Relationships are everything to a writer. As the old saying goes: “It’s who you know.” And who knows you.

If you have no editorial contacts at all, and are starting your career, your primary aim should be to build relationships.

When I started writing, around 30 years ago, I knew no one in publishing, and yet my first sale as a novelist was a series of romance novels to an English publisher. (I live in Australia.)

I did it one letter at a time. I wrote to publishers, and when the response was positive, sent requested material, usually a couple of chapters and a synopsis.

So start getting to know people. Send an email message. Send a letter. Create a Web site or a blog.

It all starts with you. Make contact, and before you know it, you’ll acknowledge the wisdom of “It’s who you know”.

There’s more to writing a book than writing a book. You need readers too.

Your readers are called your “platform”. If you’re a wise author, you’ll build your platform before, during, and after you write your book.

Do You Have a Purpose and Platform in Place? By Patricia L. Fry says: “As I’ve written many times in my books, hundreds of articles and my blog, your platform is your following, your way of attracting readers. Who needs a platform? Every author who wants to sell books. Think about it; if you want to buy a book on sports statistics, you would choose one written by someone with a track record in this topic, right? If you had to choose from a dozen novels, you’d probably pick the one by an author whose name you recognize. I would venture to guess that Rachel Ray and Paula Deen sell more foods and cooking books than any unknown cookbook author.”

Building your platform is also called – marketing your book.

If you’re new to publishing, you may not be aware of the vital role which marketing plays in selling your book to a publisher. You need to convince your publisher that you have a platform already, before the publisher will buy your book.

Unfortunately, some writers get this the wrong way round – they look on book publishing as a way of providing them with a platform to do something else: to coach, to build a career as a speaker, etc. It doesn’t happen.

You build your platform before, during and after you write your book with your marketing activities.

My ebook “You CAN Sell Your Writing Now: Marketing Skills For Writers” teaches you to become a successful marketer of your writing and your writing skill. You’ll discover how to build your platform in a fun way as you write your book. It’s essential that you learn to do this, if you want to become a successful, selling author.

Remember – you need readers.