IWSG - The Platform Under Your Feet

I started blogging as a sort of exercise in  'whistling in the dark.' Not knowing anything about writing - not knowing any writers - I threw myself out there and started something out of nothing. When you think of it, that's what writing is all about. You can't learn how to write until you do it. There's no other way.

Just like there's no way to build an author platform other then getting out there and making connections. CJ Lyons, at last year's Pennwriter's Conference sent a shock around the room when she said that an author platform is not a blog or twitter or facebook pages or any other material thing. An author platform is your audience. It's people. And it takes time and nurturing to build those relationships.

But it's even less mercenary than that. I have a writer friend in Missouri, a lovely state I have never visited. I have another writer friend (who recently had a possum problem in her bathroom) in Australia. Another friend is a killer gardener as well as an awesome writer, living in Kentucky (where I also haven't been - I need to get out more.) These people are cool and smart and funny and dangerously talented. And I would never have found them if I hadn't started whistling.

So, THANK YOU, fellow Insecure Writers. You don't know how vital you are.

Magpie Under the Microscope

(sound of biting of nails) So.... Media maven and marketing genius Laura Barnes has graciously agreed to  critique this blog. TODAY. I'm not really biting my nails (seriously, there's chocolate for that) because every other crit I've read from Laura is not only kind but savvy. I'm looking forward to hearing her feedback and putting it into practice. I'm also hoping there isn't a bit FAIL stamp all over my crit. Did I ever mention I have a writerly self-esteem issue? No? You look shocked. OK, let's hop over and see the damage...


Aaaand. I'm back. That wasn't too bad! Actually smart, smart feedback. But she does leave me with a question I have to noodle over - where do I want this blog to go? What is the 'next level'? Spending the rest of my Monday pondering that.

What about you? Are you happy with where your blog is? Do you find it useful or sometimes a chore or both? What do you want your blog to say about you? Who is it for? What is the meaning of life? Scratch that last question, I already know the answer to that one. 42.

Building that Bridge

I’m taking part in Rachael Harrie's wonderful platform building campaign. I think it’s a fun, community building event and I like poking around other people’s blogs, having them poke around mine.

But there’s a bit of controversy about author platform building. At conferences, everyone attends the platform building session. There are online classes on it on Writer’s Digest, Media Bistro and Pennwriters Online, to name a few.

And agents weigh in on it’s importance on their own blogs and in agent chats.

So everyone’s talking about it. But not everyone agrees that it’s a good thing. Some say that the author platform is the single most important investment of time and resources a writer needs to expend. These people are usually selling something. Others say that the only thing that a writer should do is write – the rest is someone else’s job. These people are usually living in their dad’s basement watching too much Comedy Central.

So here are the pros and cons as I see it.

Pros:

Learning
If you are a newbie, or you are newly committed to making writing a priority, having a blog (and following other blogs) tweeting, facebooking, google+ and whatever else the evil geniuses come up with - it's all good. It will all add to your knowledge of the industry and other writers. 

You're name in lights! 
You can be googled (for more than your lame tumblr pics). An agent who requests pages, or who just likes the sound of your query can find you online and see  that you are engaged in a professional way.

Discover your voice
Nothing begets writing like writing. How you communicate across your platform says a lot about you. I don't mean that your writing voice needs to match your author platform voice, not at all. But it's another way to develop your professional 'writer's' voice.

Community
Whether it's feedback on your writing, your query letters, your synopsis – or your new haircut, there are voices out there that are listening. You may feel like you are in your cubicle, closet or bathroom, typing away in solitude, but you're not. 

Cons:
Learning

What you are learning is subjective, sometimes inaccurate and often contradictory. You can't swallow it whole, you can't agree with everything or you will go mad. You need to develop discernment pretty sharpish. 
Your Name in Lights!
And your bitchy book reviews, your f-bombs, your semi-naked new year's photos. You need to be careful of what you put out there.

Discover your voice
And it's scratchy and unappealing. You sound like a teenaged seal with croup. What I mean is that you need to discover and hone your voice. And, just like in your writing you need to edit.

Community
You’re preaching to the choir. Most of your followers are other writers, not (necessarily) your reader sweet spot. Are you gaining an audience or just hanging out with other writers waiting for a reader to walk by? (I know, writers are readers.)
And the biggest con?

Time spent shoring up the platform is time NOT spent writing.


But I think that time spent thinking of writing can be just as important as writing.

Do I have to be the cornball to say it? A platform can easily be turned into a bridge (geddit?)

So, what do you think? Author platform, hype, essential or somewhere in between?

S is for Social Network

And for Sufjan Stevens

Well, the sprogs are in bed and I'm finally able to squeeze out this (belated) blog post. I'm not even sure I should have done it, but the great-god Nathan Bransford suggested it and I'm nothing if not slavishly devoted to NB. What am I talking about?

Facebook.

I'm on Facebook already as a human of course, I'm not a complete luddite. But as a writer, um, no. Firstly because it never occurred to me until I read Nathan's post from back in February, but also because it seems kinda ridiculous to create a fan page for myself. What is there to be a fan of except my NaNoWriMo win and the fact that I keep plugging away at this writing business like the worst of both worlds Sysiphus and Prometheus combo (And yes, I often think revising feels like eagles are pecking out my liver, you?)

But I keep hearing about brand building and author platforms.  I wish that platform was a wooden 4x4 perched high atop a pool on Coney Island that I'm about to horse dive into instead of the marketing tool it is - horse diving would be much less scary.

There is a small part of me that says "Baaa! Stop being a sheep! Just because people say you have to do this thing doesn't mean you have to do it. You can go at your own pace, do what you think is best, you know, you could grow a spine." But then I remember the 'sustainable writing life' I'm building and I'm determined all over again to do everything I can to give it my best shot. Everything that's seemly, of course. I won't be horse-diving in a bikini. I'll have a one piece on. Maybe a Muumuu too.

For now, I've created an author facebook page here and put some stuff on it. It may become an orphaned page if I can't keep it up. We'll see.

What do you do to build your platform and what won't you do? What helps and what hurts and what is way too much effort?