Now and again, I talk with an author who published an academic book successfully—meaning to good reviews and reasonable sales—but is looking for something more for the next project.
It happened again last week. (And just to set the record straight, in case he’s reading: this post shouldn’t be taken as commentary on our conversation!)
And then I happened across a discussion of “platform” in a newsletter meant for general writers—you know, the sorts of people who contribute articles to the local lifestyle magazine, or who write about personal finance for not-CPAs.
So not being one to ignore the seemingly-random ways disparate threads actually pull together to make a nice cozy blanket, I’m officially hijacking Hope Clark’s explanation of platform for your benefit.
What is Platform?
According to Ms. Clark,
Platform [is] any venue you could measure in terms of followers, readers, or fans…. an audience someone currently reached, professional memberships, alumni connections, subscribers, viewers or even Facebook friends. It [is] a tangible number used to convince a publisher that serious sales [are] possible.
A hundred Facebook fans is okay, but you catch an editor’s attention if you have 10,000 friends instead. Two hundred Twitter followers might look good amongst pals, but a publisher might do a double take if that number was more like 20,000. How many people subscribe to your blog or newsletter? How many members are in your professional organizations?
How useful is your ASA or APSA or ASC or insert-your-academic-organization-of-choice-here membership… really?
Let me interject here: your professional organization is an important venue for promoting and selling your book. But if you’re an academic, your professional organization may not matter to a trade publisher.
- There may be thousands of members of the American Sociological Association, but we both know that not all of them are going to care about the same topics—so the number of members isn’t a good reflection of exactly who will be interested in this particular book
- Trade publishers look to academic associations for “icing on the cake” sales, but they butter their bread by selling “to the trade”—i.e., to bookstores and Educated Lay Readers (who may or may not even exist). If your audience really is comprised of academic association members, do yourself a favor and look for an academic press that will prioritize marketing to these folks.
How many people make up a good platform?
Ms. Clark also offered up some specific numbers:
An acceptable showing in book sales is more like 5,000…. Could you presell enough copies at that level?
Traditional publishers are looking for people who can sell their books at that level, especially nonfiction. (emphasis added)
If you haven’t already published an academic book, you may not be aware that 5000 copies is a lot of books to sell in the academic world, but it’s probably on the low end of what’s necessary to allow for an economically viable trade book. (Here’s more on the subject of academic book sales.)
And as Clark points out, a traditional trade publisher wants you to be able to presell that many books. As in, there should be backorders rolling in from the moment your trade book is announced; that 5000 isn’t meant to be a lifetime of sales stacked up over 5 years.
Ready to leap into the trade publishing waters anyway?
I read these sorts of things and am reminded, yet again, that publishing in academia really is a whole different kettle of fish compared to general publishing. That’s not to say academics can’t or shouldn’t write books for a more general audience. But if you’re interested in pursuing publication outside the halls of academe, you’ll be better off if you have an understanding of what’s expected on the other side.
And oh yeah. You might want to start building up your platform right away… I hear it’s getting more important every day!
