Category: Rethinking Author Platform in 2025

Part two in an ongoing series thinking through the relationship between social media, marketing, and being an active writer. You can read all installments here. Is Social Media Really “Free” Book Marketing? THE UNWAVERING FAITH IN SOCIAL PROMOTION Writers are not alone in being seduced by the potential marketing power of social media. One perk that comes from running a small publishing company alongside my writing career is the freedom to access opportunities aimed at small businesses.  In recent years, this has meant being part of programs that pair emerging small business owners with industry mentors who can offer advice and insight. Through them, I’ve learned some interesting techniques in monitoring finances, staging growth, accessing merchandising, and more. On the topic of marketing, however, the default advice has been incredibly consistent. My first mentor advised me to start a podcast, looking towards Joe Rogan as an example of the power social media can have. Another suggested YouTube, citing Alex Hermozi’s

I recently offered GenrePunk Ninja subscribers a list of options for a series of deep dive entries, and got them to vote on which they were interested. The two winners where “how do we do author platform in 2025” and “what can fiction publishers learn from comic books”, so I’ll be doing a short series on both here over the next month or so. What is Author Platform, Really? THE SOCIAL MEDIA CONUNDRUM I’ve been making some strategic changes in my writing and publishing businesses of late, and the biggest of them is “get very bad at social media with fierce intention.” Facebook and its ilk have always presented a conundrum on the writing front: I don’t enjoy being on social media, but I do enjoy having an audience. How do I find the latter if I don’t make use of the former? I’m not alone in this. Many creators have felt it, and the conversations are growing louder in