Advice for Writing, Editing, Reading, and Life.
New posts on Mondays (for non-fiction) or Fridays (for fiction)
Finding Success in the Middle Ground — A response to “The Paradox of Platform”
Nurturing any career is a process. It’s not something that happens at a particular point in time. I got the idea to try writing picture books somewhere around five years ago. On any given day since, I am taking steps toward that end. I joined a critique group—Hooray! I studied the business of writing—Go, me! I learned to revise--Something else to celebrate! Seeing just the end goal disregards the growth points and small wins along the way.
The Paradox of Platform
If you already have a built in fan-base from another venture, such as internet videos or a television show, your book will be a much easier sell than someone with no web presence, regardless of how good or bad either book actually is. As a person with virtually no platform, I know how that sounds—envious and a little bitter. To some extent it probably is, I confess, but it’s also just the reality of producing art for profit.