Monday, September 21, 2009

My Inner Struggle With Building An Author Platform

As you may know if you've read one of my earlier blogs, I'm about the business of publishing my own novel. Here's a note I received from my chosen publisher: Wheatmark.


People buy books for two reasons:
1. They're interested in the book's topic or genre
2. They've heard of either:
  • the book
  • the author
    or
  • both.
Thus, the number of books you sell when you first publish your work will be based on the number of people who already know you. This is the size of your existing "author platform."
What's an author platform?


An author platform is how people hear about you and your book. It is your "team" of people invested in you and your project that helps spread the word to other potential buyers.
Who makes up your author platform?
  • Your friends and family
  • People in your immediate professional network (colleagues)
  • Friends and colleagues in any extended network (i.e., a professional or trade organization or an online social networking site)
  • Subscribers to your blog or e-newsletter
  • People who bought your last book
  • People who would make an effort to see you speak on a topic if given the opportunity
I know that as an author I must focus on platform building if more than a few are ever to read the books. But that very fact has caused me a problem, especially when I reflect upon the teaching of my Lord Jesus to His disciples. They were arguing among themselves about who would be the greatest in the kingdom Jesus, the Messiah, was about to re-establish. He said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all" (Mark 9:33-36). 


This may sound strange, but I've been hung up with the idea that marketing my self, promoting myself as an author (!), is something like trying to be the greatest. And so I should be doing quite the opposite. I should be doing my best to disappear, as it were. After all, that's what a servant/slave is--nothing, nobody but someone who offers his life in service to others. 


That has caused me to stumble in a number of ways. I can remember trying to pitch myself and my book to an agent at a writers' conference. Suddenly I, who am very experienced with public speaking, started mumbling and fumbling like a kindergartner trying to recite the pledge of allegiance. It was a miserable failure and, needless to say, the agent was very happy to see me leave.


As I walked away from that dreadful experience, I asked myself why this happened. What was going on? I discovered this inner conflict between the need to promote myself and my work and the command of my Lord to "be the very last, the servant of all."  


Sometime later it dawned on me. The very way I have been given to be a servant is through my writing. Therefore, if I am to serve my readers--and bear witness to what I believe--I must do what is necessary to let people know about my novels. In other words, I can be a humble servant of my Lord even while I promote myself and my work as an author. What a relief. 

3 comments:

  1. Amen to that, Brother. Promoting your services (speaker/teacher) or product (book) can be a humbling experience. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. But, as you pointed out, when it's not about the "I" but about connecting with people in a positive way and actually enriching their lives, then "promoting" can be very enjoyable and worthwhile. You've not "selling" yourself but rather the opportunity for people to enjoy reading and learning and sharing. Can't get better than that.

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  2. As pastors-preachers-teachers-writers, we promote not ourselves but the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel when we encourage and beg people to come to worship, to come to Bible class, to come to an event or assembly that will help them to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ". You can be sure that Dan Brown is promoting himself while he is denigrating the true Gospel and the Word of God.
    . . . Harold H.

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  3. Al, thanks for the insight, great thinking. You might also consider that it's not necessarily yourself that you're marketing, but the message. And you're in service of the message. Now ... while you yourself may stay in the background, you wouldn't want to hide the message, would you? It's a rhetorical question, I see that you agree.

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So what do you think? I would love to see a few words from you.