Photo by Christian Betrand, courtesy Shutterstock

About ten years ago, the publishing industry starting tossing out the word “platform” like confetti during a rock concert. Major publishers started expecting authors to have an existing platform, because they were far easier to promote.

Soon everyone, including indie authors, used the new “platform” buzz word, but few really understood what it was or why they needed it.

Cycle forward ten years. Everything has changed. Not only do we live in a world where anyone can publish, but in order to gain any kind of attention for your book, you must have one.

A platform, that is (there’s that word again).

So, what does it really take to build one? Surprisingly, not much, but sometimes it’s easier to understand what it isn’t.

Having “no platform” means you have very little presence in any existing social media, do little or no blogging and…