The Good News — and Bad News — About Growing Your Author Platform (and Audience)

There’s a lot of misconceptions about what literary agents and publishers want, especially on the Internet. One of the biggest I see is the idea of “platform” being an end goal.

Like at some point you’ll hit a magic number, attract a literary agent, get a book deal and be able to stop doing whatever it was that got you there.

But here’s the truth: building your platform and audience is constant.

I’ve been a runner for over 10 years. I’ve run dozens of races, including five marathons. When my mindset was focused on the process of running — getting my miles in, doing the daily work to keep my body strong — I generally got good results.

But when I started to focus on results and tied my worth and success to race times . . . well, the whole thing sucked. Nothing ever seemed good enough. When I’d reach one goal, I wouldn’t celebrate. Instead, I’d immediately move the goalpost on myself. Sound familiar?

I was able to shift my perspective when I realized that the happiest runners I know look at the sport differently. Instead of focusing on how fast or far they could run, these folks saw running as a process and a practice — like yogis on their mat. (Spoiler alert: I’m also a devout yoga practitioner and daily…