Something's been troubling me lately about this whole self-publishing, building my author platform thing. Do I actually have a voice if no one is listening?

I came across a great quote from J.K. Rowling on Facebook today:- "No story lives unless someone wants to listen". I also saw an author blog discussion on why publishing multiple books is not the way to get you noticed if your audience isn't big enough in the first place. I agree very much with both these sentiments, though they are quite defeatist in nature.

You know those annoying (I mean really lovely, popular people) who attract social media followers by the dozen and people hang off their every word, even if it's not really about anything at all? Well, those people are influencers, rightly or wrongly and something about what they say or how they say it makes others want to listen. They have a voice because they have an audience.

What do I need to do to get that? Sure, I have a published book now and social media channels and I write blogs but if very few people are actively engaging by commenting, buying, liking etc, then does this writing mean anything?

What comes first? Being a good writer, or being popular enough to have your writing liked?

So, yes, this post may sound a little despairing but I'm genuinely interested to hear what others think. I'm not giving up and would love to open a discussion on how others have crossed that line between being a nobody and a somebody. Was there something you can identify that enabled you to break through your personal sphere of influence, that other writers could genuinely try to incorporate in their own efforts.

Thanks for the feedback in advance. Would love to know how you found your audience, or how you cope on the days when you are not quite finding it.