Cover: Build Your Author PlatformIf you’ve ever wanted to make a career as a book author, or simply want to improve your social-media savvy, mark the date: May 13, 2014. This is when BenBella Books releases Build Your Author Platform: The New Rules, by my marvelous agent and collaborator, Carole Jelen and yours truly.

What is Build Your Author Platform, you ask? A 14-step guide to finding an audience for your writing, nurturing that audience, and selling your books to them when the time comes. Among other things, we’ll tell you how to make Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn work for you.

Welcome to BuildAuthorPlatform.com

Friday, the book’s website went live! On the site, you can:

Can’t wait to see the trailer? Oh, alright, here it is:

Carole and I firmly believe this book will help any writer — published or not, Interested in traditional publishing or the indie/self-publishing route — establish authority, build an audience, and ideally sell a lot of books (paper or electrons) in the process.

Counting Down to May 13

Perhaps you noticed the countdown ticker over on the right side of the page. As time keeps flowing, you’ll see more stuff happening around here. I’ll be adding more information about the book over on the Books page in the coming days. Watch this site and BuildAuthorPlatform.com for events, giveaways and other fun stuff.

Please visit the site, and share widely! Thanks!

If you have questions about the book, getting started with your author platform or social media in general, feel free to comment here, or drop me a line.

Personalizando WordPress 1.5
Not me (Photo credit: juanpol)

After a couple of years with the same, boring look here at MichaelMcCallister.com, we’ve put a new coat of paint on the site. By that, I mean we switched WordPress themes to the Twenty Thirteen default theme (yeah, I could have gone all the way with the Twenty Fourteen theme that came with WordPress 3.8, but I just am not crazy about sliders–sorry!)

With the new year nearly upon us, I can promise more changes coming soon. I have worked on a redesign for (it seems like) nearly forever, but with two books coming out in 2014, it’s about time for a new site. Beyond that, I’m going to play coy about the exact changes, and when they’re coming (though it will be in 2014). Of course, if you have some design ideas, I’m open to them. What do you come here for? What would you like to see? What am I doing wrong (or right)?

Enjoy your holiday(s)!

Sincerely,

Michael McCallister, author and WordPress geek

 

 

 

 

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Creating Your Author Platform: The New Rules
Creating Your Author Platform: The New Rules, by Carole Jelen & Michael McCallister

It’s been quite a busy month! Carole Jelen and I finished the latest round of edits of our BenBella Book Creating Your Author Platform: The New RulesĀ last week, and that’s off to our copy editor. I’m working on a site (WordPress, of course) where you can learn more about the book; watch this space for launch information. You’ll be seeing the book itself at your favorite brick-and-mortar bookstore on May 13, 2014, but you can pre-order it online at this very moment!

My wonderful literary agent and co-author, Carole Jelen also gave an “Agent Advice” interview to WritersDigest.com on author platform topics and other tips of the publishing trade.

Still Writing Though…

Now I can refocus energy on the next project, my guide to the Ubuntu Touch phone and tablet operating system. While still not pre-installed on any device, you’ll be able to run Touch on a whole raft of phones when the platform is released on October 17. See the Ubuntu Phone site for details. I’ll be ramping up the “Notes from the Ubuntuverse” section of this site soon too.

But Not Least…

BarCamp Milwaukee 8 is this Saturday, October 5 in the historic John Plankinton Building in downtown Milwaukee. Go register now, and I’ll see you there! If you need to know more, our fearless leader explains it to you here.

Enhanced by Zemanta