Marketing, marketing, marketing!
Monday, October 19th, 2009As if it’s not enough stress to carve out enough time in the day for writing, aspiring authors also have to research marketing opportunities and start to establish themselves in the webby-facebooky-myspacey-bloggosphere.
I know what you’re thinking; shouldn’t you have a book published before you start working on your marketing plan? And yes, I should, but it isn’t just the books you’re marketing, it’s also yourself, your image, your presence, etc. Look at how many authors are on Facebook and/or have webpages and/or blogs. Why does Malcolm Gladwell publish a bunch of essay in the New Yorker right before one of his books hit the shelves? Because he knows marketing, baby!
In nonfiction marketing discussions I forever hear the word “platform,” as in “what’s your platform?” I don’t know what my platform is, I just write, but sometimes I worry if maybe I should have a platform and then write from that. Am I waisting my time writing without a platform? Does that mean my book will never be published?
It’s enough stress to merit a visit to the doctor for a request of increased dosage in your anti-anxiety prescription. And then you come across something like today’s “Shouts & Murmurs” section in the New Yorker and realize that laughter is after all, the best medicine. I giggled for a long time after reading Ellis Weiner’s ”Subject: Our Marketing Plan.”
Enjoy!
