This was actually the first post I wrote ten years ago. Minus the grammatical and structural errors 🙂 and with a few updates. One of the things I have always tried to do is offer information I hoped would be helpful and prevent you, my reader, from making the same mistakes I did.

So as one writer to another, I would like to ask, “How’s your platform coming along? Do you have one? Do you know what it is?” Let me explain.

A writer’s platform is a digital, public-facing, and strategic hub where a writer builds their visibility and connects with an audience to foster a loyal readership. It could include a personal website, blog, newsletter or social media profile. Great manuscripts of first-time authors get pushed to the side every day because the aspiring author doesn’t have a solid platform.

I was recently rejected by a literary agent because of my lack of a solid platform. I spent the last few years editing and rewriting major portions of my manuscript to address numerous grammatical, structural, and POV issues to name a few.  I was confident with my work and looked forward to a request for the complete story. Well, what I got wasn’t a request but a rejection.  The reason had nothing to do with my novel. I had focused so much on preparing it for publication that I failed to do one of the most important things: build an audience of potential customers. Is it necessary? Unfortunately, yes, especially for first-time authors. The literary agent who rejected me apologized for not giving me better news but said it was really hard to place new authors, especially those without a solid platform. While she recommended that I send it to other agents, she also emphasized the importance of building a platform.

The good news is that, with technology, it is much easier than you might think.  Google ‘Building a platform’ and you’ll find all kinds of information.  I would personally recommend looking into Michael Hyatt. He is an author, blogger, speaker, and a former chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, so he knows a little bit about what we are trying to accomplish here. I would also recommend his book ‘PLATFORM GET NOTICED IN A NOISY WORLD’. He provides all the information you need to get started, including websites that help you build your online presence.

Something else to work on and think about.

-Jan R