What is your platform?

Platform:

A platform is the subject behind the plot/character. It's the background of the book and identifies who the book's audience is.

Identifying platforms is a marketing technique that was borrowed from the electronics business and put into practice when books became marketed like films. A platform is used to decide how a book will be marketed because it identifies who the attendant audience is. "Googling" key terms is one way to get an initial, but unscientific, measurement of how large a platform (or audience) is.

When writing a proposal for your book, gear the description so that it includes, in broad strokes, what the platform is and the readers who would be interested in it.

Once the book has been accepted for publication, the platform(s) can be used to develop marketing kits that can be distributed to your intended audience for the purpose of creating interest in your book and buzz about the book and marketing kit (viral marketing). Morrell created the Creepers Survival Kit (LED light, band aids, aspirin, cough drops, antiseptic wipes, business cards) to help promote his most recent book, Creepers.

Developed from notes taken during David Morrell's presentation at Seton Hill University, January 2006.



Possible Platforms for Quilted Dreams:

quilting (8,680,000 Google search results)

quilting fiction (643,000 Google search results)

mysteries (168,000,000 Google search results)

mystery fiction (25,500,000 Google search results)

romance (133,000,000 Google search results)

romance fiction (18,900,000 Google search results)

paranormal (14,800,000 Google search results)

paranormal fiction (1,910,000 Google search results)

adoption issues (43,700,000 Google search results)

adoption fiction (5,170,000 Google search results)

inspirational (43,700,000 Google search results)

inspirational fiction (6,030,000 Google search results)