Writing Platform Tips from Robert Lee Brewer
- At September 24, 2015
- By Jeannine Gailey
- In Blog
- 0
It’s turned to fall, and almost October, and time for the October Platform Challenge (which I am going to try to actually do this year! After all, what writer feels confident in their platform?)
It’s hosted by Robert Lee Brewer, a hard-working individual, editing everything from his Writer’s Digest blog posts to Poet’s Market and Writer’s Market. And here’s a short interview I did with him on the subject of platforms! (The full interview will appear in my upcoming book, PR for Poets!) So if you don’t know what a platform is, or you just want to learn more about how to increase your “reach,” read on!
Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community, which means he gets to help writers through several channels, including posting on the Poetic Asides and There Are No Rules WritersDigest.com blogs, editing WritersMarket.com and its free weekly e-newsletter, editing the Writer’s Market and Poet’s Market books, online webinars and tutorials, judging poetry contests, writing a poetry column in Writer’s Digest magazine, and much more. He’s also the author of Solving the World’s Problems. Follow him on Twitter @RobertLeeBrewer.
JHG: So many writers are freaked out by the word “platform,” maybe because it sounds too “business-y” or overwhelming to think about having a platform. How would you explain what a platform is to a writer new to this idea?
RLB: Platform is the quantifiable reach authors have to their target audience. So it could be followers on social media sites, subscribers to a newsletter or e-mail list, unique visitors to a blog, number of people who subscribe to a publication in which an author has a regular column, and so on. The idea is that authors have a better chance at selling more books if they have a bigger platform.
Of course, it can be misleading to think of it as merely a “numbers” game, because I would argue that 100 people who are willingly on a personal e-mail list are more valuable for selling books than 1,000 followers on Twitter. That’s because they’re more engaged.
JHG: If a poet has limited time, what parts of their platform do you think are the most important for them to focus on? Someone asked me recently at a class I was guest-teaching how many hours I spent weekly or monthly on online book promotion and platform work, and I couldn’t really estimate, as it has become so ingrained in my routine (blogging, Facebook, Twitter, web site work, sending out submissions and queries) which is really a little scary!
RLB: If a poet truly has limited time, I would argue that the poetry should come first. This is true, whether we’re talking platform or submitting to publications. That said, if poets don’t carve out a little time for submitting and platform, their work is likely to collect dust and never connect with readers. So what’s the most important for poets to focus upon?
It’s different for each person, but I think everyone can benefit from getting on some low impact social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. If used appropriately, poets can connect with other poets, publishers, and publications. It’s an easy way to make connections without a lot of commitment on the part of the poet.
After that, submitting work is probably the most important. Publication does two things for a poet: First, it puts a stamp of approval on the work from an objective editor; second, it helps the poet reach readers.
Having a website is important, because it’s a centralized piece of online real estate for an author that readers can turn to even as other platforms rise and fall.
Beyond that, I just encourage folks to try various things (blogging, podcasting, various social media sites, live events) to find what works for them. What works for one poet might not work for another. So there are best practices, but there’s also trial and error and experimentation.
JHG: Why do you provide space and encourage a platform challenge for writers? What are you hoping to help writers accomplish?
RLB: One of the cool things about my job is that I get to help writers achieve more success. I write articles, edit books, post on blogs, and so on, sure, but the main thing I do is help writers achieve more success. If I’m doing my job, then I expect writers to find success and want to build on that success by subscribing to the magazine, taking online courses, and buying books.
In regards to the platform challenge, I’m hoping to help writers challenge themselves to work at their writing platform with easy daily tasks that show what writers can do. And hopefully, they build upon that after the October challenge is over, and I’ll find out about various success stories for months and years after. That’s been my experience with other challenges I’ve hosted, whether they’re for building a writer platform or writing poetry.
And success stories always blow me away and inspire me to do more.
JHG: How do think poets in particular can help increase their “reach” by developing their platform? What would you say has been most surprising for you in terms of growing your poetry audiences?
RLB: I think blogging has really helped me. Social media sites have helped. Speaking at live events has helped too. As far as selling books, I’ve found that publishing new poems helps sell the old book.
It’s not a surprise anymore, but I think one thing I’ve learned as an author and through working in publishing is that numbers are helpful—but they don’t tell the whole story. An engaged audience that comments on a blog is more powerful than a bunch of “fans” on Facebook; an engaged e-mail list that buys new books is more valuable than a gazillion followers on Twitter. It’s not that a gazillion followers on Twitter is not valuable in its own right, but it’s a matter of how engaged the audience is.
JHG: Thanks Robert!