Do you need to build a platform?More writers are developing a strategy early on to distinguish themselves in the marketplace
Published:
July 21, 2011 What comes to mind when you think of “platform”? If you’re a book
author, or aspire to be, you probably already know that platform refers
to your ability to sell a book—in other words, what your name and
connections bring to a book project.
Platform is as
essential to an author’s success as writing ability and a stellar idea.
“First, an author needs a platform to convince the publisher that he or
she can muster up advance interest in the topic that will result in
eager buyers for the book when it is released,” says Christina Katz,
author of Get Known Before the Book Deal. “In today’s tight
book-publishing market, if you don’t have that, it’s going to be very
difficult to convince a publisher to invest in you and your book
concept. After the publisher has invested in you, or after you have
invested in yourself and self-published your own book, you need a
platform so you will have the visibility to garner attention, interest,
buzz and sales.”
For book authors and freelancers
Platform
isn’t just for book authors any longer. Freelancers of all stripes are
finding that developing platforms helps set them apart from other
writers, making it easier to market themselves.
“In the
‘gig economy,’ every independent contractor needs a shorthand way to
communicate the value he or she offers,” Katz says. “A freelancer’s
platform would emphasize value to the kind of client the writer is
aiming to serve.”
Freelancer Meagan Francis, creator of
the blog The Happiest Mom and author of the book of the same title,
says platform is important because she covers a specific topic that she
has personal knowledge of and strong opinions about. “I’m a mom—I write
about motherhood,” she says. “I know a lot of writers feel boxed in and
limited by the idea of narrowing down to a specific focus. But for me—at
least right now—it gives me much-needed structure and focus to my
work.”
Francis has been writing about parenthood for
eight years and says developing a platform has made her more focused. “I
was always interested in mind/body, wellness, psychology, relationships
and self-help, from a mother’s perspective, but could never figure out
quite how to make that work for me when I was trying to make a living
selling one magazine article at a time,” she says. “At some point, I
realized that I actually wanted to be like the Martha Beck [a well-known
life coach] for moms (speaking of platform!) and that helped it gel for
me. For now, it works. ... In my case, I am lucky enough that my
platform actually encompasses almost all the other things I wanted to
write about, anyway.” |
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