Hopeful authors come whining to me from time to time, saying that they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get a publisher because they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a platform. So what do they do? They keep sending the same book proposal out to more and more publishers. What would I advise them to do? Start building a platform, of course.<\/p>\n
I guess it hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sunk in with many new authors that you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to wait until you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re published to establish a platform. In fact, to me, this is backwards thinking. If you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a platform in your genre or topic, you should begin building one before you ever start writing a book.<\/p>\n
Many beginning authors come into the publishing arena with at least one of the following misconceptions.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tThey don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe that a platform is necessary for their particular project.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tThey think there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plenty of time to start building on their platform, later.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tThey don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what a platform is because they haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bothered to study the business of publishing.<\/p>\n
To review, if you expect to land a traditional publisher (one that will invest in your project), you will need a platform\u00e2\u20ac\u201da following, a way of attracting readers. If you hope to sell very many copies of your self-published book, you need a platform\u00e2\u20ac\u201drecognition and\/or expertise in your genre\/topic.<\/p>\n
Whose dog training book would you buy? The one by the credentialed trainer with a syndicated radio show and several training books under his belt or one by a first-time author who happens to own a couple of pit bulls? <\/p>\n
When you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in the mood to read a romance novel, which one will you pick? The novel by your favorite author, whose stories you read in magazines and who sometimes appears on Oprah or the one by an author you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never heard of?<\/p>\n
Put yourself in the reader\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\/consumer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s place. What prompts you to buy a particular book? I think we all read books that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve read about or heard about from others\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthat have been recommended by friends or through reviews. We purchase books by authors that we meet and authors whose names are familiar. I bought a book yesterday from a first-time author after reading about it in our hometown newspaper. But I have never bought a book I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know about from someone I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never heard of or never met. Have you? Yeah, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think so. <\/p>\n
Perhaps now you understand why publishers shy away from new authors who don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a platform and why I and other professionals recommend that you hold off even self-publishing until you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve established a platform.<\/p>\n
If you want to know more about how to establish a platform for your fiction or nonfiction book or children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book, read The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book<\/em>. http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/rightway.html<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hopeful authors come whining to me from time to time, saying that they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get a publisher because they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a platform. So what do they do? They keep sending the same book proposal out to more and more publishers. What would I advise them to do? Start building a platform, of course. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t