Darla G. Denton | Author Platform Coach

 

For The Fans/Readers

1. Write reviews of books you’ve read for fun
2. Write reviews of books you’ve read in the current genre you write in
3. Write about what a typical day is like for you
4. Talk about tips, tricks, and tools that help keep your life organized
5. List story ideas you hope to tackle in the future
6. Describe your perfect weekend.
7. Talk about past holidays (during a time when that holiday is coming up)
8. Share past holiday photos, traditions and stories.
9. Talk about your favorite TV shows and what you love about them.
10. List your all time favorite actors and why you like them.
11. List your all time favorite bands, songs, and/or musicians and why you like them.
12. Post excerpts from completed and published books
13. Post book blurbs from upcoming books
14. Post teasers of upcoming books and WIP’s
15. Interview your characters so that your fans get to know them better
16. Host an open discussion about the book industry from a readers perspective
17. Host an open discussion about what a reader wants from an author, book and/or series.
18. List your favorite Author Blogs
19. List your Favorite Book Review Blogs
20. Talk about what show from your childhood would you love to bring back and why
21. Talk about if someone gave you a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, where would you go and why
22. Talk about the best vacation you’ve ever had in your entire life, explain why it is and post pictures if you can
23. Describe what your favorite rainy day activity
24. Talk about if you could be any age again for a day, what age would it be and why
25. Post a photo that represents your fantasy _______
26. Talk about which of the four seasons you prefer and why
27. Talk about if you could witness one moment in history what would it be and why
28. Create a dream cast of actors for your books
29. List the first 5 things you would do if you suddenly had millions of dollars
30. List your favorite foods you just couldn’t live without
31. List your least favorite foods and why
32. List the people in your life you couldn’t live without and why
33. Share your favorite reader resources, websites, and apps
34. Post background info on your most popular characters or stories
35. Post and interview of some of your blog followers who comment the most.
36. Interview a fan about their favorite book of yours
37. Feature your favorite reviews of one of your books
38. List websites/tools that will help you find your next book to read
39. Post a funny cartoon about reading
40. Post a funny GIF about reading
41. Post a funny song about reading
42. Post a funny video about reading
43. List your personal goals for the coming year
44. A letter from an author (you) to the readers (your fans)
45. Have an open discussion about the types of merchandise your fans want
46. Hold a competition for your fans on designs for certain merchandises.
47. Hold a competition for your fans on who can design the best book cover
48. Run a fan contest for free books and/or merchandise
49. Try your hand at writing a poem for your fans
50. Share your current favorite song of the day and/or week.
51. Share a To-Do list for your daily life
52. Take some time out to thank your readers/fans/followers
53. Make a list of apps for readers and review them
54. Make a list of podcasts for readers
55. Talk about book clubs and where to find them
56. Have an open discussion about what your readers what to see next from you
57. List events for readers in your genre
58. List events for readers in your niche
59. Highlight amazing libraries around the world
60. Show pictures of amazing reading nooks and book spaces
61. Talk about the worst day in your life so far
62. Talk about the best day in your life so far
63. Share your most embarrassing experience
64. List great magazines for readers
65. Talk about your astrological sign and if the description fits you
66. Let your fans know what hashtags to follow to get information on your books
67. Ask fans to create their own book trailer of one of your books
68. Have fans show pictures of who they see as a representation of one of your characters
69. List places to find free e-books in your genre
70. Ask your readers if they would like to see a continuation or spin off  of one of your stories
71. Ask your readers to describe a book they are dying to read and haven’t found yet
72. Talk about your family background/ancestors and how they have shaped who you are today
73. Ask your readers what they love most in a story
74. Ask your readers what they hate most when reading a story
75. List magazine that pertain to your niche
76. Do a blog tour
77. List all the different ways your fans can find and buy your books
78. List all the different ways your fans can find and buy your merchandise
79. How to get your local library to order the books you are interested in
80. Ask your fans if they would like to see any of your books turned into movies or tv shows
81. Ask your fans which movies or tv shows that came from books they liked or hated and why
82. Ask your fans/reader who would like to be a part of your street team
83. Run story ideas by your fans/readers and ask their opinions on them
84. Create a list of books that are based off of certain holidays, situation, etc…
85. Take a poll to see which book cover your fans liked the most
86. Remind your fans of what social media platforms they can follow you on.
87. Ask your fans what social media outlet they use the most
88. Ask your readers which genre they hate to read and why
89. Ask your readers what their favorite tv and movie is and why
90. Ask your readers what their favorite books were growing up and why
91. Ask your readers to post pictures of their ultimate dream reading nooks
92. Ask your readers to talk about their favorite book heroes and heroines of all time
93. Ask your readers to talk about their favorite book villains of all time

 

 

For The Writing Community

1. Write about or feature someone who has been influential in your writing career
2. Feature writers you network with (Interview them on your blog post, talk about their latest work
3. List things that help to inspire your writing
4. Write about what a typical writing day is like for you
5. Talk about tips, tricks and tools that help keep your writing career organized
6. What inspires your story ideas and characters
7. Share advice and lessons learned from writing, completing, publishing and marketing your work
8. List your long term and short term goals as a writer/author
9. List your long term and short term goals for marketing your book
10. Highlight your favorite quotes about writing.
11. Talk about writing classes
12. Review writing classes you have taken
13. Review writing products
14. Talk about how you can use your favorite TV show as inspiration for characters, plots and scenes.
15. Talk about how you use music during your writing process.
16. Review books for writers
17. List your favorite self help books for writers
18. List your favorite websites that help writers
19. Explain how you research for a book
20. List websites and tools that will help writers research for a book
21. Talk about future story ideas and how to turn them into actual books
22. Interview leading members of your industry (agents, editors, publishers, marketers, etc…)
23. Host an open discussion about the writing industry.
24. Spotlight great writing articles from other writers/authors/bloggers.
25. Talk about critique groups and review some
26. Talk about writing organizations and review some
27. List your favorite writer blogs
28. Talk about the query process and any personal experience you have with it.
29. Explain how you start a new writing project
30. Explain your marketing strategy.
31. List tools, websites and businesses that can help writers building a marketing plan
32. Talk about blog newsletters, their benefits and how to use them.
33. List your favorite blogging resources and articles
34. Name the 5 biggest writing distractions in your life right now and talk about ways to deal with them
35. Talk about flash fiction and how it can help or hinder your writing career.
36. Update an older popular article with some new information and/or links.
37. Create a post that lists and groups like minded articles you’ve written in the past
38. Talk about how to use social media to help promote your books/writing career
39. Talk about how to throw book parties online
40. Interview a critic about one of your books and have them explain what they would like to see changed and why
41. Talk about the art of writing a book blurb
42. List the best selling books in your genre and why you think they are succeeding
43. List the best selling authors in your genre and why you think they are succeeding
44. List the earning potential of authors who use publishers in your genre
45. Post a list of websites that list writing jobs
46. Talk about the different types of jobs writers could do and how to find them.
47. Talk about how to outline a book
48. Explain your outlining process
49. Talk about how to run a blog when you are an author/writer
50. Explain your plans for your blog (current and future plans)
51. Talk about writer retreats, why to use them and where to find them
52. Post a review of any writers retreat you’ve gone to along with pictures of your time there
53. Talk about grants for writers, how to apply for them and where to find them.
54. Spotlight fellow writers who support and inspire you
55. Talk about creative writing prompts and how to use them for inspiration
56. List websites that post creative writing prompts and picture prompts
57. Talk about keeping a writers journal and a writers notebook and the difference between the two
58. Talk about writers block and how to prevent it or overcome it
59. Spotlight helpful writing infographics
60. Spotlight helpful blogging infographics
61. Spotlight helpful genre infographics
62. Talk about mistakes you’ve made with your first MS (unpublished or published)
63. Talk about how to plan a book signing event
64. Talk about how to handle bad reviews and how to learn from them as a writer.
65. Post a funny cartoon about writing
66. Post a funny GIF about writing
67. Post a funny song about writing
68. Post a funny video about writing
69. Talk about how to throw a launch party (online or in person)
70. Talk about your brainstorming process
71. Talk about the benefits of a writing partner and where to find one
72. Describe how to speed up the writing process
73. Describe how to speed up the blogging process
74. Post an encouraging message to writers
75. Talk about how you can’t sit down and write unless _______
76. Discuss time management tools for writers
77. Post a writing schedule
78. Interview your significant other about your writing career and how they feel about it
79. List your goals as a writer, blogger, author for the year
80. Talk about how to find  a literary agent and what to look out for
81. Talk about how to find a publisher and what to look out for
82. Talk about how to find an editor
83. Talk about why a writer would need a literary attorney and how to find one
84. Make a list of publishers in your genre, what they are looking for and how to submit to them.
85. Talk about mistakes to avoid in your manuscript
86. Talk about synopsis and mistakes to avoid with them
87. Talk about elevator pitches
88. Talk about how to speak/read in public
89. Talk about how to come up with character names
90. List blogging content generators and how to use them
91. Talk about how to make book trailers
92. Talk about Web/Blog design tips
93. Talk about inspiration boards/bulletin boards and how they can help with the writing process
94. Talk about how to choose a setting for your story
95. List some exercises/stretches for writers
96. Talk about the benefits of business cards, where to get them and how to design them
97. Talk about merchandise and how to design it and where to get it
98. Talk about author platforms and how to build one
99. Talk about how to choose a title for your book
100. Talk about the importance of book covers and how to design one
101. Talk about writing contests and how they can help your career
102. Review writing contests
103. Talk about how to run contests for your fans to drum up business
104. Share a To-Do list for your daily writing life
105. Research your genre and talk about what you found
106. Research the readers in your genre and talk about what you found
107. Talk about finding niches in your genre and how to use it to gather more readers
108. Make a list of apps for writers and review them
109. Talk about podcasts and how to use them/do them
110. Make a list of pobcasts for writers
111. Talk about how to come up with idea for blogs
112. Post a list of blog post ideas 🙂
113. Talk about book clubs and how they can help your career
114. Discuss ideas on how to engage your readers/followers/fans
115. Make a list of authors/writers that have won awards in your genre
116. Talk about ghostwriting
117. Post “How To” articles pertaining to writing
118. Discuss writing/publishing scams and how to avoid them
119. Talk about the best ways to save, organize and access your favorite articles from the internet
120. Talk about writing magazines, whether you should invest money into them and how to get deals on them
121. List great magazines for writers/authors
122. Discuss how to use astrological signs to create deeper characters
123. Talk about social media groups, how to find them and how to use them.
124. Research each popular social media sight and how best to use them for your writing career
125. Talk about how to promote your books locally
126. Talk about the importance of using keywords  and which ones to use
127. Talk about different methods to promote a book
128. Talk about how to write an “About Me” page
129. List key items every writer/author should have on their page
130. Explain SEO for bloggers
131. Explain analytics
132. Talk about Google Authorship
133. Discuss what a book launch team is and how to create and use one
134. How to host a twitter chat or hangout on
135. Talk about hashtags and how to create ones for your books
136. Talk about facebook campaigns
137. Talk about Google campaigns
138. Talk about the benefits and disadvantages of creating social media pages for your most popular characters
139. Talk about street teams, how to form them and how to use them.
140. Discuss how to make an e-book out of your old blog post articles
141. Talk about how to get local newspapers, tv programs and radio shows to interview you
142. What are press releases and media kits and how to make them.
143. Talk about the benefits of partnering with a brand that is in your niche
144. The advantages of renting a billboard to advertise your book\
145. Create a viral video that depicts a scene in your book
146. Talk about where and how to host a book reading
147. Talk about places to donate your book and how that will help earn new readers
148. Talk about the difference between a reader and a fan and who to invest the most money and time in
149. Talk about book plots and how to build strong ones
150. Talk about how to build a scene
151. Talk about how to revise and edit and the difference between the two
152. Talk about how to write dialogue between characters
153. Talk about how to write the opposite sex
154. Talk about the e-book market and how it could benefit your career
155. Talk about how to write sequels
156. Talk about how to treat your writing career as a business
157. Talk about tax deductions available to writers
158. Talk about legal matters that writers need to be aware of
159. Talk about how to format a MS
160. How to craft a perfect hero/heroine
161. How to craft the perfect villain
162. Talk about how to identify and connect with your audience
163. Build a budget and a timeline for marketing your books
164. Talk about how to present your marketing plans to your publisher
165. List free sites that will help your promote your book
166. List websites/programs cost $ but will help your promote your book
167. Talk about the importance of professional headshots
168. Learn how to pitch articles
169. Talk about social media roundup sites and how to use them for your blog and social media platforms
170. Talk about the different tools amazon has for writers
171. Talk about how to create your own online writing class
172. Discuss what blog tours are and how to create one
173. Talk about travel writing and how to become a travel writer
174. Discuss how to handle a webcam for the best outcomes
175. Talk about freelance writing and how to have a career as a freelance writer
176. What are the different methods of review books and what a professional book review looks like
177. Talk about how to make money reviewing books
178. Talk about audio book and whether or not you should invest money into making one for your books
179. How to make an audio book
180. Discuss whether or not you should do the reading for your audio book
181. List of words to use in your writing
182. List of words to avoid in your writing
183. How to use your local library to further your writing career
184. How to become a full time writer
185. How to juggle a writing career and a full time job
186. How to juggle a writing career and part time job
187. How to make money from your website/blog
188. How to stay on Google search engine’s good side
189. How to plan everything in your writing career
190. How to plan everything in your marketing career
191. How to plan everything in your blogging career
192. Create a blogging schedule
193. Create a submitting schedule
194. Discuss the option of seeking help from your biggest fans to help spread the word of upcoming books

 

For All Your Followers

1. Share meaningful moments and photos from past vacations
2. List things that help inspire your life
3. Talk about your first ever completed manuscript, how you felt about it then and now, and if it was published.
4. Talk about your first book that was published, how you felt about it then and now and how well it sold.
5. Talk about when, how and why you decided to write stories to be published.
6. Talk about your current WIP’s
7. List your favorite bookish gifts
8. Highlight your favorite inspirational quotes
9. Explain why you have chosen to write in the genre you have written in and whether or not you plan to write in other genres
10. Talk about the latest news in your industry and genre and give your opinion on it.
11. Post a philosophical question and your answer to it.
12. Review movies that were based off of books and talk about whether or not it did the book justice.
13. Review TV shows that were based off of books and talk about whether or not it did the book justice.
14. Talk about how you like to write (where you write, when you write, what you wear, if it’s planned or not…)
15. Talk about your favorite causes (charities) and why they are important to you.
16. List your favorite books from when you were a child and talk about how you see them as an adult.
17. List your favorite books this year and why you like them.
18. List upcoming books you can’t wait to read.
19. List your favorite book heroes, heroines and villains and why you like them.
20. Talk about rejection and disappointment and how to handle them.
21. Describe your ideal writing space.
22. Describe your ideal home library.
23. Talk about your favorite kind of character to write about
24. Talk about your least favorite kind of character to write about
25. Share your fears and anxieties about your writing career.
26. Share your hopes and aspirations about your writing career.
27. Write a short story/flash fiction piece for your blog followers (Break it up into two blog posts)
28. Take a photo of your work/writing space and talk about it.
29. talk about a genie grants you 3 wishes to use towards your writing career. What are they and why?
30. Talk about flash fiction and highlight some of your favorite flash fiction writers
31. Talk about which authors careers you want the most and why
32. List the books that are waiting to be read on your kindle
33. List the books you’ve bought that are sitting on a bookshelf waiting to be read
34. Talk about your favorite social media outlets and why you like them
35. Create a list of people from each social media outlet you would recommend other people follow
36. Throw a book party online with one of your most popular books or with a book that is about to be released
37. Describe how to throw a themed party from one of your books
38. Describe how to throw a themed book party in general
39. Post a soundtrack for your book
40. Talk about the songs you used while writing a certain book
41. Pick a trending twitter topic and discuss it on your blog
42. Post about any events, appearance, or guest blogs you will be doing
43. Describe your dream launch party
44. Write about the time you almost gave up on your writing career and what saved it
45. Talk about the book idea you wish you had thought of first
46. Talk about a book you wish you could rewrite to make better (yours or someone elses)
47. Talk about how writing has affected other areas in your life
48. List some of your favorite book trailers.
49. Make a list of great first lines from books
50. Make a list of great endings from books
51. Take a picture of your inspiration/bulletin board and explain how it helps you
52. Post a funny video or vine about your work
53. Talk about your #1 favorite author and what books you like of theirs and why
54. Write a “Did You Know?” article (post a weird random fact or a fact about your genre or industry)
55. Share your bucket list
56. Talk about the types of books you like to read vs the types of books you life to write and explain why
57. Post something specific to your niche
58. Make a list of inspirational videos/talks (like TED talks)
59. Shocking news about your genre
60. Shocking news about your niche
61. Highlight past interviews you have done (online, radio, tv)
62. Make a list of fiction books written by ghostwriters
63. Talk about how you handle being a parent and a writer (if it pertains to you) or interview someone who is
64. Talk about controversial topics in your genre
65. Talk about controversial topics in your niche
66. Post about an upcoming twitter chat or hangout you are hosting
67. List author hangouts and interviews found on Google
68. Post pictures that inspired scenes in one of your books
69. Write an article highlighting one of your Pinterest boards and explain how and why you use it
70. Post quote from famous authors, agents, publishers
71. Post about any upcoming book news you have for your books
72. Talk about social media roundup sites
73. The advantages of reading books in your genre
74. The disadvantages of reading books in your genre
75. Ask if anyone listens to audio books and what they like or dislike about them
76. Talk about programs you can suggest to your local library that fit into the genre your write or read in
77. Interview your kids (or other family members) and ask them how they feel about your writing career
78. Talk about a genre you secretly want to write in but fear you aren’t able to.