In part two of my series on Building an Author's Platform, I've asked a few authors to share their experiences. First up is Dora Machado, author of the Stonewiser series of award winning fantasy novels. Dora is a client of ours who has had great success with her debut novel, Stonewiser: The Heart of the Stone, and the sequels The Call of the Stone and The Lament of the Stone. All are published by Mermaid Press, a small press specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and historical novels. Like many authors, Dora poured all her energy and focus into achieving publication, and didn't give much thought to the need for a publicity platform. She was gracious enough to share her thoughts on publicity before and after the book deal.

What was your platform like before your first book was published? Did you have an online presence related to your writing?

I had no platform when my first book, Stonewiser: The Heart of the Stone was published. Zero. Zilch. Nothing. I'm embarrassed to say it, but it's true. I had been so busy writing that I had given little thought to the writing life away from the keyboard. In retrospect, I understand having an early platform may have helped me to publish earlier, but back then my mind was consumed by the idea of perfecting my manuscripts. I think writing can be such a demanding craft that sometimes it's hard to see beyond the end of a story.

When I first started to write, I didn't have an online presence as an author, but I did join a couple of writing websites which later proved vital to both my writing and my personal development as an author. Through these websites, I met other writers like me, people from all walks of life who loved writing as much as I did and who were trying to publish their work. I learned a lot from the failures and successes of others. My writing benefited tremendously from online critique groups, not just from receiving other writers' critiques, but also from critiquing other people's work.

I also discovered new dimensions to my writer's life through these websites. Writing can be a pretty isolated and isolating experience and sharing with other writers helped me to understand the scope of the craft, the ways of the industry and the challenges and rewards associated with writing. It also gave me a wider perspective. I've made great online friends over the years, people who have given me encouragement and support, and who remain good friends to this day.

I'm not a serial writer's conference attendee, but I think conferences can be helpful in terms of meeting other writers and keeping current with writing and the industry. I think sometimes writers' conferences, especially the big ones, can be a little intimidating, so I always tell people to start with the little ones, the ones happening close to home and work themselves up to the big ones, but only if they meet their interests and objectives. Also, if you are shy or feel awkward about hanging out with a group of strangers, bring a friend along to help you make new friends. A few years ago I attended one of Donald Maas' workshops and found it interesting, challenging and inspiring. Sometimes, establishing what you want out of a conference or a meeting can help a writer select the right one among so many choices available out there.
Did your publisher encourage you to self-promote your book, or did they do the heavy lifting when it came to promotion?

I think all publishers, big or small, encourage self-promotion. At the beginning, the publisher, Mermaid Press, provided me with a publicist and a marketing plan which included several components. My publisher assigned me a page on their website and that's really when I started to build my online platform. The publicist did the bulk of the work arranging interviews and the likes, and I followed her recommendations. She also offered tons of suggestions, encouraging me to take advantage of the different outlets offered by the internet and the development of online social media.

These days, I look at promotion as a partnership. At some point, I realized the importance of having my own website and having a professional presence in the different mediums. Self promotion doesn't come naturally to me, but I've come to understand it as a necessity. I understand that my publisher needs me to help promote my book because I know my books better than anyone else. I also understand that in order to be successful as an author I need to know my readers and my market in the same intimate way in which I know my books.

We have a much-loved copy of Stonewiser: The Heart of the Stone in the office, and it came with both a greeting card and a bookmark featuring the book's artwork. What sort of things (like cards and bookmarks) did you do to build your platform offline?

Again, I think of promotion as a partnership between the publisher and the author. The cards and the bookmarks you mentioned are a perfect example. The cards were my idea, a personal touch that's very important to me; but the bookmarks were the publisher's idea, something they like to do for book signings, book clubs, courtesy copies and special requests. I think you end up with a handsome package and great product when everybody puts their mind together and works as a team.

Building a platform on and offline requires lots of effort, a significant investment in time and money, a measure of trial and error and a good helping of technical and professional expertise. I think at the beginning, the most important component that the publisher brought to begin building my platform was the publicist. In my case, the publicist has been the leading edge of the books' promotion effort. I feel lucky. Often, small publishers don't have the resources to assign a publicist to every project and many authors have to pay out of their pockets to hire their own publicists. My publicist, Carol Fass, sets up the groundwork for every book launch, distributing the advance copies for review, following up, scheduling interviews, issuing press releases and identifying opportunities for promotion.

I'm very involved with providing a lot of the contents for all marketing materials, one of the big advantages of working with a small publisher. One promo idea that came from Mermaid entailed reaching out to book clubs, readers and librarians through internet outreach. I feel like Mermaid has been especially effective in sifting through the many opportunities that are out there and selecting those that best fit my books.

The publisher also entered me in several national book contests. As a result, Stonewiser: The Heart of the Stone won the Benjamin Franklin Bill Fisher award for Best First Fiction Book in 2009, and Stonewiser: The Call of the Stone won the 2010 IPPY's Gold Medal in SF/Fantasy. Both books were finalists in ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year award in the SF/Fantasy category. I would have never thought to enter any of my books in these highly competitive contests and yet winning these prestigious awards has added credibility to my work and opened new doors.
Describe your current platform. Do you maintain your online presence, or do you have help?

My website is at the core of my current online platform. It's always evolving to reflect my work and my personality. It includes information about my books and myself, but also a ticker with the latest news regarding my writing and some fun features for readers and visitors alike. For example, if you go to the website, you'll find these brooches, similar to the one on the cover of Stonewiser: The Heart of the Stone. If you click on the brooches, you'll find fun facts about the books, the characters and me, answers to questions that readers ask often, such as which is my favorite character or how did you come up with this idea or that. It's really fun and it changes often to reflect new questions.

We also just added a new glossary describing the people, places and terms of the Stonewiser Series and we're updating the map for the curious and observant in anticipation of the release of the third and last book of the trilogy, Stonewiser: The Lament of the Stone, which is coming out later this year. I really love the idea that a writer can continue to update his readers in between books.

Email continues to serve as a good way to communicate directly with readers, something I really enjoy. I answer all of my emails myself. We just started experimenting with Facebook and Twitter and I'm having a lot of fun with those. Facebook is the perfect way to post announcements and share pictures of everything that's going on. We do the same with Twitter, but we are also doing something new, something that I think is a lot of fun. A couple of times a week we post quotes, snippets of Wisdom coming from the Stonewiser series, short sentences capable of lightening one's day and offering encouragement, a little something to think about.

I really want to try blogging, but I haven't yet, mostly because I haven't had the time. Publishing three books in three years will do that to you. I even have the blog set up and ready to go in my website. I can't speak about book tours, but I do internet based events which allow me to work from the comforts of home and spend more time writing.

I'll confess to having lots of help with the technical aspects of setting up and maintaining the website and the social media sites. I am very lucky to have a public relations specialist in the family, my daughter, a recent grad who specializes in social media and who does a lot of the heavy lifting for the setups and the designs. But I keep very involved with the content of all of these sites, and I keep my relationship with readers and visitors personal and direct. I think that one of the advantages of social media is that it allows the writer to have these direct connections with the readers, connections that inevitably enrich a writer's life.

What aspects of your platform have had the most success? Which have been the most fulfilling?

It depends how you describe success. I feel much fulfilled personally and professionally every time I have the privilege of making a personal contact with one of my readers. Also, because you get to have a lot of personal contact with the reader, I love the website, email and social media. But at the end of the day, a platform is a little bit like an investment portfolio. You have to diversify for maximum impact. You have to be willing to try a little bit of everything, to put yourself out there in all kinds of way, even if it entails stepping out of your comfort zone at times.

Any great successes or challenges/learning experiences along the way, or advice for people just starting their platform?

I'm a great believer in capitalizing on other people's expertise. I'm a writer, not a publisher, or a publicist, or a book promoter, or a web designer, or a social media specialist. Although I've learned a lot in the course of developing my own platform, I think it's always good to engage the right people who know what they're doing and who can save you time and effort. Also, I believe it's very important to read and learn about what's going on out there, what other people are doing. Being part of a network, such as the one The Editorial Department offers with articles and information like this one, is an important part of keeping current.

Setting things well from the beginning is vital, but you also have to market your marketing. It's not enough to do all the setup and then expect things are just going to happen without further effort. The set up of any aspect of a platform is just the beginning. In our fast-paced, fast-changing world, nothing is static anymore. You have to work all aspects of your platform to keep them current, engaging, interactive and relevant.

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Thank you, Dora, for sharing your experiences here, and I wish you much continued success with the Stonewiser series, and whatever is next in your writing life.

If you missed any of the previous Platform articles, I've included the links for easy reference.

• Building Your Author's Platform, Part 1.5
• Dora Machado on Building an Author's Platform
• Georgia McBride on Platform Building for the "Pre-published" Author

For more about Dora and the Stonewiser series, check out this interview from our Fantasy & Science Fiction e-zine last summer.