When people mention self-publishing platforms the names that first come to mind for most of us are KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), Smashwords, CreateSpace, Draft2Digital, Nook, IngramSparks, and Kobo. All of these platforms have their pros and cons, but are effective ways for indie authors to get their stories into the marketplace. Whether an author's book will be available in digital, print or both, as I've mentioned here a few times in the past, writing a novel is just the beginning of the journey. What comes next is the hard part: building awareness for your work and then getting it out to the masses.
Now the platforms I mentioned above will do a little to help you get your book noticed but really it's all on the author. Some of the platforms suggest things like using keywords to help potential customers find your book, others offer helpful newsletters with hints from other authors and then there are the message boards with tonnes (and I'm not kidding here) of threads on how you can turn your book into a bestseller. There are also tips on how to use social media portals like Facebook and Twitter to aid you reach more readers.
An article caught my eye while I was reading the Huffington Post a little while ago that shed new light on how social media could be used for more than just book and author promotion. The Hottest Pubishing Platform? Twitter! was written by Joe Sutton of Indie Reader and he outlined how delivering your manuscript 140 characters at a time was the hottest way authors could not only find new readers but also engage them. Radio has used serials for decades and current episodic TV has their audiences coming back for more each week. Sutton mentions that established authors such R.L. Stine (Goosebumps) and David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas) have been tweeting out stories as well as tweeting in character to get attention and build a following. It's a bold way of looking at how Twitter could be used to "publish" a short story or a novel. What do you think? Head on over to the article to get the full story and feel free to post your thoughts in the space below.