Mary Martin, Ph.D.

What's Your Platform?

Your platform is the combination (hopefully) of ways you have developed to reach and cultivate your potential audience/customers as well as maintain relationships with the audience/customers you already have.

First-time authors cannot underestimate the importance of platform, as many a well-written book has been passed on because of the author's lack of platform. Meanwhile, plenty of decent, but not great books have been published (and their authors have received huge advances) simply because the authors demonstrated their skill at developing and quantifying their audience. It might not be fair, but it's the way it is and there's no use complaining about it.

What can you do to develop your platform?

• Create an interactive website and blog, give away some free advice or free products, and also sell products online if that's what type of business you have.
• Write articles for magazines and popular websites and blogs that reach your target market. If you'll only write if you get paid (or paid well), you won't be doing this work because it either doesn't pay at all or doesn't pay well for people who don't already have an audience. Don't forget to link whatever you write elsewhere to your website and blog.
• Do a podcast. And if your audience is particularly into/dependent on podcasts, this should be a requirement.
• Give seminars or workshops on your topic. At first, you'll be working for no pay, but that should change. Remember to refer every audience you speak to to your website and blog. You are in charge of your own promotion; make the most of it!

If you're attached to the idea that you're an expert and should always be paid for what you do, I suggest you detach yourself as soon as possible. No one wants to work with a resentful diva-type--particularly if that person isn't already rich and famous.

Furthermore, no matter what you're doing, think of a way to promote or cross-promote it. Every public appearance should be publicized, as should every guest appearance on a blog or podcast.

Finally, give your audience the opportunity to subscribe to tips or a newsletter or something you'll develop to grab their e-mail addresses so you can keep in touch with them. Most people aren't going to reach out to you unless you make it easy for them.  They'll remember you made it easy for them, and you're on your way to amassing (and quantifying) your audience before your book reaches the shelves.

Do You Need a Literary Agent?

I'm a do-it-yourselfer for a lot of things. But I also appreciate expertise and I'm willing to pay for it.

Though there are many books about being your own literary agent, and I do think that for certain people it's a great idea, if you're writing a book for the mainstream, I'd advise against it.

First, let's deal with the specialty people. If your book's topic is something that has a small number of publishing houses devoted to it, you know exactly where to shop your book. Doing it yourself, assuming the presses are small and/or independent, is a fine idea. And without an agent, you get to keep the entire amount (if anything) that you earn from your book (after the publisher takes its enormous chunk, that is).

If your book's audience is massive and it is a candidate to be published by a large house, your best bet is to find an agent to represent you. Agents have developed relationships over the years that you simply don't have. And new agents at firms with established agents have access to the expertise and contacts of the established agents, so they too are better positioned than the average first-time author to sell a book to a large publishing house.

Furthermore, everyone has different strengths and skills. And in my experience, writers don't tend to be outgoing, schmoozy-types who develop relationships to put in their pockets for future use. Unless you're willing and able to find a way to establish relationships with publishers and editors, and then shop your book to them, a literary agent should be the real target of your searching energies.

Finally, there are few ideas worse than attempting to shop your book around yourself, amassing a folder full of rejections, then pursuing representation by an agent and keeping your previous efforts to yourself. It's all about full disclosure with an agent, as you put them in an uncomfortable, embarrassing position if they're trying to sell someone a book they've already rejected.

Today's tip: Some people need agents and others could do without them. Nevertheless, agents have an expertise worth paying for, and it behooves most (but not all) people to pursue professional representation.

On the Oxford English Dictionary

Depending on what you're writing, the Oxford English Dictionary is either very helpful or, um, not at all. The subscription is just under a whopping $300/year, but if you need to know when and where a word was first used, and such a need occurs frequently, the OED is for you. Especially because you can write it off on your taxes (if you're a writer. Check with your accountant.).

The most cost effective way to use the OED isn't always possible: subscribe for a month (for $29.95), and in that month look up all of the words you might need. Not always practical, but if you can make it work it certainly will save you some cash.

If you haven't read THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN, which is Simon Winchester's book about the decades-long compilation of the first OED, do so as soon as you can. Beg, borrow or steal it. I found it spellbinding.

The OED isn't that useful when you need to know what a word means (i.e., as a dictionary). Go to Dictionary.com for that, which fortunately has the bonus feature of a thesaurus button (although its thesaurus is nowhere near as helpful, in my opinion, as the Visual Thesaurus).

What the OED is useful/invaluable for is: etymology (although that can be found in other places); quotations (good luck finding the quotations-throughout-history elsewhere); and a date chart of when the word has been used. If those are things you need, subscribe to the OED. But, like the Visual Thesaurus, you can lose a lot of time wandering around the site, so give yourself a time limit and stick to it if you're the type who will suddenly realize they've been looking up random words for three hours.

Finally, remember that the OED is always a work-in-progress and doesn't contain every word currently used. But it certainly contains enough to keep you busy and educated about the history of words.

On the Visual Thesaurus

I'd never been a fan of the thesaurus until recently. Somewhere along the line in high school a teacher warned us against using the evil instrument and proclaimed his certainty that our work would easily reveal its use as it was impossible to veil.

It took a solid decade to get over the fear I developed about using a thesaurus, and another decade to make friends with the thesaurus. That brings us current, and just in the nick of time, too, as I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to survive without my subscription to the Visual Thesaurus. It's my new best friend and I spend time with it daily.

I'm not ordinarily a visual person; I'm more auditory and kinesthetic. But the Visual Thesaurus is quick and easy to use and helps you see--see--connections, rather than, um, visualize them.

Useful features of the site including articles, blogs, a word of the day and audio that pronounces words for you. You can get lost in the site, so definitely give yourself a time limit and log out when your time is up.

The only drawback I've found is that at least a handful of words I've looked up aren't in the Visual Thesaurus, and for them I had to go elsewhere. But given all of the benefits and features, I'm sold that it's a great value at $19.95 for the online edition per year.

The reason my teacher discouraged the use of the thesaurus is in a way valid: very few words mean precisely the same thing. The English language is filled with words that are similar, yet not interchangeable. The Visual Thesaurus does a great job of showing the differences to you, which is a valuable teaching aid. It makes it difficult for you to blithely substitute "lumber" for "traipse," as they're not even in the same diagram, meanwhile in other reference material they're listed as synonyms.

I subscribe also to the Oxford English Dictionary, which I'll write about tomorrow. At nearly $300, that's not a subscription for everyone. But the Visual Thesaurus is an easy decision as it's a great value, very helpful and fun to use.

And no, I'm not a sales representative for the company.

On the Importance of the Index

Nothing spells I didn't want to do the extra work better than not including an index in your book. As a reader, I use the index of a book more often than the table of contents, which is not only too general, but the chapter titles are usually in a header on at least half of the pages, so I don't need the table of contents much. But I always need the index. Particularly after I've read the book and I neglected to make notes on important pages. I know the topic the important quote was about, and I find it by using the index. If there's no index, the table of contents doesn't necessarily help me, although it might.

Only after you've tried to find something important in a book that doesn't have an index would you probably become obsessed with them, as I have. But it behooves you to avoid this potential headache-of-a-problem for your readers by making sure you have an index.

It amazes me that now that we have zippy computer programs that can do just about anything, and developing an index isn't a big deal, that any book is published by a major publisher sans index. I have a handful books on my desk right now, all of which were published by major presses in the last five years, that don't have indexes. Two were best sellers. I have no idea why the decision to not include an index was made, all I know is that it drives me bananas because I needed an index and I wasted a lot of time mining for quotes in these books, going line-by-line looking for what I needed.

Today's tip: Include an index in your book. Please. And if you're self-publishing, you can certainly develop the index before you lay out the book, but don't get the page numbers until the final draft has been approved. (If you index before your final draft, all of the page numbers could very well be different. All you need sometimes is one extra word on a page, which bumps almost everything else an entire page. I say almost because the final page of each chapter might not be affected, therefore you can't just automatically bump every page number up one.)

On the Importance of Knowing Your Audience

The importance of knowing your audience cannot be understated. The better you know whom you're writing for, the more tailored your approach will be and the more certain an agent or publisher will be that you've done your homework.

Today's tip is: When someone asks you who might buy your book, what they never, ever, ever want to hear is "My market is everyone. Everyone needs this book and will want to buy it."

That's a behemoth red flag that tells them you haven't found your audience in your own mind. And if you haven't found it in your own mind, that will be reflected in your writing.

Now, the opposite extreme is just as bad, but for a different reason: "My audience is 40-year old women who are accountants and married to professional clowns." Good luck with that one.

In between is a proper niche, which is neither all-encompassing nor minuscule. How do you know if yours is a proper niche? You should be able to quantify it, and it should be substantial. In your proposal, and even if you don't have one, you should be able to say: "My audience is A, which is composed roughly of ten million English-speaking people in the US according to B source. They subscribe to C magazine, frequent D and E websites, and go to conferences F and G annually." The clearer you are about your audience, the more appealing you are as a potential client (assuming your audience is a decent size).

If your audience does happen to be tiny, the good news is that you probably know where to find it and self-publishing combined with narrowly-targeted marking efforts is a great formula for success.

If you've already written your book and you still think it's for everyone, the odds are that the writing isn't precise enough. Before you start to shop it around, it would behoove you to narrow down your audience in some way that provides you with a quantifiable market and ways to reach them. For example, if you have a business book, you might say that it's a great read for:

• middle managers in large corporations
• CEOs and other leaders
• employees of multinational companies
• baby-boomers beginning a new career
• 20-25 year olds starting their first business
• couples starting a business together

But do you see how each of the above audiences would require a slightly different--if not entirely different--tone and perspective? Maybe it is true that your fabulous idea is relevant to all of the above niches. Well, if that's the case, why not become a franchise? Why not customize your amazing idea for a handful of different markets?

There's something appealing about reading a book that makes you feel like it was written with you in mind. Remember that, and strive to give your readers that experience.

On Your Book's Cover and Title

If your book will be published the old fashioned way, you probably won't be the driving force behind its cover. You most certainly should be asked your opinion, but the publisher will have the final say. And the same is true for your title, by the way. You might think your title is perfect, but if your publisher disagrees, your title will be vetoed.

For this reason, I don't recommend authors obsess over titles and covers when their books are being published by a traditional publisher. On the upside, publishing companies have entire departments dedicated to producing a title and a cover that "works," so if yours gets vetoed, there is probably (probably) a good reason (like it's not good for sales--and when your book succeeds, the publisher succeeds).

If, however, you are self-publishing, your title and cover are in your hands--as is the responsibility for producing ones that sell.

Some people have a natural talent for composing snappy titles. Whether you're one of those people or not, keep in mind the following:

• Keep it short and simple.
• If your title doesn't tell me what the book is about, your subtitle should.
• Refrain from explaining everything in the subtitle and making it too long.
• Gather a focus group to help you brainstorm titles.
• It really is true that people like numbers in titles (e.g., the Seven Habits, the Four Agreements, etc...). Keep the number under ten unless it's high for a reason (e.g., 365--one a day tips for whatever).

As for your cover:

• Keep it simple.
• Go to the bookstore and pick out best sellers with covers you like and refer your designer to those covers. Also choose another set of covers--ones that speak to you for some reason--and refer your designer to them.
• Choose your colors carefully. Ask your focus group what they think about the colors you've chosen. If there are colors associated with your logo or brand, stick with them to help with brand recognition.
• Use black as a background only if you have a very good reason. It can look great and send a message, or it can look stark, bleak and/or depressing. It can also be difficult to read the (presumably) white print.
• If your business is driven by you as a personality, you should be on the cover. Do NOT skimp on make-up, wardrobe and photography, here. This is your image and it should be fabulous. It's not unusual to pay up to $1,000 just for the photo part of the cover.
• You get what you pay for is usually the case when it comes to cover design. The cover is there in place of you pitching your book. Don't skimp on it.

With that said, I'm sure there have been $200 covers that sold tens of thousands of copies. But in my experience, a clean, simple, well composed cover makes a big difference in sales.

Finally, if you're self-publishing, do your research on cover designers. Ask for samples, don't base your entire decision on price, and make sure the person designing your book understands you and your message. The best covers (and titles) come out of the book's topic and enhance or complement it.

On the Semincolon

The most  e-mailed article in the New York Times right now is about the semicolon, believe it or not. "Celebrating the Semicolon in a Most Unlikely Location," by Sam Roberts, reminds us of when we might use a semicolon ("[For] that distinct division between statements that are closely related but require a separation more prolonged than a conjunction and more emphatic than a comma").

He also passses on author and teacher Frank McCourt's thoughts about the topic. It's "the yellow traffic light of a 'New York sentence.' In response, most New Yorkers accelerate; they don’t pause to contemplate." I guess that's better than Bill Walsh's opinion: "The semicolon is an ugly bastard, and thus I tend to avoid it" (page 91 of LAPSING INTO A COMMA: A Curmudgeon's Guide to the Many Things That Can Go Wrong in Print--and How to Avoid Them.)

Noah Lukeman's chapter on the semicolon in his book, A DASH OF STYLE: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation, describes at least four ways to use the semicolon on pages 70-74:

1. To connect two closely related sentences.
2. To smooth out the choppiness of a paragraph with a lot of short sentences.
3. To enable a longer and more complex thought to exist under one umbrella.
4. To enhance word economy (because you can often cut out the words around it).

There are nuances, though, and with getting accustomed to the semicolon can also come its misuse or abuse, so proceed with caution.

Lukeman concludes his chapter with:

It is hard to underuse the semicolon, since a work can exist perfectly well without one. That said, there are cases when it is called for, and the writer who completely ignores it is likely to either be a beginner, or hesitant to take chances with language. He is less likely to have well-crafted prose, less likely to offer nuances of style and language. The good news, at least, is that he writes with simplicity, which bodes well for clarity of thought and will serve him well once he masters his craft (85).

Take the plunge; start using the semicolon.

On Targeting Literary Agents

When I tell divulge how to target literary agents in a pool the thousands, most people chuckle at the simplicity of the technique.

When you are researching your competition so you can describe which books are like yours, which are in the same general area, and why your book is needed, you will presumably end up buying a bunch of books. Now, some people find it isn't necessary to read a book to figure out how theirs is different, but I like to read as many as possible. This positions me to know exactly how the book I'm working on is different in substance, tone, or angle.

With all of those newly-purchased, newly-read books comes something very, very useful: acknowledgments. An author's affinity for and appreciation of her agent will be evident in the acknowledgments.

This might seem like the end of the story, but today's tip: read acknowledgments for literary agents to target is a bit more nuanced. You see, sometimes you find a book by a first-time author that's a great example of how the trend in your area is going your way. But the book failed miserably and has a terrible Amazon ranking (which by the way isn't the best indicator of how many books have been sold, but at least it's free). If I were an agent who recently took on a promising book that ended up being a flop, I wouldn't rush to sign up to repeat that failure. And though this might not be fair to authors, remember that agents don't need any more reasons to reject books.

When you're describing the competition in your proposal, you should limit your discussion to best sellers and/or books that have won awards. The agents of those books are the ones you want to target.

Finally, don't keep your reason for targeting an agent a secret. In fact, it's the opening sentence of your query letter. "I am writing to you because you agented XYZ, which is similar in genre and tone to my book, ABC." Or something like that. Spend some time on the websites for the agents you've targeted and get to know their client lists. Does your book fit right in with the types of books they've had success with? If so, and if you've read the books and/or are familiar with the clients, say so in your letter.

Do your homework. It shows up in your choice of agents, in how you write your query letter, and on almost every page of your proposal.

On Why This is a Great Time for an eBook

Times are tough for just about everyone, right now. And if you're looking for a way to boost the traffic to your site or to your business, reach more prospects faster, or get your message out to as many people as possible, writing and publishing a book the old- fashioned way is not a good idea. After all, even if your book were already written and you already had an agent, if you're a first-time author you're not likely to have your book in hand for a year.

And you need more business now.

Furthermore, even if your book were already written, if you wanted to self-publish it that would still take a couple of months, and that's just to get the books to you. It's definitely a better idea than going the old-fashioned route, but there's yet a better way . . .

Publish your book as an eBook. Because it will already have a design, layout and index, it can also be published in hardcopy, but why not save some paper, offer a less-expensive product, and join the growing ranks of entrepreneurs taking advantage of digital publishing technology?

Here are some benefits of publishing an eBook:

• It has a fixed cost per book. Whether you produce one or 10,000, your cost doesn't change.
• You don't have to go through the obstacles and headaches involved in finding an agent and a publisher.
• You don't have to wait on what might seem like an interminable queue, until it's finally time to print your book.
• As soon as you release your book, your credibility as an expert in your field will rise exponentially.
• It gives you a reason to contact your customers and prospects.
• It can be used as a premium with a membership or subscription, and it can also be sold on your website, either as a whole or in parts.
• It creates added value for you.

Every speaker and most entrepreneurs can benefit from writing a book. For some, traditional publishing is the way to go. For most, self-publishing is the best route. But everyone can benefit from an eBook, as they're not mutually exclusive of hardcopies, and they can help you reach (or create) your audience faster and more efficiently.