The Author's Guide to Building an Online Platform: Leveraging the Internet to Sell More Books | 
 enlarge | Author: Stephanie Chandler
Publisher: Quill Driver Books
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $9.21
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New (27) Used (5) from $9.21
Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 124266
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 200
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.5
ISBN: 1884956823
Dewey Decimal Number: 070.50688
EAN: 9781884956829
ASIN: 1884956823
Publication Date: May 31, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The buzz word in publishing houses and at writer s conferences these days is platform.
As in, What is the author s platform?
With more than 175,000 new titles published each year, publishers want to sign authors who are capable of helping to sell their book.
The platform may be that the author is a widely syndicated columnist, is the internationally acclaimed expert in his field, or is a highly sought-after motivational speaker. Or perhaps the author is a New York City television news anchor. These types of platforms make a publisher s mouth water.
But what about authors who aren t widely known or acclaimed? How does the ordinary guy build a credible platform?
The answer: the Internet. Today you can build an international platform right from your kitchen table even if your kitchen table is in Manhattan...Kansas.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 A Required Source Book for Authors September 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I actually received a referral for this book from a publisher, as they use it themselves for reference and a tool for new authors. this book is truly a gold nugget of information.
The book is short, but there are countless references and resources to more detailed information - enough to keep any author busy for weeks on end.
The most important note in the book for me was what I tell others who ask me about publishing their 'dream'. Writing a book is easy compared to the marketing, the marketing is where the major work is. Whether you self-publish or go traditional publishing routes, this book is filled with valuable information on how to get started. Even traditional publishing houses expect authors to be very active in their own marketing. Stephanie's book is a perfect guide to get you going. Thank you Stephanie!
Leigh Le Creux
Author The Secret Unraveled: Opening the Secret Once and for All! ,Astro Socks
 An Internet Marketing guide for consultants who have written and published in some form in order to promote themselves. September 14, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book was not one of my favorites. I did not find it to be particularly well written, nor outlined well. And to make matters worse, I didn't think it was long enough to legitimately be called a real book. The body of the book is only 132 pages long. Then comes a less-than Directory of Resources from pages 133 to 140. And the book ends on page 143. There is an Introduction and 9 chapters as follows:
1. The truth about publishing
2. Web site strategies
3. Setting up your Web site
4. Web site enhancement tools
5. Building your expert status
6. Online marketing strategies
7. Online media opportunities
8. Amazon.com success strategies
9. Final thoughts
Without question this book is just another of a long line of Internet Marketing books on the market today. There is little new between its covers. Ever since early 2006 I have been aware of the author's "Internet Platform" because I read a couple of her books and Googled her name to find all the marketing techniques she had been using to promote herself and her business ventures. Overall, I have been impressed with the author and the self promotion techniques she has employed online. Unfortunately I have not found her to be a particularly good writer. Sorry. She does not focus on a subject well in her books and fully explain it. She tends to get sidetracked. And her editors (if she has them) don't catch her on this.
The title of the instant book provides that this book is an "author's guide" to Internet marketing. But what kind of author are we talking about? Is it an author of fiction, i.e., romance writers, fantasy writers, science fiction writers, chik lit writers, mystery writers, etc? If so, then why was there a need for Chapter 5 regarding "Building an Expert Status?" Is it an author of nonfiction, i.e., business writers, how-to writers, or some other book that needs to be written by an expert? If so, then why didn't the title to the book specify it was about authors who write nonfiction? Or is it not really an author at all, but instead a consultant who does some writing? If so, then why did the title to the book even include the term "author" at all?
The book is clearly an overview of the Internet Marketing tools and techniques the author has used to create her own Online Platform. But is she just an author? Or is she more like Dan S. Kennedy who she profiled in Chapter 4? He says he is first and formost a consultant and he publishes primarily for self-promotion reasons. He says there may be some profit from publishing books, but that is a distant consideration. So having said all this, is the book really one for authors? Or is it one for consultants? I think the latter.
Knowing what I know about Internet Marketing for authors, I was disappointed in the coverage of Amazon.com. I don't think an author should have shopping cart technology embedded in their author Web sites. I say this because authors should seek to maximize sales of their books on Amazon so the books will rank high on Amazon's top sales list ranking. The author should become an affiliate of Amazon and direct sales from their author site to Amazon where Amazon will process the sale. Their author blog or blogs should direct traffic to Amazon for book sales, too. If Amazon processes the sale, then there is no need for the author to have a shopping cart on their site.
I was also disappointed in the coverage of Amazon.com since Chapter 8 did not come close to helping the reader with Amazon as compared to the coverage presented in "Sell Your Book on Amazon" (ISBN: 1432701967). The instant book being reviewed could have re-written the best of that book and included it as Chapter 8. But that is not the case, unfortunately.
If the title were changed so it properly reflected its content, then I would give the book 4 stars! But that would have been a gift because I would have been rounding up my star rating from a 3.6. But since the title is off, and the book is short and not particularly well outlined or written, I am dropping my rating to 3 stars. It's just an OK book. 3 stars!
The Definitive Guide to "Outside of the Box" Marketing September 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this book after reading Terry Whalin's very helpful newsletter "The Writing Life" (http://www.right-writing.com/newsletter.html) in which he recommended it.
The book begins by explaining what Ms. Chandler calls "the truth about publishing," - the fact that, for the author, there is more to selling books than just writing them. Production costs are so high that publishers routinely expect authors to make as much effort to promote their books as they can.
Promotion, however, begins long before the book is written. Your website is the best tool you have for marketing yourself; but, as one online contributor put it, promoting yourself on the Internet is similar to planting seeds: the effect of doing both takes time.
Although this may seem self-evident to most people, it is remarkable how little of what is accepted as common knowledge is actually put into practice. Few people really understand search engine optimization, though there are plenty who talk about it, and even fewer who know how to maximize their web presence. This book provides practical advice for how to do both.
I read the book in several short sittings over the course of a week; however, it took as much time to jot down all the things I needed to do to improve my own online marketing plan and to check the numerous websites she mentioned and that also seemed relevant to me. I intend to incorporate many of her suggestions into the maintenance of my web site. I recommend that you buy this book and do the same.
Bruce Hoag, PhD
Co-author of Managing Value-based Organizations: It's Not What You Think (New Horizons in Management Series)
Starting reading at 7:00 p.m. and at 10:00 p.m. I was still taking notes September 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As the self-publisher of my first book, I readily admit I have a great deal to learn. Can't say writing the book was the easy part -- yet, I certainly understand there is MUCH I need to learn to get my book out so people can benefit from the discoveries I have made in my Executive Coaching business.
Twice during the evening I found myself getting up and "checking" a website she recommended. Now I wish I had this book before I published my book. Obviously, I missed a number of opportunities to get some advance publicity.....and let's not even think about how I didn't have the advantage of ALL her information on press releases for the book.
Today I got up bright and early and started implementing ideas she discussed in her book. For starters, you wouldn't believe how many places you can put your profile. Amazing thing is that you are probably already a member; yet haven't taken advantage of the profile on the sites.
I still have a number of things circled that I haven't tried. Though I'm planning on getting up early tomorrow again and implementing some more of her great ideas.
Kathy Condon author of the book "It Doesn't Hurt to Ask: It's all about communication."
Great for fiction authors too! August 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As a writer of fiction, I found this book to be extremely helpful in building my on-line platform. Stephanie presents her expertise in a clear concise manner that I appreciate in a book. No extraneous fluff where you need to read and read pages of the author's filler material, just to try and extract the real point the author is trying to make.
I absolutely recommend this book to any author, fiction or otherwise, who is trying to promote their work.
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