An author needs a platform to build their image. For example you can look at Angela Meyer's website: https://literaryminded.com.au/about/
On this site she has information about herself, such as her awards and her career history. She promotes her book here. We can see her debut novel mentioned almost at the very start with a link to purchase it. Her platform is a major way for her to advertise her book. The good thing about an author platform is that you can cultivate your own image. Your can be whoever you want. You can pretend to have a personality that you don't, you can make a nice aesthetic to draw readers in when in reality your room is a mess.Your platform is like your brand. It's also a form of automedia. Emma Maguir tells us that while it is hard to attribute terms like autobiography to an avatar, for example, the term automedia fits. An author's platform is a bit like an avatar as it is how they choose to present themselves in the virtual space of the internet.
Let's talk about two different types of publishing - self-publishing and traditional publishing. Self publishing has a lot of bad stigma. People think of stories with no real plot and lots of spelling errors. I have read a book that was not self-published but had no plot, however I will not name it here. I've also read some good and bad self-published books. I think I lean more towards traditionally published works as self-published books can be hit-or-miss. However, self-publishing is by no means bad. People say that it diminishes the value of books, but I don't think so. I don't think having some bad books devalues good ones.
Bad reasons for self-publishing were brought up this week. I think the most common one we see is people thinking it's easy. But it sounds hard - making your own cover, editing, printing - it's expensive! Another reason is people thinking that publishers do not want to publish new authors - this isn't true, as some of the best novels come from new authors. Lots of people have had success with their first book, like Angela Meyer who I mentioned above. Some people also think their writing is perfect and shouldn't be tampered with. No one is perfect, except dogs.
Enough negativity. Let's move onto the good things about self publishing. In 2007 a new platform named Kindle Direct appeared in the internet. It let authors self-publish for free. They could have control over their work and pricing. This was a huge step for self-publishing. It meant that a wider range of people could tell their stories. I have heard of it being a problem that authors of a certain demographic struggle in certain genres. For example female science fiction writers tend to have more difficulty than male ones.
And finally, we got warned about vanity publishers - publishers who will prey on up and coming authors. 'Oh, we love your work, we want to publish it!' they will say, then suddenly it's 'Oh by the way give us $30000. Thanks.' Be careful out there!
I want to say thanks to everyone for a great semester, let's hope that the world will be in a much better state next semester.
Here is a silly picture of my dog to cheer you up!
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Works Cited:
Maguire, Emma. "Home, About, Shop, Contact: Constructing an Authorial Persona via the Author Website." M/C Journal [Online], 17.3 (2014): n. pag. Web. 5 Jun. 2020
Angela Meyer. "About Angela Meyer". Literaryminded, 2020, https://literaryminded.com.au/about/. Accessed 5 June 2020.
Hi Leila,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post this week. You covered the content really well in way that was super easy to understand.
I think comparing an author's platform to an avatar was really clever. A very simple way to get the point across.
I enjoyed the way you talked about the common assumptions of self-publishing and explained how it might not be the case. It really makes you look at it from the other perspective.
Great work :)
Hey Leila,
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost, your puppy melts my heart! How can I be expected to comment now that I've seen them? All I can think of is the CUTENESS!!
Seriously though, I think you've explored the concepts we covered in class this week well here, giving concise examples that were easy for me to understand. You made a good point about automediality and creating a brand, I agree that these platforms are a bit like an avatar in that regard. Thank you also for a great semester, I had so much fun in this course, I wish you nothing but positivity for the future!
-Bianca
Hi, Leila,\
ReplyDeleteIt's criminal that I only discovered your 'blog' the other week. I blame blogspot and it's crappiness in not notifying me of new posts. The people in the class who chose BlogSpot seem to be suffering a similar fate. When the blog changes, it isn't updating ehe URL's to show that they have changed since my last visit, so I don't visit again.
If one is going to explain slackarsedness, one should do it at the last minute.
I have to take slight umbrage at your comment that female science fiction writers tend to have more difficulty than male ones. Whuile that has been historically true, female SF writers now find it easier to get published than male ones. they have come to dominate the field in the sense that they are turning it in new directions. The emphasis on characterisation over science has led to this. The blurred edges between fantasy and SF also explain it. Except for the military SF subgenre, women are well represented nowadays.
too well, I might add, but for the moment let's put that aside. The field is in the same state of change it was when the 'New Wave' cam out of England in the 1960's, and with any luck it will settle down again in a few years.
One thing I've noticed about self-publishing vs traditional publishing is in the typos. Self-published books are generally self-edited, and people's eyes glide over their own work, and of course they don't notice errors they aren't aware of, such as spelling errors and word choice. But in traditional publishing now, there are such a dependence on software to do the editing that books are still filled with typos and poor word choice. It's a sad thing that publishing has ha to abandon editing because editing doesn't lead to sales (*unlike cover art or blurbs). Declining book sales should tell them that readers actually care about this, but so far it hasn't filtered through to the decision makers.
Right. Well, that was relieving rant. I agree that you should work on your platform now. I'm sure you can produce something to match up to said platform.
Hey Leila! Loved your post this week. Do you think you'd prefer to self publish or traditional publish? for me, as i also would love to be a writer, i think depending on the situation i'd be happy to either. i think the problem with self publishing is people may not do enough research about it and it just flops! i'd definitely make sure i knew what i was doing but at the same time, writing a story is enough, i would also be okay if i just handed it over to a publisher and a marketer!!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Leila! Like Eden, I really like the way in which you've covered the content for this week. I think I would have like to have known more about the author you chose in terms of her specific branding and platform, but otherwise great job!
ReplyDelete-Dallas.