How important is an author's platform? Critically.

I just finished a chapter in Cindy Saver’s upcoming The Anatomy of Writing for Publication for Nurses (June 2010, STTI) on “platform” for authors. Many don’t understand it, recognize its importance or have a clue how to create it. I know it’s frustrating as an author to be turned away by publishers and others when you come up with projects, and it’s equally frustrating to not know how to set yourself apart.

What is your platform? Your platform is who you are in relation to your topic. How much of an expert are you? If you’re offering your readers a solution to a problem (or giving them a treatise on your topic of choice), your platform is what makes you a reliable source. Do you have special training? Are you an “expert”? Do you have experience other than just “I did it and want to help others do it, too”? Do you have a following? Do you speak? Do you blog? Do you have a website? Do you have readers for a newsletter, or hits on a website or great quotes from well-known people who say, “This person is terrific! Read what they have to say!”

Your platform is your base of credentials. It’s your credibility on a topic. It’s your position in the industry, your company, your topic. It’s any related certifications, degrees, speaking experience, work or involvement. What difference does it make to the success of your book? All the difference in the world!

Can you create a platform for yourself? Of course. But only you can do it—no one else. A publisher can create a great book for you, but they can’t create a market for it out of thin air. If you have no platform, we won’t be able to find a way for your readers to understand why they should pick up “your” book. If readers don’t clearly understand who you are and what your connection is to the topic, they won’t understand your perspective in your book. Lack of significant platform is probably one of the top reasons manuscripts are rejected by any house that’s selective about what they publish.

So how does one create a platform? Become an expert, get certified, take classes, become known and credible in the community based around your topic, create a website, start a blog, speak, volunteer, teach, lecture, travel, network, get to know everyone of importance in the world of your topic and have them know you. If you publish with a traditional house, your publisher is going to want to know who you are within the context of your topic. (If they don’t care, then you have a whole other problem.) Be creative about yourself and where you fit! Have fun and become passionate about your topic. You'll have your platform built before you know it.

(Adapted from a previously published blog posted by the author 20 April 2006.)

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership, published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.