As a literary agent, I
routinely get asked which is more important platform or the quality of the
writing?
For writers who are looking
to get published, this is an important question to debate. It may be the most
important question.
The correct answer is not as
easy as it may seem. The winner of this important debate between platform and
writing ability can change more frequently than the tide. For the purposes of
this post, I will look at this great debate from a traditional publishing
perspective as it pertains to unpublished authors. For self-publishers, a
third-party candidate weighs into the equation—marketing/networking.
Unpublished Authors
 |
| No website. No Twitter, Not even Facebook... |
I have looked at a great
number of submissions from first-time/unpublished authors and wanted to scream
because their work was sooo good, but
they had zero platform. Zilch, nada, nothing.
No website. No Twitter. Not
even Facebook.
Sure these are extreme
examples, but I can’t sell books written by authors who have no platform. It’s
very difficult to sell books by authors with a small platform—many times near
impossible.
If you have an excellent
book and no platform, some agent may be able to sell your book, but your
success rate will be low and that path will be paved with a lot of rejection.
Writing is a Business
 |
| Your boo is your business. |
You have to remember, your
book is your business. It’s a
marketable and sellable product. To sell your book you need to have influence
enough to convince potential buyers to purchase your product. And you have to
understand that a real-world business with no influence doesn’t get sales,
because it has no platform.
If you owned a small
business with no buyer influence, would you risk going on the television show
Shark Tank and attempting to get billionaire investors?
No of course not.
Those billionaires would
tell you that you had no proof of concept. No sales potential.
It’s the same way with most
publishers. They want to see that the book has sales potential to an audience
or fan base that you are already connected with. Maybe through speaking,
YouTube, instructional classes, blogging, etc. and at the bare minimum they
want to see that you understand platform and you are actively working on
growing your writer’s platform.
As an unpublished writer, if
you want to sell your manuscript to a traditional publisher, you need to spend
60%+ of your time and effort building your platform. If it’s not your passion,
learn to love it. Learn to make platform-building part of your passion.
There is only one winner in
the debate between platform and writing ability as it pertains to an
unpublished author—platform.
TWEETABLE
Does Platform Trump #Writing Ability - Who Wins the Debate? @CyleYoung (Click to Tweet)
Cyle, Great post. Thank you for your honesty. I have learned first hand that platform trumps writing ability. When I pitched my book the agents wanted to know how many books I could sell. The number 5,000+ seemed to be the correct answer. Writing is a job not a hobby. I schedule time for platform building. I've also learned to get my name out there by writing articles for free.
ReplyDelete5,000 is a good number. :) More of course is always better.
DeleteA slightly different twist on this issue is whether platform trumps message. Too often (IMHO), the message is secondary to platform. That's why the market is cluttered with "fluff" stuff but little real substance. I often wonder how famous writers of yore, who by today's standards had no platform--but whose messages are recognized even today and whose books are still bestsellers--would manage in today's marketplace.
ReplyDeleteI wonder this also. I doubt some of them would be published today, solely based on platform alone. It's a sad thought, but living in today's society brings a wealth of opportunity for a writer to create platform and get their book or message an audience.
DeleteThank you for the encouragement! Working tirelessly on platform : )
ReplyDeleteHint: Mailing list is most important right now :)
DeleteEye opening! 60% of your time building your platform. It leaves me speechless trying to figure out how to revamp my time to consistently write, revise, and edit AND platform build). The keyword here is consistently.Time to get back to work on social media.
ReplyDeleteEye opening! 60% of your time building your platform. It leaves me speechless trying to figure out how to revamp my time to consistently write, revise, and edit AND platform build). The keyword here is consistently.Time to get back to work on social media.
ReplyDeleteEdie mentions often about taking a specific amount of time each day and setting it aside to build platform, that's a great method and a great way to start.
DeleteSomehow the fact that platform trumps writing ability brings to mind a quote by John MacArthur: "People no longer ask is it true, but does it work."
ReplyDeleteAmen to that!
DeleteMy husband says I'm a contrarian. My knee-jerk response to most things is to go the opposite direction. If the crowd is doing it, I don't want any part of it.
The problem is that I've been an artist for a lot longer than I've been writing and I KNOW that art is 20% creativity and 80% marketing. The same is true for any business.
My problem is that I spend so much time fretting over doing social media (or which avenues to use), that all creativity goes clean out the window. Platform may be important, but it's pointless if you have nothing to promote!
So I'm less interested in doing what's popular or what's seen to "work" than in finding the right mix for me, the books I write (and the art I make), and my overall goals.
Platform plays a big part in that.
Social media plays a very small part.
My suggestion is to learn everything possible from people who know the business (like Clyde and Edie), then analyze the information. Find the things that work for you, change them as appropriate, and don't stress about the rest.
That quote is so true in today's world!
DeleteCarrie, I like that you are finding the right mix for you in percentages. :)
DeleteI see big name women leaders saying, "Stop trying to build platform...." I get it, we need to concentrate on our audience needs. But if I don't do the work of platform, I won't have an audience.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, remember those big name leaders already have a platform, so sometimes we must take that into perspective. If we don't have a platform, we must build one through diligent and relentless perseverance. :)
DeleteSo keep building that audience. :)
Jeff you ask a good question. It's short, but it's not a short answer. I'm going to list some blog posts at the end of this reply, but here's my short answer.
ReplyDeleteFirst, people don't follow us because we have things published. They follow us because we have something interesting to share. An author has to be truly famous before they begin to pick up followers because they write books.
I built this blog and my platform years before I had a book published. I got that first book published because it was good AND because I had a solid platform.
Here are some posts about platform building:
http://thewriteconversation.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-basics-of-building-author-platform.html
http://thewriteconversation.blogspot.com/2015/09/so-what-do-i-blog-about.html
This post is the last one in a series on building a social media platform:
http://thewriteconversation.blogspot.com/2015/08/do-you-have-unrealistic-expectations.html
I hope this helps! Blessings, E