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Not Marked by Mary E. DeMuth5/29/2023 ![]() Platform is one way to have that, but it’s not the only way. What really sells books is that elusive word of mouth. And although we hear a lot about the importance of platform, I’m not fully convinced it sells books as much as we’re led to believe. As an author, I’m really worn out from building a platform, and it sometimes pushes me to burnout. Hear me: I understand how frustrating this is to read. The author’s relationships in real life matter too. I’m actually far more partial to an author’s email distribution list. You have to have a way to sell the books, and the first thing a publisher will ask is, “Will this book sell?” Now, I’m not tied to instagram numbers. This demonstrates to us that the author doesn’t yet grasp the business nature of publishing. My assistant says no if the platform numbers are low. Read on for all the reasons my assistant Christen and I turn down a project. But I said platform is not usually the reason I say NO. ![]() My response was that platform is a reality of publishing, and that if I want to make a living as a literary agent, I have to take on projects that have a strong potential to sell. ![]() In response to that, one writer asked me (politely!) why I have such a high threshold of platform numbers as I consider a client, and that their no was possibly based on the lack of those numbers. In my last post, I talked about nefarious publishing practices. She felt authors might be curious to look beyond the curtain of this agency and see the rationale behind the NO. My friend Rebecca suggested I write this post. ![]()
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