Time to fold up the treadmill. I'm ready to run outside again. Spring is on its way to Kentucky. The high today is 71 degrees, but oh no! Thursday's high is 36. I hope it's getting warm wherever you live!
~*~
By:
Anne R. Allen
Whether
you're planning to self-publish or go the traditional route, every author needs
a "platform" these days.
Some authors obsess too much about platform and waste time on pointless overkill. (More about how to skip the time-wasting stuff in my post, 7 Ways Authors Waste Time Building Platform.)
But others ignore it entirely, often because they're not quite clear on what it means.
It's true that "platform" isn't easy to define. But Jane Friedman, formerWriter's Digest editor has written extensively about it. She says when agents say they're looking for author with platform:
"They’re looking for someone with visibility and authority who has proven reach to a target audience."
They'll probably start with "visibility". The first thing any agent, editor, reviewer, blogger—and even many book buyers—will do when you approach them is put your name into Google and hit the "search" button.
The results of that search are a good indication of your platform.
If you don't appear on that first page, or nothing comes up but your letter to the editor supporting John Edwards' Presidential primary campaign, or that picture of you partying at Señor Frog's in Mazatlán on your Spring Break in 2005, your career is not going anywhere.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but:
Some authors obsess too much about platform and waste time on pointless overkill. (More about how to skip the time-wasting stuff in my post, 7 Ways Authors Waste Time Building Platform.)
But others ignore it entirely, often because they're not quite clear on what it means.
It's true that "platform" isn't easy to define. But Jane Friedman, formerWriter's Digest editor has written extensively about it. She says when agents say they're looking for author with platform:
"They’re looking for someone with visibility and authority who has proven reach to a target audience."
They'll probably start with "visibility". The first thing any agent, editor, reviewer, blogger—and even many book buyers—will do when you approach them is put your name into Google and hit the "search" button.
The results of that search are a good indication of your platform.
If you don't appear on that first page, or nothing comes up but your letter to the editor supporting John Edwards' Presidential primary campaign, or that picture of you partying at Señor Frog's in Mazatlán on your Spring Break in 2005, your career is not going anywhere.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but:
Read the full article HERE!
~*~
If
you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they
are again:
- Anne R. Allen's Blog: Are You Ignoring This Simple Platform-Building Tool? How to Comment on a Blog http://ow.ly/uq9vS
- The Neil Gaiman Guide to Social Media | Elizabeth Spann Craig http://ow.ly/uqiEL
- Real Life Diagnostics: A Look at a Fantasy Opening: Would You Read On? http://ow.ly/uqmdy
- Proofreading Secrets for Authors http://ow.ly/uqn2l 10 Risks You Run if You Don't Proofread Your Manuscript
- 3 Free Apps for Making an Impressive Book Trailer - The Write Life http://ow.ly/uqqAW
- Fiction University (The Other Side of the Story): How to Use Foreign Languages (Real or Imaginary) in Your Novel http://ow.ly/urXl7
- The Dirty Little Secret About Guest Blogging - Jeffbullas's Blog http://ow.ly/urXyi
- 4 Social Media Tools to Improve Your Social Media Marketing | Social Media Examiner http://ow.ly/urXWz
- How To Love Book Marketing | The Creative Penn http://ow.ly/urYcV
- BookMarketingBuzzBlog: Where’s Your Audio Book? http://ow.ly/urYfK
- When Strong is a Stereotype | The Passive Voice | http://ow.ly/urYkX
- Creating Stunning Character Arcs, Pt. 5: The Characteristic Moment - Helping Writers Become Authors http://ow.ly/urYnS
Happy writing and running, Kathy
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