Still jazzed about the reception I received on July 17 from the Write Group (Montclair). Felt like a Homecoming to me. Only an hour to skim the surface of the “Just What is A Writer Platform?” And we did it!
WHAT IS A WRITER PLATFORM?
There have been many shifts and changes in how to define this kind of a platform. Jane Friedman has said it’s a difficult concept to explain because everyone defines it a little differently. To that I’d add the shifts and revisions in the last decade that publishing and social media have brought to the “construction” of a writer platform.
Bottom line – it still needs to be something you (the writer) can figuratively stand on and be visible. It needs to be big enough so stand out. Strong enough hold you up, functional enough be there but not in the way.
You need to know who you are (your platform’s foundation), what you offer your readers (your services), and they have to know you, maybe in person, and via a current online presence and *social media outlets, (the delivery method for your platform, aka Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, etc.)
So think – strong personal and literary content, usable information, professionally written and designed, and connected with social media networks. It’s organic in that it has to constantly change.
IT’S PERSONAL
Each person at each venue where I’ve presented this program has had something extra to add or subtract in defining their platform. And that is so cool. Because your platform is about you, what you offer your audience and how they can benefit from what you offer. It’s nails on a chalkboard when a writer offers their book to me for 99¢ and defines that as part of their platform. I’ll go for the book but I want to know more about the author, what else defines them as a qualified writer. If I go to their website and it’s informative, entertaining and grammatically correct, I’ll return for more.
THE WRITE GROUP of Montclair
I could write lots more about a platform, and probably will, but for now let me share the summary my Write Group colleague Karin Abarbanel gleaned from the hour and the extra time ten of us spent at a delicious lunch after the presentation. Her title: Only Connect.
Thank you, Karin. Succinct and informative as I’ve come to expect from your newsletters.
And thank you, Write Group members. Sharing is enjoyable. Being in the company of dedicated writers is always powerful and energizing.
More about a writer platform – click on “writer platform” in blog tags.
Ethel Lee-Miller blogs regularly about people, the power of words, and the writing life. She is the author of Thinking of Miller Place, and Seedlings, Stories of Relationships.
