Grow Your Author Platform: Generating Book Sales with Your Website, Email Marketing, Blogging, YouTube and Pinterest Using Content Marketing

Marketing for Authors #2

by Mandi Lynn, Bethany Atazadeh

“How do I get my book discovered?” It’s a question every writer asks, whether it’s their first book, tenth book, or if the book still needs to be published.

Every year the amount of books published grows exponentially and your story only gets lost in the shuffle. You know you should be marketing, so you start a website, maybe a newsletter or blog, but you’re really just talking into the void. How do you find a place for yourself on the world wide web?

From indie authors Mandi Lynn and Bethany Atazadeh, book two in the Marketing for Authors series is dedicated to teaching you the many things you can do to start or grow your author platform.

Your platform is your base for all your marketing, so build it well.

Each chapter of the book is dedicated to focusing on a different platform you can use to increase exposure for yourself and your book. We’ll be talking about your website, email marketing, content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), blogs, YouTube and Pinterest. Learn from Mandi and Bethany’s personal experiences using content marketing methods to gain thousands of followers that translate into book sales.

This book is loaded with information to teach you how to create content that shows up and that people want to share. Stop struggling to make a footprint online and instead make the web work with you.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction

First published May 28, 2019

About the author

Mandi Lynn published her first novel when she was seventeen. The author of Essence, I am Mercy and She’s Not Here, Mandi spends her days continuing to write and creating YouTube videos to help other writers achieve their dreams of seeing their books published. Mandi is the owner of Stone Ridge Books, a company that works to help authors bring their books to life through cover design and digital book marketing. She is also the creator of The Book Launch Planner, a planner designed to help guide you through the marketing and publishing process of releasing your book. When she’s not creating, you can find Mandi exploring her backyard or getting lost in the woods.

Reviews

[Timi V · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books that I've read about marketing, and in just the right moment to help me out. It is a fast read, just a few hours, on the point and full of useful information about building your platforms. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about creating a growing platform, not just for authors, it has helpful information for everyone. I had to underline almost the entire book, so many good examples are there.

[Kaycee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but the info is getting outdated

I hesitate to rate this higher due to outdated info. I think it's hard for these type of resource books to continue to stay relevant when a lot of social media changes dramatically in how they perform. The pinterest info is the opposite of how you should be using the platform in 2022.

[Savanna Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great marketing book by Bethany and Mandi! They continue to have a wealth of knowledge for writers, and I highly recommend this book if you are a beginning/young writer or if you’re more experienced but need a refresher (as I did)!

[Katie Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

These authors are a well of good information!

[Sofie Schander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tydligen så är detta bok 2 i en serie. Riktigt lärorik, lättläst och nu väntar jag med spänning på bok 3. Det ämne som jag tyckte togs upp mest i den här boken var att skapa en mail-lista och skicka ut information till dina följare.

Riktigt läsvärd!

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, Mandi Lynn and Bethany Atazadeh nail some well needed advice for authors trying to grow and expand their platform, and as someone that’s planning to expand this summer, this came at the right time. They speak as you’re in a convention session with you, trading advice with each other. And they address the one flaw of social media, despite it’s power to reach billions: it can all go away tomorrow, and if you don’t have your own site, etc, you’re finished.

Thankfully, it’s not that hard to get yourself established in this endeavor. They go through all the big parts of making a site and a newsletter and why it’s important to do each to maximize your growth. And the advice isn’t just ‘spam and hope for the best’ which comes off as the worst. It’s not too hard to implement and easy to follow and springboard on. They follow up on advice for YouTube and Pintrest, two sites that get overlooked for authors and some ideas to grow there. Though it’s not their fault because they are not experienced in this, but I wish they mentioned some other big sites authors use like Discord and Twitch.

As they say at the start, do something you’re afraid of doing and commit to it. A great start to helping you build an author platform that you own independent of social media trends.

[Holly Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read for writers looking to build and grow their online presence which will equate to creating superfans and selling your book. They break down specific strategies on a variety of social media platforms. I wish I had this book when I first started writing!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 2 in this series did not disappoint! Yet another wealth of knowledge. I’m feeling inspired and empowered to make my presence as an author known.

[Cassie Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this second installment of the ‘Marketing for Authors’ series, Mandi Lynn and Bethany Atazadeh build on the foundations laid by the first book. With evidence of their charming personalities speaking through their words, it is as if we are all sitting together and having a conversation.

This time, the focus is on building an author website and social media, specifically how to grow your author platform. With special care given to YouTube and Pinterest, this book offers great advice to writers both old and new. This is a book a writer should read again and again because it is impossible to glean all of the information the first time.

Though I enjoyed the book, I noticed a few typos. They were a bit distracting, so go in prepared. Despite the mistakes, I love the way the book is formatted, with important ideas bolder and with bullet points for clarity. Definitely pick up this book if you need more information on how to grow your author platform. And while you’re at it, check out the rest of the series, too.

[Emma Couette · Rating 4 out of 5]

So my true rating is like a 4.3, as I thought it was better than book 1 of the series, but not a 5/5. This book definitely offers some advice that i've never heard of and expands on the principles of book one, "How Your Book Sells Itself". I have already implemented some of Lynn's strategies on my website. For example her advice to have a contact form instead of offering your email to avoid spam bots finding you. I am also considering upgrading my pinterest to a business account and starting to pin my own stuff as well as repin others. This book offers valuable insight on how to start and grown your presence on various platforms that aren't social medias. Instagram is not covered. I understand it will be in a later book

[Elen Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I was going to buy this book right after I finished reading "How your book sells itself".
Mandi Lynn and Bethany Atazadeh are two successful authors who speak from their own experiences and approach marketing differently.
The main author of this second book is Mandi and I can tell she is very knowledgable about SEO, websites, newsletters and search-based tools. This book made me rethink completely my author platform and taught me so many things! I recommend this series to all my fellow struggling authors!

[Skylar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since I first heard of the marketing for authors series I've been so excited to read it. Grow Your Author Platform is the first book I've read and I loved it.

The information Mandi Lynn and Bethany Atazadeh provide is incredibly helpful. I've learned so much about Pinterest, SEO, and more. I look forward to applying some of their tips in the book to my own author platform.

If this book was as helpful and motivating as I thought, I look forward to seeing what the other books in the series hold.


⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

[Henri Camargo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mandis youtube has more content!
i need to write the longest review of my life. ever. Lets talk… I purchased this book on my kindle for a whopping 4.99 (an insane price for an 134 pg book; with super big subtitles). Aside from the insane price; the book was not in depth and i felt it really simple. The price really brought the book up to a level i didnt reach. It easily couldve of been 2.99 (for 134 pgs) or 180 pgs for like 3.99 but no. Mandi’s youtube content covered all of this so the book felt unnecessary. soooo yeah do what you will with that.

[Maria Pagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of valuable advice from someone who's put it into practice. I really appreciate that there is a list of resources for reference at the end of the book. I also learned about the Tailwind app for the first time in this book; I always wondered if it was possible to schedule posts on Instagram, and it seems that you can do that with this app. I'll definitely be putting some of this advice into practice!

[Peggy Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!

These two gals have created a top notch resource guide to help writers plan, build up and work your author platform. This is so important if you want a real career as an author. Their advice, tips and truth about what worked and did not was great. Writing is hard work, we need all the help we can get, thanks to both of you!

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice overview of some of the author platform tools available to those who are traditionally or indie-published alike. Authors talked about some of the foibles/growing pains they experienced while working with different platforms, sharing their successes and recommendations for those coming up behind them. Nicely done.

[Sumi Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every author should read this book! Some of the subjects I have incorporated already but generating content on YouTube and Pinterest are a must-do. There are so many ways of marketing that one sticks to only a few. Learning about everything, whether we use it or not, opens a new world of establishing yourself.

[Christina Hannan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great starters guide to putting together a platform on places like Pinterest and YouTube as well as advice on how to start a blog. It was great to see how the content we make outside of books can be used across multiple platforms to help build a following.

[Scott Kinkade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

This book has great advice for building your author platform. The authors go beyond the usual advice such as “Start a newsletter” and actually show you how to do these things. Before you spend lots of money on so-called experts, read this book.

[Laura Juntunen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very specific on types of platforms

I think the subject matter could have been given in a more universal way. The chapters focusing on platforms such as YouTube, Pinterest, etc., were repetitive.

[Phillip Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful tips, but a little dated

An updated version of this book would be helpful as social media trends change and what attracts and grows audiences changes. That said, there's a lot of simple to follow advice in this book (though it could benefit from a bit of closer editing.)

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of excellent information! Some of it is getting a bit dated, but that’s just the nature of things when you’re writing about social media. The reason I’m rating three stars is because there were many typos and grammatical mistakes that detracted from the otherwise really helpful content.

[Sauce · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's some good stuff in here, but so many typos that I lost count. It was as if the authors wrote it, re-read it once, then hit publish. As authors trying to help authors, I feel like they should have gotten their books proofread before sending it out...

[Beverly Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Know how to grow

If you are struggling with how to market not only your books but yourself as an author, this book was written with you in mind.

[Heather Kirchhoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grow Your Author Platform has a lot of helpful information in it. I'm definitely going to reference back to it when I need to. Check out this series.

[Martin A. Marquez Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has some great advice by Mandy and Bethany. I hope to build my author platform with their books.

[Amanda Ebner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly informative

[Kimberly Swartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of valuable information that I will take to heart when I grow my platform.

[Bethany Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that I will reread constantly. I will be following this in order to grow my author platform!
All of these chapters are so helpful!!

[Barbara Witcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great great help

I have been writing and self publishing for two years and turned to this because I'm updating my website but this is so much more. I highly recommend it.