Platform and Social Media Must Not Be Your Center

The Writer's Workout

Today’s post is excerpted from The Writer’s Workout: 366 Tips, Tasks, & Techniques From Your Writing Career Coach (Writer’s Digest, 2011) by Christina Katz.


With so much emphasis on the social networking aspects of creative careers these days, you might expect an expert on author platform building to promote an extremely social approach. But I focus on the creative person as an expressive individual instead. I want to help you cultivate creative confidence and express literary ability through writing. This is what belongs at the center of your writing career. Period. Here are three tips on author platform that give you an idea of my philosophy.

1. Eschew Branding

The second you put “my brand” at the center of your writing career is the second you suck all the air right out of your creative process. Many preach the gospel of branding for the benefit of creating fans, but from the perspective of creating, branding is the kiss of death.

Being a brand is like having to walk around wearing a sandwich board. No sooner do you become a brand and it’s going to get old, bring you down, weigh heavy on your creativity, and potentially even hurt business.

So don’t let those who insist that writers brand themselves take away the expressive, evolving pleasure of your natural dynamic and turn it into something packaged, phony, and forced.

As soon as you feel like you can’t follow your creative spark, you are going to wonder why all the branding baloney being served up all over the place ever sounded like a good idea.

Put your natural creative dynamic at the center of your writing career and you will soon wonder how you became so engaged, prolific, and productive. Your career will evolve naturally, unhindered by labels. Most importantly, you will be able to serve your audience and grow in a natural way.

2. Maybe You Should Work on Your Platform Later

Are you eternally frustrated by the siren calls to hurry up and build your platform before you’ve had a chance to find your legs as a writer?

Forget that nonsense! Find your writing legs first and work on your platform later, when the timing feels right to you.

There is only one logical time to start working on your platform and that is when you feel moved to do so. Even if you are the most reclusive writer in town, I believe that you know on an intuitive level when the time is right to start ramping up your platform.

The right timing usually coincides with the desire to take your work public. But don’t forget to give yourself time to adjust to the learning curve. Just because we decide we are ready to learn about something, it still takes time to absorb and apply all the lessons.

When I built my platform in advance of my first book deal, nobody told me to do it. I did it because it was a natural part of my creative momentum. What was bubbling up inside was ready to come out and be shared. I was seeking and building an audience intuitively.

Would it help your writing to shut out all of the yammer and calls to action that can be found everywhere and that only serve to throw you off your game?

Now that we have the Internet, we had better get used to the chronic calls to action. And we better get used to ignoring all but the quality messages we don’t want to miss.

Because the alternative is living in a constant state of overwhelm.

3. You Should Not Be  Constantly Available or Accessible

For writers, social networking represents excellent opportunities. We can poll our networks, create hubs of students, and participate in a virtual roundtable discussion that never could have happened in the past.

There are benefits for our networks, as well. They can connect with people whose work they admire and discover what they are actually like in real life. For example, if you are my friend on Facebook right now, you know my husband is directing a musical, my daughter is playing her first leading role, and that I am very busy writing this book on top of my regular teaching and writing load.

But what I’m not is constantly accessible because if I were constantly available I would not be able to run my writing career. Instead, I use social networking as a way to be in touch with those I want to connect with without taking on any pressure in the relationship to perform tasks or accommodate behavior I did not explicitly intend or invite.

I do not follow the advice of marketing gurus, who might advise me to milk every ounce of tolerance out of my network of friends and followers. Instead my behavior is professional and consistent, while occasionally sharing some of my personal life plus some of my offerings.

I use the Internet as a tool to connect with others where we can hang out, take a break, blow off steam, vent, and find refreshment. And that’s why I don’t get sick of it, because I don’t abuse it or worship it. I see social networking as a tool that we are very fortunate to have.

Social networking is a place to chat, to share, to decompress—and the folks who want to turn this lovely water-cooler break into a constant marketing machine are going to wear out its good graces.

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Catherine Johnson

You really hit the nail on the head with ‘chronic calls to action’. What a great post, thank you!

Anonymous

Thanks, Catharine. 🙂

Ian D. Smith

Thanks for this information. This is very interesting. Marketing is in the forefront of my mind at the moment. I uploaded my unpublished novel Tiger Hugs on the Harper Collins site authonomy. It was hard to raise its profile, and I felt alone and alienated in there. Until I started posting one sentence titles on the moral purpose of my novel to the Shameless Plug forum. I guessed that the forum was occupied by bullies, and that other less confident folk were looking in but not daring to contribute. 

So I now have a silent following who I connect with through my viral messages. The exposure’s inspired some negative comments, but mostly silence and a steady rise up the charts. It’s made me think about the nature of the web itself and how scared it makes people. As you say, silence isn’t a bad thing. Best wishes. – Ian

Anonymous

Thanks for sharing, Ian. And congrats on a positive response to sharing your work. 🙂

Two Pens

Disagree wildly about the idea that writers shouldn’t “brand” themselves. To brand oneself is to stand out from the crowd, to make oneself individual and different from all other writers. I agree that writing is first priority but to say that writers don’t need an identity is foolish; how will the story that only you, as a writer can tell, be known as something a reader would want to read? Maybe it would help to think of the branding task as “identity building.” Companies have brands; writers have identities. If you as a writer are just a generalized person with a pen, you can’t build the audience you need for your work.

Anonymous

Oh my, I’m sorry, Two Pens, but I am chuckling at your comment. Not because I disagree, but because I am not sure you realize that I literally wrote a book about the very topic you are describing. It’s called Get Known Before the Book Deal, and it says basically what you are saying.

Jane’s post contains 3 out of 366 selections from the book. The selections Jane chose are in sequence but are completely out of their original context (in the remaining 363 chapters you will find plenty of discussion on writers and identity development).

Here’s how I feel in a nutshell about writers finding an identity:

Identitiy + writer = good

Branding + writer = uncomfortable box quickly outgrown

Teaching writers to “brand themselves” = teaching writers to put themselves into a box that they will eventually need to bust out of

That’s a gross, reductionist summary of my perspective on the topic, but hopefully it helps to explain where I am coming from and where I’ve come from. 🙂

Vicky Dreiling

Agree w/Two Pens. Having spent 10 years in corporate marketing, I know the importance of branding. Branding helps readers identify you as the author of certain types of books (genre) that appeal to a particular target market. If you write a book with no intention to market it, then this doesn’t apply. But make no mistake. If you write for publication, you are marketing a product. You can either do nothing and hope for the best or you can be smart about the process. I chose to be smart about it and sold the second book I wrote. 

Anonymous

Hi Vicky,
I think a writer can be smart without branding themselves too tidily and neatly. Sure a clear, contagious identity is helpful for selling books. But a hard-and-fast brand that is inflexible and can’t grow with your career is not only unnecessary, it’s expensive. Writers are better served by thinking about how to leverage the work they have done into their next step than by investing overly in “branding” the way corporations do it. Writers are not corporations with a view notable exceptions. We are “cottage industries” of one serving many readers. Serving readers is all the “branding” we need, for me.

Mari Adkins

“3. You Should Not Be  Constantly Available or Accessible” — exactly! people gripe because i don’t always leave twitter on or my email and don’t always answer my phone or texts. i don’t have to, and i’m not going to.

Anonymous

Sounds like it would creative suicide if you did. Congrats! I tackled a lot of tough topics in the book on boundary setting and partnering wisely that I’m sure will raise a lot of hackles…meanwhile I’m so much happier–and more creatively productive–with stronger boundaries than I had in the past. Let’s here it for writers having solid boundaries!

Anne R. Allen

What a breath of fresh air! I’ve been arguing for months with the agent dictum that no author should query without the equivalent of Justin Beiber’s Social Media stats and a platform that would made Lady Gaga envious. 

Learn to write really, really well. Find your voice. It takes at least 5 years. Worry about brands and sales later.

Anonymous

Thanks, Anne. I wrote about the distinction between voice and platform dynamic recently in my blog. I think a lot of writers think that voice and platform are the same thing, while of course they are not. And I agree with you that writing and developing that strong voice are central to any writers career, and without that crucial aspect in place, writers tend to really struggle and get lost in the agendas of others.

cast29

Christina, I totally agree with you.  It’s a lesson that many haven’t learned.  In the last blogfest I participated in, several of the bloggers did nothing but blast their promotion message on every participants’ blog.  No individual message, just the same one – visit me, follow me. 

It’s refreshing to hear someone who doesn’t advise writers to jump off the cliff and into the marketing pool before they know how to swim.

Now I’d like to look for your book.  Enjoyed this post!

My blog: http://dghudson-rainwriting.blogspot.com/ (DG Hudson – Rainforest Writing)

Anonymous

Thanks, DG. I’m against SPAM in any form…but I’m not against conscientious offering. When writers figure out the difference between the two, they tend to make sales. SPAM techniques, even if they work in the short run, are going to undermine a career in the long run. And that’s always unfortunate.

Anonymous

Thanks so much to Jane and her amazing curating skills that created this post. These are actually three separate chapters that appear in a progression of 366 chapters. So, while they are out of context, the way Jane has juxtaposed them is fairly brilliant. Of course, I’m not surprised, I’m sure we all know how brilliant Jane is…and generous and patient and kind. Honored to be here, and grateful for Jane this Thanksgiving.

Victorianoe

Christina, you’ve hit the nail on the head once again, and I look forward to reading all 366 gems!
I had to go public early, to introduce my concept and create buzz (which I’ve done). The agents I pitched at WDC in January all liked the book idea, but wanted a stronger platform. Thanks to you and Dan Blank, I have one. but the book itself (and the two in the planning stages) comes first and foremost. Thanks!

Anonymous

Thanks, Viki. It’s hard to predict in advance how long a platform needs to ripen before a book deal becomes a possibility. But if you enjoy the journey, it won’t feel like work, right?

Victorianoe

Absolutely! I knew I needed certain components, and almost a year later, they’re all there (and then some). I have measurable successes that point to continued expansion of my platform. I can say ‘I’ve done this’ instead of ‘I’m going to do this’. Big difference, both in fact and in my confidence. It’s been hard work, but so gratifying to see the results. And yes, I do enjoy it!

Jonathan Gunson

Christine.
Are we in synch … cosmically speaking?
I’ve written a guide to Twitter for writer-type folks, and here’s quote from an early page: “… One cardinal rule before we go any further:  Your story must remain the main focus, not social media or building your ‘author brand’.  It’s always about the story. The brand will follow, and must remain a reflection, never your central author persona. Without your creative outpouring there is nothing.  In fact, I would rather you never used Twitter or built a social-media platform if there was the slightest chance it might take priority over writing.  It cannot, will not, must not.  The ultimate author’s strategy, without which none of the other strategies will work, is that it all starts with a great story.  There’s no way around it, the storyteller rules all.”  It seems we’re on the same page – as it were. My best as alwaysJonathan

Anonymous

Hi Jonathan,

LOL. What I really like is if we were ALL in synch–meaning all writers putting our names at the center of our platforms and viewing our platforms as a creative process that we grow just as we view our writing craft that way.

Looks like we do differ somewhat in point of view. You put “story” in the center and I put “writing” in the center. Not necessarily one story or even one great story, but a steady flow of writing across genres with the platform focus being the writers name rather than a brand.

For me, this kind of focus is what creates a prosperous, satisfied writer. Let me know if we are saying the same thing. 🙂

Jonathan Gunson

Hi Christina

I THINK we’re in accord: Our platform grows with us.

But ‘brand’ talk enrages me!  

Most people are confused about the meaning of ‘ brand’. Especially an ‘author brand’, which cannot be artificially constructed, like a ‘logo’ on a Shell gas station.   A brand is simply an enjoyable, unique experience, that people come to trust. It can be relied on to constantly reproduce that unique experience … yes?  

The bottom line is if an author focuses on story and writing, the ‘author brand’ will be created naturally.  That’s authenticity and trust.  Can’t be copied, bought, faked, counterfeited, or stolen.

But work is also required to build readership, to draw attention to an author’s work, to ignite word-of-mouth referral, and that’s where the author platform comes into play, as it grows contiguously with the writing. 

I suspect we are still in accord.

Jonathan

Cindy Huff

I agree! finding the balance between finding your writer legs and building a platform can get blurred. I have learned from a few people who have friended me on Facebook how not to build a platform. They are just obnoxious in their self-promoting. But others are so friendly and human in their posting that when they do mention a book or an article I want to check it out.