I often do some of my best writing right after finishing a book.
I feel that this was the case last summer with a self-study course curriculum that I wrote for the folks at Writer’s Digest to include in their September 2011 Build An Author Platform Premium Kit.
I had just completed The Writer’s Workout, and I was creatively spent and eager to spend some time with my family. But…I felt like I had made some training breakthroughs in teaching platform development, one of my long-time specialties. And I knew that writing the self-study course for Writer’s Digest would push me to articulate my ideas concisely, specifically, and well.
So while Jason and Samantha were off exploring Portland, I was in the basement pulling together all the best of my ideas on platform development for writers.
I think this workbook is one of the best things I’ve ever written and one of the most helpful tools for emerging platform builders around. I have been speaking, writing, and teaching platform development to writers for five years. Thousands of people have benefited from my work on the topic.
You may be familiar with some of my prior work on the topic for Writer’s Digest:
- “50 Simple Ways To Build Your Platform in 5 Minutes A Day” for Writer’s Digest magazine, March/April 2011
- “Elements of a Successful Fiction Platform” for Writer’s Digest magazine, November/December 2010
- “How to Build a Marketing Platform” for Writer’s Digest magazine, May/June 2009
- Get Known Before The Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths To Grow An Author Platform (Writer’s Digest Books 2008) More info
I made a deal with the WD publisher at the time, Kelly Messerly, that I would write the self-study curriculum for WD, they would sell 200 print copies from September – December, and afterwards the rights to the work would revert back to me.
So naturally, after waiting all of this time, I am very excited to share the concepts I developed with you in the Build Your Author Platform Workbook.
This eight-chapter companion workbook in PDF format was written to go with my book, Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths To Grow An Author Platform (Writer’s Digest 2008).
I feel confident that my Build Your Author Platform Workbook brings the platform development concepts in Get Known up to date without muddling any of the basic thrusts, which are as sound as they ever were.
One thing has changed for writers, though: no writer is merely a traditionally published or merely an “indie” author any longer. We are all both now. We are all everything and anything that we decide to do. And who knows what that’s going to look like in 2012.
It’s an exciting time to be a writer. I hope that my workbook will help any writer navigate what can otherwise feel like a confusing spectrum of choices.
I’d love to work with you, if you want to work with me. But I understand that not everyone wants to work with me in a six-week email class environment (although there are those who seem to love it). I also understand that not everyone can afford my class fees or the conference fees where I’ll be speaking this year. Of course, this is why I offer scholarships but even that can only go so far.
So here’s my chance to make my teaching affordable for every writer. I could have priced the workbook higher. In fact, I seriously considered it. But I’m going low instead because that’s in alignment with my 2012 mission to empower as many writers as I can using my best tools, old and new.
The Build Your Author Platform Workbook is a mental workout any writer can use annually to assess platform growth thus far and reassess it going forward as a writing career takes root, grows, and prospers. Folks who are already fans of Get Known Before the Book Deal will especially appreciate the opportunity to organize all the scribbles they’ve already made in their books! (But don’t forget to update your ideas to reflect your present accomplishments.)
The workbook is on sale now! You can purchase the Build Your Author Platform Workbook to accompany your paperback or digital copy of Get Known Before the Book Deal for only $39.99. I will send the workbook right over to your inbox soon after you order.
Folks who have taken my Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform class will appreciate having a workbook to help them with their annual platform update and goal setting. And during the month of January 2012, all of my current and former students and dream teamers can purchase the workbook at a reduced price of $29.99.
The only folks who SHOULD NOT ORDER this workbook are those who ordered it via the Writer’s Digest premium collection in September or December. (Please contact me at christina at christina katz dot com if you are interested in discussing use of the workbook in your group class, program, or organization.)
Please click here for more info and how to order Build Your Author Platform Workbook.
Happy New Year, writers!
And happy ongoing and evolving platform development for many years to come!