When I saw author Chuck Wendig speak recently he said:

“Words such as PLATFORM don’t resonate with me because folks just want to write a good book. It’s not as if it is handed down to you from a platform, like Coke delivered it as a brand.”

While I have a deep respect for Chuck, that is not how I view what an author’s platform is, and today I want to explore why.

A platform is how you create new paths, new inspiration, new opportunities for others. And it is how your work does these things. Last week I experienced three platforms that did exactly this:

• I saw Seth Godin speak.
• I experienced the Creative Mornings meetup for the first time, hosted by Tina Roth Eisenberg.
• I took a tour of The High Line in New York City.

Each illustrated different ways that your platform is what you create in others, not just what you create for yourself. That platform is the myriad of ways that your books, your craft, your work has an effect in others. It is about what happens AFTER people read something you wrote.

Seth Godin

Seth is a wonderful speaker, and after years of reading his blogs, his blog, and even interviewing him myself, it was nice to see how his speaking style gelled with his larger platform.

What is Seth’s platform? Well, within it, he creates capacity in others. Sometimes he does that by inspiration, other times via practical processes to follow, creating products and services, still others by actually connecting one person to another.

In the talk, Seth described how your work is the heart of your platform. That when your work touches people, you are connected to them. He illustrated this by explaining how he came to be on the stage at that moment: he experienced the work of the event’s organizer Tina Roth Eisenberg, and through her work, felt connected to her.

He took it further and talked about the craft of platform, which is a concept core to my own work. Sharing your ideas, finding the right people that you will resonate with – that is the craft that Seth talked about. That you have to try ideas, understand who appreciates your work, and keep iterating.

You can see a video of Seth’s talk here.

Creative Mornings Meetup & Tina Roth Eisenberg

The event that Seth Spoke at is called Creative Mornings and is organized by Tina Roth Eisenberg and her team.

When you experience anything that Tina creates, you quickly realize that she connects people and empowers as the forefront of what she does. She also has a popular design blog, a shared workspace and two small startups.

The homepage for her shared workspace in Brooklyn is emblematic of this: below the header, the focus is entirely on the people working here and what they do.

What is Tina’s platform? It is how she communicates, how she connects, how she earns trust. And she offers many ways into these experiences, from her writing, to in-person events, to products & services, and so much more. Anytime someone mentions Tina to me, it is always gushing with how giving and amazing she is. How she has opened new doors and made people feel connected.

The High Line

I took a guided tour of The High Line in New York City last week from a friend who lives in the area and has watched how this elevated park has changed entire neighborhoods. The High Line is a 1.5 mile public park that was created on top of an abandoned elevated railroad line that cuts through the west side of Manhattan.

Walking the park gives you a completely unique view of New York city. You walk between buildings two stories up, through buildings, under buildings, all within what feels like a bubble of nature.

Why does this matter AT ALL in an article talking about the platform that a writer or create builds? Because The High Line’s effect was so much greater than just opening a park. Yes, The High Line is a destination in and of itself, but it has created so much growth for others:

• Development of former industrial areas. Some of these projects are huge, almost literally building entire new neighborhoods from scratch. Others are new buildings, new museums.
• It connects and extends already established neighborhoods.
• As you walk through the path, you notice what seemed like dozens of gardeners. I can tell you from decades of experience in NYC, it is astounding to consider that there are all these people gardening in what was formerly an abandoned industrial train line.
• There are the obvious other jobs created with Friends of the High Line.
• But mostly, it is the feeling of possibility and connection that you get when you walk the High Line.

Some photos from my walk:

I want to end with a quote from Aaron Dignan:

“A platform requires people are building upon it, changing it and shaping it”

While he was mostly talking about web platforms (such as Google or Twitter), the same ethos applies to the platform you craft as a writer or creator.

These are just some of the reasons why I never consider the concept of platform to include a stage – a separation or hierarchy between the creator and an audience. Instead, I view it in the ways described above – how we find ways to connect that bring us together and create new capacities.

And if you happen to be a writer interested in any of this – in crafting a meaningful platform for your work, please consider joining me in my 6-week online course which begins May 22: Build Your Author Platform.

Thanks!
-Dan

We are encouraged to always be thoughtful and engaged and caring.

To be inspired and fueled.

But as someone trying to create, I find that sometimes I need to shut off the depth. To forgive myself if I don’t feel inspired every moment of the day.

That sometimes, you have to shut off the thought.

Shut off consideration.

Shut off vision.

And just do the boring hard work even when I don’t feel inspired.

Just do the boring hard work, regardless of that tugging feeling in my gut questioning if it’s the right direction.

Just do the boring hard work when no one pays any attention.

Just do the boring hard work when I have zero motivation.

Just do the boring hard work – in rote, almost mindlessly – because that is the only way to keep momentum going.

I am not one to often recommend being mindless, to work without spirit. Because I have such as respect for being present. For caring. For giving.

But I find that the habits which create the foundation for creative work require me to show up.

Everyday.

On the wonderful days when my head is screaming “Yes!” And also on the apathetic days when my head is screaming “No!”

That there are only a certain number of fueled creative hours in a day. I have heard the number as three or five of these hours, but imagine it is different for everyone. And then so many hours left over which are filled with distraction.

The hours where it becomes easier to check email, to check social media. To want to react rather than create. Because reaction removes the need for initiative.

As I speak to more and more people who are mid-life, mid-career, and fighting hard to turn creative vision into reality, I am coming to a conclusion: That oftentimes we fail creatively because we don’t work when we don’t feel creative. Because we only want to work if we are convinced of the vision at every moment. If the world validates our ideas at every moment.

And that is rarely the case.

Okay, back to work…

In this FREE one-hour webinar, I will share my best advice for building your author platform based on my experience of working with HUNDREDS of writers, including bestselling authors. I review the habits you NEED to develop in order to find success.

I dig into the hard stuff, the nuts and bolts of what it means to be an author who is actively developing your audience. If you want some sounds-to-good-to-be-true snake oil, look elsewhere. If you are a writer serious about moving your career forward, this free webinar is for you.

BONUS: WIN A 5-MINUTE AUTHOR PLATFORM MAKEOVER

When you register, you can choose to submit yourself to be eligible for a 5-minute author platform makeover. If you win, I will do a quick review of your author platform and provide my feedback on the webinar. This can provide useful first steps for where your biggest opportunities lie.

Q&A

After the webinar, I will have a Q&A session where you can ask questions about anything we covered, and even things we didn’t! You can submit questions anytime during the call, and I will answer them at the end.

SPECIAL PREVIEW

During the webinar, I will also be previewing my career-shifting online course for writers: Build Your Author Platform. This is where I work WITH you to develop your author platform and find your readers in six-weeks. No matter where you are in the world, you can take this course with a web connection.

SIGN UP NOW

This is a free webinar, and there are limited spaces available. It takes place on Wednesday May 15th at 2pm ET. You only need your web browser to attend. If you can’t make the live session, I will send you a replay of it if you sign up now. This will be a video recording that you can watch at your convenience.

There are limited spaces for this webinar, to reserve your spot, click here:

Thanks!
- Dan

Return on Investment
I work with writers, and go to a lot of publishing, writing, and media conference. I am in the fortunate position to speak at many of those conferences, so I always get a free ticket into the event. What this means is that for 99u, I paid the $1,000 ticket price. This was not an easy decision, and even in the months after I purchased it, I wrestled with guilt that perhaps the money could more directly help my business if put elsewhere.

In general, I tend to feel that many conferences play to the attendees who will expense the ticket, they don’t pay it themselves, their employers do. This goes for big corporations as much as small design firm of 10 or 30 people. I run my own company which is three years old, and I am the sole supporter of my family. So $1,000 really means something in that regard.

The other investment is time. It meant that I was taking off two days of work, and shoving everything important into the earlier part of the week. This adds stress, to a certain degree.

So when I consider return on investment, I was looking for practical takeaways that would truly help me grow my company and ensure I was providing deeply meaningful value to those I serve.

Let’s Talk About Clichés
Clichés suck the soul out of conferences. Yes, I realize clichés exist for a reason, and I will explain more on that below. But clichés have to be the jumping off point to a conversation, not the goal. So if someone says “The more you give, the more you get back,” then I want to hear specific examples of how that happened in their career. And I want to hear about the scary parts of that process.

Likewise, I think vague models often act as clichés. So when someone shows you their “perfect process” in some kind of diagram. This can go two ways:

• They can explain it in vague ways that sounds good, but really offers you no first step.
• They explain it in ways that are ultra practical. It gives you first, second, and third steps.

So an example of vague models would be this advice from Yoda:

“Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” Why does this model not work? Because each word is interchangeable and works however you order it:

“Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.”
“Anger leads to fear, fear leads to suffering, suffering leads to hate.”
“Hate leads to anger, anger leads to fear, fear leads to suffering.”

They all sound fine and smart, but the ordering doesn’t really give you a practical first step forward.

So if you are going to present a model about creating an amazing product/service or how to best help your clients/audience, then I want it to make sense in a way that measurably changes my work week. That you don’t just say: “Listen. Build. Do.” but that you REALLY dig into how to do each step, what the risks are, and how you hacked through system and after system before you landed on this one.

Likewise, there can be words that pop up such as “greatness” or “extraordinary.” It is so easy to say these words, and expect applause. But these words are meaningful because they are difficult to really execute on. And for this audience – an audience of doers and makers – it is not enough to have bold ideas, but to understand how to realize them. In practical, everyday ways.

How I Measured Value
The one thing I was NOT measuring value on was how inspired I felt. 99u differentiates itself by this quote from Thomas Edison: “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” They are about “Making Ideas Happen.” So, while funny or inspiring talks make me feel good, so do the archive of TED Talks online.

Instead, these are the things I wanted to walk away with:

• Understanding – specifically – how a successful creative person went from being an individual with a good idea and motivation, to actually building their product/service/company/idea in practical steps. As I mentioned, my company is three years old, and I have been unbelievably lucky in that time. My company is doing well. But I also work very hard, and am wondering, how can I build up momentum? How can I evolve? How can the company be more than just me?
• Processes. This is where we go beyond the clichés. The conference – like all conferences – was filled with them. I am TOTALLY okay with that. It is what comes after the cliché that matters. So when someone says “Hire Only A-Players,” that is a cliché that oftentimes ignores that challenges of such a vague missive: how do you do that on a budget; what about hiring for roles that require strict rule following; how to do that in a competitive job skill and/or region; how to find these people and negotiate with them; how do you integrate a team of A-Players so they work together? etc.

  The best sessions of the conference were the people who shared their specific processes for doing these things. If they said “Create a Minimum Viable Product” (which many attendees said), the best speakers took you through examples of their specific process to do so. They didn’t tell me stories of how others did it, pulling from easy-to-Google Apple examples, but the sloppy, confusing, scary stories of what they did, and what they do every day.

• Clear ideas about where to focus, but also what to ignore. How often have you walked away from a great conference with stacks of Powerpoint decks, but fall right back into your same routine. What I wanted from this was polarization. Whether they were new ideas or not, I wanted to have a clear sense of what to focus MORE energy on, and what to cut away entirely.
• Connections to other attendees. This is obvious for any conference – the reason to show up is the people, not just the information. This is especially so in an age where many of these talks will likely show up online for free eventually. One of the reasons I spent $1,000 for this conference is that I felt the mission of 99u would ensure that it was an audience of people truly in-the-trenches trying to build something as I was. Not just passionate, but people with digital dirt under their fingernails.

  This did prove to be the case, although I found there is never enough time to socialize and meet as many people as I would like. But those I did talk to were wonderful, and it was not uncommon for each of us to say “we should talk more about this…”

At the beginning of the conference, 99u posited a very similar set of goals:

What Made a Great Session:
Some sessions at 99u were amazing. They delivered on everything I hoped for. Others were not. I want to avoid naming names because I ABSOLUTELY RESPECT EVERY SPEAKER FROM THIS EVENT. If I didn’t feel I got value from their talk, that does not indicate I don’t appreciate them. Every speaker is accomplished in ways I can only dream about.

Okay, these are the two parameters that defined great sessions for me:

1. Sharing their actual process that they use every day to create value and solve problems. I wanted to know things such as: how do they onboard clients; how do they create a minimum viable product; how do they figure out their pricing; how do they measure value of not just people will pay for, but what the world needs; how they deal with the emotions on the long road of trying to succeed; how do they hire, and when do they NOT hire; what documentation do they provide to clients; how long are their engagements; how do they differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace; how do they organize teams; how do they choose when to partner and when to build in-house; etc.
2. Original research and original experience. I didn’t want to hear stories of others, I wanted to know specifics about what they learned, how they learned it, and how that helped them evolve. If they said a cliché, I wanted them to back it up with research data or with a very specific story about how it played out in multiple scenarios for them. Inherent in this, for me, is often identifying the pain points: the stress/anxiety/risk of such scenarios. In other words, saying “Hire Only A-Players,” and then saying “And we have an amazing team of developers,” doesn’t cut it for me. Because I can’t do anything with that.

Sessions I Loved And Why
These three were my favorite sessions:

This is Jane ni Dhulchaointigh, inventor and CEO of sugru. Her talk was the only one to get a standing ovation, and to me, this is the reason why:

Jane’s talk celebrated what her users were able to create, not what she herself or what her product created.

Her story was incredibly powerful and one that tends to resonate with me: YEARS of struggle to try to not just understand and frame her idea, but actually bring it to fruition. She talked about the dead ends of trying to partner with large companies, last ditch efforts to make things happen, the credit card debt, failed experiments, and the value of friends and family. It was an emotional talk, but one filled with practical lessons.

Aaron Dignan, CEO of Undercurrent did a longer “masterclass” on the topic of digital strategy. He provided example after example from his own experience, provided a model for how he works and kept taking us through it from different angles, and had incredible enthusiasm for creating. Super smart guy, but also very down to earth and giving. I took 1,500 words of notes from his session alone.

Michael Wolff, founder of Wolff Olins. Even though his experience is almost legendary in the branding world, he went places no other speaker did. First off: he was unbelievably humble. Second, he illustrated the value of questioning in such deep ways. When listening to him, I really got the sense that he, as a designer, sees the world differently. And in doing so is where you find the opportunity for amazing work. Wholly inspiring, but also very very practical.

Besides those three, there were other wonderful speakers and takeaways. Some highlights:

It wasn’t a surprise that Brené Brown gave a moving talk. There is so much to appreciate about what she shares, but this slide speaks to the place that I resonate with as you try to create something: fear, self-doubt, comparison, anxiety, uncertainty. Many speakers skip over these things as they share their stories of success. Brené doesn’t only share her research, she makes it deeply personal. And to have her open the event was a brilliant move.

Here Cal Newport shows you his notebook for managing time via time blocking. Another person who had a great mix of research and practical advice on how to apply it.

I love this chart from Joe Gebbia from Airbnb – which illustrates the long slog to success. He talked about the specific things they did to try to get the needle to move.

Here Joe shows us how Airbnb uses storyboarding. This was the kind of practical look behind the curtains I was hoping for.

And here Joe gives us a brief exercise to fill out that he does with his own employees.

Other Tips
These were other things I did to try to make the conference a valuable experience:

• Go with friends. When I signed up for the event last October, I made sure to tell some close friends about it. In the end, I spent a lot of time my friends Christina Rosalie, her husband Todd, Edward Shepard, Gabriela Pereira, Cynthia Morris, and Scott McDowell, all who I knew would be there.
• Be able to clearly answer this question before you walk into the conference: “What do you want out of this conference?” I thought long and hard about this, as I try to illustrate in this very post!
• Take copious notes. I ended up with more than 5,000 words to dig back into.
• Walk up to strangers and talk to them. Again. And again. That’s not easy for most people, including me.

Other Experiences
The conference offered a variety of experiences other than just the main stage, including master classes, off-site visits, mentoring sessions, as well as parties and breaks. It was held at Alice Tully Hall, with the after-party at MoMa. Really, you couldn’t ask for greater venues.

My Real Conclusion on Value
Was the conference worth it? I took more than 5,000 words of notes that I have to parse through still. Overall, I think these are the two ways I will know:

• Only months later, to see what I IMPLEMENTED based on ideas from the conference, not how inspired I felt the day after.
• If I would spend another $1,000 (or more likely $1,200 ticket if they raise the price) for the 2014 99u conference. I know a couple of people who went to the 2012 conference and raved about it. But they didn’t attend this year. That says something to me. Likewise, I have had friends rave about other specific conferences, that they were wonderful experiences; BUT that their company and processes were no different 2 months after the conference than 2 months before it.

Thank you to the team at 99u and Behance for the event, especially Jocelyn K. Glei, Sean Blanda, Scott Belsky, and Matias Corea. I know so many others helped create this event, somewhere around 100 people, but these are the names I know.

Here are more photos from the event:

Thanks!
-Dan

• Be on Twitter…
• And be on Facebook, they have billions of users…
• Get on Pinterest because it’s huge now…
• And be on Tumblr, all the kids are doing it…
• Definitely do a blog tour around your book…
• And create a book trailer, it could just go viral…
• Blog…
• And guest blog on other people’s blogs…
• And try to become a blogger for Huffington Post…
• And submit excerpts of your work to Wattpad…
• Obsessively engage with readers on Goodreads…
• Buy Google ads sending people to your Amazon page…
• Play around with the pricing of your ebook…
• Speak at conferences…
• And speak at libraries…
• And speak at bookstores, if you can find one…
• Do a Google Hangout with readers, or a Shindig…
• Oh, you are on Google+, right? It’s the next Twitter.
• You vlog, right?

… and of course: write the best book you can.

This is not even mentioning other aspects of publishing: whether you are going the traditional route (creating a book proposal, querying, landing an agent, landing a publisher, publicity, and preparing for launch day), or the self-publishing route (a million other small decisions), and that in all likelihood, you have a family to attend to, perhaps a day job, a home to maintain, hobbies, and you know, you need to sleep. Yes, that is a run-on sentence, and it barely fits in all the things writers are told to concern themselves with nowadays.

The problem here is that these are THINGS; these are tactics. And while each may indeed be instruments to your success as a writer, they are not the point.

The point is your writing, and how it connects with readers.

I work with writers to help address the craft of developing their writing career – how they connect with readers and ensure their books get read, not just published. To me, an author platform is about two things:

1. Communication – how you connect with a reader in a meaningful way.
2. Trust – how you find alignment with them – that your purpose for writing directly relates to their needs and passions.

The key to this is relationships. This is not about “selling a book” or “leveraging Twitter,” it is about the experiences we create with each other around your writing. Sometimes these are very direct relationships, other times the are more implicit.

When you develop a relationship around your writing, you are doing several things:

1. A Relationships Is A Renewable Resource that give back again and again. Of course, you must truly invest in a relationship too, giving as much, or more than you receive back.

   But unlike some marketing tactic, a relationship is complex and fuels us on so many levels. Someone you form a relationship with can be a lifelong mentor, they can encourage you in that moment you need it most, they can provide deep insight, or harsh but needed feedback.

   Relationships are also exponential. Inherently, one person connects you with another, then another. A relationship is a gateway drug to more amazing relationships.

   

2. A Relationship Is At the Heart of How We Create Meaning and Experience
   While we strive for accomplishments in life, it is people who add the meaningful context to them. If and when you become successful, it will be because of so many others helping you along the way. Sure, you may receive all the glory, but the reality is that it will be on the shoulders of others.

   This is more than just some kind of mercenary exchange – this is the meaning in life. That you connected with someone on a deeper level; that you helped each other out; that you went through an experience together.

   When you look back sentimentally on different periods of or accomplishments in your life, what do you remember? Oftentimes, it is the people, the conversations, the deep human connections. You remember moments that perhaps seemed ordinary and insignificant at the time, but became the memories that float through our minds decades later.

   

3. How You Connect With Others Is As Important As Who You Connect With
   Boy, am I tired of the term “influencers.” This term has become shorthand for “leveraging” other people’s popularity and trust with an audience. It is often done with a smile and a handshake, but there is often a calculation involved. For example, an author determines who to connect with based solely on how many Twitter followers that person has. The idea being that if this person ReTweets them, it increases exposure.

   But the opposite is what often fascinates me: the people who connect based on true alignment, not a calculation of “influence.” People such as Barbara Vey who connect with people who love to read because she loves to read. Or Betsy Bird who connects based on enthusiasm for children’s literature, not based on a person’s CV. Or so many authors I have had the pleasure of knowing who measure how good the connection to someone feels, not what the possible return-on-investment may be.

   This is the choice we have. HOW we connect with others, not just what we do in terms of which social network to use or if we add a “Pin This!” button to our website. The path of publishing is really filled with conversations and relationships, not technology and marketing tactics.

   

4. Word of Mouth Is Not “Marketing,” But Rather: Communication
   Again and again we hear that despite the way the web has changed things, “word of mouth marketing” is still the biggest way that people hear about books. Goodreads recently released survey data that supported this:

   

   Word of mouth marketing begins and ends with people, not marketing campaigns or publicity. When someone recommends a book to a friend, it is about trust and communication, not “marketing,” whereby they are targeting people strategically to increase sales of a book.

   

5. Social Media Is People!
   One of my favorite movies is Soylent Green, and (spoiler alert), the big reveal at the end is this phrase: “Soylent Green is People!” While less grotesque in it’s meaning, I think we often forget that social media is people.

   We instead focus on the tactical nature of buttons and features. We think that adding a “Tweet this” button to our website or using Tweetadder is how to “win” at social media. We hope to go “viral” as if it is a thing, not an action.

   While social media trends will come and go, the people will remain. Myspace came and went, and yet, the people and relationships remained. The same with Friendster and Digg and so many other (nearly) defunct social networks.

   The people are the constant – and the real meaning – not the technology of the social network itself.

After saying all of this, I am a firm believe that developing an author platform is a critical step to your success as a writer. And the key to doing this is to work WITH others and forge those personal connections. That is why I build relationships into everything I do. On May 22nd, the next session of my 6-week online course Build Your Author Platform begins. There are three ways I ensure this happens within the course:

1. Form a relationship with me. I work with you via phone calls and specific feedback every step of the way to helping you find and engage your audience. This is not about me just sharing “best practices,” but rather, about being in the trenches with you working through the hard stuff.
2. Form relationships with other writers in the course. I have seen this happen again and again, where the writers you meet and work with in the course become powerful relationships that last years later. These are people who you can count on to help you on your journey as a writer.
3. Connect with amazing guest experts – people who live and breathe publishing. I am unbelievably lucky to know so many generous folks within publishing, and they share their advice within the course too, helping to address your specific needs.

For the next session which runs from May 22 – July 2, these are the guest experts I have lined up so far: Iris Blasi, Ami Greko, Miriam Parker, and Bethanne Patrick. Each has deep experience working with the biggest publishers and authors out there. The advice they share to those in the course is not a vague list of things to do, but advice based on being in-the-trenches in finding readers for books for their entire careers. Here are some of the companies they have worked for, just imagine the value of this experience:

As a bonus, I also provide in the course exclusive interviews that previous guests have shared for this course, which is 3-hours of bonus content with Justine Musk (author), Jason Allen Ashlock (literary agent), Kathleen Schmidt (book publicist), Richard Nash (publishing visionary), Joanna Penn (author and publishing expert), and Joel Friedlander (book designer.)

Oh, and yes, there is also 6 weeks worth of lessons that doesn’t just give you information, but builds a personalized roadmap for your writing career, helping you define:

1. Who your audience is.
2. Where they are online and off.
3. How to engage them.
4. Who you need to know.
5. What you can ignore altogether.
6. Best manage your online channels and social media

To find out more about the course, click here. Everything starts on May 22.

Thanks.
-Dan

“People will do anything to alleviate their anxiety.”

This is a quote from a recent episode of Mad Men, that to me, underscores the everyday context that no one talks about publicly.

I work with writers, and find that anxiety is a very real and very constant part of their lives. Why? Just a few reasons:

• The act of creating and publishing invites judgement, especially self-judgement.
• Being a writer is often a new identity that one carves out for themselves, while everyone else around them clings to other ways of labeling them: mother, spouse, colleague, sister. They don’t easily accept defining the writer as such.
• The “return on investment” of writing breaks traditional models. We do it for so many reasons, but the common reward of money is rarely the primary driver.
• There are so many decisions involved in being a writer. First, with the process of writing and editing, then the process of choosing how to publish, and then the process of finding and connecting with readers. Each is not one step, but 1,000 decisions. None of which are clear from the start.
  This is, of course, not exclusive to writers.

But what I find again and again is that we don’t talk about our anxiety. We don’t admit that we have anxiety. We don’t talk about how crippling it feels. That it can bathe one’s days and nights in a foggy cloud of uncertainty and panic. That we make decisions out of fear that stems from anxiety, not because they are the best things for us.

Our anxiety is often hidden, masked behind common expressions, and simplistic answers to the question, “How are you doing?!” And when we express the anxiety to friends or colleagues, it is often explained away with simple solutions to complex problems. You get responses such as “Ah, don’t worry about it,” or “You are doing great, you worry too much!”

Our anxiety is always relative, and truth be told, sometimes other people’s anxiety can seem insignificant on the surface. When someone expresses that they don’t know whether to self-publish or not, or they are nervous about a book reading, you rarely feel the depth of their anxiety. To you, it is a logical decision, and one that likely won’t have crushing ramifications one way or another. But to the person with the question, they can get lost in the internal debate in their head, where all potential success as writer hangs in the balance.

Read the full post here.
Thanks.
-Dan

Thanks!
-Dan

The buzzword of the past year or so has been “book discoverability,” meaning that writers and publishers want to ensure that readers can find books. It is perceived as a problem because there are so many books being published each year (between traditional and self-publishing), and fewer channels by which to find books (eg: no more Borders.)

But focusing on book discoverability is a magic pill that will never arrive. Yes, you should optimize your books metadata to ensure it is easier to find in complicated algorithms of Amazon, but beyond that, I think the concept of “book discoverability” focuses on the wrong thing: books instead of readers.

One is a passive action, one is active. One is about talking (e.g., shouting: “LOOK AT MY BOOK!), and the other is about listening (e.g., asking: “So tell me what you love to read.”)

A book is a thing. An object. A file.

A reader is filled with motivations, desires, needs, and complicated ways they align with books to shape their own identity.

If you want people to find your book, focus on the latter – the readers, not the books. Focus on this: READER DISCOVERY. Find your readers.

Why? Because this is a constant action that you can take, a process you can develop, and a way of being in the world as an author that constantly connects you to readers.

Recently I was on a panel at the Writer’s Digest Conference East, along with Amazon’s Jon Fine. The first thing I said was that writers need to focus on understanding who their readers are. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jon nodding his head – his whole body really – in an exaggerated cartoon-like fashion. To me, this indicates that Amazon can only do so much to “shelve” your book along with millions of others, and catalog it according to proper categories and keywords and other relevant cues. Beyond that, know your readers.

Eric Ries wrote a book and helped create a movement in the tech startup space with the concept of “The Lean Startup.” The crux of what he focuses on:

Instead of developing your product in secret, optimizing it and trying to make it perfect before a big launch day where you release it to the world, instead focus on developing customers. Understand your target audience, talk to them, learn from them. as you develop your product, constantly put it in front of your ideal audience to gather feedback. Don’t rely on assumptions as to what you think they want, partner with your audience and observe through actions they take what they enjoy and need. Doing so does not just help you develop a better product, but it literally creates a built-in audience as you do so. You develop customers as you develop the product.

This is why I feel the concept of author platform is so important. Author platform is how you develop the craft of connecting with readers. It is a skill that you develop, just as you develop the skill of writing. Few authors start out as extroverts able to chat with fans easily. They learn as they go, just as you can.

Let’s consider an example of how the reader discovery process works. This year, Hugh Howey became the case study as to how an empowered writer can find their audience, and make an amazing living at writing, publishing and selling their stories. When Hugh published his breakout story Wool, he didn’t know that this would be THE story out of everything he wrote that would take off. He learned this by publishing, sharing, and connecting with readers.

Yes, of course, the first step is to take the craft of writing seriously, create good work, and focus on constant improvement. But Hugh not only connects with his audience, but learns from them. No, he doesn’t write TO an audience, he does learn about them.

Knowing who your audience is shouldn’t change your work away from your core vision, but it can help you ensure that your stories reach an audience that cares.

The web and social media offers you amazing tools to learn who your audience is and what engages them. Just as Hugh learns by publishing shorter fiction and then connecting with readers, nonfiction writers learn what engages people simply by blogging. Gretchen Rubin began blogging about happiness three years before The Happiness Project came out. Do you think that three years of engaging with readers helped her understand how to better grow her audience? Yes, that is a rhetorical question. By the time her book came out, she was immediately on the Today Show, Oprah, and hit the New York Times Bestseller list soon after.

Book discoverability is not the problem writers should focus on. Rather, discover who your ideal readers are – this will provide the information you need to grow your platform and audience, and establish meaningful connections with people who love your writing.

Thanks.
-Dan

“But I only want to write,” you might say. “I don’t want to be a publisher.” Well, good luck. Even if you land with a major publishing house, the success of your work will depend on you knowing this business and embracing all the challenges that a self-published author faces.”

“There are only a handful of authors in the world who can make a living writing and passing along those words to someone else and not doing a single other thing. Most people who attempt this method teach creative writing for a living, and not because they want to.”

“Promotion will be up to you. Your publisher will want to see your social media presence before they offer you a book deal. Learning the ins and outs of self-publishing before signing with a major house is the best training imaginable. Not doing so would be like a hopeful race car driver not caring what’s under the hood. I’ve been shocked to discover, having worked with major publishers, that many of my self-published friends know more about the current publishing landscape than industry veterans with decades of experience. The more you learn and the more you keep an open mind, the better your chances for success.”

So I want to parse this out based on my own experience with hundreds of authors, some who are self-published, and some who are traditionally published…

THE BUSINESS OF PUBLISHING
Hugh mentions the idea of “knowing this business,” which makes a point many skip over: writing is craft, but publishing as many define it, is a business. Even if you as a writer are more concerned with the impact of your work, and your own personal validation, your partners in the publishing process need to meet business goals.

As more and more independent authors find ways to earn revenue, and turn what was once a hobby into a full-time profession that supports their families, financially, the more important it is to not pretend there is a magic button for success.

Understanding the business of publishing is meant to demystify the process. When you understand how things work, you can leverage them to reach your goals, instead of relying on convincing “gatekeepers” to give you a chance. Or to use a phrase I hear often nowadays: you are an empowered author.

And of course, if you do want to earn revenue through your writing, learn the process, and the triggers to make that happen. Understand publishing as a business, and find the opportunity that others miss.

WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR READERS, YOU KNOW HOW TO BEST REACH THEM
Too often, I hear writers complain about having to “market” their work. But what I often feel they are missing is that connecting with readers is about understanding and learning, not publicity. That when you better understand who your ideal audience is, where they are, what else they love, what engages them, the more likely you will find ways you align with them. And more often than not, this is the good stuff, the meaning that is created between a writer and a reader.

SPREADING THE WORD ABOUT YOUR BOOK IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY
Publishers will likely judge the platform you have built already, even before they sign you. Why? Because they want a partner. Because they are publishing a lot of books, and nothing beats having an engaged core audience of readers who have a trusting relationship with the author.

Time and time again, we find that word of mouth marketing is what sells books. And that starts with you, often well before the book is published.

YES, THIS IS HARD WORK
If you want to “just” create art, do that. If you write “merely” to write, to express feelings in a creative way, then no, you do not need to concern yourself with the business of publishing.

But if you want to develop an audience, and create a sustainable career as a writer, then develop your platform. Understand how to connect with readers. Take the business side of publishing seriously.

What I love about Hugh’s story is the mixture of smart decisions, good habits, and finding ways to engage with readers as a human being. Many writers work hard to put limits on what it means to be a writer, that they shouldn’t have to do x, y, or z. But Hugh is present in the lives of his audience, and that is his platform.

Thanks.
-Dan

I attended the Writer’s Digest Conference this past weekend, spending my days chatting with writers, literary agents, and many who support authors. Below are the top three things I took away from the many conversations I had at the event.

AUTHORS ARE ENTREPRENEURS
If you want to “just” write, that is fine. But if you want to engage with the business of publishing, put on your entrepreneurship hat.

This year, I noticed that the writers in attendance were much more willing to embrace the many facets of what it means to be engaged not just in writing, but in the publishing and audience development processes.

This requires a broader range of skills, from market research, to messaging, marketing, partnerships, and learning how to not just craft a book, but craft a platform.

What this means is that if you are just looking for a lottery ticket, for someone to magically make your writing dreams come true, that you may be grossly disappointed. What I see at events such as this are writers in the trenches, sharing not just inspiring stories, but talking about the daily work of learning all facets of publishing and ensuring their work has an impact with readers.

The reality of what it means to be an author today is: there have never been more opportunities to find and audience and sell books; and that takes hard work.

DON’T LOOK FOR SHORTCUTS TO ENGAGING WITH READERS
It always surprises me when a writer indicates that they don’t want to talk to readers. They do this by calling it “marketing,” making it seem like a soulless process whereby you trick readers to read your work. But really, this is the good stuff. Whether you write fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry, or other work, wouldn’t you WANT to chat with others who share your love of this work?

Too often, I hear an author subtly asking for a “secret button” that shoves their work in front of thousands of people. They want some trick to using Goodreads or LinkedIn or Amazon that magically delivers an audience. But as any successful author will tell you, it happens one reader at a time.

When I work with authors, we work through the hard stuff that many writers skip: the deep research of their market, their audience, and how to establish communication channels and messaging that aligns them with readers.

For me, this is a process of creating meaning, establishing relationships, and turing ideas and stories into conversations. It is NOT about spamming social media sites with promotions for books.

YOU NEED A TEAM
Whenever a successful author talks about their journey to finding an audience and selling books, they always talk about their team: the partners who helped them. It could be critique groups, beta readers, literary agents, editors, publicists, and many others who support writers.

Consider who you can partner with on this journey. Information can be powerful, which is why I write this blog and create ebook guides on topics such as blogging and social media for writers. But I also feel that working WITH others is critical, which is why I teach online courses, and work one-on-one with writers to help them find and grow their audience.

Your journey as a writer will be uniquely yours. Be wary of excuses that close doors. The writers I find who are having the most success, be it traditionally published or self-published, are those who are open to rethinking what it means to engage with readers, and find ways to align with them, not sell to them.

Thank you.
-Dan