I know, you probably think I fell of the edge of the world, crossed the Styx and am now communing with the multitude of cosmic particles in the Great Out There.  Actually, sometimes it feels that way.  And yes, from this, dear regular reader, you may guess that the Nightmare Build From Hell is ongoing.  I kid you not.  A year ago, come the end of this month, the house should have been finished.  It is not.

Someone wryly suggested I should write a book about the process.  So I did.  Here it is:

Copyright 2013 Nicky Schmidt. 

“So you want to build a house?”

Chapter One:
 
Don’t.

The End.

Publisher’s Note:
Flowers may be placed on the author's grave between 10am and 12pm every Saturday.


Yes, well, nuf zed, eh?

As I’m pretty sure you’re well aware, all this time spent stressing is time lost to writing and time lost to “building the platform”.   Aside from the ideas for a new novel (yes, I know, even I can’t believe that in the churning chaos of the Build From Hell a new story has sprung), something else has been buzzing around my head – that damned author “platform” thing.


In the past couple of months I have read more articles on social networking than I care to think about.  I’ve written two articles for Words and Pictures on marketing, the latest one on brands. I was going to write a third piece on getting yourself out there and connecting with your target market, but the impact of The Build from Hell has meant I’ve had to cut back on all sorts of things, including, unfortunately, writing for the SCBWI-BI blogzine.  That said, it hasn’t stopped me thinking about social networking and the damnable productivity sink that it is.

As a former (and now part-time) marketer I’m horribly aware of the need to create an author platform and get yourself out there.  Equally, I’m extremely aware, that with the proliferation of so many social media networks an enormous amount of time can be wasted.

As I said in my first article for Words & Picture, before you can market yourself, you have to have a product.  Without the product, in this instance, the book, you may as well go fishing - or eat cake.
It bothers me no end the amount of time new writers spend on platform building – and worrying about it.  Time that could be used to far greater effect perfecting and honing their craft, improving their story, making connections in the publishing world that might actually ensure a deal.  And, er, actually writing the book!

Of course, I’m a fine one to talk given I’m on Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Tumblr, Google +, YouTube, Goodreads and Flickr - not to mention Skype and Ning (yep, there goes privacy). But the thing is, I started blogging 2006 (as an alien chicken – yeah, I know) and have been an early adopter of many of the social media networks. In other words, without putting focused effort into it, I’ve been drifting around the internet in one way or another for over six years – that’s practically a lifetime in the digital age – I mean look at My Space, dead and buried in that time.  But all this means that without even trying, I’ve developed an online profile.  Whether I’d call it a brand is questionable but I’m out there, and people have come to know me (or rather, the me I put out there – see, I really am an alien chicken…).  Because of my background in marketing most of this social networking has been fun, and when I started out there was no pressure to do it.  No calls for an author platform.  And although I’ve not set out to do it, I’ve been perfectly conscious of the platform I’ve been creating and the reason why I’m doing it.  I’ve also at the same time written several manuscripts, worked on my craft, got involved with children’s writers groups and focused on improving my writing (and built a house).

But here’s the thing that bothers me.  How does someone just starting out find the time to do all this effectively?  The reality is it’s all so time-consuming that most don’t. Either the platform is created, or the book is written.  There are very few new writers - and even published authors - who manage to do both really successfully.

Despite recently reading a newsletter that advocated the dire need for self-promotion for writers – even those not yet published, I’m inclined to want to do some chop-smacking. Possibly even a bit of savaging and rending, because simply put if you’ve never been published, if you’ve not yet finished your first publishable manuscript, what the hell are you promoting?

And this is where I revert to basic marketing speak, before you can build a brand, create a platform,  determine your value proposition and the various P’s of marketing, the most critical thing you must do is produce the best, must-have product you can – i.e. write the best novel you can. 

So sure, hang out on Facebook, create a Tumblr page, tweet away, sign up for a YouTube account – but contrary to popular belief don’t spend an inordinate amount of time doing so and don’t get your knickers in a knot about it.  Facebook is my go-to place for coffee breaks, I use an app to maintain my other spaces and I allow an hour for it while I drink my morning chocolate.  The rest is writing time and learning time (when I’m not dealing with the Build From Hell).

Use your time productively, learning how to write and rewrite and rewrite some more – because it’s Very Tough out there.  Once you have a contract in your grubby mitts then spend some time worrying about your author platform – but not too much, because you will need to go and write and publish another book.  Simply put, without the books, you have nothing to put on your “author platform”.  It comes down to getting focus and priorities in the right order.

Now go and write the damned book and if I see you on Facebook there will be words.  Stern ones.