So, I am starting the process of building my "platform," as advised in the Writer's Market 2010 book.  Now, I do not have a lot of money, so I am trying to find inexpensive ways of doing this.

The first method I am trying is Facebook.  I have started with my friends and family, asking them to go to my author page (something I am torn on since I am using a pseudonym, and the entire point of a pseudonym is to maintain your anonymity).  Hopefully my author page will expand its fan base.  I plan on updating the page once per week with character portraits, descriptions of some of the organizations in the novel, etc.  I've already posted my Prologue, though I do not think I want to post any other chapters.  I also plan to run small contests to increase the page's popularity.  My ideas for possible contests are:

• Submit three aelfin names with their fictional etymology.  The prize would be an autographed copy of my first novel (a self-published novel-yes, yes, I will never make that mistake again) and credit for the names in the newest novel.
• A drawing of Sed'Belal, the capital city of my novel, and other characters from the novel.  Similar prizes from above.

One advantage of getting drawings from "fans" is that I can compile them into a short video narrating the "book jacket" description of the novel with music I've written.

What do you guys think?  Is this overly ambitious or somewhere near the mark?  Do you have any advice on how I can increase my fan base?

So, I've begun another stage of building my platform.  I am still only on Facebook, however I am creating visual cues to stimulate the imagination.  I downloaded the free CAD program from Google called SketchUp.  It's a very powerful program and I am using it to do a basic layout of my novel's chief city, Sed'Belal.  I'm hoping that a visual of the city will stimulate interest.