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WHO LIKES TO GET NAKED?
Posted by Jo-Anne Vandermeulen on March 10, 2009
A great title can capture an audiences’ attention…GOTCHA!
Now that I have your attention, I’m going to focus today’s posts on AUTHOR PLATFORMS–the reason why every writer should spend the time designing a bragging article about who he/she is and what they write.
In a bookstore or on the selling page of a site, your book sits among thousands of other books. Your blog/website hovers in cyberspace, naked, and among millions of others.
“The Internet is a vast wasteland of thoughts and ideas. According to Technorati, someone creates a new blog every 1.4 seconds. If blogging was a crime, and in some cases it very much should be, it would be the number one source of criminal activity in the land.” Adam Brown, FreelanceSwitch Site, 1/07/09
Unless effectively promoted, it will sit shivering and all alone. You and your book will blend in with the other authors and cover jackets like a chameleon taking on the appearance of its background.
Solution: You need to put some clothes on. And I mean dress up really good. You need to stop hiding from all the viewers and come forth. Building an impressive author platform is the solution.
An author platform is more than a bio. Just as a real platform elevates a speaker above his audience, you must discover ways to make yourself and your book stand out from the crowd. Present yourself as Cinderella in the eyes of the Prince. Your platform must standout from all the others.
“We keep hearing this phrase, ‘What’s the platform?’…Well, what it is is this: What does the author bring to the table? Talent is not enough. The number of slots open to fiction on a publisher’s list is being reduced all the time.” Literary agent Nat Sobel, quoted in Poets and Writers Magazine.
This is not the time to be humble. You must really look at yourself in comparison to the other authors in your genre and discover what makes you and your novel unique. Cinderella presented herself in a beautiful gown. Her beauty stood out from the crowd of possible prospects for the Prince. For you as an author, what descriptors hook the viewers attention? Use both your character and your process of writing. Expose who you are and your voice. Really look at your work. What are your strengths? What captures your audience and keeps them wanting more? Be creative in your response. Show your voice in the explanation.
To ‘conquer all obstacles‘ you have to sell yourself.
Time to strip off your artistic wardrobe and squeeze into a business outfit. I know it doesn’t feel comfortable, but it’s necessary to attract viewers. This is not the time to blend into the crowd. Writing is art, but publishing is business. The viewers (whether we’re talking about you as a self-publisher, an agent, an editor, or the publisher) needs to make money on the books you/he/she sells.
“Particularly for a debut novelist who’s just breaking in, the publisher needs something to make that book stand out from the thousands of others–something that’ll make the novel get noticed, and purchased–a platform.”
A platform matters.
Other Related Posts:
TURNING NIGHTMARES INTO PLEASANT DREAMS
SO YOU WANT YOUR BOOK TO SELL?
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Howard Hopkins said
Very nice article–though I was hoping for a bit more out of the naked part! lol
gr5mom2 said
Too funny, way too funny.
Jo-Anne
Marketing Advice Database for Writers « JO-ANNE VANDERMEULEN “Conquer All Obstacles” said
[...] Who Likes To Get Naked? [...]
knightofswords said
When I read about authors and platforms, I wonder if there are two routes to public awareness, one for authors with old-media promotion and one for everyone else.
I ask this because, like most people I know, I never go to authors’ websites or look at their platforms before reading their books. I see the books on various bestseller lists, in catalogues, or on friends’ coffee tables. That leads me to a bricks and mortar store or to Amazon. It never leads me to an author’s website to see what they’re all about because, really, I don’t care.
This, from what I’m reading here (which sounds great), leads me to believe that authors whose names are not household names or who don’t have major marketing campaigns are stuck shouting for attention in the social media where–by the wat–I never see John Grisham or James Cameron telling me what they had for breakfast this morning–or on blogs or web sites. I see the sense in the platform, but what I wonder is this. If nobody’s heard of an author in the first place, it’s not likely they’re going to be searching on that name they don’t know or doing anything else that makes that platform appear on the PC screen. So really, there’s got to be something more than saying build that platform and they will come. That’s the key, I would think.
Malcolm
Jo-Anne Vandermeulen said
I agree…building an author platform is just one stage of marketing for an author. Actually, one of the first stages. Like advertising, building an author platform is like shouting for attention….or better yet, using a shiny spinner when casting for pike. Once the fish catches the shimmer, it’s automatically drawn to the jig. Now this doesn’t mean the fish will grab the hook, but the fisher person will have a greater chance of catching that fish than if he/she was to use a camouflaged tackle.
>Okay, now you know how much I love fishing the Northern lakes of Saskatchewan…my Father lives there, where we have a cabin on an island….just beautiful!<
knightofswords said
Great analogy! It’s been a while, but when I was a kid, we fished for musky and pike in an ice-cold Wisconsin Lake and sometimes had something to show for it and sometimes not. Needless to say, the bait that got the fish’s attention tended to work best.
Malcolm
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Chelle Cordero said
Great article and great advice (as usual). It is true, we have to make our names known (& write good books) or we will flounder around (another fish reference…). New(er) writers have to get a buzz going, there is no reputation to rest on. Previously published and better known authors have their names already out there.
My analogy – it’s like going to a dance club, you have to get in the door first. Once you are in, you have to circulate and introduce yourself. Once people know you, you have to remain friendly and socialize. Eventually folks wave to you from all over the room just because you are there. Each step is a little easier because you have what you have already achieved.