How to Build Your Author Platform with Thomas Umstattd

Announcements

Several historical Christian romance authors, including me, are giving books away! Books in this giveaway focus on God’s unconditional love. Checkout the link in the blog post for this episode and discover new summer reads. Then share the link with other readers like you! 

Happy and blessed reading!

Our next Coffee and Books event will be on June 8th from 9:00-10:00am EST. Join authors Julie Lessman, Misty M. Beller, and Lynn Shannon for a fun Q&A. This is a free event; you just need to register to save your spot by clicking the link in this blog post or visiting www.literaryscape.com/events. This is a great opportunity to ask these experienced authors your questions as you venture into the writing world. I hope to see you there!

Authors I am excited to offer you many options to enjoy the benefits of being an HCRW member. We now have 3 tiers of support. The first tier is the Aspiring membership for just $3 a month. With this membership you can connect with other authors of historical Christian romance on our private Facebook group and join us for our monthly live Q&A. The second tier is the Foundational membership for just $12 a month. In this tier you get everything in the Aspiring membership plus access to the HCRW Resource Library which houses all our training videos. The third tier is our Established membership for just $37 a month. Enjoy all the benefits of the Foundational membership plus, twice a month critique meeting, and free access to all expert trainings.

You can learn more and become a member today for just $3 a month at www.literaryscape.com/hcrw. I cannot wait to work with you as you join our amazing community of historical Christian romance writers.

I will have one more Writer’s Wednesday episode after this before taking a break for the summer but will be back in the fall with new content for you. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Thomas Umstattd Jr. If you’ve been around the writing and publishing business for a while you’ve no doubt heard of Thomas.

Episode Notes

Thomas built his first website at the age of 13 and taught his first web design class at only 16 years old. Thomas went to the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor where he graduated cum laude with a degree in Business Management. He founded Umstattd Media, his first web design and media company in 2007 while still in college.

In 2009 he started AuthorTechTips.com, a website to help authors use the web to promote their books. The site was twice featured in Writers Digest as one of the 101 most helpful websites for authors. AuthorTechTips.com is now AuthorMedia.com, a resource for authors timid about technology.

As an award-winning speaker, Thomas teaches audiences all over the world. His friendly speaking style blends multimedia and audience participation. He offers audiences a unique perspective to help them use the web in a whole new way.

In 2014, Thomas’s blog post Why Courtship is Fundamentally Flawed went viral and reached over a million people in just a few weeks. It led to a Kickstarter campaign and later the book Courtship in Crisis.

As a podcaster, he hosts the Novel Marketing Podcast, and the Christian Publishing Show.

Thomas currently serves as the CEO of Castle Media Group LLC, the parent company of Author Media.

Be sure to have your notebook and pen ready as you listen in to his advice on how to build your author platform from scratch.

In this conversation, Thomas shares valuable insights on building an author platform from scratch. He emphasizes the importance of starting with a website, which serves as a foundation for online presence. Thomas also highlights the significance of creating an email newsletter to grow a subscriber base. He suggests writing short stories as a means to improve writing skills and engage readers. Additionally, Thomas advises against relying on social media for platform building and instead recommends social media advertising. Finally, he emphasizes the importance of focusing on writing quality to create a buzz and generate word-of-mouth marketing.

Takeaways

·      Start by building a website to establish an online presence and secure your domain name.

·      Create an email newsletter to grow your subscriber base and engage with readers.

·      Write short stories to improve your writing skills and provide reader magnets.

·      Avoid relying on social media for platform building and focus on social media advertising instead.

·      Prioritize writing quality to create a buzz and generate word-of-mouth marketing.