Building Platform

You’ve poured hours into building a plot, developing characters, and revising. Now that your baby is written, how do you land a contract? One way is through platform because it makes your work more attractive to editors and makes marketing easier.

But what is platform? Simply put, it’s a network used to market books. This may include social media outlets, connections to organizations, blogs or podcasts, people who endorse our work, or paid advertising. While exceptions exist, in general, the bigger the platform, the greater the chance an editor will look at your manuscript. Two popular platform-building methods include social media outlets and networking through conferences.

Get Started on Instagram

Earlier, I posted on how to get started on Instagram part one and part two. If you’re new to social media, Instagram is a great place to build platform. Besides finding a target audience, you can also connect with other writers. Look for profiles of people who have successfully marketed their MG novels or accounts that feature/review MG books. Follow and interact with those accounts. For Christian readers, here are a few accounts to check out.

• @hopebolinger–This prolific author/editor has over 14k followers and offers solid advice for authors.
• @kristianasquill—This author shows some creative marketing ideas she employed for her award winning debut novel.
• @mesontagauthor—This MG historical fiction writer has several posts and links showing how she markets her novels.
• @kellimckinneywrites and @lori.z.scott—Hey, we’re both writing for A3 here, so you’ll see some of marketing ideas in our posts.
• @endgamepress and @chickenscratchbooks- these small but growing publishers might be the perfect fit for your middle grade novel.

Throw in a Conference

Writing conferences were crucial to my publishing journey. Through them, I learned about writing opportunities, made friends with other writers who support my endeavors, found an agent, and landed a book contract. Outside the social aspect of these literary treats, each conference offers workshops to help aspiring writers learn the ropes and veteran writers hone their craft. Here are a few of the larger ones that offer strong faculties with multiple opportunities for attendees to pitch book ideas. The scenic locations allow writers a relaxing atmosphere to network with each other and leaders in the industry.

• Write-to-Publish: Located on the campus of Wheaton College.
• Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference: Located in scenic mountains.
• Florida Christian Writers Conference: Located at Lake Yale Conference Center.
• Kentucky Christian Writers Conference: Located on the Elizabethtown Community and Technical College campus.

This brief look at platform doesn’t encompass all the avenues available to writers. That’s where you come in! Please post your platform building ideas in the comments below. Maybe together, we can create a supportive community of middle grade writers.

Teacher and author Lori Z. Scott writes fiction because she’s like an atom. She makes everything up. She also has two quirky habits: chronic doodling and lame joke telling. Neither one impresses her boss, but they still somehow inspired Lori to accidentally create a ten-title bestselling children’s book series and on purpose write over 175 other publications. She continues penning stories as an excuse to not fold her laundry. Find her silly drawings, poems, and whatnot on Instagram @Lori.Z.Scott and look for her debut YA novel Inside the Ten-Foot Line coming October 2022.

I’ve guest blogged on A3 (Almost An Author several times, and I’m happy to announce that I’m teaming up with regular contributor Kelly McKinney to explore writing for the middle grade audience.