Before the performers take the stage, a platform must be in place.
You certainly won’t be glamping without a platform.
As a debut author, the word platform makes me moan. “Do I need to do everything? I’m a writer, I need time to perfect my craft, to continue my story. Marketing is the publisher’s job. I’ve got my Twitter followers, I’m blogging on Facebook. C’mon: Pub-lisher = Pub-licity. Author = Author-ity. Writers, can I get a ‘Yeah, that’s right!’”
If you’re a fellow author, I hope you checked over your shoulder for editors before giving me an, “Um, yeah, that’s right.”
I appreciate your support. But, I’m wrong.
Sometimes a cliché is simply the best illustration, so here it is: When it comes to writing, I’ve put the cart before the horse. I built the glamp before the platform. I wrote the novel before building a readership. I don’t blame myself, it’s just how it happened. Now I need to slip the platform under my tower, which is tall and golden, by the way, so that I can add stories to it. And jewels. That sparkle.
No matter how authors publish, on our own or traditionally, if we want our books to be read by more than the 100 or so people who make up our family, friends, and those wonderful folks who love our family and friends enough to buy an unknown author’s book simply by association, we need a platform.
Recent rejections from publishers have said my platform is too small.
Yes, it is that important, and my author-ity can’t change it, so it is my approach to publication that must be adjusted.
As for my Twitter followers, most of them are fellow authors. There are a lot of scribblers out there. I certainly can’t buy thousands of books. I also don’t have time to read that many free e-books and support writers through an honest review, and neither do they. Editors know that. Twitter followers do not a platform make, but there is great value in that community.
So what is that solid platform upon which to build?
I’ve been dabbling in different writing arenas to figure that out. In a recent e-mail, my agent wrote, “Keep it up with the articles. Building a platform.”
The small picture: through sharing my bathroom exploits and why so many people question my choices, I’ve begun to create the thing that may help me publish my fantasy novel. Hmm, obsessive restroom habits and questioned parenting decisions, her book must be awesome! Seems disjointed, but here’s my perception of the big picture: writing is writing, and readers read, so if readers keep reading my articles, they may be more willing to give my books a go, and maybe even buy them for friends.
This potential makes it more likely that the publishers can pay the bills and hopefully make a little extra. It also fulfills the writer’s dream: to have readers!
I have yet to meet a novelist whose raison d’écrire is the money. Sure, a few do a great job of maintaining their mansions with their talent, but most initially write for themselves, and then publish to share stories about which they are passionate.
Authors and publishers have a couple of important things in common. They love reading so much that they work long hours, increasing their eyeglass prescriptions, to get books under the noses of those who will appreciate them, and even better, introduce tales to those who don’t yet enjoy the magical awesomeness of the written word.
So what happens next? Unfortunately, my first case of writer’s block. Yikes, this article writing gig is not just a good thing, it could be exactly what I’ve been needing, and that’s a lot of pressure. How do I follow-up potty-time procedures and homeschooling habits? I’ve blogged away so many of my silly little escapades. What else do I do everyday or know enough about?
I tried something last week, and was told it was more of a blog post than an article.
Ouch. Have I lost my touch just when I need inspiration to churn out more platform building material?
Is it time to panic?
No, that writer’s block just needs to be transformed from an impediment into platform slab. This way, if more blocks are in my future, I will use them to build a bigger platform, for a whole city of glistening towers.
So here it is, my pièce de résistance. No, I know it’s not that great. I mean the literal translation, the piece that resisted being written. Here’s that stubborn block that wouldn’t pop out of the mold. I now place it in its proper place, hopefully to be surrounded by finer blocks to support stories and stories of towering, well, stories.
