For years, authors wrote books so that publishers would give them a platform. That stopped working in the 1990s.

Nowadays, you’re expected to have a platform, before you approach a publisher. Therefore, in addition to writing a book, you’ve got to build a your platform…

Yes, I know. It’s hard, but it’s always been that way. When you write a book proposal, your marketing abilities and plans are a major part of it. If you don’t care about marketing, no publisher cares about you.

Marketing genius Seth Godin’s post is illuminating.

In Seth’s Blog: The platform vs. the eyeballs he says:

“Authors have traditionally relied on publishers to bring them readers. The author gives up the majority of the income and the publisher brings them the readers. But then you see someone like Frank at Post Secret who builds his own audience for his (sometimes nsfw) content. He owns a platform, it’s not something he rents. Now, using a publisher is a choice, not a necessity. Just about every successful author going forward (except for the lucky exceptions like Dan Brown) will own her own media channel.”

So build your platform. You may just find that you don’t need publishers at all, once you’ve done that.

Oops… the perils of bestsellerdom. You know you’ve hit the big time when you get sued.

Stephenie Meyer’s publisher denies ‘Breaking Dawn’ plagiarism claim | EW.com reports:

“Author Stephenie Meyer has been accused of plagiarizing small portions of Breaking Dawn, the fourth book in her Twilight series, from a novel called The Nocturne by Jordan Scott. “

Interesting snippet: “she (Jordan Scott) regularly posted passages and chapters on her web site, www.jordanscott.com”.

Does this mean you should forgo blogging to build your platform as you write your book?

NO. Blog your book — it’s the easiest way to build your platform.

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.