It can be difficult to attract publishers when you have a small social media presence. No matter whether our age, our ailments, or our life circumstances have gotten in the way, at times writers need to take a step back from growing their platform. This may mean that the platform will diminish or lose followers because they haven’t kept up with it as much.

We’ve know writers who have developed vision problems and where staring at a social media scheduler simply isn’t conducive to their health.

With all this in mind, can we still woo a publisher, especially when our platform has taken a hit? If so, let’s dive into the ways to snag that publisher even when experiencing diminishing returns.

Do what you can

If we’ve learned anything about social media, it’s that once you have it figured out, it changes again. Sometimes people do better with a sporadic posting schedule or they must scale back a significant amount.

Find what works for you and your health. No, you won’t have tens or hundreds of thousands of followers. But you prioritize yourself. After all, you can have millions of followers, but if you don’t write well, a publisher will not want your book.

Publishers care about writing first, speaking of:

Continue to read and write

If you can’t work on platform, continue to write.

And if you cannot write, continue to read.

Publishers do care about platform, but they want, most of all, good writing. So practice and hone those craft skills. You will need those the most.

Explain what happened

Many publishers, having experienced tragedy themselves, will understand your situation. Provide a paragraph of explanation about the dip in platform if they ask.

At the same time, show them how you’ve grown platform before in the past, prior to when you needed to step back. This can show them that you have an entrepreneurial and marketing spirit, even if you can’t exercise it now.

Hire an assistant

Can’t do the work yourself? No worries, hire an assistant to schedule posts for you. We highly recommend reaching out to local colleges for students who are savvy with technology and work for reasonable rates.

That way you can show publishers you still intend to build platform, but may need a little extra help to do it. Don’t worry. Best selling authors hire assistants all the time.

Resources

Explode Your Instagram Growth – Serious Writer Academy

We all start somewhere – Writers Chat

Filling the Writer’s Well – Writers Chat

Break Through the Fog – Almost an Author

Platform Starts with Your Mindset – Almost an Author