on one platform alone. I did it again Nov 2023. Yet I still have miles to go before I’m where I’d really like to be. So I’m doing it yet again, and hope to do it every few months.

Come along, won’t you?

I mean, what author wouldn’t like to have more followers? I admit I have an incentive, with a new book that just released (Mommy & Me Micro-Moments: Fun, 5-Minute Devotionals For Busy Moms & Kids, thanks for asking, lol). But building a list for potential book buyers is not the only reason I’m doing it. Being a writer can leave us in isolation, and I’m always looking to (re)connect with people. This is a great way to do so.

If you’re new to creating an author platform, honestly, the best time to start building your platform was years ago. But the next best time is now.

And there’s never a better time than NOW to grow your platform, not matter what stage you’re in.

The Plan

For this challenge, I’ll have a short blog detailing each task, each day. The tasks differ widely. Some are creating lists of ideas, such as brainstorming free giveways you might offer. Creating them, the implementation of the idea, is a different day. Some are creating specific posts that’ll take 5 short minutes to do, such as tagging and thanking three writer friends that have helped you in some way. Others might take more work, but will still be manageable, pretty much never more than 15 minutes. If it takes you more than 15 minutes, take a break and come back. No one has all day for this stuff—or we’d already have done it.

Small, daily steps are what we’re looking at here. The challenge is broken down into 31 doable tasks that should all add up to making a decent difference. Sorta like eating an elephant one bite at a time. It’s a CHALLENGE to push us past our comfort zone. Science proves it helps to have others cheer us on along the way, which is why I’m looking for company.

So, fellow author friends, whadday say?

Will you join in? Leave a message or subscribe (top right on desktop and possible down below on your phone) to commit! (Experts also say you’re more willing to follow through on a commitment or challenge if you tell someone else about it. Saying your goal out loud, or posting it publicly, makes us feel more accountable. Do it. Do it.) You’ll get a notice everytime I update my website, which means each day that I post the daily challenge.

**Author Platform briefly defined:

For those unfamiliar with the term “author platform,” I can best describe it in a visual. Picture a group of people. Let’s say they are all authors. One person stands on a raised surface—it could be basically anything for better visibility; let’s say it’s a milk crate. That person is now a little taller than all the other authors around them. They stand out. You can spot them in a crowd. They are an author, on a platform.

You want to be the author that sticks out, that is noticeable in a crowd. You need a platform.

In modern terms that means having a strong social media presence. It could be a solid group of Facebook followers (10K is minimum to be impressive these days)(yikes, right?), Instagram, Twitter, or any of the new ones popping up like Threads, Discord, Substack…the list goes on and on. It could also include people who subscribe to your newsletter or follow your website. These aren’t people that you blatantly scream BUY MY BOOK to, mind you, they are your friends, your support, your cheerleaders.

If your friends been ignored for too long, they’ll move on to someone else. You don’t want to lose friends! In fact, you want to make more. Lots more. Don’t you? [Yes, if you are an author, you do!)

So I ask again…who wants to join?!

The 31 Day Author Platform Challenge posts will be posted once a day. To see the current day and all prior days in one fell swoop, go here:

www.BitsyKemper.com/challenge

Oh, and feel free to follow my new author page facebook.com/BitsyKemperAuthor! (Heads up: an author page may or may not be one of the challenges…)