The Platform – is it fun or soul-sucking?

Date: 2010.04.29 | Category: Creativity, Self-Marketing | Tags: creativity,deb galant,jennifer louden,platform,writer's platform,writing

The universe has got writers’ platforms on its mind today.  Or at least, it has set me to the task of thinking about Platforms.

This is my friend Debbie Galant’s recent Youtube post for her new novel, Cars from a Marriage.  Deb has a great platform – she is the founder of a very widely-read place-blog: Baristanet.com and the former columnist for the NJ section of the New York Times. She has a following – this is her third novel. 

In the video she begs us to go buy her book, saying it has a slightly longer expiration date than a quart of milk (though she holds up a gallon of milk.)  This is so Deb’s humor. Non explanatory, wry.   Not everyone will like this video, but Deb is fearless and funny.  She promotes her books in the same way she mothers – Fiercely. Protectively.  Proactively. 

My day started with this impassioned plea from Jennifer Louden on facebook:  (shortened here)

Jennifer Louden: The Soul Doesn’t Need a Platform

Selling your work, having an audience, making a living, receiving invites to speak, having millions read your blog, all of that is groovy.  The flatness of the Internet is a beautiful thing – no barriers between you and sharing your ideas.

And you need to keep an eye on the soul’s needs, too.  I’m speaking especially to those of you who are just beginning to write or paint or coach or otherwise, create.  Because here’s the thing: Your soul needs time to express itself, you need time to find your voice, before you go to market.

I know, soul is such a ponderous word.  But there it is: you have one. And the soul and creative work are inextricably linked.

The last thing you want to do with your tender creative urges is bring them to market too soon.

In all the talk of platform building (god, I hate that word) and target audience and creating a great freebie, I often see something nasty happening to new creators. But then this new creator gets infected by the idea he has to do something BIG with his creative impulse.  Give yourself time. Give your soul time to play for its own sake. Yes, this is true even if you already have a platform and an audience. You can rape your soul just as easily, maybe more easily. Yes, shipping is important but it’s far more important to explore and express and learn for the love of it.

That’s what I believe.

This is like music to my ears.  You have to let yourself be who you are – express your soul – and let it just go out into the world and find its cohorts.  I couldn’t agree more heartily.  But marketing and building a platform is not evil, in and of itself.  You have to find your way to do it authentically.  You have to do it in your voice, with your style.  I think Deb’s plea to go out and buy her book would feel desperate and wrong to some creatives, but it’s brilliant and right for her.  Blunt.  To the point with a dash of Deb. 

A platform is a word used to describe the base from which an author, artist, or coach can sell their wares and services.  The power it seems to have in our lives – when an agent says: “No thank you.  You need a bigger platform first” – we curse the power of the Platform.  We fear and dread all references to the word Platform, like it’s a mythical beast. We all have to slay the Platform.  We have to tame the Platform.  We have to charm the Platform.  

Platform building is exactly what you think it will be – fun or horrible.  Recreational or work.  Social or corporate.  We all need to build platforms if we want our works to sell.  It’s not a horrible task that is ahead of you.  It’s just the next step in the journey.  Like writing a novel, it needs to be an enjoyable part of everyday, that leads to a work of art – your self-expression in the marketplace.