Author Platforms: Let's Talk About Yours! | Where Writers Win

That awful word, ?platform.? It?s been bantered about online and at writer?s conferences for years. When aspiring authors first learn the word, they tend to overuse it, to the point that literary agents might actually cringe if you say it out loud in their presence?

And yes, both agents and editors will be quick to tell you that an author platform is meaningless unless the writing is stellar (uh, then explain Snookie, right?). But the cold, hard truth is that these days an author platform is critical, whether you self-publish or go the traditional publishing route. Yes, you need to start talking about your story long before readers read your story?

Because publishers are forced to look at the bottom line, having a pre-built platform is rather like you bringing an insurance policy to the table ? their risk in publishing you as a debut author is minimized because you?ve shown them not just that you CAN publicize your work if/when you get published, but that you?re ALREADY out there doing it.

That?s the bad news: It?s no longer enough to just write well or have an interesting topic. Bummer, right?

The good news is that a platform no longer refers to just being a criminal, CEO or celebrity either, all Snookies aside. Agents and editors now even look for established platforms from fiction writers, meaning, you need to start before you?re published, to:

• establish a website
• develop fans
• find followers
• attract an engaged blog audience
• establish speaking topics
• write articles
• get media trained to put your best foot forward

One of the most exciting elements of our work with aspiring and emerging authors is helping them to identify those platforms and drill down to the right audience for their unique words. In fact, I recently wrote blog posts on this topic, using your passion to build your platform, for both Writer UnBoxed and the SC Writers Conference. I invite you to read either/both to learn more about how it?s done and how to discover your own passion platform!

Have a platform success story to share? We want to hear it! Comment here or email info@writerswin.com and you may be featured in an upcoming article?

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Source: http://writerswin.com/2012/08/09/author-platforms-lets-talk-about-yours/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=author-platforms-lets-talk-about-yours

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