Christina Katz:Top Platform Mistakes Writers Make, Pt 2
May 15, 2009
Yesterday, we talked about how even the best books have a hard time getting sold without a platform. Today, Christina Katz shares some of the common pitfalls writers fall into.
Q: At the front of Get Known, you discuss four phases of the authoring process. What are they?
CK: First comes the platform development and building phase. Second comes the book proposal development phase (or if you are writing fiction, the book-writing phase). Third, comes the actual writing of the book (for fiction writers this is likely the re-writing of the book). And finally, once the book is published, comes the book marketing and promoting phase.
Many first-time authors scramble once they get a book deal if they haven’t done a thorough job on the platform development phase. Writers who already have a platform have influence with a fan base, and they can leverage that influence no matter what kind of book they write. Writing a book is a lot easier if you are not struggling to find readers for the book at the same time. Again, agents and editors have known this for a long time.
Q: What are some common platform mistakes writers make?
CK: Here are a few:
• They don’t spend time clarifying who they are to others.
• They don’t zoom in specifically on what they offer.
• They confuse socializing with platform development.
• They think about themselves too much and their audience not enough.
• They don’t precisely articulate all they offer so others get it immediately.
• They don’t create a plan before they jump online.
• They undervalue the platform they already have.
• They are overconfident and think they have a solid platform when they have only made a beginning.
• They become exhausted from trying to figure out platform as they go.
• They pay for “insider secrets” instead of trusting their own instincts.
• They blog like crazy for six months and then look at their bank accounts and abandon the process as going nowhere.
I’ll stop there. Suffice it to say that many writers promise publishers they have the ability to make readers seek out and purchase their book. But when it comes time to demonstrate this ability, they can’t deliver.
My mission is to empower writers to be 100 percent responsible for their writing career success and stop looking to others to do their promotional work for them. Get Known shows writers of every stripe how to become the writer who can not only land a book deal, but also influence future readers to plunk down ten or twenty bucks to purchase their book. It all starts with a little preparation and planning. The rest unfolds from there.
Q: Couldn’t any author have written this book? Why you?
CK: I have built a career over the past decade empowering writers. I’ve developed and built my own platform as a writing-for-traditional-publication specialist, and I’ve worked with others as a writing and platform-development instructor. Many of the people I’ve been working with are landing book deals and while the other hundred-or-so writers I work with a year are developing their skills, I notice patterns of behavior—what leads to success, where writers get stuck, and how I can be helpful in these rapidly changing times in the industry.
I’ve witnessed too many writers, who were off to a great start, hopping online and quickly becoming very lost. I started to write about platform in Writer Mama, How To Raise A Writing Career Alongside Your Kids, but I quickly noticed that more details on platform development were desperately needed. My platform is based on helping others. I have a vested interest in seeing the people I work with—and those who read my book—succeed. Writers are my tribe.
Christina and I in NY- This is a woman who knows a lot about writing and publishing, and shares it very freely. If you ever get a chance to hang out, do it! She’s awesome.
Christina Katz is the author of Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform (Writer’s Digest Books). She started her platform “for fun” seven years ago and ended up on “Good Morning America.” Christina teaches e-courses on platform development and writing nonfiction for publication. Her students are published in national magazines and land agents and book deals. Christina has been encouraging reluctant platform builders via her e-zines for five years, has written hundreds of articles for national, regional, and online publications, and is a monthly columnist for the Willamette Writer. A popular speaker at writing conferences, writing programs, libraries, and bookstores, she hosts the Northwest Author Series in Wilsonville, Oregon. She is also the author of Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids (Writer’s Digest Books).
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May 15th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Love that pic. So rare to see busy moms in a moment of down time.
Happy weekend, dear. I’ll be happy to answer questions any time.
Christina Katz’s last blog post..Publishers & Agents Need to Partner with Writers for Our Future Mutual Success
May 15th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Thank you so much for all this information that I hadn’t even thought of before (I have to admit!). That is so true that so many people think they can also sell their book but when the presses stop and the book is out, many fail. Looking forward reading Christina’s book and learning more details like how long it takes time to build your platform and the best practices. I think I personally probably would have the biggest challenge to zoom in and specify who and what I offer – I would love to learn more how to do that.
Katja’s last blog post..Matthew Williamson’s collection at H&M
May 15th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I’ve never been able to get a good answer on this so maybe you can help? What could an author expect to see (monetarily) from writing their first book if they do indeed get published. I know it depends but is there any kind of a ballpark range you should look for regarding an advance?
Jenny, bloggess’s last blog post..My readers are occasionally more fucked up than me and that’s why I love them so damn much
May 15th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Some bloggers have recently re-packaged posts into book content. Is this to reach a new audience other than their readership or is target audience of the book the blog’s readers? How much new content should be created to keep the book fresh and different than what is readily available (and free) online?
Thank you for doing this!
JessicaAPISS’s last blog post..APISS in the Washington Post: National Children’s Museum Launch Zone in National Harbor
May 15th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
OK, so I’m a fiction writer with my first novel coming out early next year. It’s commercial — I’ve got the same editor as Jennifer Weiner (“In Her Shoes.”) What challenges does fiction present as opposed to non-fiction? And — alert! alert! wide-ranging unfocused question here! — how can I best use my limited time/energy (I’m a mom of 3 young ones) to build my platform in advance of my pub date?
May 15th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
How do you know if your platform is beginning, solid, or awesome?
May 15th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
oops, I screwed up my own URL! Now it should be correct.
Devra Renner’s last blog post..Mom’s Night Out Is Good Stuff
May 15th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Hi Jenny,
Okay, I’ll answer, but don’t shoot the messenger. Okay?
I think you should, in the big-picture, plan to break-even on your first book, no matter how much you earn from it. In other words, as a first-time author you would plan to invest back just as much money as you earn on your advance into platform development and book promotion.
I say this because it’s pretty much what happened with my first book and I think it was the right strategy.
Also, I want to emphasize that your earnings needn’t only come from your advance but from the reach and influence of your platform. So, therefore, advance and advance size are important indicators of how you know your going to invest back.
I mean, after taxes.
And don’t forget to track your expenses religiously so you can write them all off.
Others to read on this topic are JA Konrath, Allison Winn Scotch, and the recent NYT Bestselling author who posted the earnings on her royalty statement (can’t think of her name offhand).
I’m committed to keeping things real for writers, so I’ll also add that advance payments are down right now over a year or two ago. So don’t write for that first advance payment. Write b/c you are a professional who is in this for the long haul.
Hope that’s helpful and not discouraging.
Christina Katz’s last blog post..The Writer’s Digest Conference: The Business of Getting Published
May 15th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Jessica asked: Some bloggers have recently re-packaged posts into book content. Is this to reach a new audience other than their readership or is target audience of the book the blog’s readers? How much new content should be created to keep the book fresh and different than what is readily available (and free) online?
Well, it’s hard for me to know what their intentions were or what the success rate is in terms of turning posts into books, but I’ll take a stab at it. I think it would be smart to do it both to reach a new audience and to invite existing readership to recommend it to folks who aren’t going to get it from the blog. Whether or not they will be successful or make money selling books is a totally different issue. I’m not sure it merely comes down to how much is new content and how much is fresh, or even how it is available, as much as I think it comes down to knowing what specific kind of readers want and giving the content to them the way they want it.
On the one hand, a blogger has absolutely nothing to lose by repackaging blog content and putting it into book form. On the other hand, why not go to the existing readers and poll them? They should have some good insights into whether or not the content is going to fly in other formats. And while polling them, why not see what else you can offer them, because THAT might be an opportunity to create a book or e-book that will actually reach not only them but also a bigger audience.
I think successful books happen at the intersection of audience need and author generosity. So, figure that out for yourself, and you’ve got your book. Because you can’t borrow somebody else’s influence, if you don’t have the same influence. But you can always go to your readers and start asking them questions and generating the content that offers them what they are asking for. A successful author has a sixth sense for this kind of alchemy. As soon as you start focusing too much on what you’ve already written…the energy just kind of deflates out of the process.
Christina Katz’s last blog post..The Writer’s Digest Conference: The Business of Getting Published
May 15th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Sarah asked: OK, so I’m a fiction writer with my first novel coming out early next year. It’s commercial — I’ve got the same editor as Jennifer Weiner (”In Her Shoes.”) What challenges does fiction present as opposed to non-fiction? And — alert! alert! wide-ranging unfocused question here! — how can I best use my limited time/energy (I’m a mom of 3 young ones) to build my platform in advance of my pub date?
Congratulations on your book!
Book promotion presents tons of challenges, no matter what genre you write/publish in. It is a good idea to pick the brains of some fiction writers you know who have had the kind of success you’d like to have if at all possible. That kind of insight is worth its weight in gold.
I recommend you get a publicist. Why? You have three young kids. You are going to need a team of support. The publicist can focus on traditional media while you focus on social networking from home.
In Get Known, I have an entire chapter on how to “spoke off” ideas to reach out to your audience. It’s also in the current issue of Writer’s Digest. I’d use that and brainstorm some possible topics you might write about or blog about.
Start assembling that team of book promotion support NOW. And create a count-down book marketing plan to go with your launch date.
A lot of your success will be determined by what you accomplish before you actual launch date.
I hope you already knew all of this stuff. So we’re not back to shooting the good ol’ messenger.
Christina Katz’s last blog post..The Writer’s Digest Conference: The Business of Getting Published
May 15th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Devra asked: How do you know if your platform is beginning, solid, or awesome?
Thank you so much for asking this question. I am often asked to assess people’s platform development and I don’t think they realize that it would take a fairly sophisticated analysis on my part. And that I’m unlikely to be able to drop everything and perform the research for them.
Let’s look for some indicators of awesomeness:
You are not just visible and known, you are influential over your audience. In other words, you ask them to act or respond and they do.
If you have a book, it has strong word of mouth and sells steadily. Readers are eagerly looking forward to what you are going to offer next.
You are constantly attracting new audience members, testimonials of your effectiveness, offers for appearances or side work based on your platform.
You take 100% responsibility for your career and you are steering the “ship” where you plan for it to go. Not just waiting to be discovered or hoping for big book sales as the central principle of what you have to offer.
You are perceived as a “force” of whatever is the central premise or thrust of your work. When there is a gathering of your people, your name is brought up and discussed.
Your work is vital, contagious, viral and gets spread…because you are constantly revisioning and reaching out towards new and better opportunities for your career.
That was fun. Is it helpful?
Christina Katz’s last blog post..The Writer’s Digest Conference: The Business of Getting Published
May 15th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Hi Christina — great series here, thanks for the info! (And thanks to Lindsay for bringing it to us.)
Question: Though I’ve been blogging and working in social media for a couple years, I am the beginner of beginners when it comes to traditional publishing. I’m looking to write and publish more fiction. Platform development and non-fiction seem like a natural fit, but I’m struggling to see the connection between platform development and fiction. Can you offer some tips or examples?
Side note: I’m not a mom, but I am writing on top of my full-time job, so any time management/discipline tips a la Sarah’s question above would be wonderful!
Thank you in advance, Christina!
Julia Rocchi’s last blog post..To my brother on his graduation
May 15th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Christina:
What’s the first, basic advice you’d give to the mom who thinks she can write (but isn’t even sure of that) and can’t seem to force herself to sit down and do it in between the demands of daily life and constant distractions? Is a blog the answer?
Thanks for any advice,
Complaining-can’t-get-started-Amanda
May 15th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
I would send that writer mama a copy of my book by the same name.
Snail mail me your address (writermama@earthlink.net), Amanda.
Unless you’ve got my book already…I have to go to the post office on Monday.
May 16th, 2009 at 12:32 am
Julia asked: Though I’ve been blogging and working in social media for a couple years, I am the beginner of beginners when it comes to traditional publishing. I’m looking to write and publish more fiction. Platform development and non-fiction seem like a natural fit, but I’m struggling to see the connection between platform development and fiction. Can you offer some tips or examples?
The thing about fiction, like many kinds of writing, is that you really can’t afford to skimp on the quality of the writing. So, in this case, emphasis comes on craft, first and then you’ve still got to sell the words. There really is no substitute for those skills.
The good news is, after you’ve worked on craft and sales skills, you’ll have a marketing edge with your social media experience. You’ll need to name and claim your platform as a fiction writer, if you haven’t already (and you’d be amazed by how many writers get stuck at this juncture), then you’ll want to “spoke” from your published work into more topics and themes that echo back to you fiction.
Do you have the latest issue of Writer’s Digest by any chance? Cuz my chapter on how to do this is excerpted in there. But basically, I’m saying that part comes last anyway.
Does this make sense? What you are used to doing first will probably come last as a fiction writer. But you’ll still need to do a whole lot of it.
Christina Katz’s last blog post..The Writer’s Digest Conference: The Business of Getting Published
May 16th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Hi Christina! Thanks for answering some questions — this is so cool of you!
I wanted to ask you about the proposal process…
When a writer writes a proposal… is it expected that the writer has to stay on course with it. Is it something that can be changed and altered as the book progresses? I have always kind of viewed the proposal as the equivalent of a “business plan”… am I right in this assumption?
I’m new to the writing world… and want to make sure I follow the proper steps.
Thanks!
Audrey
May 16th, 2009 at 11:22 am
I’m considering writing a cookbook, including cowboy stories and my ‘cooking on the ranch’ stories. Should writing a cookbook be approached different than a regular book? How do I know if it’s something that would be well received? (the niche of the cookbook that is).
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer everyone’s questions! It’s very much appreciated.
Lori aka A Cowboy’s Wife’s last blog post..A Blogger’s Will – Preparing Your Blog for Your Death
May 17th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Thanks so much, Christina! Excellent advice and I plan to take it. And this circles back to your earlier point, that authors need to plow their advances back into furthering their careers. I definitely plan to use some of my advance for things like a publicist, an upcoming trip to New York to mingle and make contacts at Book Expo America, etc. I’m really glad to have someone with your expertise validate this!
xo, S
May 17th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Hi Christina,
I’m incredibly impressed with how accessible you are. That’s not a question, just a statement.
A friend of mine took one of your “how to pitch” classes and hasn’t stopped talking about it. My first question is, do you plan to teach another one in the near future? I think I could use it.
My second question is (and forgive me if you’ve already answered it, I’ve been on the road and am only now getting the chance to catch up on this blog), what is the benefit of hiring an agent? Is it worth it? Or is it better to put the time into a book proposal?
maggie, dammit’s last blog post..I don’t do this very often, but…. “HOMEWORK”
May 18th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Hey, Christina.
You mentioned the author who broke down her royalty statement — that’s Lynn Viehl, who blogs as paperback writer.
As far as platform… we should talk. I am definitely in a unique situation.
Susan Helene Gottfried’s last blog post..Springer Fiction: Buying Tickets
May 18th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
I’ll try a quick group response this time, cuz I’m on deadlines. Thanks, in advance for understanding!
Audrey, yes, your book proposal is basically a business/marketing plan for you book that shows agents and publishers your book concept is in the marketplace. Expect to commit a great deal of energy to the proposal creation (yesterday expert Elizabeth Lyon said expect it to take 120 hours to create), then expect to stay with the writing/promotion process for at least three years.
Lori, why not interview some cookbook authors to find out what they have to say in response to your specific questions about cookbook writing? There is a book on the topic my friend Kati recommended. Her name is Kati Neville and her book is Fix, Freeze, Feast. I’m sure she’d love to be interviewed. Her book is a big seller!
Very smart, Sarah. Look for me at BEA. I’ll be there. Do you know about the Writer’s Digest Conference on Wednesday before BEA…? Google it for more info if you are interested.
Hi Maggie, thanks for the compliment. Who’s your friend? I always like to know who is saying nice things about me. I’ll be teaching pitching practice again this fall. Go to http://christinakatz.com for a complete listing of my fall classes.
As far as the agent questions goes, it’s really a non-issue UNTIL you have a platform and a proposal. So work on those first and then you can line up the agents you want to pitch, if you choose to have one. Do I think you should? Yes. I do.
Thanks, Susan, for the shout out for Lynn Viehl. It was lazy of me not to Google it. The Internet is making us all lazy! I try to fight that in my work but fall prey to it myself sometimes…especially on gorgeous spring days like today.
Thanks for all of your questions! It’s been a blast being here! If you don’t already subscribe, I’m always rambling at http://getknownbeforethebookdeal.typepad.com.
Christina Katz’s last blog post..The Writer’s Digest Conference: The Business of Getting Published
May 20th, 2009 at 3:20 am
GAH!! You met Christina?? I’m now officially jealous of you on every stinking level. What. Ever.
In all seriousness… awesome… thanks for sharing The Writer Mama’s wisdom with us.
Sugar Jones’s last blog post..When The Pilot’s Away…
June 11th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Cinthya, R U following me around???
Christina Katz’s last blog post..I Just Started #Platformchat on Twitter