Can I stand on this?

Do writers need a platform? Hell yes!

I put some free chapters of my novel on the site here. Go click on it. Read it. Please. I love feedback, especially the kind that helps me improve my writing.

I have over 3000 followers on Facebook on I love Paris (search @ParisTimeTravel if you want to check it out) page and through the wonders of the internet, many of them have clicked the link and viewed/read the chapters. What a time to be alive! It’s never been easier to get our writing out there in front of readers.

When I published my (very unfinished) novel in March 2018 I had about 1500 followers on my Facebook page and just over 1% bought the ebook following the link from my page. The same percentage have clicked the link and viewed the chapters. I wonder if this is a fairly universal ‘number’ in publishing or indie publishing? I am hoping that at least 1% will buy the paperback – when I finally get it on sale!

I have heard a few established writers decrying the idea that writers need to build a platform on social media. Just write better books they say. I know, I get it, but we need a platform of some description, surely? The trick is to not waste valuable writing time ‘networking’.

As I prepare my paperback for sale I know there are certain actions I need to take to ensure it sells. I need a book launch. I need to market it. Argh, I really don’t want to do any of those things. Stephen King says I don’t need a platform, so if it’s good enough for him…but I wonder if that is fear (that my writing and my story will be ridiculed) and laziness (what if I do all the work and it still doesn’t sell?) masquerading as a desire to be like my writer-hero? I don’t wonder, I know! Do the work, Christine!