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Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Welcome Christina Katz




I'm proud to say that my blog post today is an interview with author Christina Katz. She's not only livin' the writer dream, but can teach us all more than a thing or two about livin' it too. Please check out the interview, and feel free to post questions for Christina in the comment section. Because I'm so excited over Christina sharing, I'm going to share too! I'll draw a name at random from those who post comments/questions and the winner will get their very own copy of Get Known Before the Book Deal. YAY! I hope I win... OH wait...



An Interview with Christina Katz


Christina Katz is the author of Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform (Writer’s Digest Books). She started her platform "for fun" seven years ago and ended up on "Good Morning America." Christina teaches e-courses on platform development and writing nonfiction for publication. Her students are published in national magazines and land agents and book deals. Christina has been encouraging reluctant platform builders via her e-zines for five years, has written hundreds of articles for national, regional, and online publications, and is a monthly columnist for the Willamette Writer. A popular speaker at writing conferences, writing programs, libraries, and bookstores, she hosts the Northwest Author Series in Wilsonville, Oregon. She is also the author of Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids (Writer’s Digest Books).

Q: What is a platform?

CK: Long story short: Your platform communicates your expertise to others, and it works all the time so you don’t have to. Your platform includes your Web presence, any public speaking you do, the classes you teach, the media contacts you’ve established, the articles you’ve published, and any other means you currently have for making your name and your future books known to a viable readership. If others already recognize your expertise on a given topic or for a specific audience or both, then that is your platform.

A platform-strong writer is a writer with influence. Get Known explains in plain English, without buzzwords, how any writer can stand out from the crowd of other writers and get the book deal. The book clears an easy-to-follow path through a formerly confusing forest of ideas so any writer can do the necessary platform development they need to do.

Q: Why is platform development important for writers today?

CK: Learning about and working on a solid platform plan gives writers an edge. Agents and editors have known this for years and have been looking for platform-strong writers and getting them book deals. But from the writer’s point-of-view, there has not been enough information on platform development to help unprepared writers put their best platform forward.

Now suddenly, there is a flood of information on platform, not all necessarily comprehensive, useful or well organized for folks who don’t have a platform yet. Writers can promote themselves in a gradual, grounded manner without feeling like they are selling out. I do it, I teach other writers to do it, I write about it on an ongoing basis, and I encourage all writers to heed the trend. And hopefully, I communicate how in a practical, step-by-step manner that can serve any writer. Because ultimately, before you actively begin promoting yourself, platform development is an inside job requiring concentration, thoughtfulness and a consideration of personal values.

Q: How did you come to write Get Known Before the Book Deal?

CK: I already had a lot of momentum going when I got the deal for a very specific audience. I wrote a column on the topic for the Willamette Writer’s newsletter. Then I started speaking on platform. When I gave my presentation, "Get Known Before the Book Deal," at the Writer’s Digest/BEA Writer’s Conference in May 2007, Phil Sexton, one of my publisher’s sales guys, saw it and suggested making the concept into a book. Coincidentally, I was trying to come up with an idea for my second book at that time and had just struck out with what I thought were my three best ideas. My editor, Jane Friedman agreed with Phil. That was two votes from people sitting on the pub board. They converted the others with the help of my proposal, and Get Known got the green light.

Q: Why was a book on platform development needed?

CK: Writers often underestimate how important platform is and they often don’t leverage the platform they already have enough. At every conference I presented, I took polls and found that about 50 percent of attendees expressed a desire for a clearer understanding of platform. Some were completely in the dark about it, even though they were attending a conference in hopes of landing a book deal. Since book deals are granted based largely on the impressiveness of a writer’s platform, I noticed a communication gap that needed to be addressed.

My intention was that Get Known would be the book every writer would want to read before attending a writer’s conference, and that it would increase any writer’s chances of landing a book deal whether they pitched in-person or by query. As I wrote the book, I saw online how this type of information was being offered as "insider secrets" at outrageous prices. No one should have to pay thousands of dollars for the information they can find in my book for the price of a paperback! Seriously. You can even ask your library to order it and read it for free.

Q: What is the key idea behind Get Known Before the Book Deal?

CK: Getting known doesn’t take a lot of money, but it does take an in-depth understanding of platform, and then the investment of time, skills and consistent effort to build one. Marketing experience and technological expertise are also not necessary. I show how to avoid the biggest time and money-waster, which is not understanding who your platform is for and why – and hopefully save writers from the confusion and inertia that can result from either information overload or not taking the big picture into account before they jump into writing for traditional publication.

Often writers with weak platforms are over-confident that they can impress agents and editors, while others with decent platforms are under-confident or aren’t stressing their platform-strength enough. Writers have to wear so many hats these days, we can use all the help we can get. Platform development is a muscle, and the more you use it, the stronger it gets. Anyone can do it, but most don’t or won’t because they either don’t understand what is being asked for, or they haven’t overcome their own resistance to the idea. Get Known offers a concrete plan that can help any writer make gains in the rapidly changing and increasingly competitive publishing landscape.

Q: What is the structure of the book and why did you choose it?

CK: Writer Mama was written in small, easy-to-digest chunks so busy new moms could stick it in a diaper bag and read it in the nooks and crannies of the day. Get Known is a bit more prosaic, especially in the early chapters. Most of the platform books already out there were only for authors, not writers or aspiring authors. To make platform evolution easy to comprehend, I had to dial the concepts back to the beginning and talk about what it’s like to try and find your place in the world as an author way before you’ve signed a contract, even before you’ve written a book proposal. No one had done that before in a book for writers. I felt writers needed a context in which to chart a course towards platform development that would not be completely overwhelming.

Introducing platform concepts to writers gives them the key information they need to succeed at pitching an agent either via query or in-person, making this a good book for a writer to read before writing a book proposal. Get Known has three sections: section one is mostly stories and cautionary tales, section two has a lot of to-do lists any writer should be able to use, and section three is how to articulate your platform clearly and concisely so you won’t waste a single minute wondering if you are on the right track.

Q: At the front of Get Known, you discuss four phases of the authoring process. What are they?

CK: First comes the platform development and building phase. Second comes the book proposal development phase (or if you are writing fiction, the book-writing phase). Third, comes the actual writing of the book (for fiction writers this is likely the re-writing of the book). And finally, once the book is published, comes the book marketing and promoting phase.

Many first-time authors scramble once they get a book deal if they haven’t done a thorough job on the platform development phase. Writers who already have a platform have influence with a fan base, and they can leverage that influence no matter what kind of book they write. Writing a book is a lot easier if you are not struggling to find readers for the book at the same time. Again, agents and editors have known this for a long time.

Q: What are some common platform mistakes writers make?

CK: Here are a few:
They don’t spend time clarifying who they are to others.
They don’t zoom in specifically on what they offer.
They confuse socializing with platform development.
They think about themselves too much and their audience not enough.
They don’t precisely articulate all they offer so others get it immediately.
They don’t create a plan before they jump online.
They undervalue the platform they already have.
They are overconfident and think they have a solid platform when they have only made a beginning.
They become exhausted from trying to figure out platform as they go.
They pay for "insider secrets" instead of trusting their own instincts.
They blog like crazy for six months and then look at their bank accounts and abandon the process as going nowhere.

I’ll stop there. Suffice it to say that many writers promise publishers they have the ability to make readers seek out and purchase their book. But when it comes time to demonstrate this ability, they can’t deliver.

My mission is to empower writers to be 100 percent responsible for their writing career success and stop looking to others to do their promotional work for them. Get Known shows writers of every stripe how to become the writer who can not only land a book deal, but also influence future readers to plunk down ten or twenty bucks to purchase their book. It all starts with a little preparation and planning. The rest unfolds from there.

Q: Couldn’t any author have written this book? Why you?

CK: I have built a career over the past decade empowering writers. I’ve developed and built my own platform as a writing-for-traditional-publication specialist, and I’ve worked with others as a writing and platform-development instructor. Many of the people I’ve been working with are landing book deals and while the other hundred-or-so writers I work with a year are developing their skills, I notice patterns of behavior—what leads to success, where writers get stuck, and how I can be helpful in these rapidly changing times in the industry.

I’ve witnessed too many writers, who were off to a great start, hopping online and quickly becoming very lost. I started to write about platform in Writer Mama, How To Raise A Writing Career Alongside Your Kids, but I quickly noticed that more details on platform development were desperately needed. My platform is based on helping others. I have a vested interest in seeing the people I work with—and those who read my book—succeed. Writers are my tribe.


Thanks Christina - writers are my tribe too!

11 comments:

  1. Hey Debbie,

    Thanks for hosting! I'm happy to answer questions about platform development and platform building. :)

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  2. Hi Christina,
    This is very interesting. I'm a poet, and I can't quite see how it applies to my situation. Any suggestions, and do you know any poets who have a platform presence I might explore?
    Thanks, Irma

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  3. Deb, thank you so much for sharing Christina's interview with us. This has been the most difficult thing for me...trying to communicate--succinctly-- who I am and what I offer.
    Christina, what are your suggestions for getting on a public speaking circuit and is this covered in the book? I currently give lectures in my field and am getting a few word of mouth bookings, but would like to expand. Thank you so much for giving your time and talent to help others along this tangled, overgrown writing path.

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  4. Hi Irma,
    Absolutely. Please go to Sage Cohen's Writing the Life Poetic blog at www.writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com.

    Then check out the online presence of other poets you love. I'm sure you will see that platform truly does apply just as much to poets as it does to everyone else. :)

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  5. Hi Lizzy,
    Thanks for asking.
    When focusing on the speaker circuit, I'd start by joining the local chapters of speaker organizations in your area. They'd provide a lot more in-depth info on expanding a speaking platform. In Get Known, I focus more on starting with small groups and working your way up to build confidence. Be sure you have a professional website too, so you can put your best face forward and display your past credits.
    Hope that's helpful.

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  6. Hi Christina,
    I've just recently started writing again and consider myself in more of a 'warm up' phase. Should I consider platform building right from the start or should I get warmed up first to 'hone my craft' so to speak? I've joined a writers group (for motivation and education) and a blog (for fun)but haven't yet submitted anything for publication. When should I get the ball rolling? Thanks for your time! -Kelly

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  7. Hello, Christina. I've been thinking about "platform" for some time, trying to get to a clear picture of its meaning is for writers. My question: Is platform simply credentials? I think of “platform” as a term that embodies politics. My writing is diversified at this point, though I am definite about what I do NOT want to write (such as horror and the passé term ‘bodice ripper’). I’m looking for concrete examples, for that is how I learn. I can see why your book has value and hope to read it. Thanks for stopping by Deb's site. She has an innovator’s spirit and is pleasure as a writer and as a person. Gayla – aka Anne Robinson

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  8. Hi Gayla,
    Let's see if I can say this without it sounding maddening...your platform isn't your credentials, although we all certainly need to keep up with our credentials. Your platform is what you DO with your credentials.

    So, it's not that I could teach, it's that I teach. It's not that I could go to writer's conferences and give workshops, but that I do. Not that I could write a book, but that I spend months on the book proposal, then pitching to agents, then revising the proposal, then waiting for my agent to sell the book, then writing the book, all while continuing to expand my platform.

    See how process-oriented platform is? This is good news for creative types. It means that you don't just whip up a platform overnight. Instead you cultivate it, nurture it, grow and expand it. I think one reason writers like my book so much (so they tell me, anyway) is because I get process. I get that platform is a process and that's why I can't "tell" anybody what their platform is. By using my book, writers tell me that they have gotten tons of ideas. Then they get to choose which of those ideas to carry out. If the writer is ripe, the process goes quickly. If the writer is still pretty green, it goes more slowly.

    I admit it. I give writers who focus on many directions at once a hard time. But only because I know how painful it can be to spin your wheels but not really get anywhere. I like to ask writers to focus, zoom in, decide on goals and commit to them. Because I like to see writers get results that increase their confidence and success. Not just success for success' sake but the specific kind of success that is meaningful to that writer.

    I suspect that was way more than you were asking for...but that's what came out. Hope it's helpful.

    And I agree ... Debbie is a good egg. :)

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  9. Although slightly cracked!

    Hi Christina,

    In your recent Writer's Digest article, Building Your Power Platform, you list 10 excellent steps for building platform. As a writer just starting to get published, it seems overwhelming to me to do all of these, and frankly I would feel like an imposter if I did some of them at this point. Would you recommend that novices choose one or two steps to integrate into our writing lives for a while, and then add more? If so, do we just choose those that feel right to us? Do you ever sleep?

    Thanks!

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  10. Hiya crackles,
    Um, yes, please somebody tell me I said this in the article (I'll resist the urge to go run and check!). It's definitely all about finding and leveraging your strengths, while addressing your weaknesses. So, for example, start with what's easy and build those skills. But try to at least address your weaknesses (i.e. fear of public speaking) and try to incorporate some kind of baby steps into your goal setting. Does that make sense? In other words, what you said, but when you identify weak spots, don't just run, run, run away. :)

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  11. Thanks so much Christina! Yes, it does make sense. I'm thrilled that you shared with us, and if your ears are burning Monday evening, it will be because we're talking about you at writers' group. :)

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