If you look back over the last 10 days you’ll find a series of posts about building an author’s platform. (It starts here.) If you’ve never done anything to build an author’s platform, you probably feel pretty overwhelmed about now. If you had never heard of an author’s platform prior to the beginning of this series, you might want to hide your head under a rock and give up your dreams of becoming a published writer.
As a publishing consultant, coach and mentor, here’s what I have to say: Don’t put your head under that rock! Instead, go find a rock, pick it up and use it to build that author’s platform!
That’s right. Pick one of the platform elements I’ve described and let that be your “big rock,” the thing you have to tackle first each day until you get it accomplished–the thing you may not want to tackle but that you know you must. Imagine that big rock fitting at the bottom of your author’s platform, and use it to create the foundation upon which you will one day stand as an author with a huge built-in readership ready to purchase your book or, better yet, books.
And take heart in knowing that I’m there with you. I have not tackled all the elements of an author’s platform. I’ve done a little bit on most of them. I’ve not become an expert at all of them by any means. My to-do list contains many that I have not yet even tried. In fact, writing this series caused me a bit of stress and feelings of overload as well! It also reminded me that I have work to do…and I recommitted to doing it. I must walk my talk!
Now you go do it, too. Find a rock. Pick it up. Put that rock on your desk as a reminder that you are building a platform. Don’t move it until you’ve accomplished that first element of building your platform. (And don’t put your head under it, hit yourself in the head with it or bash your computer with it…) Every day, don’t do anything else until you’ve dealt with your big rock.
Before you know it, there will be a place in your office filled with the big rocks you’ve moved. And you will have built a platform one big rock at a time.
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