Creative Platforming

In publishing, the evergreen issue of Author Platform is one more and more savvy writers are finally becoming familiar with. Ah yes, the P word. The very short and sweet definition of platform from a publishing perspective is how you reach your audience; columns, articles, journal pieces, newsletters, blogs, workshops and regular appearances on TV (or your own show!) are considered platform. Pick up a reputable publishing trade magazine and no doubt you’ll see a “how to” article on crafting a successful platform. Head to your local bookseller and you’ll find a few books on the hot topic. The bottom line is, if you want to attract an agent or editor’s attention, you must possess a strong platform, period! Clearly, I see aspiring authors are listening to this “must have platform” message when I scroll through their Facebook (or other social media) pages and read their status updates about their projects and blogs – another building block of the author platform. They’re certainly busy, alright.

Relatively new to the social media scene, I’m totally fascinated by how today’s author is using this tool as a means to promote their work and broaden their network and influence. Authors don’t just have a website anymore, as they did when I was agenting, they’re now updating their status (stati?) on several social media and professional networking sites. They’re blog, blog, blogging away. Some even have pages for the main characters of their books, which I find fascinating! What agent or editor wouldn’t love an already strong following of a character that hasn’t even been formally introduced to its book cover yet?! Brilliant! Caveat: You better make good on your promise of your exciting character and get that book published one way or another or suffer some very public professional humiliation not to mention loss of integrity.

Looking around my city, I see the majority of people’s attention turned downward to the glowing rectangle in their hands. Scrolling through scads of info, suddenly “more important” things are happening online in real time. We’re getting used to this, aren’t we? This new speed of instant connection, communication and gratification? Push button publishing is easy! Sweet validation!

So does all this super quick online activity affect the speed of successful platform building, which traditionally takes years to build? Amazon has so far successfully proven self publishing through e-books has saved many writers from years of traditional publishing anguish. Will we experience the same evolution in platform crafting?

I asked Glenn Yeffeth, Publisher at BenBella Books:

"Since an author's platform is so critical to their publishing success, how have writers become more creative with their platform building? How are you seeing writers use social media to boost their platform?"

GY: There has been an enormous amount of nonsense posted about social media and the need for a platform and I think this has taken a lot of writers in the wrong direction. So here are a few realities about social media and building a platform.

Your book has to be strong, original and fascinating to your target market. I see a lot of proposals by folks who seem to have put a lot more thought into their platform building activities than their book. Everything you do with platform building and social media is simply to light the kindling underneath the big logs – word of mouth. If your book isn’t great your social media efforts will be fairly pointless.

Having said that, using social media effectively takes as much effort and creativity as writing a book. It takes focus and passion. “Everyone should blog” is nonsense. Authors should blog if they have something unique to say and if they are prepared to invest years in building an audience. A platform transcends any given book; in fact it transcends books altogether. A strong platform drives opportunities for speaking, consulting, free-lancing, selling non-book products, career-enhancement, etc. Whipping up a platform for a book proposal is pretty much impossible. It takes time – calendar time as well as hours.

Figure out what you are really good at – speaking, television, essay writing, radio, short pithy blog posts, whatever – and what you really know a lot about and leverage these two things to build your platform. Focus is important, and don’t feel like you need to do everything. If twitter doesn’t fit your strengths, don’t tweet. Originality and creativity are less important than finding your strengths and focusing around them. Once you’ve done that, creativity will come a lot more readily.

TLC: So, dear writers, you may have more options and opportunity to connect than 10 years ago, but this new connection speed doesn’t necessarily change the speed or quality of platform building. It doesn’t mean your book will write itself, either (check out Inkygirl’s apropos cartoon, First Things First for some comic perspective). Take heed and take a breather – good books are still good books no matter the format. A well written book by an author who has taken years to build an impressive platform will still distinguish itself well above the slosh in the marketplace. And stellar platforms are built slower than you can say, What’s your status update?

Stay tuned this week for part two of Creative Platforming. Next up: Tips on Establishing Your Stellar Platform.

Your Exercise This Week: Do a little research on your favorite author (this century, please. Even more preferable, no later than the last 20 years). How did they get their start? How long did it take them to build their successful writing career? What was their first publishing success? What do they do (other than write books) that makes them uniquely qualified to be THE EXPERT in their field?

Have any platform building tips or success stories? Share them with the group! I want to hear all about it!

Have a fruitful day, writers!

Glenn Yeffeth is Publisher of BenBella Books. Before BenBella, Glenn was a corporate strategist and marketer who ran companies in Chicago, London and Dallas. BenBella Books, named after Glenn’s children Benjamin and Isabella, publishing boutique that aims to be the publisher of choice for a select group of authors who value personal attention, a partnership philosophy, flexibility and a creative approach to marketing. Glenn has an MBA in marketing and finance from the University of Chicago and a BA in history from Oberlin College.

Next Up on The Lit Coach's Guide

Next week Publisher Glenn Yeffeth from BenBella Books and I will discuss successful platforming strategies and why social media may not be right for every writer in Creative Platforming - a must read in today's "status update" age.

It's great to see so many new faces this week! Welcome! I'm glad you all are enjoying "Creating Your Original Voice" along with Marcela's fabulous tips! Thank you for all your positive feedback. Please do feel free to continue sharing your success tips and stories with the group.

Have a fruitful week, writers!
TLC



Photo by Beth Rigatuso of Catch Creative

Creating Your Original Voice

Several years ago when I was a hungry agent looking for edgy fiction, I responded in an interview on Webdelsol that I was looking for fiction writers with unique, powerful voices. I mentioned I was intrigued by Chuck Palahniuk’s work for its brave style...or something to that effect. That’s all it took. The floodgates opened and I was soon inundated with query letters and emails from writers whose style was “just like Chuck’s!" Since likening your style to another published author is fair game when it comes to pitching your work (as long as your pitch is original), I accepted several of these promising submissions. I soon read enough first chapters to know that while these authors were indeed fans of Chuck’s work (and don’t ask me why, but so too were they fans of Irvine Welsh, Hunter S. Thompson and Ginsberg), they were only writing “just like Chuck” and sadly not “just like John” or “just like Jenny." They hadn’t yet developed their own original voice. While writing in the same voice as your favorite author is a very helpful and popular work-shopping tool, this is something you do to strengthen your storytelling muscles, not become your favorite author.

But what’s a writer to do? Hundreds of books get published a year. There’s no such thing as an original voice let alone story, is there? How come you see scores of vampire and chicks- in- high heels books out there? Isn’t that the same thing? Not really. Those are hot genre trends not to be confused with an author’s original voice. I can guarantee you, Chuck is the only Chuck out there writing what he writes. Likewise with David Sedaris, James Patterson, Janet Evanovich and Anne Lamott. All of these writers have put in years of time, discipline, persistence and dedication to the craft, making their writing voice uniquely recognizable.

One of the first editors I met in New York made this point abundantly clear: tell me a good story! Don’t get caught up in a language that’s not your own, just tell a good story! That’s what Marcela Landres communicated very clearly to this fresh faced agent while we sat in her office at Simon and Schuster. Her passion for original yet commercially viable fiction was contagious! And she made it sound so easy! But you and I both know it’s not, when it comes down to you in front of your computer ready to write…a good story.

I knew Marcela was the perfect pro to bring in to this blogshop. I asked her:

TLC: As an editor, no doubt you've seen countless submissions from unpublished authors who want to be the next Candace Bushnell or Dan Brown. How can a beginning author find and promote their unique voice in the sea of commercial fiction published annually?

ML: To quote Ezra Pound, “Make it new.” When you read as many submissions as agents and editors do, you quickly realize most book ideas are not original. Stand out either by telling a new story, or telling an old story in a fresh way. Here’s how:

Read the competition.

The world doesn’t need another thriller—unless you write one with a cool twist. New York Times bestselling author Linda Castillo did just that with Sworn to Silence, a police procedural set in Amish country with a protagonist who was formerly Amish. How many other Amish thrillers can you name?

Publish before you are published.

Many a commercial fiction writer has launched her career by first publishing articles in newspapers and magazines. Case in point, Candace Bushnell wrote pieces about women, relationships, and dating as a freelancer for Mademoiselle, Self, and Esquire. Those gigs eventually lead to the New York Observer column that was the basis for the Sex in the City book--the rest is history. Her freelance articles and column served two purposes: they helped Bushnell hone her voice, and they established a following for her work.

Write what you know.

Regardless of whether you’re a cop, a chef, or a cubicle-dweller, your life can be fodder for your fiction. For example, Cathleen Schine was born in Westport, CT, and lives in New York City and Venice, CA—all pretty affluent places. What does this upper middle class author write about? Yep, upper middle class people. Schine does such a great job People magazine dubbed her “a modern-day Jewish Jane Austen.”

If you must write what you don’t know, research.

Jodi Picoult is a happily married mom of three teenagers who spends her days writing and caring for her family. She has not experienced most of the drama depicted in her work. How is she able to write about what she doesn’t know? Painstaking, thorough research. For Nineteen Minutes, a novel about a school shooting, Picoult: obtained previously unreleased material from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, which had investigated the Columbine shootings; interviewed a grief counselor who worked with the families who lost children at Columbine; met with two teachers who survived the shootings in Rocori, MN; and spoke with a young man whose friend died at a school shooting. Infuse your fiction with the authenticity that can only come from experience—if not your own, then someone else’s.

TLC: Learn from the masters. In many attempts to improve his vocabulary and rhetorical discipline, Benjamin Franklin used to outline and then attempt to copy articles he considered written above his talent. According to Franklin’s autobiography, his goal was to “capture the logic and emotion” of the articles he admired. He would then go back to review his work in comparison with the original author’s work, highlight his faults and correct them. This discipline would ultimately lead to Franklin’s publishing success!

Your Exercise This Week:

Fiction Writers: Think of your favorite book. I know it may seem sacrilegious, but imagine if it were YOU writing the same story, how would you change it? How would you make it your own? If I were to take this on, one of my all time favorite books, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven would take place in rural Iowa. I’ll leave it at that. If you’ve ever read Sherman Alexie and lived anywhere rural, you’ll understand.

Nonfiction Writers: Think of your favorite “how to” book - something that changed you and inspired you to action. How would you write it using your voice and insights? Would the text have a different feel? What new perspective could you offer to the original text? Maybe Dale Carnegie’s classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People becomes How to Win Friends and Influence People: Life Lessons from Sam’s Deli.

Have fun with this one!


Marcela Landres, author of the e-book How Editors Think: The Real Reason They Rejected You, publishes the award-winning e-zine Latinidad, and is an Editorial Consultant who helps writers get published by editing their work and educating them on the business side of publishing. A member of the Women’s Media Group, she has acted as a judge for the PEN/Beyond Margins Award, and was formerly an editor with Simon & Schuster.

Have any success stories or tips you'd like to share? I want to know! Email me at erin.reel@gmail.com.

Next Up on The Lit Coach's Guide

Editorial Consultant, Marcela Landres will be our guest expert next week on The Lit Coach’s Guide to The Writer’s Life. She'll share some valuable tips on how beginning authors can find and promote their unique voice in the sea of commercial fiction published annually. Ms. Landres, a former editor with Simon and Schuster, is the author of the must-read e-book, How Editors Think: The Real Reason They Rejected You.

Have a great week, writers!

TLC

A Creative Energy Makeover with Author and Musician, Mary Beth Maziarz

I’m no scientist. I walked past all those impressive buildings with equally impressive funded research programs on my college campus right into the modest touchy-feely-English-Majors-Only hall; but I do know about cause and effect. I know how one person in a bad mood effects those around them. I also know a thing or two about how not snapping out of a negative mental rut throws the brakes on some quality creativity time faster than a new James Patterson novel lands itself on The New York Times Bestseller List. And I do know reaching your own personal Creativity Nirvana has more to do with a blissfully clear mental state than the position of the stars.

Unless you’ve been hiding out the last several years, you know buzz words like, “law of attraction,” “The Secret,” and “What the Bleep Do We Know” have infiltrated the popular culture and have possibly made us think a little differently about energy – more specifically, high and low frequency vibrations. Simplified and on a physical level, the aforementioned suggest we emit high frequency vibes when we love, laugh, are open to enlightenment and other smile making things. Equally effective are low frequency vibes; we emit these vibes when we’re feeling depressed, grouchy, sad, angry, misanthropic or are employed by any other frown and growl inducing action. We send out these frequencies like a radio tower emits a signal and we receive or feel them from others, like a boat feels the ripple or wave from another boat’s nearby passage.

“Good, good, good, good vibrations”

What does all this science have to do with creativity? EVERYTHING! Try writing when you’re smack in the middle of being annoyed with someone. You’ll be left with an undisciplined rant only you care about. Conversely, try writing when you’re in the throes of lust. Seems like a great idea, right? Oh yeah, I’ve gone back to re-read something I thought was totally inspired by The Muse only to be left rolling my eyes at my over sentimental, gushy, purple prose. Yikes! While it’s important to feel these feelings and let them inspire us to artistic action, the work doesn’t end there. Before I head full steam into a writer’s workshop about the revision process, let’s get back to energy and its effects on creativity.

We’ve got author, critically acclaimed musician and creativity guru, Mary Beth Maziarz with us again this week as we continue to explore Creativity, this month’s writer’s virtue. I asked MB:

"In your book, Kick Ass Creativity: An Energy Makeover for Artists, Explorers, and Creative Professionals, you insightfully guide artists of all ilk, writers and creative professionals toward finding and directing their brilliant creative selves, cheering them all along the way toward taking action in realizing their dreams. The foundation of this enhanced creativity lies in positive energy. Describe to us how you guide artists toward identifying negative energy and how they can recycle it to positive energy."

MB: I love that you mention the concept of recycling, Erin. It IS recycling. Negative energy is powerful, and if we can redirect that power, it takes us where we want to go in life. Left to its own devices, I find that negative energy mostly just sends me to bed or the couch. And it would prefer that I bring a bag of chips.

The simplest way to notice if you’ve stirring around some negative energy is to listen to yourself. We reveal a lot when we talk to our partners and friends. If you frequently find yourself saying things that include the words “no / never / not” (along with their expanded forms “don’t / can’t / won’t / shouldn’t”), you’ve got some attention on limitations and resistance. You can turn this around by using your complaints and frustrations to help you define what it is you DO want, instead of what you don’t.

Do this by “flipping,” a technique where you shift your words around to reflect a positive outcome. For instance, if you notice yourself complaining that, “I never have time to get quality work done,” you can flip it to a positive desire: “I want to have plenty of time so I can do my best work.” It can be a little challenging at first, since declaring our desires usually includes a call to action. Yep. We might have to get resourceful or creative. We might need to ask for (and accept) help. It’s much easier to keep a helpless / martyr / victim thing going with some good old mopey complaining, but it won’t move you closer to what you really want.

I’m also a fan of just going ahead and feeling the feeling in order to help move negative energy through. When I’ve read books about positive thinking, there’s a part of me that resists the idea of constant positivity. Life has contrast. If we’re taking risks and putting ourselves out there, we may very likely come up against the occasional discomfort, pain, or frustration. Pretending these moments don’t exist (or instantly trying to talk yourself out of a being sad or mad) doesn’t feel authentic to me. It’s okay to be hurt. Feel it. Cry if you need to. Think about it. If you have someone in your life you find helpful with this kind of thing, talk with him or her. And then, when it starts to pass, let it leave. Some people hold onto their hurts with such tenacity; they expand on pain by incessantly talking about it, ruminating on it, working it into their art, journaling about it until it’s a huge part of their lives. Concentrate instead on being ready for the moment when something you find exciting or energizing dangles into your life – this is the time when negativity almost effortlessly dissolves. Think about moving toward things you want, not escaping those that you don’t.

TLC: I love that last line: move toward things you want, not escaping those that you don’t. I’ve seen, read and heard about too many artists who confuse pain with passion. Passion is the fuel that drives us forward on our creative journey; pain or negativity is an emotion that needs to be dealt with. To explore this more, visit this past blog…Write No Matter What.

MB: Exactly! Yes! Passion is the fuel. Pain, lust, freedom, worry -- these can be like flavors in our work, but not the animating force. Intention + action creates a super passionate foundation from which to work.

So, lastly, have a few “feel-good” tricks in your back pocket. Know the things that help you feel happy and grounded. If you want to get your mind off negative crap and into more fruitful territory, turn to one of these people, places, or activities where you’re relaxed and content. I like to cook – I find that the engagement of all my senses, along with a pleasing feeling that I’m nurturing my body and my family, help me shift into a better state of mind. I also like really hot baths, talking with my husband Mark on a walk, playing computer Scrabble, and having a nice glass of wine on the deck. There are about a magic dozen things I know I can turn to when things are rocky. I actually have a list, so when I’m unsure of what might make me feel better, I can just scan the list and pick one.

TLC: Time to release your inner Maria von Trapp! Keep a list, mental or post it, of your favorite happy-making things at the ready for the crummy days that inevitably pop up. My fail proof “feel good trick” is singing tunes from musicals. Jesus Christ Superstar, The Sound of Music and Oliver! are all faves.


MB: I love it! I am such a Sound of Music junkie, it's not even funny. . . perhaps we're harmonizing with each other across the country! Perfect use of the kind of stuff I mean, and we can all find the ones that really feel easy and light and fun for us. There are more ways to approach negative energy and put it to work for you – I delve into it pretty deeply in my book – but I hope this quickie intro course helps.

Happy creating, everybody!

TLC: Thank you, Mary Beth! You’ve given us a great start.

Again, writers, I urge you to read Kick Ass Creativity. I rarely promote another author’s work on my blog…instead, I like to explore and promote their paths to success and share those stories and tips with you, but I do strongly feel Mary Beth’s book is a step in the right direction if you’re looking to stock your powerful creative toolbox for the most successful writing career possible.

Your exercise this week: Reflect on MB’s statement as you practice flipping negative energy to good. “Think about moving toward things you want, not escaping those that you don’t.” What does this mean to you? Does it mean finally dealing with the stuff that’s bugging you? Does it mean tying up loose ends? Start consciously recycling all that bad energy to good and see where it takes you.

Have any success stories you’d like to share? Send them to erin.reel@gmail.com!



Would you like to explore one-on-one coaching opportunities to inspire action, boost productivity and remove challenging obstacles? Email me at erin.reel@gmail.com and let’s get started on your publishing success.

Next Up on The Lit Coach's Guide

Join us for the second installment of our two part blogshop series with Mary Beth Maziarz, author of Kick Ass Creativity: An Energy Makeover for Artists, Explorers and Creative Professionals. Next Monday we'll discuss how energy enhances or hinders Creativity, our virtue for the month. Maziarz will also share tips on how to shift low vibe negative energy into high vibe, creativity boosting energy.

Be sure to read Living the Creative Life, the first installment of this series, where Maziarz and I discuss and share tips on living the most productive creative life.

Have a great weekend!

TLC

Next Up on The Lit Coach's Guide

Author of Kick Ass Creativity: An Energy Makeover for Artists, Explorers and Creative Professionals and accomplished musician, Mary Beth Maziarz; and Editorial Consultant, Marcela Landres will stop by The Lit Coach’s Guide to The Writer’s Life in July to blogshop as Creativity is the writer’s virtue of the month.

In a two part blogshop, Mary Beth will discuss:

· The importance of clearing away toxic clutter for prime creative productivity.
· How to identify and shift negative energy to powerful positive energy.

Marcela, also a former editor with Simon and Schuster, will share with us:

· How a beginning author can find and promote their unique voice in the sea of commercial fiction published annually.

We’ll also discuss how to get creative with your platform building!

Happy Creative July!