Platform Development Tip: Switch Writing Hats!

By Author: Jill Nagle
Total Articles: 5
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Around eighty percent of nonfiction books today are written by "experts," that is people who have a) earned credentials in the field they&#39re writing about, b) germinated information via articles, live presentations or other media, or c) had extraordinary, unique or memorably told life experiences relevant to their topic.

For an autobiographical work, such as a memoir, an author needn&#39t have any special expertise—she is the foremost authority on her own life. For a how-to or self-help book, however, the first thing mainstream publishers want to know is, "Does the author have a platform?"

Among the multiple definitions of "platform" in Merriam Webster&#39s 10th edition are 1) a place from which to speak, 2) a set of principles, and 3) a vehicle for carrying things. All these are important to an author&#39s platform. The good news is, in the six to eighteen months it will take most authors to write either their book proposal or their entire book, they can develop a platform.

Here are some things editors look for in a platform:

- publications in the field demonstrating your ...
... expertise
- a mailing list
- pamphlets, tapes or other media carrying messages related to those in your book
- teaching or leading experience on the topic of your book
- a column
- a unique point of view with demonstrable appeal
- regular speaking engagements
- courses taught at a local venue
- a well-designed website

The section of the nonfiction proposal entitled Author&#39s Bio or Author&#39s Credentials details the information about the author&#39s platform. Many aspiring authors I work with, at least initially, grossly underrepresent themselves in this section.

SOLUTION 1: WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE—THEN SWITCH HATS!
Assume that you probably already have more of a platform than you know. Instead of beginning by writing your bio in paragraph form, put on your Scribe hat and make a list—yes, that&#39s right, a long, tedious, unsexy list—of everything you&#39ve done that seems even remotely related to your book.

Once you&#39ve made your boring list, switch hats. You&#39re now a Publishing Consultant looking over your client&#39s resume. How are you going to make her shine? Simple—you&#39re going to take everything even remotely relevant to the book and change into a language that will make publishers perk up their ears. How do you know what will make publishers perk up their ears?

Switch hats again. You&#39re an Acquisitions Editor at a major publishing house sitting behind a desk, asking yourself, which of these 163 proposals that arrived this week is worth risking my reputation, bank account and job to publish? Then put your Publishing Consultant hat back on, and do your translation—but don&#39t forget about that anxious editor.

Here&#39s an example:

Bob Jones, who&#39s writing a book on personal accounting and finance for the masses, picks a phrase from his Scribe list, "Instructor at Coleridge Community College for twelve years." With his Publishing Consultant hat on, he rewrites this phrase to read "translated high-level accounting concepts into laypeople&#39s language to over 3,000 adults of various backgrounds over twelve years."

Moving right along, Bob changes "facilitated students home accounting practices, enabling them to pay bills and prepare taxes with greater efficiency" to "Over these twelve years, the author developed a series of steps, called the Number Crunch Shuffle. Students consistently report that the Number Crunch Shuffle helps them overcome their fear of numbers, streamlines their home accounting process and cuts their bill and tax preparation time in half.

Guerilla tip: Bob didn&#39t really call these steps the "Number Crunch Shuffle" at the time he taught them at Coleridge Community College. He got help developing this tag for the technique around which his book is built. However, he did develop the method itself while teaching those 3,000 students.

Guerilla insight: There&#39s plenty of reality to work with. Take what&#39s there and describe it in new and exciting ways. Find a gem that makes your book special and give it an attention-grabbing name. Copyright © 2005 Jill Nagle About Jill: Author Jill Nagle is founder and principal of GetPublished, http://www.GetPublished.com, which provides coaching, consulting, ghostwriting, classes and do-it-yourself products to emerging and published authors. Her most recent book is How to Find An Agent Who Can Sell Your Book for Top Dollar http://www.FindTheRightAgent.com.