The Art & Business of Writing - 095: Let's Talk About the P-Word

095: Let's Talk About the P-Word

02/04/22 • 17 min

This week, we're talking about the p-word—platform. Every author needs one, but most may not know what areas constitute it. Platform isn't one thing; it's a cluster of many things all validating your marketability as an author. Let's discuss!

Previous Episode

094: How to Get a Literary Agent (w/ Peter Cox)

Peter Cox is a best-selling author of more than 20 books and is the managing director of Redhammer Management, a London-based literary agency recognized by the Association of Authors’ Agents. Redhammer specializes in managing a small number of exceptional authors, working closely with them at every stage of the journey from monitoring and supporting publisher’s performance to aggressively selling film, television, and all other rights. In this episode, Peter and I talk about:

His work as a literary agent and how he got started
The relationship between agent and author—and why his agency is different than most.
Whether author should work with literary agents in different countries.
How to query an agent (and what really captures their attention in a query letter and a proposal).
How agents choose authors to represent
What makes up an author platform and why it matters to agents
The most important aspect of your book proposal
How agents shop books
The financial side of traditional publishing for authors and agents
How to send him your query

Next Episode

096: How to Design Books (w/ Ryan Scheife)

As founder and principal designer at Mayfly Design, Ryan is experienced in all aspects of book design, including cover design, page design, typesetting, and eBooks. He is also knowledgeable in other publishing services for the ever-growing population of independent authors who are setting out on their own publishing journey, including acquiring ISBNs, registering their book with the Library of Congress, and assistance with distribution platforms such as KDP and IngramSpark. His strength is taking a finished manuscript and supporting assets and creating a beautiful, engaging, and exciting book with a process that is very time-efficient and worry-free. Mayfly Design was created in the thriving literary city of Minneapolis in 2007 with a mission to celebrate and advance the universal connection and goodwill of storytelling. Visit mayflydesign.com for more information. In this episode, Ryan and I discuss: