5 Excellent Tips for Platform Building

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This past weekend, I had the honor of keynoting the Writers'
League of Texas Agents Conference in Austin.




During that weekend, I also had the opportunity to hear some wonderful advice from
other publishing experts. Here's some excellent online marketing advice I heard. All
are direct quotes unless in brackets.






1. On using (or figuring out) Twitter

Agent Susan Schulman:
At first I [wasn't] very good as a tweeter. I didn't have a voice. But I have since
developed my voice.




The agency made a huge leap by setting up TweetDeck [to
help filter tweets]. I follow my clients so I know where they are or what they're
doing. With fiction writers I can tell what their mood is [on Twitter], which is very
helpful, just in terms of monitoring the client and working with the person on their
career.




I have changed my business model to focus on digital rights development. So I'm going
to be tweeting in a very select area where I can make a contribution. I really want
to speak about the threat to intellectual rights and copyright, and little else. That's
a place where I can make a difference in the market.



Emily Griffin (Grand Central
editor) later said, when addressing the time considerations of using Twitter,
or any social media channel: "When you find your voice, you'll find the time."

2. On using social media for marketing and publicity

Marika Flatt (PR
By the Book): There are so many applications to Twitter in terms of book publicity—in
terms of getting our name out there and getting our clients' name out there as well.



We have several new media relationships because of Twitter. We might not be able to
get someone's attention via e-mail, but on Twitter we can get a response back right
away.



In publicity, it's all about relationships. It's not about e-mail blasting, it's ALL
about the relationship and how you can creatively deliver a story idea that's going
to work for that person. If you take the time to slow down, respond to that person,
think about how you might be able to help them now or down the road, you'll see it
paying off. I was skeptical at first, but I'm not any more.

Rusty
Shelton added: Twitter is a way for people to stay connected to you
over the long term. When you tweet at a conference like this, you're not just tweeting
to people in the room, but there are people around the country following the hashtag.
So when you're on Twitter, in many ways you're becoming a media outlet yourself. You
have certain people that trust you to provide info on YA or whatever it might be.
Don't take that lightly. Think about the power of social media in terms of the relationships
that it can really build for you.

3. On the (un)importance of a novelist's credentials
or platform

Griffin:
There are times people are concerned they don't have an MFA, fellowship, or prior
credits … It really depends on the read. It doesn't depend on platform. That said
… in terms of getting praise for the back jacket, it helps when you have contacts.
It can be helpful down the line, but in general it all depends on the read.



[That said, Emily recommends reading up on Lisa
Genova, a great success story for marketing fiction. She has a nonfiction platform
that ties into her novel. For the vast majority of fiction pitches, Emily doesn't
need to hear anything unless there's a real publicity hook.]



Schulman: In every novel
I've represented that became a bestseller, no author had a platform. If there is absolutely
no platform, no credits, no degrees, if the story is well written, most agents have
an open, receptive attitude toward that message, toward that connection.



[However, Susan later emphasized that for nonfiction authors, marketing is paramount.
Publishers are looking at the platform before they're looking very closely at the
concept.]

4. On what a novelist can blog about (and
why)

Shelton: Think
about your blog as a relationship builder. You want to become a voice within your
genre. Could you do an interview every Wednesday with top 100 authors on Amazon in
your genre? This helps you build relationships with top novelists. You'll be amazed
what can come out of that.




Reviewing books in your genre is another thing you can do. Every author/agent/publicist
has a Google alert on every book they work on. If you write smart, interesting reviews
in a certain genre you are going to attract attention from the people you want to
build relationships with. …



Marika added, "Find your niche,
find where you want to be an influence."

5. Final best tip


I really loved this piece of encouragement from Rusty
Shelton, on your approach to social media or online engagement. So true!!

Don't start everywhere at once. Start with what
you truly enjoy. Pick 1 thing and try it for a little while, and if you're not really
enjoying it, look to something different. Otherwise, you won't find time (it'll feel
like work).

WLT runs a well-organized
show with top-notch programming. I highly recommend the event, and thank the board
and volunteers for being so welcoming and helpful the entire weekend!



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