Many publishers check prospective authors’ platforms ahead of offering them a publishing agreement. Their goal is to sign authors with a strong platform to mitigate the risk of signing someone who cannot help drive sales of their book. So, the following are two elements that authors should address before sending a publisher their book proposal.

1. Verify that their website lists their expertise and keynote/consulting topics—Publishers are looking for thought leaders. They want to sign the biggest name or promising emergent names on a topic. They want to see what listed topic or audience is a natural fit for the prospective author’s book. So, outdated information will not help a modern contract.
2. Remove dead and obsolete links from their website—Broken links look bad! If a page has moved or if authors no longer post to social media sites like Twitter or YouTube, they need to remove links to those sites from their website. It doesn’t matter if the author has 50,000 followers on that page: if prospective authors are not engaging with those followers, they won’t buy the book.

Good luck!