Marketing for Writers by Scott Francis

Christina Katz Post #4

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:17:28 GMT

Hi all,

Here is the fourth installment of author platform advice from Get Known Before the Book Deal author Christina Katz.

Enjoy,

Scott

20 Dual Questions About Your Author Platform

#4: Where is the best place to build a platform? / Where will you build your platform?

By Christina Katz

A lot of people today think that the only place they need to get known is online. Frankly, I think going online right out of the gate is a mistake if your objective is to build a book-deal worthy platform. Certainly, you will eventually need and want to get known online. And the Internet is a great place for getting known. But first you need to know what your specialty is. Hopping online before you know what your specialty is like hopping in the car without a destination in mind. Sure you’ll drive around, you’ll use gas…but you may never actually get anywhere.

And before everyone starts jumping down my throat, there’s nothing wrong with simply “hanging out” online. Everyone does it. But if your objective is platform development, then the Internet is very likely better as your final, not your first, testing grounds. For example, Cindy Hudson recently landed a book deal with Seal Press called Bonding Through Books: Your Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs. Naturally, she’s online today with a burgeoning web presence that includes a Web site, a blog, an e-zine, and social networking. But Cindy did not find her specialty topic online. She drew on ten years of experience creating and maintaining mother-daughter book clubs for her two daughters right where she lives.

See what I’m saying? Cindy’s specialty (credible expertise on a specific topic) not only helped her write the book proposal that landed the agent, who helped her get the deal; it guides her promotional steps on a daily basis both live and online. Before Cindy grew her online presence, which has taken over a year so far, she attended conferences, took classes, joined organizations, wrote articles, penned book reviews for young readers and connected with a writing mentor. Her specialty guides the construction of her online presence and direct how she spends her time online. Without this kind of focused intention, you could spend a lifetime online and never get any closer to the kind of platform that can attract the attention of agents and editors.

So don’t make the mistake of thinking that the Internet is all. The in-person interactions Cindy has had with others—for example, she met her book editor in-person at a writer’s conference—have been just as important as time she spends online. And without a clear and distinct specialty and mission, Cindy would have never managed to do all the footwork it took to go from book idea to book deal in under two years.

So, if you are thinking that the Internet is the only place you need to be with your platform, think again. Unless your specialty is Internet-specific, chances are good that your specialty topic has more to do with how you spend your time offline, than with how you spend your time online.

Think about it. Then get clear about what makes you unique and distinct offline before you jump online and start clicking.

Question #3: Where will you build your platform?

I’m guessing you will build your platform offline and online. Before you jump online, take a look at how you spend your time offline. Specifically what do you do in the real world that builds credibility in your area of expertise? If nothing, then someone else with more balanced credibility is going to trump your online platform efforts. What you do offline needs to match up with what you do online.

My question for you: Where will you build your platform? What steps will you take offline? What steps will you take online? Be sure to ground your platform in the real world, not just online.

Please share your experience by commenting to this post.

Christina Katz is author of Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Build an Author Platform and Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids. She started her platform “for fun” seven years ago and ended up on Good Morning America. She works on incremental writing career development with one hundred students a year and is the publisher of the e-zine Writers on the Rise. To learn more, visit http://www.christinakatz.com.

Tough Times

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:01:34 GMT

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the lapse in blogging. I haven't had a lot of spare time lately. With the suffering economy, my work hours are spent scurrying to put together marketing pieces in hopes of generating revenue for my company.

I'm sure many of you can relate in your own respective jobs. As the belt tightens the demand for more results rolls down the chain of command. In thinking about how that affects writers, my advice is this:

When you are pitching an article or a book idea, or even a way to help promote your book consider your customer (customer? yep... your customer... and by customer I mean the magazine or publisher that you're working with). Ask youself how does your idea benefit them. How will it help them sell more copies of their magazine or boost their book sales? Consider what the unique selling proposition will be for them and use that to pitch your idea.

Businesses are less and less interested in abstract/fun ideas and are asking for more and more numbers associated with whatever it is you're trying to do. By considering how your article/book/promotional idea will affect your publishing partner's bottom line, then you can make a better case for them taking a chance on your idea.

You can apply this concept to anything from your book proposal, to requesting some support for a publicity idea, such as a blog or radio tour.

Hang in there, and good luck.

Hard Truths

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:54:46 GMT

Hi Writers,

I wanted to share with you a few thoughts about some of the things I've been going through in my own job as Marketing Manager over the past few weeks. A lot of what I've written about before touches on this topic already, but I hope you'll bear with me, as I think this is something that is important for all writers to take stock of.

As the focus in publishing has shifts more and more online and we all suffer through the struggling economy, publishing companies are being forced to reassess the way they do business. This means changing the way their content (your writing) is sold--don't limit your thinking to books, magazines, and screenplays...think downloads, feature web articles, and video downloads as well. It also means changing the way publishing companies... actually, media companies (something you should get used to thinking about) market their content.

Working for a publisher I'm charged with reaching out directly to consumers to let them know about our products--be they books, magazines, downloads or whatever. Less and less of many publishing companies' resources are being dedicated to traditional publicity efforts such as book signings and PR mailings. More and more publishers are looking for authors who can generate that type of publicity for themselves.

That's why the advice author Christina Katz has been sharing about creating an author platform is so valuable. Getting published initially is becoming more and more difficult unless you have your own marketing plan, online presence, and general business savvy to convince publishers that your book will sell and that you will be working to help make the book a success.

I've been talking with an author, Bob Woodiwiss, who has lots of great ideas for generating book buzz. Unfortunately, I don't have the budget or resources to devote to some of his ideas. My advice to all authors is to go after your own book signings from the very beginning, reach out to bloggers who write about your subject area, and contact media that you might think would be interested in your story on your own. It can seem like a daunting task, but really the most important thing is taking the initiative and being persistent.

Good luck.

Check out Bob Woodiwiss's commentary on the extravagence of high society, The Serfitt & Cloye Gift Catalog.

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Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:18:56 GMT

Hi Writers,

Here's the third installment of author Christina Katz's guest posts on author platforms. Christina's new book Get Known Before the Book Deal will be available next month.

Enjoy,

Scott

__________________________________________

20 Dual Questions About Your Author Platform

#3: When Does a Platform Make Sense? / When Do You Need a Platform?

By Christina Katz

Imagine this: you pull up to the drive through window at Platforms R Us. A voice comes over the intercom. “May I take your order?”

“Sure,” you say. You already know what you want. “I’ll take one blockbuster bestselling author platform, please.”

Unfortunately, platform development—how visible and influential you are in the world— doesn’t work this way. In fact, platform development is more similar to the slow food movement, than the fast food business model. I work with over a hundred writers a year, and if I’ve learned anything from paying close attention to their success rates, it’s this: scattered efforts yield scant results.

A lot of writers today feel pressured to get a platform and get one FAST. This attitude reveals a common misunderstanding about platform as something you “get” rather than something that you cultivate professionally over time.

You can’t go buy yourself a platform despite all the infomercials popping up online that say that they can provide you with all of the “insider secrets” so you can. The principle of slow and steady development applies to everything writers already do: selling previously written work, pitching ideas, and completing assignments. Why should platform development be any different?

Question #3: When Do You Need a Platform?

As soon as you decide you wish to write a book for traditional publication, you’ll want to get started building your platform. The bottom line is that platform development takes concentration, clarity and follow-through, abilities repeated by successful authors hundreds, if not thousands of times throughout the duration of their writing career.

Clearly there are certain skills that all writers need to succeed today. Developing a solid platform is one of them. But this is not an overnight occurrence, and therefore anyone pressuring you to hurry up and “get” one, might actually be doing you a disservice in the long run.

Don’t try to “get one:” build one instead.

My question for you: When will you need a platform? What are five small steps you can take in the direction of becoming more known in the next week? Why not take one step each day. This is the road to incremental platform development—the only sensible kind of platform development for busy writers.

Please share your experience by commenting to this post.

***

A Day in The Life...

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:54:59 GMT

Ever wonder what it's like to work for a publisher? Well, some of the staff here at F+W media started a new blog about the life. You'll get some insights, maybe some good advice here and there, but mostly you'll get a look behind the scenes (which may prove inspirational or helpful in your own writerly pursuits).

Check out www.farmersandwriters.wordpress.com

Today's entry was posted by yours truly. Enjoy.

Illustration by Greg Nock

Media Kits

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:36:41 GMT

A media kit can be a great tool for promoting your work and can be used to try to get mentions in publications or to try to get speaking engagements or spots on radio or TV.

A few do's and don'ts:

Do include your complete contact information as well as your website/blog address
Do include a personal biography and a photograph of yourself
Do include a business card
Do include any recent articles or endorsements
Do include a good cover sheet that summarizes the contents of your media kit
Do include a copy of your latest book
Don't over do it--these days everyone is busy and have short attention spans. Keep it relevant and to the point.
Don't include clippings of every press mention that you've ever gotten--go with either the most recent or the most impressive. Everything else can be summarized on your cover sheet (remember to be concise).

Christina Katz continues her author platforms advice

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:49:56 GMT

20 Dual Questions About Your Author Platform

#2: Who Needs a Platform? / Do You Need a Platform?

By Christina Katz

Without a platform, your writing career is invisible. Since visibility for the right reasons is always good for your writing career, you really can’t afford to be an isolated, eccentric soul waiting for somebody else to make you famous. Those days are gone forever.

The opposite attitude is an attitude of responsibility. When you decide to launch a writing career, you won’t just be writing. That’s only part of the job description. You’ll also be responsible for coming up with saleable ideas, pitching your writing, and building a marketing platform that will promote your work. (And that’s putting the job description for “writer” in very simplistic terms. The multiple “hats” writers wear on a regular basis are described in more detail in Writer Mama.)

I’m sure we’ve all experienced our fair share of resistance, as writers, I’m sure. And thanks to the Internet, our job description gets lengthier every single day. But the upside of all of this is that the more responsibility you take for your career – including the willingness to develop your platform, the more ownership you’ll have, the more invested you’ll be, and the better you’ll be able to leverage what you’ve already accomplished.

Question #2: Who needs a platform?

All writers do.

Your platform is a way to assess and broadcast the success you’ve accomplished so far, which typically leads to even more success.

Long story short, the sooner you become willing to take 100% responsibility for your writing career, the more successful you will be in the short and the long runs. Once you’ve taken responsibility, you’ll come to realize that if a task isn’t on your to-do list, it won’t ever get done. And once you understand that all of the jobs that fall under the description “writing professional” are yours, you are ready for a lot more success than the writer who simply shrugs and says, “I’m not doing that.”

In the final analysis, platform development takes time and effort, but it leverages your worth. If you are a professional, it only makes sense to consistently and incrementally work on increasing your actual and perceived value.

Shrug at your professional peril.

My question for you: Do you need a platform? Do you want others to know about the value that you consistently offer? Please share your experience by commenting to this post.

***

Guest Post from Author Christina Katz

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:18:45 GMT

Hi Writers,

Apologies again for my failure to keep up with the blog as of late. We've been going through a marketing restructuring at F+W Media, the parent company of Writer's Digest, so I've been assigned some new duties and am figuring out my new work flow.

Since I've been so busy I've enlisted the help of one of our authors, Christina Katz, to help me out with a guest post. Christina is the author of Writer Mama, a great book for moms who are also cultivating writing careers, and the forthcoming Get Known Before the Book Deal (November 2008). She always has great advice for managing the business side of your writing career and in this post shares some about "author platforms". Enjoy.

20 Dual Questions About Your Author Platform

#1: What’s a Platform? / What’s Your Platform?

By Christina Katz

The toughest part about growing a platform that will eventually help you land a book deal is getting started. You probably know by now that you need a platform. You may have heard the buzz about it at a conference, online or even in writing publications like Writer’s Digest magazine.

But even with all of this information, it's still easy to be confused about where the heck to start. To simplify the process for both of us, I’ve divided platform development from start to finish into twenty questions. Each week, I’ll answer a question and then you will answer a question. By the time we’re done, you will have a solid understanding of platform-ese (the language of platform) and how to use words and more to construct your best possible platform at this time.

Question #1: What’s a platform?

The word platform simply describes all the ways you are visible and appealing to your future, potential, or actual readership. Platform development is important not only for already-published authors; it’s also crucial for aspiring and soon-to-be authors. Your platform includes your Web presence, any public speaking you do, the classes you teach, the media contacts you’ve established, the articles you’ve published, and any other means you currently have for making your name and your future books known to a viable readership.

Your platform communicates your expertise to others concisely, quickly and decisively with clarity, confidence and ease. How visible are you? How much influence do you have? How many people know and trust you? If others recognize your expertise on a given topic or for a specific audience or both, then that is the measure of your platform success.

My question for you: Do you already have or have you ever had a platform on a particular topic? Please share your experience by commenting to this post. I’ll give some examples later. Right now I would rather hear about you.

Christina Katz is author of Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Build an Author Platform and Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids. She started her platform “for fun” seven years ago and ended up on Good Morning America. She works on incremental writing career development with one hundred students a year and is the publisher of the e-zine Writers on the Rise. Christina blogs at www.thewritermama.wordpress.com, http://getknownbeforethebookdeal.typepad.com and http://writersontherise.wordpress.com.

Thanks for the Great Comments

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:41:50 GMT

Hi Writers,

Apologies for my lapse in postings. I've had a couple of busy weeks, but wanted to assure you haven't forgotten about the blog. I've been reading everyone's comments, which have been great... lot's of good things to think about.

I'm hoping soon to have a chance to post some answers to some of the great questions I've gotten soon. In the meantime, check out this interesting Business Week article about Twilight, a vampire novel series that has become a huge success through online marketing and social networking.

Setting Realistic Goals

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:12:28 GMT

One important thing to keep in mind as you market your work is to set realistic achievable goals for yourself. Having a "pie in the sky" dream is great, but make sure that you have a realistic plan for getting there.

I've worked with authors who when I first talk with them want to know when I'll get their book on Oprah. (Hmmmm. How do I respond to that?) I'm not saying that I don't think the book deserve's Oprah's attention. I'm not even saying that the book won't eventually get on Oprah. But, there is probably a better place to begin publicity efforts such as local TV and radio, blogs related to your topic, and relevant periodicals. By actively approaching these venues an author is more likely to gain the attention of national media.

Bottom line: start with realistic and achievable promotional ideas and build from there. Your efforts will help you gain more success and should lead to better and better opportunities.

Using Free Content to Promote Yourself Online

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:41:38 GMT

Hi Writers,

Sorry for the lapse in posts. I've had a lot of catch up work to do at work after being out of the office for some travel, and for a few days of vacation. But, I'm getting back in the swing of things. I just finished some work on a promotion for a line of humor books that I promote where we are offering free downloads of some of the older titles. (Check out the TOW Books promotion here).

I thought it might make a good post for the M-Word to talk about posting a free download of a chapter or section of your book on a website or blog that covers your subject area (whether it's your own blog, or if you approach another blogger about posting it). By offering some good free content, your audience will get a nice sample of your work and may interested in buying more (make sure you have an obvious link to where your book may be purchased).

There are lots of ways you can offer this "teaser" content that make sense, so come up with a strategy that works well for you. Maybe you post a chapter at a time for a limited time (like a serialized novel) or maybe you create podcasts of certain chapters.