A Fiction Writer Who "Gets" Platform (YES!)

It's always refreshing for me when fiction writers are willing to consider the possibility that platform development is just as important to their literary success as it is to writers in every other genre. But the reality is that there is a ton of resistance to this idea out there in the world of writers.

So often, what I get in response to my suggestion that platform IS quite important to ALL writers isn't, "Hey, thanks for providing this information." It's "Shoot the messenger!" instead.

So I'd like to take this opportunity to say, I did not create the reality, I just report on it, and try to make helpful, constructive suggestions as to how to address it. I am a writer. And we are all on the same team no matter what genre we write in. (This could be a longer post about the biases that non-nonfiction writers often have and display towards nonfiction writers, but I'll save that for another post.)

Because I'd like to personally thank Jina Oravetz for her thoughtful Amazon review of Get Known.

She is a fiction writer who gets it.

She'll help you get it.

And she won't take shots at me in the process, which is always nice too.

Here's her review:

Platform. Have you heard that word before? I have. I've read it. I've heard about it at conferences. I even sat in a workshop at a conference and someone asked a panel of four or five agents what a platform was. None of them could provide a straight answer, and none of them gave the same answer. So I was still left floundering on what a platform is, do I need one, and how do I get one. Read this book to finally have answers to ALL of your platform questions.

I'm a fiction writer so I originally thought, oh, platforms. I don't need one of those. Ah, I was wrong. And Christina Katz does a brilliant job of explaining why. Just a few of the great points she makes are:

• Fiction and non fiction writers need a platform
• You do not need to spend a fortune to work on building a platform
• The Internet is not the end all be all of platform building--you do need to spend time with actual real people.

Her book provides a road map of where to begin (identifying your platform) and how to build it. It really is a must-read for any writer. Plus her writing is witty and humorous which makes for a very enjoyable read. I read her book in one sitting and continue to go back to it, again and again. I've already begun implementing her suggestions and met some great people and found some wonderful opportunities because of it.

Thank you, Jina. I could just KISS you! But don't worry I won't. I wrote this post instead. :)

Comments

[Jina Oravetz]

Thanks Christina! I just stumbled across your post and in my effort toward continual platform building am re-reading your book as a refresher. In my opinion it's definitely worth more than one read. :)