Archive for September 2009

Image Credit: Alex Bruda

No rule book exists to tell us how to behave ourselves in social media. With no eyes peeking into ours, we forget real people are out there reading our stuff and we  make an impression with every sentence we write online. A colleague told me about an agent who posted in public that his or her writers were undergoing plastic surgery and a vasectomy. Joke or not? Who knows. But even if it was a joke, not everyone read it that way.

Social media gives writers a place to find and connect with writers, editors, agents, readers, publishers and others in the publishing and media industry. Keeping your name out there not only leads to gigs and opportunities, but also shows future clients and publishers that you already know how to market your work. Don’t think marketing is important enough? You might want to read Jane Friedman’s 5 Questions for Those Who Don’t Have Time to Market/Promote.

So, here are 10 commandments to do right on social media, build up a following and mind your manners.

1. Thou shalt listen

This helps you get a feel for how people use the social media site or blog. It also encourages you to respond to others after you’ve heard them. Chris Brogan offers tips on listening.

2. Thou shalt do unto others to help without any expectations in return

One word: Karma. Even if karma isn’t real, helping others makes you feel good about yourself and drive you to do more. Plus, people will remember you for it and it’ll strengthen your relationships. Sarah Evans asks, “What have you done for your community today?”

3. Thou shalt read a diversity of resources and people

Spread your eWings and visit blogs, Twitter IDs and other accounts you haven’t read  (check blogrolls, Twitter followers, etc. to find new ones) and check your friends’ connections. Sticking with same people limits your ability to meet others.

4. Thou shalt respond

If people ask you a question or take the time to leave a comment in your blog, you can take a moment to reply. Notice this says, “Respond,” not “Respond to every single message directed to you.” It’s overkill to thank every single person for mentioning you, retweeting you, linking to you. Instead, return the favor by pointing to their stuff, responding in private or commenting on something else they wrote.

Also, write more than “I agree,” “Great post” and “Thank you.” We have so much content online, a lot of it wasteful. Compliments are always nice, but not in a public response that adds clutter. Email the person, if you can’t think of anything else to say.

5. Thou shalt be genuine

Be genuine about mentioning and promoting others. Be genuine about the things you say. Be real. Be you. Some mentioning other people come across as phony looking to ride the wave of someone else’s popularity or kiss up to that person. You love it when someone mentions you, right? And you tend to remember them better, right? Well?

When you write a blog, article or tweet — look for genuine opportunities to link to other people’s stuff, quote them or credit them. Notice this post has a few links to other people’s high quality content that explores a topic further for those interested. Bonus points if you mention a competitor.

6. Thou shalt play nice

It’s incredible how many arguments turn nasty online and how many people say things in a mean way. We all have different opinions. (That’s a good thing — it’d be a dull, dull world otherwise.) We just need to remember to play nice and show respect. It goes a long way.

7. Thou shalt remember that everyone can read your content

Mom, kids, editor, publisher and people who might hire you. You’ve probably heard a few of the stories about people landing jobs only to lose it because of something they said online.

It’s also wise not to cuss in public. Granted, some popular folks cuss. But not everyone can get away with this. You wouldn’t cuss in a job interview, would you? Think of the Internet as one big job interview. After all, writers don’t always do one gig forever.

8. Thou shalt not obsesseth with thy numbers

Email newsletters … Twitter followers … Blog comments … Blog readers. People email me asking how I got so many Twitter followers. Well, it didn’t happen in one night, one month or even six months. But who cares how long it took? The point is to have high quality conversations. Spammers have figured out how to gain high numbers in Twitter — so obviously, quantity means nothing.

Listen and deliver valuable stuff. They will come.

9. Thou shalt not gossipth

The kind of talk of someone else’s private business makes a person look like a gossip and future clients might fear you’ll gossip about them. Yes, skip sharing private details even if the subject is open about it.

10. Thou shalt forgo the hard sell

Social media helps you gain trust and credibility, which will build your relationships. People WILL connect with you and ask about your content. When you do, at least add value by telling people what they get out of it. How much should you self-promote? Maria Schneider thinks 60/40, but I believe it should be closer to 70/30. That’s between Pareto’s 80/20 and Maria’s suggestion.

Not convinced that writers need social media? Maybe Joanna Penn can convince you.

Agree? Disagree? Please share your thoughts in comments or create a blog post of your own and let us know about it.

Game developers who decide to come up with a sequel to a smash hit — especially one as big as Zuma that  won various Game of the Year awards in 2005 — have a difficult task in keeping the formula of the original while enhancing the sequel to ensure it doesn’t feel too much like the original. Zuma’s Revenge retains the familiarity that made Zuma popular while adding a few enhancements and game modes so the game isn’t identical to Zuma.

Once again, players control the stone frog that fires colorful balls at the chain of balls to make a match of three or more. Unlike match three games, the frog can shoot a color ball that creates a pair or stick in between two other different color balls. However, the player will have a harder time clearing the chain when the ball doesn’t create a match of three or more.

New power up effects include lightning, laser and tri-shot. All the original Zuma power ups also appear in the game including slowdown, explosion, reverse and accuracy. The frog hops around more so it can reach tough spots by jumping between lily pads or sliding back and forth. On some levels, the frog stays put.

In Zuma’s Revenge adventure mode, the frog finds itself on a Polynesian island where he treks through 6 islands for 60 levels and 6 battles with the big tiki boss at the end of his stay on each island. Each tiki boss has a special power and frog must dodge them or else become weak for a few moments. One sends poison darts that put the frog in a daze, another sends insects that slow down the frog’s shots and another moves so fast it’s tough to catch him. And he has minions, too.

After you finish Adventure Mode, you’ll have unlocked the other modes including Challenge mode with 70 levels to challenge you in reaching a minimum score with a little help from bonus multipliers all within a set time on the clock and Heroic Frog takes you back through all the adventure levels with increasing difficulty. The modes add to the game’s replayability beyond Adventure mode and you’ll want to play them. Not all games have other game modes worth playing, but this one does.

Though Zuma’s Revenge doesn’t feel too different from Zuma, it has enough additions especially with its superb almost 3D-like graphics and sound effects that have you celebrating the big moves. We’re happy to have our favorite stone frog back with new scenes, power ups and game modes even if the game has us cursing under our breath when we accidentally shoot a ball between two different colored balls.

Want to win a book? We have a few authors stopping by here. Caryn visited yesterday and more will be here in upcoming weeks.

Still need more nominations for favorite books on writing before we take a vote.

• How to Write a Novel Using the Web: How does Mashable come up with the most brilliant topics? Meryl’s brain, get to work!
• MFA Confidential: Applying for an MFA: Like to get an MFA someday, or at least take writing courses. Schedule is full.
• 13 Writing Tips from Fight Club: A Novel author: Over a year old, but still relevant. He’s not big on web writing. If he were, he’d use the tip topic instead of numbers as the bolded headers. Instead of “Number One,” I’d write, “Use the egg timer method.”
• 80+ Social Media Policies from Social Media Governance: We’ll be seeing many of these showing up in organizations as social media because an important factor in building brands and customer service. These will give you a starting point to create your own.
• 100 Tips, Tools and Resources for Twitter: I glanced at it quickly. Didn’t want to tempt myself to take on more addicting twitter apps. But maybe you can use it.
• Building Your Tribe: 6 LinkedIn Case Studies: Explore using LinkedIn for freelancers, selling products and strategies for everyone.
• How to Make Knowledge Work Fun: Simple graph, powerful message.
• Nine Scientifically Proven Ways to Get Retweeted on Twitter: Good content is #1 in my book.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Hello, Kitty gone wild: Scroll down… the gun is only the start of it. Ahem… who knew that kitty had such a sexy following. In honor of my friend Frances… lover of all things (maybe not after this) Hello, Kitty.
• Museum of Kitsch is open for bidness!
• Good Night and Tough Luck by Chirstoph Niemann: Explores the world of sleep…
• Librophiliac Love Letter: A Compendium of Beautiful Libraries: Incredible libraries. The only one I’ve been to on the list is the Library of Congress.
• Giant Tetris: Whoooaaa….
• Spongebob does Queen’s We Will Rock You.

September 25, 2009: For one day only starting at 12:01AM PST, Tradewinds 2 sells for 99 cents.

September 26, 2009: For one day only starting at 12:01AM PST, Westward sells for 99 cents.

September 27, 2009: For one day only starting at 12:01AM PST, Granny in Paradise sells for 99 cents.

September 29, 2009: For one day only starting at 12:01AM PST, Cake Mania sells for 99 cents.

September 30, 2009: For one day only starting at 12:01AM PST, Cake Mania 2 sells for 99 cents.

October 1, 2009 through October 6, 2009: For these six days starting at 12:01AM PST, Cake Mania: Back to the Bakery sells for $2.99.

Today we have a virtual treat! Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg stops by on her WOW! Women on Writing blog book tour and you have an opportunity to win a copy of her book! So grab a favorite drink, put it in a safe place and your keyboard will thank you while you absorb a taste of Caryn’s memoir and how writing during and about yucky times can help us through it.

About The Sky Begins at Your Feet

This tender but humorous memoir chronicles Caryn’s tale of resiliency and love in the face of breast cancer. She braves breast cancer, the breast cancer genetic mutation and the loss of a parent by connecting with an eclectic Midwest community, the land and sky, and a body undergoing vast renovation. Along the way, she swims with stingrays in the Gulf of Mexico, searches for cream puffs for a Pennsylvania funeral, leads a group fighting to protect ecologically-essential land in Kansas, and helps students find their own voice in Vermont. In searching for a new definition of the erotic through our awareness of nature, this memoir illuminates how our bodies are our most local address on the earth. Read the preface.

Published by Ice Cube Books (April 2009)
Paperback: 229 pages
ISBN# 1888160438

About Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg received her doctorate from the University of Kansas and was recently appointed the Poet Laureate of Kansas. The author of four poetry collections she is certified in poetry therapy and has led workshops for many groups, including people living with physical and mental illness. In 2000, Caryn founded the Master’s level program in Transformative Language Arts, that focuses on the effect of written and verbal language on the community, at Goddard College where she teaches. Her writer’s guide Write Where You Are is unique in that it is directed to teenage writers.

Caryn co-founded Brave Voices with singer/songwriter Kelley Hunt to provide singing and writing workshops. Songs written by Caryn have been performed by the Kelley Hunt band both in the United States and Europe. Caryn’s musical talents also include playing the cello.

Along with her husband, writer Ken Lassman, and children, Caryn calls the countryside south of Lawrence, Kansas home. Find out more about Caryn by visiting her web site and her blog.

Turning Rotten Lemons into Fresh Pages by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Sometimes life gives us lemons, and sometimes rotten lemons. In any case, whatever challenges we face — cancer diagnosis, car break-down, children or parents driving us crazy — offer us ample material for our writing. Such writing can also help us sort out what we’re going through, how we really feel about it, and what choices we have in the situation. What’s more, just the act of writing can help us feel more alive, and that in itself can be refreshing, even healing.

In my memoir, The Sky Begins at Your Feet: A Memoir on Cancer, Community, and Coming Home to the Body, I wrote my way through a breast cancer diagnosis in which the bad news kept getting worse for a while, my father was dying of pancreatic cancer, and I was in the middle of raising three children with my husband, and working full-time plus.

The writing helped me put the cancer into perspective and also face the very real and mortal issues involved. Furthermore, the book itself keeps on giving. I just met someone who told me the story of a man finding the memoir in a waiting room of a hospital while his wife was going through breast cancer surgery. He found reading the book during that long wait helped me find greater strength and hope.

So how do we turn the rotten lemons into fresh pages? Here are tips:

• Journal Close With No Pressure: When going through a difficult time, keep a journal or at least some paper within arm’s reach, and without putting pressure on yourself, open it occasionally, and simply write a phrase or sentence just to remind yourself later where you are now.
• Write Into Hope, Not Fear: Studies by writing and health experts, such as James Pennebaker, show that writing into fear and anguish can actually increase fear and anguish, or aim your writing toward hope. Write a list of all you love in the world, and just pluck something off the list to describe. Write a description of yourself ten years from now, assuming that whatever you’re going through will be long over, and you’ll be fabulous. See what happens.
• Steal a Line: Sometimes the best way to get to strong writing isn’t to start writing directly about your big topic, but to enter through the back door, sneaking up on your topic. A good way to do this is to find a poem, story, newspaper article, even a billboard that has a line that speaks to you, put that line down as the first line of your writing, and see what happens.
• Don’t Push the Writing Before Its Time: I’ve found that often I need time and distance from serious illness, issues and situations before I can write about them. Don’t push yourself or the writing if it’s not ready. Treat the writing as wine that must come of age before you pour it out on the page. At the same time, it’s great to take notes.
• Read Other Writers Facing These Rotten Lemons: It’s amazing how much our own words can be loosened free when we read other writers. While writing my memoir, I dove into other memoirs about cancer and losing a parent, all of which gave me more ideas for my own writing. Remember that when it comes to inspiration, the bookstore and library are your good friends.
• Write Out of Sequence: Sometimes a writer needs to write what happened in the order in which it happened, and sometimes not. You can start with the middle of your story and then write the beginning. You can later cut and paste, or tell a story in flashbacks. In any case, when you turn on the tap of your writing, write what comes, and don’t worry about how it all fits together until later.
• Suspend Judgment for First Drafts: The most important advice I can share, as Anne Lamott recommends in her book, Bird by Bird, is to write shitty first drafts. Put your inner judges on a shelf, don’t show the draft to anyone, and just write. If your judges are persistent, write first about them getting on a bus for a long roadtrip to Vegas, and then bid them adieu. Then write passionately and recklessly. You can always revise your words later.

Meryl’s Sour Lemons into Memories Story

I figure as host, I should set an example and open the comments with my own.

My mom had breast cancer. She found she had a tumor right before my wedding, and she told me in person when she came to visit me shortly after my honeymoon. I was in a new place for the first time in my life. Born and bred in Fort Worth, TX, I was a new bride who didn’t know a soul in Washington, DC. I had nothing to do. It was too late for summer school and I still had over a month before the new semester started.

I started journaling that summer, but I only had a couple of entries, and nothing for a year. It had a paragraph that Mom had a tumor that turned out malignant and her prognosis was excellent. I don’t think Mom’s situation ever hit me considering I was not with her. She recovered and that all happened 20 years ago. Since then, I’ve piled up on the journals. Sometimes I wrote lots and others, I went a long time without a drop of ink.

Then, my dad had a stroke in April 2007. And that was a different experience. Things looked dire for about a week, and he pulled out of it. I was in the middle of writing a book (Outlook Brilliant Pocketbook) that I had to finish in three weeks. I knew the publisher wouldn’t extend the deadline when it wouldn’t do it for another author of a book in the Brilliant Pocketbook series was in the hospital herself. He died the following December, but my book came out in time for him to see it. Enough about my story — it’s your turn.

Your Turn: Win Caryn’s Book

Share what comes to your mind after reading about Caryn’s book and her guest post. Maybe you’ve had a sour experience that turned into an inspiring or tolerable one. Or faced an illness that changed you or gave you a new perspective? We look forward to your comments with at  least 50 words please.

Random.org will have the honor of picking the winner.

Update: You have one week to comment for a chance to win. This contest runs through 11:59pm, Thursday, October 1.

The previous post has a quick and dirty list of the applications I use most often in my writing business. Some apps may perplex you or you’d like to know more about how I use them. This provides the magnifying glass edition so you can decide if you’d like to look into them.

Browsers

I used to rely on just Firefox with the occasional use of Internet Explorer because some applications didn’t work right in Firefox. Now I use Google Chrome almost as much as Firefox. Sometimes I open Opera — I love its look, feel and speed. Firefox hangs and slows down often, but it has the best and most useful plug-ins. Jump to Firefox add-ons to see my faves.

Bookkeeping and Invoicing

QuickBooks: Had I started my business within the last couple of years, I might not be using QuickBooks. It’s the only software that almost beat me in the battle of gal vs. app; eventually I got the hang of it. It may be a good thing because I’ve used a popular web-based invoicing application from the client point of view. It would not let me pay the 50 percent payment due at the start of a project. Sure, the vendor could’ve sent me two invoices: one for the first payment and one for the final payment, but it didn’t make sense to do that as it’s all one project.

I appreciate keeping my finances and invoices on my computer rather than in the cloud (web-based). I can’t access the app if I’m away from my home. However, when I’m away — I don’t do invoicing. If I traveled frequently or for longer periods, then a web-based app makes sense.

Writing

Microsoft Office: No matter how you feel about Microsoft, Word has everything writers need. I’ve tried web-based apps, which made me feel constrained. Favorite features: Counts (word, character, etc.), Review (tracking), Comments and Thesaurus. Excel keeps track of data or create a spreadsheet of information for a project or client.

Notetab: Cleans content and frees it from the invisible and bloated code that apps like Word add to it. If you copy and paste Word content into a blog post, it often brings a lot of useless and wasteful code with it. Notetab sheds it all.

Communications

Gmail: Thanks to Gmail, I stopped micromanaging my inbox.

Thunderbird: Friendly, easy, smooth and simple. My Fave Thunderbird add-ons.

Google Talk: Instant messenger apps used to be a regular part of my toolbox, but then some people abused it to talk to me about nothing and it disrupted my work. However, I needed a way to stay in touch with family and Google Talk allows me to be invisible yet able to connect with my spouse. We also use it on our BlackBerrys instead of SMS. No offense if you’re one of the people I’ve chatted with IM. No one can see what I am doing, so no one is at fault.

Marketing and Connecting

Blogging: I have both Wordpress and MovableType installed. All of meryl.net uses Wordpress except for Bionic Ear, which uses MovableType. Writers don’t all need to have a blog. If you interact regularly on social networks and visit other people’s blogs while leaving meaningful comments, you’ll be fine without your own blog. It’s still important to have your own web site rather than relying on social network profile to be your web page. Visiting other people’s blogs takes precedence over writing in my own as I want to hear what they have to say and respond to that.

Social networks: This includes blogs, Twitter, Twitter Search, Facebook, LinkedIn and FriendFeed. I’ve set up my accounts to feed into each other so they stay fresh without requiring my visiting each site daily. You don’t have to do cold calling to make it as a full-time writer. I do zero cold calling and instead take the Quiet Marketing approach. Few Twitter notification apps have proven to remain consistent about sending you an email letting you know when someone mentions your name or brand. Twitter Search is the best option for accurate results.

Tweetchat: This one is my app of choice for joining Twitter chats. Video on how to use Tweetchat.

Tweetdeck: Organize and manage my Twitter accounts and groups. Has some non-intuitive features that I handle on Twitter.com instead.

Personal Information Manager aka Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Memos

In the past, I needed to have my personal information manager (PIM) data with me and carried my Palm device everywhere along with my cell phone. When I upgraded to a BlackBerry, a superior phone to my previous, I decided it was time to let go of the Palm. Besides, I interact more with the PIM on my computer than I do on a handheld.

So the ability to update the PIM on a computer outweighed the need to update it on a device. That said, I needed to sync my data with the BlackBerry. I don’t like the BlackBerry’s PIM apps because they take too many steps and have too many features. It took me seconds to add a new item on the Palm yet minutes on the BlackBerry.

I still use Palm Desktop. It loads fast. It has just the right features without overkill — although it could stand a few more features. Originally, I synced the Palm with Outlook and let Outlook update the BlackBerry.

Now I’ve taken Outlook out of the equation thanks to CompanionLink’s Google Sync. It syncs all four Palm Desktop apps with Google. While its process for transferring memos isn’t elegant — it offers the best option. Google Sync then updates the BlackBerry. I update Calendar and Contacts in both apps and the rest in Palm Desktop. You can find more sync options.

Miscellaneous

Team work: Some clients and assignments involve working with a team. Each has its own web-based app for communicating. No one stands out or dominates. All apps have strong and weak areas.

Filezilla: Managing files on my web site’s server.

Bit.ly: Shorten URLs.

Dropbox: If I work on an article on both computers, I save it on Dropbox so I can access the file from anywhere. Once finished, I archive it on my PC as MyDropbox should be like an inbox — hold as little content as possible.

Online backup: I have an external hard drive for saving my work, but — G-d forbid, if something happens to my house, I’ve got my data online.

SnagIt: It’s amazing how often I use this screen capture software. It helps explain things or problems with few words. It loads faster than my photo editing software, so I use SnagIt to crop and tweak.

Adobe Acrobat Professional for saving work, invoices and other documents in its original format.

Firefox Add-ons

Links to all of these are in my Firefox Collection.

AI Roboform: Because Google Chrome doesn’t have add-ons, I turn to Firefox more often. For one, I prefer Roboform to Last Pass for managing my passwords. I tried Last Pass because of its compatibility with Google Chrome, but it requires extra steps. Roboform sometimes annoys me with its pop up box when I don’t need it.

Better Gmail 2: Gmail stays open in my browser all the time and receives equal — maybe more — attention as Thunderbird. Yes, the app can be worrisome as it goes down form time to time. But I can access email from anywhere, any computer. Better Gmail 2 enhances Gmail’s features by adding “sub-labels” (Gmail doesn’t have folders).

Download Status Bar: Instead of a pop up box, downloads appear in the status bar at the bottom of Firefox out of your way. Right click downloads to open, rename, delete or clear them. What could be easier?

Print/Print Preview: Don’t you hate it when you think you’re printing a short page only to see the first print out is blank and the contents show up a page or two later? Print/Print Preview puts the printer icon in your toolbar and lets you select Print Preview so you can control what you print without overdoing the tree killing.

Read it Later: Another reason I choose Firefox over Google Chrome. Click the checkmark in the URL box to save an article for later. I have yet to let my reading pile up. I tried a bookmarklet app in Google Chrome, but Read it Later works better.

Word Count Plus: As a writer, word count is important data. It can count anything you select.

Xmarks: Sync bookmarks across computers. I use a laptop often so I can work outside of my home office. I don’t have to do a thing to keep both computer’s browsers set up the same way.

What are your favorite apps? Why?

Everyone has their own preference for what apps make a difference in their work. Mine might work for you, or they might not. We all try, download and install many apps and add-ons. Bet  the Pareto Principle applies here: We use 20 percent of the applications we have 80 percent of the time.

Not all of these apps relate to the act of writing, but contribute to my career as a writer.

Browsers: Yes, more than one!

1. Firefox and Firefox add-ons (my favorite)

2. Google Chrome

3. Opera

4. Internet Explorer

Bookkeeping and Invoicing

5. QuickBooks

Writing

6. Microsoft Office

7. Notetab

Communications

8. Gmail

9. Thunderbird and Thunderbird add-ons.

10. Google Talk

Marketing and Connecting

11. Blogs: Wordpress, MovableType and other people’s blogs

12. Twitter and Twitter Search

13. Facebook

14. LinkedIn

15. FriendFeed

16. Tweetchat

17. Tweetdeck

Personal Information Management

18. Palm Desktop

19. CompanionLink

20. Google: Calendar, Contacts and Mobile Sync

Miscellaneous

21. Team apps: SocialCast, Basecamp and GroupSite

22. Filezilla

23. Bit.ly

24. Dropbox

25. Online backup

26. SnagIt

27. Adobe Acrobat

Not software, but must share. Love working with two monitors.

Next entry: The details behind these apps for those who wanna know.

What apps do you depend on for your writing business?

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Shout out to all colleagues and friends in NYC for the Writer’s Digest Conference including Jane Friedman and Christina Katz. I actually wish I could’ve been there and y’all know I rarely do conferences.

• Smart Money Answers for Writers: Fabulous tips!
• 30 Profiles of Resilience in Business: One pager of short, sweet and inspiring stories with links to detailed stories.
• Do You Know the Real Reason Not to Use Passive Voice? It ain’t cuz of awkwardness.
• Stephen Fry tweet sends book’s sales rocketing: He said he’d eat 40 hats.
• Surprise — Disrespecting Competitors Doesn’t Work! You shouldn’t disrespect people period. But you’ll go further if you play nice with competitors. Everyone’s product isn’t for everyone.
• 5 Cases When Social Media Isn’t Right for B2B: B2Bs are slow to adopt SM for a good reason. This explains why. It takes time for them to see how they can make the most out of SM.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• How to Tie a Cherry Stem with Your Tongue: I didn’t know my spouse could do this until recently.
• Embrace Left-Handedness with These 5 Great Sites: Me proud southpaw!
• 15 Coolest Nail Art Designs: Some freak me out while others are WOW.
• Yearbook Yourself, Scooby-Doo Yourself and Simpsonize Yourself: Had the most fun with Yearbook Yourself! [Link: Bitrebels]
• 20 Most Bizarre Craig’s List Adverts of All Time: Accurate list… although, I’m sure some are missing from the list.

Don’t assume my reading Get Known Before The Book Deal: Use Your Personal Strengths To Grow An Author Platform in any way hints that I want to be known or that I am planning on getting a book deal. In fact, every writer and business expert will benefit from reading the book because it helps with marketing your work by building a platform.

“Platform?” you say? “But I’m not entering for Miss (or Mr.) America and I am sure you’re not talking about that thing speakers stand on.”

You’re right that those are platforms, but writers and experts need another kind of platform in between the speaking they do. Christina Katz’s definition of platform follows:

A platform communicates your expertise to others. It includes your Web presence, any public speaking you do, the classes you teach, the media contacts you’ve established, the articles you’ve published, and any other means you currently have for making your name and your future books known to a viable readership.

Many people write because they enjoy the work and love the thrill of seeing their work published. They don’t do it because it means fame. Smart writers know they need name recognition to lead to bigger and better assignments. Writers who plan to publish a book soon or in 10 years need to build a platform starting now. It’ll increase your chances of landing a book deal with publishers if they know you’ve established yourself and did your own marketing and PR.

Katz outlines everything you can do to build that platform of yours. The book splits into three parts: Defining platform, marketing and putting everything together. She offers actionable ideas and assignments on how to identify your platform. Once you figure that out, she goes on to show you how to capitalize on your platform with a variety of activities and exercises (not the floor kind) with some you already know and others you might not have considered.

Before I finished reading the book, I took steps to pinpoint my platform (still am). Some how to books overwhelm the reader and don’t identify a clear place to start or they throw too much at the reader. Though Katz lists a diversity of things for writers to do, she does it in a manner that compels you to take one action at a time rather than make you feel overwhelmed. And that’s the sign of a successful how to book.

If you like online and blog writing, you’ll love Katz’s first-person, easy-going and straight-forward writing style that comes across like a teacher or mentor who cares about your success. I recommend reading the book all the way through the first time and start doing her suggested activities while you read the book. Then refer back as you complete activities to find the next thing to do in building your platform.

Platform building never stops even if you become a best-selling author with a solid platform. You still have to make sure it stays standing. This book applies to anyone who wants to be an expert on a topic while landing new opportunities whether it’s a authoring a book, keynoting or being the go to expert for a specific topic.

How did you pick your platform? Or if you don’t have one yet, how will you identify your platform?