We’re all being told that we need to have a platform, that we need to grow our platform, and that we need to use our platform. Gah! Does anyone else want to throttle the word “platform” after hearing it for the fifty-bajillionth time?
The word diminishes the meaning of what a platform really is. Our platform isn’t made of robots, willing to follow orders. Our platform is made of people. People who spread the word about our work because they’ve decided we’re worth it.
And for writers, the people who make up our platform are our readers, those who read our stories, blogs, tweets, and status updates. Our readers decide which items they share with others.
I’m not saying anything we don’t already know, but sometimes it’s good to remind ourselves of who holds the power behind a platform. It’s not us. It’s our readers.
That means our ability to succeed isn’t dependent solely on the size of our platform, but also on the willingness of our platform to spread positive messages about us and our work. Ooo, positive messages. That’s important, isn’t it?
What would be worse, ten thousand followers on Twitter never talking about us, or a mere hundred followers spreading negative messages about us or our work? Yikes.
Today I’m at Susan Sipal’s blog, Harry Potter for Writers, sharing tips on how to prevent our readers from turning against us. It happens, even to JK Rowling.
If you’re not familiar with Harry Potter fandom, you might not have heard about Pottermore. The Pottermore website was announced last summer to great anticipation. JK Rowling was finally going to have ebooks? And she was partnering with Sony to have an online interactive website?
Fans salivated over the idea of an online Harry Potter world. Die-hard fans spent a month guessing how they were going to choose the lucky one million users invited to participate in the beta version. They stayed up all hours to figure out the clues during the invitation hours. They impatiently waited for their activation emails.
And then… You’ll have to click over to my guest post to find out what happened next with Pottermore and what lessons all writers can learn from it. *smile*
Does the talk of platform drive you crazy? Would you rather concentrate on the people who support us? Do you disagree with me about who holds the power? What would make you spread negative messages about an author?
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