This month’s ALL ABOUT PLATFORM BUILDING guest blogger is award-winning author, writing teacher, and the sweetest person ever, Susanna Leonard Hill. Thank you Susanna for sharing your story with us.
IF YOU BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME?
AND WHO WILL THEY BE?
by Susanna Leonard Hill
Once upon a time, there was a writer (that was me) who wrote stories for children. Although she dreamed from girlhood of picture books with her name on the cover (and not because she wrote it there with a crayon), she was pretty sure she wasn’t good enough to get published. (Due to word count limitations we’re going to skip a bit…) Blah, blah, blah, some other stuff happened and one day in 2002 her dream came true and life was good.
“Now then,” said the Powers-That-Be, “go forth and build a platform!”
“Uh…,” I said. “Have you seen me with tools? This is not a good idea.”
Apparently they weren’t talking about that kind of platform.
“Uh…,” I said. “Have you seen me with technology? This is not a good idea.”
Apparently they did not care.
BUILD was the directive, so by golly I had to try.
Let’s just be clear on one thing: I had NO idea what I was doing or how to do it!
To save you from landing in the same predicament, I will share with you Susanna’s Rules for Practically Painless Platform Building.
Rule #1: Eat Something Chocolate
Really. It’s good for you 🙂 Construction is hard work. You must be properly fueled 🙂
Rule #2: Know what platform is.
It is helpful before you begin construction to have some idea of what it is you are hoping to build. Otherwise your go-cart might turn out to be a lawn mower… or in our case, your platform might turn out to be a mineshaft. 🙂
So what is platform, anyway?
Basically, it’s your visibility as an author:
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Who you are –
Well, that’s obvious. You’re you! 🙂 Whether you’re a stay-at-home dad of 7 who loves to bake Lebkuchen and play the tambourine, or a NASA engineer who is consumed by competitive crochet in your down time, it’s you as an individual that people want to know.
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Your personal and professional connections –
Friends and family, coworkers, critique partners, your dentist, your son’s trombone teacher, etc. You might also include people you know through the Internet, but that overlaps into the third category a bit.
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Finally, the part people tend to think of more as “platform” – the work you do specifically related to being an author, and your online presence –
Any form of media where your writing is available or where readers can get to know you, including bookstores, newspaper articles, radio interviews, school/library visits, book signings, online booksellers, and anywhere you are active in social media – your website, blog, newsletter, FB, Twitter, etc…
Do not feel that #3 is the only part that matters. All three of these elements are equally important, and #1 is arguably most important because it colors everything else. But you likely feel pretty comfortable with #1 and #2, whereas #3 might be the place you feel a little out of your depth. So that’s the focus of the other rules.
Rule #3: Find Your Comfort Zone
Some love to travel. Some love to stay home. Some love to dress to the nines. Some love to loaf in pajamas. Some like it hot… well, you get the idea.
You’ve got to be comfortable with what you’re building, and not all social media options are created equal. Scout around. Sample the choices. Hold it up and see how it looks before you nail it in place 🙂 Do you love the brevity and variety of Twitter? Or would you prefer the option to discourse at greater length on a blog? Or do you like the happy medium of Face Book? Do you see the world through a camera lens? Then how about Instagram? Pinterest? YouTube?
There are lots of options out there. Don’t make yourself miserable forcing yourself to participate in something that doesn’t suit your personality and style.
Rule #4: Don’t Wear Yourself Out!
We are all busy. We have spouses, and kids, jobs and homes and cars and pets and aging parents and yoga/running/swimming/watching basketball on TV – you know, exercise :), and some of us have to bake Lebkuchen and practice the tambourine… There are only so many hours in the day!
Choose 2 or 3 at most of the social media options and limit time spent on them each day. That way you can give your best to the options you choose, avoid burnout, and still have time to write, which is, after all, the whole point of all of this!
Rule #5: Figure Out What You Have To Offer (and yes! you have something to offer!) Preferably Before You Start Blogging 🙂
Okay. So now we get down to the nitty-gritty. What’s going to be the focus of your tweets, your FB posts, your blog? What are you going to put out there for the world?
I tried everything. I think literally actually everything.
Trial and Error, thy alias is Susanna!
Try to avoid that 🙂
Platform, platform, platform… We’re supposed to reach our audience of readers. Well, obviously that’s impossible in the case of picture book writers – our readers are pre-reading listeners. They tend not to frequent FB, twitter, or blogs of any kind 🙂 The actual readers of our books – the mouthpiece through which our audience hears our stories – are parents, teachers, grandparents, librarians etc. Those are also the people who buy our books, since most 3-8 year olds are hampered in the cash flow and transportation departments 🙂 So really, our platform efforts should be directed toward these adults.
I tried writing posts on dogs, gift-wrapping, song-writing, Mondays, book drives, how useless I’d be as a pioneer… all topics that should appeal to parents, teachers and librarians, don’t you think?
Alas, they apparently appealed to no one! Just go back and look at my early posts… and how there are no comments on almost all of them!
So I stumbled along, trying this and that, until one day I hit on the idea of Would You Read It Wednesday (primarily for writers, but with hopes of attracting teacher and librarian feedback), and then Perfect Picture Book Friday (intended as a resource for parents, teachers and homeschoolers…but which seems to appeal to writers seeking mentor texts), then contests for writers (an opportunity for writers (of all ages) to write stories for kids that could be read by parents, kids, teachers, etc.), Short & Sweets (for writers but hopefully also for teachers and kids), Oh, Susanna! (intended for writers, teachers and parents… but writers were the only ones who ever seemed to have questions), with a few author and illustrator interviews and a mini-series on self-publishing thrown in for good measure.
And by gum! 4 years down the road it appears I’ve got a nice little platform of people I adore, who make my blog a wonderful community where I’m grateful to spend time.
And yeah… if you noticed that the platform I intended to build for parents, teachers, librarians and such turned out to be a platform for writers, well, maybe that’s because I am a writer and that’s the way I think.
I choose to believe that many of the writers who make my blog and FB page and twitter…area…whatever you call it 🙂 … such a great place to hang out are also parents, teachers and librarians.
As Gilda Radnor said on Saturday Night Live, it’s a dessert topping AND a floor wax 🙂
Happy Platform Building! 🙂
Thank you so much for having me, Alayne.
Note from Alayne: Pardon my intrusion. Because I am interrupting, I want to say make sure you scroll to the bottom of this post for Susanna’s bio and links to her website, blog and more. Now for my reason for the intrusion. . . .
I had no idea what Lebkuchen is, so I looked it up. For those of you who also don’t know, Lebkuchen is a centuries-old German gingerbread specialty that is traditionally baked during the winter holiday season.
Also for those of you who don’t know Susanna and all the wonderful things she does for the writing community, I want to give a basic description of some of the things she mentioned in this post.
Oh Susanna is the children’s literature world’s version of Dear Abby, except not about relationships (well, not yours – character relationships would be OK). It is an advice column/question forum for those of us in the children’s book world, as it were 🙂 People can ask Susanna questions about writing, reading, teaching writing and so on.
Short & Sweets was started as a way for writers to keep their writing oars in during the happy, busy, outdoor fun summer months. Susanna offered fun exercises that writers could do together.
Perfect Picture Book Friday Is a group effort. Using a set format, bloggers share picture books they want to recommend to others. Susanna then shares that link on her blog in her extensive list of picture books, categorized by theme.
Would You Read It Wednesday? This is a weekly feature that offers a chance for writers to try out pitches for their Picture Books, Early Readers, Middle Grade, or Young Adult Works-In-Progress.
Contests and Picture Book Writing Course Susanna also has Holiday writing contests with excellent prizes. And then there is her Making Picture Book Magic writing course, which, as a graduate of the course, I can personally recommend. You can find more information on all of the above on her website – links follow Susanna’s bio.
About Susanna
Susanna is the award winning author of nearly a dozen books for children, including Punxsutawney Phyllis (A Book List Children’s Pick and Amelia Bloomer Project choice), No Sword Fighting In The House (a Junior Library Guild selection), Can’t Sleep Without Sheep (a Children’s Book of The Month), and Not Yet, Rose (a Gold Mom’s Choice Award Winner.) Her books have been translated into French, Dutch, German, and Japanese, with one hopefully forthcoming in Korean. Her newest book, Alphabedtime!, is forthcoming from Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Books, in Summer 2016. She lives in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley with her husband, children, and two rescue dogs.
Links:
Website: http://www.susannahill.com/HOME.html
Blog: http://susannahill.blogspot.com
Face Book Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/SusannaLeonardHill
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SusannaLHill
Making Picture Book Magic (online picture book writing course): http://www.susannahill.com/MAKING_PICTURE_BOOK_MAGIC.html
Thank you so much for having me, Alayne! I am honored to be part of your series!
And I am honored that you are part of the series. Thanks, Susanna!
Thank you for the information, I have been working on building a platform mostly as artist and illustrator. I hope to add author to my profile in the not too distant future.
Good luck, Claudia! 🙂
Thanks for all you do, Susanna. Anyone reading this should hop over to Susanna’s blog and subscribe. You’ll find a supportive, knowledgeable community and plenty of avenues to participate! Oh, and LOTS of chocolate.
Thanks for the endorsement, Joanne! You’re too kind! 🙂
You are so right about Susanna’s blog, Joanne. She keeps us all on our toes!
Thanks, Susanna, for this great post. I agree that every construction project begins with chocolate – and the right tools.
Chocolate makes everything better 🙂
Thanks, so much for the informative and reassuring news about platform. I know I will have to step up to this next piece in my writing journey!
You can do it, Carleen! It’s not as scary as it seems. At least, not in the kidlit community – everyone is so nice!
You’ll know when the time is right, Carleen. In the meantime, I’m sure you are logging things you pick up by reading posts like Susanna’s away in the back of your mind.
Appreciations to try-it-all author Susanna & tri-it-all Alayne. You gals each nurture this community endlessly & you 2 make a great team.
And thanks for the reminder about Susanna’s fun p. books – just in time for April when I’ve pledged to read a child’s poem or rhyming picture book each day.
I think that’s the nature of the kidlit world – we’re all try-it-alls just like kids 🙂 Thanks so much!
Being on an ongoing team with Susanna would be a dream. Thanks for your support and comments Jan.
Great post. Thanks Susanna and Alayne. I have met so many great kid lit authors through your blog.
Thanks, Sylvia, I’m glad if you liked it. The kidlit community is a great one – we are all so lucky! – and I’m certainly glad to have met you!
Great post, Susanna and Alayne. I’ve wondered about this often, Susanna. How do we reach out to audience that’s buying our books? Am I just singing to the choir? By that I mean that I mostly think I’m reaching other writers. And there are a plethora of writers who blog and their readers are other writers. So how do I offer something unique and different? I think ultimately I incorporated all of your rules with my A Great Nephew and a Great Aunt series. Do I have a huge following? No. Am I gaining an audience? Slowly. But mainly I’m having a ton of fun and feel comfortable that I’m offering interesting content that reflects my personality. So I’m happy.
I met you VERY early in my writing career. Your website is a treasure and has helped me in untold ways. I feel it reflects your personality. I just shared it with a fellow writer last week. She only read a couple of posts and said, “Oh, I like this Susanna!” And I said, “I knew you’d like her!”
Ok…this is way too long. But thanks 🙂
Thanks, Penny. I’m glad if you liked the post. I actually wish I had the answers to your questions! They are all the same questions I have about how to reach the right audience. I keep trying…and ending up still reaching writers 🙂 who I love 🙂 But I have yet to figure out the magical formula for luring parents and teachers over! Thank you for your very kind words about my site, and for referring a friend – you’re so kind! 🙂
So glad you like the post, Penny. I hear ya with your questions. I’m behind on my blog reading but I have had a chance to check out some of your Great Nephew and a Great Aunt series. Lot’s of fun, and an excellent idea. I plan to get back and catch up in the near future.
The five rules that you share are excellent expectations for a writer to refer to when building a platform, Susanna. Rule #1 is a strength for me. Rule #4, not so much. I must improve and increase my strength in this area. 😊
I already knew that Susanna is a Sweet Shinning Star. And now I know more about her . . . Susanna is a Sweet Spectacular Shinning Star. ⭐️
Thank you Alayne for your blog and all that you do for the Kid Lit community.
~Suzy Leopold
Thank you, Suzy – you are sweeter than me! I’m glad if anything I said was helpful… I still feel like I’m bumbling about when it comes to platform building 🙂
Suzy, the kid lit community is a fantastic group with a wonderful give and take system. I’m happy to be a part of it all. Thanks for popping in and commenting.
Thanks for the wonderful tips and advice! I love Susanna’s humor. And her course, “Making Picture Book Magic”, is fantastic. I’m a fan!
Aw, thanks, Kristi! You’re so sweet 🙂
Thanks for the great post, Susanna! You have definitely helped me write better stories with your course and your website and your generosity with your time and talent!
My pleasure, Kirsti! I’m glad if I said anything helpful at all. In the platform building department I still feel like I’m bumbling in the dark! 🙂
Thanks for the informative and funny post, Alayne and Susanna!
You’re welcome, Marlaina! Thanks for coming by to read! 🙂
Our pleasure. Thank you for stopping buy to read it and comment.
Susanna is amazing the way she built her platform, and she’s so funny, too!
I agree Teresa. I love Susanna’s sense of humor and wit. And learning her path to platform building is very interesting.
Amazing that any platform managed to get built in spite of me, is what you must mean, Teresa! 🙂
Thank you Alyane and Suzanna! I’ve learned a great deal from both of you and have met friends along the way. The kidlit world is a generous and inspiring group!
Thanks Romelle. And I agree about the kidlit world.
It is a wonderful community to belong to, isn’t it, Romelle? We are all lucky 🙂
Thank you so much Alayne and Susanna! I admire how Susanna has build such an amazing platform and not only that, Susanna is very supportive, informative and personable. I often refer to her list of picture books she has assembled through Picture Book Friday and I loved her picture book course. Sounds like my platform building is going to need way more chocolate consumption!
Can never have too much chocolate, Renee LaTulippe. I agree with all that you have said – well put!
You’re far too nice! I’m not sure my platform is very amazing… it’s more like a chair to stand on than an actual platform 🙂 But I’m glad if you liked the post, and I have to agree – chocolate helps all things 🙂
So, this is actually a comment from Yvonne Mes not Renee! So, Yvonne, I will say to you what I said to Renee (when I thought it was her comment 😉 ) Can never have too much chocolate. I agree with all that you have said – well put! Thanks for taking the time to comment, Yvonne!
Thanks for sharing how you made such a great platform, Susanna, and for hosting her Alayne.
It is my pleasure, Tina.
I’m glad if you found my bumbling-in-the-dark efforts an educational experience, Tina 🙂
What a wonderful post, Susanna. I think it’s great if you can learn by someone else’s trial and error but don’t we all just make different mistakes to learn from.
Love that quote about dessert topping and floor wax. I’m still looking for my floor wax lol. Thanks Susanna and Alayne!
Thank you for taking the time to stop by and read Susanna’s words of wisdom, Catherine. And for letting us know you enjoyed it.
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