If you write for a living (or hope to), you need to understand the importance of building a platform. Writing today is much different than it used to be. In fact, you can’t really expect much of a career from it unless you have a platform.
So what do I mean by platform? It is the means through which you promote, market, and sell your work.
This is what will drive book sales. So if you hope to be taken on by a publisher you should know that without a platform, it likely won’t happen. The bigger and better your platform is, the less risk there is to a book publisher.
In fact, some experts are adamant that unless you have a platform, you might as well not waste your time writing a book proposal or query.
I can’t tell you the number of people who have come to me and said that they either have an idea for a book or they already have one started or finished. They want to know what’s next, how can they get published.
When I explain the necessity of a platform, almost all of them get discouraged and give up. That’s because building a platform takes work.
Gone are the days of being signed on by a book publisher, who does the work of marketing your writing. Now you are responsible for virtually all of it and the only way you can do this is by establishing a platform.
In fact, there is more work involved in this than there is in writing the book. Every writer has to know this and be willing to embrace it if they are really serious about trying to get something published.
You should also know that it takes time to build a platform. You won’t have it done in a week, a month and you may not even have it done in a year.
In my next two blogs, I will talk more in depth about how you build a platform. Until then, happy writing.
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