Write His Answer

For months I’ve been working on my next novel while balancing the demand to expand my platform so my novels gain greater exposure. I’m fortunate to have a rockstar publicist, who helps me navigate through the mysterious road of platform building.

Platform Building is the buzz word in today’s world of publishing and the gatekeeper to pitching your next book. How many hits do you get each month on your website or blog? How many followers do you have on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram? How many clicks from your Facebook and Amazon ads? But the question most neglect to ask is if all of the effort in building your platform through social media results in more books sold. Sure, we hear about the success stories, but they’re few and far between, unless we’re listening to the platform building guru who tells us how easy it is to do in ten simple steps.

For those who feel overwhelmed by it all, take a step back and remind yourself of why you write. What inspires you to dig deeper into your characters? What wakes you up early in the morning or keeps you up late at night as the story pours out of your imagination onto the page? Answering these questions is where your storytelling journey begins because it’s the cornerstone. Building a platform through social media is an extension, but it isn’t the magical solution to success.

My latest post on my website shares about where my writing journey began on the Zambezi River when a spark of a story was rooted in my soul. Social media. Platform building. None of that was part of the equation. Instead, I was compelled to tell a story that haunted me until I was able to take it from my imagination and write it on the page. That’s why I feel compelled to write. That’s why I’m a storyteller. That may not be what an agent or publisher wants to hear because we’re in a day and age where even if you sign a publishing deal, you’ll end up doing the lion’s share of marketing and promotion. And you could have a great following on social media, but that doesn’t mean your book will become a bestseller.

I’ve met with writers, agents, and publishers who prioritize platform over storytelling. The belief is that if you don’t have a big enough platform, then no matter how great of a story you write, you’ll never get anyone interested. But is that really true? Perhaps a great story builds the platform instead of the other way around.

Let’s look at two examples of books within the last few years that seemed to explode out of nowhere — Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn) and The Martian (Andy Weir), as well as a veteran bestseller who’s been around since before Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram — John Grisham.

Here is their social media reach:

Gillian Flynn – Facebook – 101,625 | Twitter – 1,649 | Instagram – 4,233
Andy Weir – Facebook – 62,887 | Twitter – 30.1K | Instagram – Zero
John Grisham – Facebook – 1.5 Million | Twitter – 19.2K | Instagram – 6,665

While some of these numbers look good, the real truth is these books and authors became bestsellers because of good old fashioned word of mouth. That’s how you sell books! Social media is an extension, not the foundation. So, instead of spending countless hours worrying about building your platform, why not write a story that grabs a reader and doesn’t let go?

Storytelling must always be the priority. If we write stories that resonate with people, then the word of mouth will spread. And you don’t have to build your platform on every single social media outlet. Pick one or two and make it fun instead of stressful. Recently, I listened to a podcast with John Grisham and Harlan Coben (70 million books in print) as they discussed the publishing world. Harlan flat out said that social media doesn’t sell books. I’m inclined to believe him, well, because he’s a bestselling author!