For those of you who are writers, particularly of nonfiction, I wrote a little somethin' somethin' for Tony Eldridge's Marketing Tips For Authors.
I wrote specifically about developing a platform, which for nonfiction writers can be sort of a twitchy concept. "To even be considered for publication, you must have a great platform!", we're told, and yet it seems to be one of those terms that means whatever a particular agent or editor or publisher thinks it means.
Well, now you can add my particular take on the matter. That ought to keep everyone nice and confused. My work is done.
5 comments:
Rob,
I've been reading your blog for ages, and wanted to point out that one thing you do with your "platform" which is part of what makes it so strong, beyond the important material you cover, is your voice.
You make us readers feel like friends and the personna you create with your posts is so likeable, so much that of an everyman truly doing battle bravely against the odds. Your voice makes us feel like you are someone we'd like to have lunch with. And that is just as important as content.
BTW, I hope you have another book in the works.
My mom sent me to your blog today. I think she's trying to tell me something. (Great post, by the way.)
I've been blogging about my experience as an English teacher living in a Tibetan community in exile. My blog pops up when people google "Tibetan food" or "Tibetan chupa" and recently I mentioned a certain Indian donut and, lo an behold, the next night, the creator of the donut had found my blog and left a comment.
In addition, I was asked to talk about His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the World Have Your Say radio program, even though I only spoke for a minute and the entire show is based on people calling in. (I was one of the few who was *asked* to be on the show after they read a comment of mine on their site, putting me in a different category.)
So ... what's the next step for someone like me, who isn't exactly to write a book yet? (Did you do a book proposal before writing the actual book? If so, that's unique in the publishing world, where most agents want to see the finished product.) I can guess what you'll say: step out of your own blog and join some others. I'd love to write for other blogs, but quite honestly, I don't know where to even begin. The number of Tibet blogs are pretty slim, and branching off into the wide, crazy world of squirrel monkey blogs is intimidating. Are there any good starting points for such a vast quest?
-from the first image of the google search for "fishbowl hair dye"
Rob, this is not on the post topic but I don't yet
know how to tweet to ask you. This morning the New York Times blog "Motherlode" had a brief article on choosing your child's guardian. As I was responding about my panic over this issue -- my daughter has Asperger's Syndrome, visual perception problems and motor problems -- I wondered whether you and Julie have picked someone to take care of Schuyler in the face of the unthinkable, and if so, how you went about it. (Advance apologies if this has been a previous topic in your blog and I missed it.)
Wow, that's sort of weird that you'd ask that, because Julie and I were having this exact conversation last night. The scary thing is that we don't have an answer just yet. We both have family members we'd trust to take care of her, but none of them live in cities with what we would consider adequate schools, at least for Schuyler's specific needs. Certainly no classes similar to hers. At this point in her life, it almost makes more sense to ask one of her teachers to become her legal guardian until she's out of school. But how do you ask someone to do something like that?
This is a good question, I should find that article. This is something I should blog about, too. Thanks!
I think you face a tough decision, Rob - choosing between relatedness and someone with an emotional connection to Schyler and someone who you gets your educational philosophy for her.
Thanks for the referral to the other blog and your guest post. (more) Good work! Barbara
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