Do Authors Have to Be Influencers Now?

There was a time when the stereotypical author could disappear into a cabin, emerge six months later with a manuscript, hand it to a publisher, and retreat back into obscurity.

Honestly, it sounds kind of nice.

Today, though, writers are increasingly expected to do more than write. We need websites. Newsletters. Instagram accounts. TikToks. Author photos. Goodreads profiles. Launch-day graphics. Behind-the-scenes content. And, apparently, we should also know how to point dramatically at floating text while a trending audio plays in the background.

At some point, you have to wonder: Do authors have to be influencers now?

Whether you are traditionally published, self-published, or still working toward publication, you've probably heard the phrase author platform.

At its simplest, an author platform is your ability to reach readers. That might include a website, newsletter, social media following, published articles, speaking engagements, or an existing community interested in your work.

And publishers absolutely pay attention to it.

That doesn't necessarily mean an editor will reject the next Harry Potter because its author only has 312 Instagram followers. Fiction is still primarily sold on the strength and marketability of the book itself.

But having an established audience certainly doesn't hurt.

For nonfiction writers in particular, platform can be incredibly important because publishers want to know why you are the person readers will trust on a particular subject, and whether there are already people interested in hearing what you have to say.

For fiction writers, the expectations may be different, but once a book is approaching publication, authors are still frequently expected to participate in promotion.

Which brings us to the uncomfortable part.

Finish the manuscript.

Revise it.

Revise it again.

Query agents.

Get published.

Celebrate!

And then…

Make a Reel.

It can feel like a strange bait-and-switch for people who became writers because they enjoy, you know, writing.

Publishing a book also means convincing people that the book exists. And with an enormous number of books competing for readers' attention, social media provides authors with something incredibly valuable: direct access to potential readers.

BookTok alone has demonstrated just how powerful that access can be.

Books that were published years earlier have suddenly returned to bestseller lists after gaining traction on TikTok. Authors can introduce themselves to readers without waiting for a magazine interview, bookstore event, or expensive advertising campaign.

That's an extraordinary opportunity.

It's also a lot of work.

Few authors demonstrate the power of online book communities better than Colleen Hoover.

Several of Hoover's books experienced massive resurgences years after their original publication because readers began recommending them on TikTok. It Ends with Us, originally published in 2016, became a cultural phenomenon long after its initial release.

That kind of success showed the publishing industry something important: readers aren't just discovering books through traditional advertising anymore.

They're discovering them through other readers.

A crying BookToker holding up a paperback and saying, "This book destroyed me," can sometimes accomplish what an entire traditional advertising campaign cannot.

Naturally, publishers and authors noticed.

This is where authors can run into trouble.

Social media rewards content, not commercials.

If every post says:

BUY MY BOOK.

MY BOOK IS OUT NOW.

DID YOU KNOW I WROTE A BOOK?

People are eventually going to scroll away.

The authors who seem most comfortable online often aren't constantly selling their books. They're building communities around the things their readers already enjoy.

A fantasy author might talk about fantasy books, worldbuilding, mythology, character tropes, adaptations, or the realities of writing a 120,000-word manuscript without losing their mind.

A romance author might discuss favorite tropes, fictional relationships, romance novels, or the eternal question of how much miscommunication is too much miscommunication.

Their books become part of their online presence rather than the entirety of it.

And that's an important distinction.

The word influencer comes with baggage.

It conjures images of ring lights, sponsorships, carefully staged morning routines, and people somehow looking camera-ready while claiming they "just woke up."

Most authors don't need to become that person.

You don't necessarily need millions of followers. You don't need to post three TikToks every day. You don't need to transform every mundane moment of your life into content.

What authors increasingly need is visibility.

Readers need somewhere to find you after they finish your book.

They need a website where they can discover what you're working on next. A newsletter they can subscribe to. Maybe a social media account where they can interact with you and other readers.

That isn't quite the same thing as becoming an influencer.

It's becoming accessible.

This may be the most important thing for writers to remember.

You do not need TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, a Substack, a podcast, a newsletter, and a carrier pigeon delivering handwritten character updates.

Trying to maintain every platform is a very good way to spend all your time talking about writing instead of actually writing.

The better question might be:

Where are my readers?

If you're writing YA fantasy or romantasy, TikTok and Instagram may make sense. If you write nonfiction about business or professional development, LinkedIn might be far more valuable. If you enjoy longer conversations with readers, a newsletter or blog may suit you better than short-form video.

And if the idea of filming yourself makes you want to throw your phone into the ocean, you can build an author platform without making your face the product.

Share your books.

Share your interests.

Share your process.

Share as much of yourself as you're comfortable sharing.

Not exactly.

But the days when most authors could hand over a manuscript and expect someone else to handle everything between publication and readership are fading.

Today's writers are increasingly authors and marketers.

The good news is that marketing yourself doesn't have to mean manufacturing an online personality.

An author platform should be an extension of your work, not a completely separate performance you're forced to maintain. The goal isn't necessarily to become internet famous.

It's to make it easier for the people who might love your stories to find them.

And maybe occasionally point at some floating text.

Apparently, that's just part of literature now.

Ashley is a military wife and mother, who can often be found listening to an audiobook while driving the mom taxi, desperate to cling to sanity through the joy of escapism. Her love of reading inspired her return to school, and she is currently finishing her bachelor’s degree in creative writing at Southern New Hampshire University. Being a mother does not mean you have to give up your dreams, and her story is still being written.