I Need a Platform

I went to see the movie “Julie and Julia” with my wife a few days ago. It will never make my top ten list for 2009, but it was more tolerable than other such movies I have seen. (I was saddened by the fact that there were a couple of unexpected and completely unnecessary curse words used that make the movie unrecommendable. Seriously, don’t go see it.)

My interest in the movie was raised when I learned that it was based on a true story of Julie who turned her blogging experience into a book deal - something that apparently happens occasionally. I understand that at one point, Julie’s blog was getting 7,500 hits per day. Recognizing she got the deal only because of her blog’s media hype, Julie herself wrote in her blog entry announcing her deal: “I am, in fact, officially What’s Wrong With Publishing Today.” The movie also chronicled Julia Child’s difficulties getting her first cookbook published.

I agree that this kind of thing is a key to publishing; anyone can get a book deal as long as they have a platform. (Good writers have a hard time getting published unless they have a platform. I have a scrapbook of letters from editors telling me just that. More than one editor has told me that he or she has pitched one of my book proposals to a publishing team meeting only to have it rejected by the marketing people. It was rejected because I do not have a platform, name recognition, or guaranteed sales potential.)

So don’t quote me on this, but if I can find a way to get 7,500 hits per day on my blog, I will have a better chance at getting a book deal.