Every week I talk to aspiring authors who are overwhelmed by everything they think they need to do online.
They think they need to be on every social platform. They think they need a podcast. They think they need to post every day. They think they need a newsletter and a blog and a YouTube channel and a TikTok presence and a Substack.
Let me simplify it.
What You Actually Need
One professional website. This is non-negotiable. Not a social media profile — a domain you own, a site you control, a page that exists regardless of what any platform decides to do next. It should include: who you are, what you write, where to buy your books, and a way for readers to sign up to hear from you.
That is the whole thing. The website does not need to be complex. It needs to be real, professional, and findable.
An email list. Start building this from day one. Offer something worth signing up for — a free story, an excerpt, a resource for writers. Your email list is the only marketing channel you own outright. Everything else is rented.
One or two social platforms where your readers actually are. For literary fiction, that is primarily Facebook and Instagram. Not every platform. Not all of them at once. The ones where you can show up consistently and actually connect with people.
You do not need to be everywhere. You need to be present somewhere, consistently, in a way that lets people know you are real.
What You Probably Don’t Need (Yet)
A podcast. A YouTube channel. A Substack. A TikTok presence. A LinkedIn strategy.
None of these are wrong. Some of them may become right for you as your career develops. But none of them are foundational, and spreading yourself across too many channels in the early stages is one of the most common ways writers burn out before they build anything lasting.
Focus on the foundation. The website. The email list. One or two social platforms. Get those working before you add anything else.
The Technical Side Is Not as Hard as It Looks
The most common thing I hear from aspiring authors is that they do not have a web presence because they do not know how to build one.
I understand this. I spent years in technical writing before I turned to fiction, and even I found the combination of domain registration, email configuration, social media integration, and platform publishing decisions more complicated than expected.
This is exactly the kind of work I do with clients at Wasabara. Not the writing — the infrastructure. Getting the foundation right so that when your book is finished and you press publish, there is already a place for readers to land, a way for them to find you, and a system for keeping them.
If you are facing this and do not know where to start, reach out. The first conversation costs nothing.
One Final Thing
Whatever you build, keep it current. An abandoned website is almost worse than no website — it signals to readers and media that you are not serious, or that something went wrong.
Post occasionally. Keep the contact information accurate. Make sure the buy links work.
That is all it takes to maintain a presence that earns trust.
The rest is the writing. Which is, after all, the point.
— Elan
