May 6, 2024 • 21 mins
Hosts: Beth McMullen and Lisa Schmid
Theme: The 31-Day Platform Challenge
For: Aspiring authors looking for practical advice on building and enhancing their author platform.
Key Discussion Points:
- Overview of the 31-Day Challenge: Aimed at building author platforms through daily, manageable tasks starting June 1st. Hosted in partnership with Bitsy Kemper. Details can be found on their blog at Writers with Wrinkles.
- Importance of Author Platforms: Both hosts emphasized the necessity of having a platform as a modern author, whether you're self-published or traditionally published. Platforms provide visibility and connectivity with potential readers.
- Practical Tasks: The challenge includes varied tasks such as defining your brand, considering starting a blog or newsletter, and possibly updating or creating a website. Examples like setting up a basic site on Wix were discussed to demystify technology for users.
- Engagement Tips: Tips on social media engagement strategies were shared, such as choosing platforms that align with your target audience, content consistency, and the use of polls and follower engagement to increase interaction.
- Getting Ready: Preparation for the challenge involves thinking critically about one's brand and the specific audience they intend to reach. Defining these elements early can significantly enhance platform effectiveness.
Conclusion:
The episode wraps up with encouragement to participate in the upcoming 31-Day Platform Challenge. It stresses the importance of having a clear strategy for online presence. Visit the Writers With Wrinkles Blog for more details or the Writers With Wrinkles Linktree
Challenge hashtag: #wwwplatformchallenge
Sample Challenge Calendar
Challenge Prep - what to think about before you start!
Subscribe for updates, cheat sheets, news
Visit the Website
Twitter: @BethandLisaPod
Insta: @WritersWithWrinkles
Writers with Wrinkles Link Tree for more!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Beth McMullen (00:00):
Hi friends, I'm Beth McMullen and I'm Lisa
Schmid, and we're the co-hostsof Writers with Wrinkles.
This is season three, episode19.
And today we're talking aboutthe 31 day platform challenge
that starts June 1st.
We are super excited about this.
This is something that we'repartnering with Bitsy Kemper to
(00:23):
do, and we talked to her lastweek, so if you didn't listen to
her episode, pop back there anddo that.
It's a really good one.
But she runs this thing calledthe 31 Day Build your Platform
Challenge and it's all focusedon incremental challenges.
Each day, some small tasks thatwill help you build out your
author platform Takes place onsocial media.
(00:45):
We're going to talk about someexamples of the different
challenges and tasks in a minute, but just to give you kind of
an overview of what it is, it isall about making incremental
improvements to your platformworld and, god knows, we all
could use some improvement right, you are correct, beth McMullen
(01:08):
, after we talked to her and, bythe way, it was a fabulous
episode.
Lisa Schmid (01:12):
We're getting so much love about that.
Beth McMullen (01:15):
It's very popular .
It's like doing really well.
Lisa Schmid (01:18):
It is really popular, but it makes sense
because she has been such a hugepart of the kidlit world for so
long and she has so many peoplewho follow her and love her
advice and it has really goodinformation.
That's clearly resonating withlisteners.
So, yeah, the author platformchallenge that's something I've
(01:40):
been watching for a while,wondering exactly what it was,
and now we're doing it and I'mgoing to be running it on the
social media page for us andthen also I'm going to be doing
it on my own personal platform.
So I have double duty.
Beth McMullen (01:56):
Me too, cause my platform can I even say the word
platform with a straight face?
I can only say plat.
I have a plat.
I'm missing the form Totally,yeah.
But this is good because I cantotally get my head around small
things that in some total addup to something greater.
(02:18):
But thinking about it all givesme a heart attack.
And this is kind of the sameway that I deal with writing.
I can't deal with thinkingabout the whole thing that I
have to do 380 pages or whatever.
That's overwhelming.
But just taking little, smallmicro tasks and doing those
makes it much more palatable.
(02:39):
So I'm excited about this wholething.
So what we want to do, just tokind of get you ready, this is
going to launch June 1st and weare partnering with Bitsy, as I
already said, to run this, soyou'll be able to see the
challenges on all of our socialsmine, lisa's, the Writers with
Wrinkles socials.
You can check ourwriterswithwrinklesnet blog too.
(03:02):
We'll have stuff on there aboutit, so you can get the
information lots of differentways.
But what I think you want to dobefore we jump into this June
1st you want to think about yourplatform, kind of get your head
around a few things before youjump into the task.
So you kind of know theuniverse that you're working in,
(03:22):
and the first one I thinkthat's important is to define
your brand, and I know thatsounds scary and maybe too big
for what you think you're goingto do.
But this is just thinking aboutyour writing style and the
themes that you explore, maybeeven your background and what
you bring to the table.
And deciding about these thingsupfront, or at least having an
(03:46):
idea or a few ideas that youwant to explore, will help you
communicate more consistentlyand effectively with your
audience.
So think about what your brandis.
You know, for instance, if youwrite graphic novels for kids
that involve talking animals,okay, so that's where you're
starting.
You're that person who doesthat.
So how do you lean into beingthe person who writes that
(04:08):
particular thing and what doesthat mean to your author
platform?
Do you think you're going tobuild a website if you don't
have one?
Do you think you want to writea blog?
If you don't do that, are yougoing to have a newsletter?
These are kind of yes or noquestions.
I think that we hear often fromeditors and agents that a
platform, an author platform, isnot required, but in our
(04:32):
experience, you are going towant to have something.
Do you think so, lisa?
Do you agree with that?
Lisa Schmid (04:38):
Oh my gosh.
You know we've had a couplepeople editors come on who said,
no, it's just, you know, oh,you don't.
And then I'm like now, really,couple people editors come on
who said, no, it's just, youknow, oh, you don't.
And then I'm like now, really,because I think, no matter what
your goals are whether you wantto be traditionally published,
that's your goal or you want tobe self-published, you need to
(04:59):
have a place where people canfind you and learn about you,
and where it you can.
Everyone can decide how muchthey want to take on, but I
think, at the bare minimum, youneed to have some type of
landing spot for people to findyou and learn about you, and so
(05:19):
I think it's absolutelynecessary.
One of the other things I'd liketo mention is one of my friends
sent me and I mentioned it inthe last episode was her agent
had done basically a State ofthe Union like kidlit address.
I'm talking about what's goingon in kidlit these days and it's
you know, it's probablydifferent in other genres, but
(05:43):
specifically in kidlit it talksabout how important having a
platform is and that publishersare really seeking people with a
platform that have a number offollowers.
Now we're not all going toachieve like a zillion followers
, but I really think it'scrucial to have something that
(06:04):
you can, you know, look to andsay I've got something, I'm
building it, I'm working on it.
And you know, again, that'sgoing to look different for
everybody and depending on howmuch you want to lean into it,
not everyone's going to want topost reels every day or post
videos of themselves.
I know, I certainly don't.
I need to get Botox in myforehead.
I have like big wrinkles on myforehead, but yeah, it's just.
(06:30):
You know, you don't have to doeverything, but I think pick
something that you'recomfortable with and and focus
on that or build on that.
Like everybody has somethingthat they can do, and now is a
good time to choose that thingthat you want to focus on, to
start building that, and thenyou can add on to it as you get
more comfortable with the wholeprocess.
Beth McMullen (06:51):
That's exactly right.
You hit on something superimportant and that is that you
don't have to do everything.
Is that you don't have to doeverything?
You can choose the social mediaplatform that aligns with your
target audience, your goals,your tolerance for social media
and you want to begin buildingyour presence there.
I think if you spread yourselftoo thin, you end up not being
(07:15):
very engaged in any channel andthat ends up diluting your
impact.
So I think that if you say youreally like Instagram, you're
very visual, you enjoy takingphotographs with your phone or
you like doing little stories orwhatever, so just do that.
You don't have to do everything.
I definitely feel like you needa website, even if it's super
(07:39):
basic, just like your author bioand the covers of your books,
or your author bio and yourlinks to Instagram or whatever
you choose you're going to do,and an email address so that
people can reach out to you.
So I think that is.
I kind of think of my website,which is really bad.
Don't look at mine as anexample.
(07:59):
It's really bad and needs anoverhaul, but I think of it like
a billboard, right?
So people see the billboard andthey might go open the website,
look at it and then click onFacebook or Instagram or my
newsletter or something elsethat brings them closer in.
But they do need someplace togo.
Have something, choose wisely.
(08:21):
How about that for?
Lisa Schmid (08:23):
a tip.
I agree with you 100% on havinga website, and I know that
seems daunting and some peoplemight be saying I don't have the
money to pay somebody to builda website.
There are free forms that youcan use to have a basic website
Like mine's on Wix.
If you've ever listened to thisshow before this podcast, you
know I am not tech savvy anylevel in any way and I built my
(08:48):
own little Wix website and it'svery basic.
You know it has kind of thelanding page and then my you
know my about info.
There's a place for blogs,there's my events.
It's just some basicinformation about me, and I
think I initially got the freeversion of it and then I
upgraded it for some reason.
(09:09):
I can't even remember why I did,but there are things out there.
There are services that you canuse.
So if there's costs, if you'reworried about or the fear factor
of doing something withtechnology, wix is like super
friendly, and I know thatthere's other resources out
there too that are superfriendly.
And then you know, I look atsome people's websites and you
(09:30):
can see they probably spentabout $5,000 on paying somebody
to have it created.
I'm never going to be thatperson.
But there are some people thatdo that and they're gorgeous.
But don't feel intimidated bythat.
Like, don't look at somebody'swebsite and go, I need to be
that person.
Well, maybe later on down theroad you can be if you want to
be.
But you know, just take offlittle bites at a time and you
(09:52):
can always do it later.
Beth McMullen (09:54):
You can always start with something super basic
and upgrade later on.
The point is to have somethingout there that's yours and has
all of your stuff on it, so whenpeople go looking for you, they
can find you, because theperson who's looking for you is
potential person who's going tobuy your book and you want to
make it easy for them to do that.
So, yeah, so think about the,the types of social media and
(10:17):
websites, et cetera, that youthink you can manage.
Think about how often you canreasonably promise yourself that
you're going to be doing newcontent.
That's an important thing someconsistency in what you're
producing to keep your audiencecoming back and maybe get new
followers.
So think about that.
Be honest with yourself.
(10:38):
Don't set goals you're notgoing to be able to meet,
because then you're just goingto get bummed out and quit the
whole thing.
And who wants to do that?
And the last thing that I wouldsay is use this 31 day challenge
to think about who youraudience is.
We don't do this enough.
I want to do a whole episode onunderstanding your audience,
(11:00):
because you can get down to areal micro level about who is
your ideal reader and when youhave an idea about who that
person is, you can try to figureout where they're going to be,
because you want to get in frontof them.
So this is a good time.
You're.
You're not.
If you're a new writer, you'renot going to have the answer to
this question right away, and ifyou're a seasoned author and
(11:21):
have a bunch of books on theshelf already, maybe it's time
to refine that understanding ofwho your audience is.
So that's another good thingyou can do to get ready for that
June 1, jump into it start date.
So, lisa, do you want to talkto people a little bit about
what kind of challenges aregoing to show up on this 31-day
(11:43):
challenge, so that they're notafraid.
It's not scary, we promise.
Lisa Schmid (11:46):
I was looking at it and thinking, oh, this is a lot
and it's not.
And I think the big thing is,when you go into it there's
something different, obviously,on every day and you're not
going to do every everychallenge Like it.
Just that's just statement offact.
Because one day it might becreate a website Well, you
already have a website, you know.
(12:08):
Or it might be create anewsletter Well, you maybe don't
want to do a newsletter, Idon't.
I'm not going to do anewsletter.
That's not something I'mwilling to embark on just
because I know I'll never keepit up.
So there are things that youmay say you know what.
I'm not doing this, but thenwork on something else that day
that you feel comfortable doing.
Get a new headshot.
It's funny Bitsy brought thisup the other day about having
(12:31):
that.
Her headshot was older and itreminds me of realtors.
I used to be in the real estatebusiness 20 years ago.
It was like a month ago, forsome reason I clicked on
something and there was picturesof my old clients.
I'm like, oh my gosh, theystill have the same shot from 20
years ago when I called on them.
It's like you have to updateyour headshot and that doesn't
(12:55):
mean going out and getting aprofessional photographer.
If you can't afford it.
Just have a friend with theiriPhone, take a picture and do
something that's fun.
Beth McMullen (13:03):
It is weird to show up to an event and think
that the author is, you know, 27and they're 58.
And you're like wait a minute,I have been misled, so that's a
good one and that's you know,not that hard you can get that
done.
Lisa Schmid (13:20):
It's funny because the headshot on my website is
only from like eight years agoand I swear I've aged 20 years
and that doesn't look like meanymore.
And so I have one now that Itook at my at my desk and I'm
like, oh, that's kind of cute.
I have my glasses on.
Beth McMullen (13:34):
I just keep changing my hair length, so I
it's confusing to people, Idon't know.
But yeah, again, that's areally good example of something
that is not going to be superintimidating for people.
You can totally do this andit's important to have that
headshot on your little website.
Lisa Schmid (13:52):
Some of the other things that she's got going on.
So for posting on social media,she has some fun things like
take a pic or a video of yourworkspace.
Okay, this is another pathetic.
You know, if I took one now itwould be really sad and tragic.
I think there's like an emptybottle of lotion that you know.
There's like stacks of post-itnotes everywhere that are like
(14:14):
have coffee rings on them, andthere's nothing really fun about
mine.
So I'm going to fix it up alittle bit.
So post to take a video of yourworkspace, which is actually
kind of fun, because whenever Isee them of other people's
workspaces, I always think, ohmy God, look at those great
workspaces, and that's where themagic happens.
Beth McMullen (14:34):
I really need to work online.
You and I are going to bringthe real to the workplace video,
because if you could see whereI'm sitting right now I don't
have an office.
I am a migratory author.
I just kind of float around tospaces.
I'm also the kind of person whocan't sit still for very long.
So to have an office, I wouldfeel imprisoned and it would be
(14:55):
bad.
So right now I'm literallysitting in my at my dining room
table.
Behind me is a huge stack ofoutdoor furniture cushions, my
daughter's puzzle table.
My son brought home all ofthese, these, these models for
this game that he plays fromLondon.
Those are all stacked up on thefireplace.
It's a hot mess.
I'm not photographing this, noway.
Lisa Schmid (15:16):
I'm going to do it and I might even just pan around
my little room and see this iswhere I work every day and
hopefully my friendly littlesquirrel will show up.
I have a squirrel that shows upevery day and sits on the fence
and stares at me while he'seating his acorn and I'm just
like every morning.
I'm like Hello sir, how are youtoday?
Like I, have conversations witha squirrel is not a good sign
(15:40):
where I'm headed.
Beth McMullen (15:41):
We are coming unglued, but that's a good that
again it.
The thing about this challengethat I really love is that it
gives you the idea and sometimesit's the idea that we struggle
with like what could I possiblyhave to share with a bunch of
people who don't really know me?
That reveals something aboutmyself that's not like
ridiculous, it's not gonna beembarrassing blah, blah, blah,
(16:03):
blah, blah.
It's hard.
So that's why this challenge isso great.
It just spoon feeds you thestuff and then you just do the
task.
So you take a little photo ofyour desk done.
Lisa Schmid (16:15):
Another thing ask a question, post a poll.
You see those every once in awhile and you know what's so
funny is I always answer thequestion.
I'm like, Ooh, a poll.
And then I like to see, like,what the percentage is and if
I'm like out of the norm.
Beth McMullen (16:29):
I'm obsessed with polls.
I'm totally obsessed with polls.
I put them into my subacknewsletter all the time, even if
they have nothing to do withanything, because I think
they're fun and no other reason.
I'm exactly like you I answerevery poll.
You put a poll in front of me.
I'm like oh yeah, I'll answerEveryone.
Lisa Schmid (16:44):
Go post a poll and I will come in and I will answer
it for you.
And then every once in a whileI'm going too fast and I click
on the wrong button and I'm likeno, no, no, I didn't mean to
say that.
And so then I'll go in and theydon't know who's posted that
answer.
But then I feel the need tolike correct myself and I'll go
in and put in, make a commentjust to counteract my wrong
answer.
(17:04):
I don't know why that's soimportant to me.
And the other thing she did isshe suggests is following 10
people in your same kind ofinterest group every day, and so
I've started doing that, and soI'm following my audience that
I seek to connect with, ofcourse, other writers and
authors and readers you know thekind of thing.
(17:25):
But I know that teachers andlibrarians are huge for me there
are for any kid-led author,because that's who's buying the
books, and so I am trying toconnect more and more with book
sharing groups and teachers andlibrarians.
Beth McMullen (17:42):
It's a really good opportunity to think about
again that audience question,who it is that you want to reach
, who it's important for you tobe engaging with.
Like Lisa said, middle gradeyou know they're gatekeepers.
You're not going to get to talkto the kids, nor should you be
trying to, but you want to talkto the people who are buying the
books, which are the teachers,the parents, the librarians.
(18:03):
That type of follower would begood for you.
So you go out and you find them.
It's much easier to follow abunch of people If you have an
idea in your head about who itis that you want to be engaging
with.
I'm switching back to writingadult fiction, so I'm looking
for readers who read a certainkind of book.
So that gives me a nicedirection to go in.
Lisa Schmid (18:22):
And, as one other note, we will have a hashtag
associated with this 31 daychallenge for social media.
So every time you do somethingthat is in association with this
awesome challenge, use thehashtag wwwplatformchallenge.
Beth McMullen (18:39):
So we really, really, really want you to join
us for this.
It is launching June 1st.
We are going to be talkingabout it again.
So if you feel like in yourhead you're thinking I want to
do this, but then you kind oflose track of it, just remember
we're going to.
We're going to hit it again inthe coming weeks before June 1st
.
I'm also going to put adocument on our writers with
(18:59):
wrinkles link tree.
You can find that from any ofour socials with the things to
think about before you get intothis, the things that we just
talked about.
So if you were thinking Ishould write these down, don't
bother.
There will be a document foryou to grab just to help you
think about getting ready tostart June 1st.
(19:20):
So, listeners, please rememberto visit writerswithwrinklesnet
and find out how to support theshow by subscribing, following
and recommending.
We've been picking up newsubscribers.
That's super fun, and thank youto everybody who is subscribing
and supporting the show.
And join us next week forepisode 20, where we'll be
talking to Lindy Ryan, who isgoing to teach us all about
(19:42):
anthologies, books to movies andhow to jump genres.
She has done so much stuff.
I am so excited for thisconversation.
So until then, lovely listeners, happy reading, writing and
listening.
Bye Lisa, bye Beth, bye guys.
Hi friends, I'm Beth McMullen and I'm Lisa
Schmid, and we're the co-hostsof Writers with Wrinkles.
This is season three, episode19.
And today we're talking aboutthe 31 day platform challenge
that starts June 1st.
We are super excited about this.
This is something that we'repartnering with Bitsy Kemper to
(00:23):
do, and we talked to her lastweek, so if you didn't listen to
her episode, pop back there anddo that.
It's a really good one.
But she runs this thing calledthe 31 Day Build your Platform
Challenge and it's all focusedon incremental challenges.
Each day, some small tasks thatwill help you build out your
author platform Takes place onsocial media.
(00:45):
We're going to talk about someexamples of the different
challenges and tasks in a minute, but just to give you kind of
an overview of what it is, it isall about making incremental
improvements to your platformworld and, god knows, we all
could use some improvement right, you are correct, beth McMullen
(01:08):
, after we talked to her and, bythe way, it was a fabulous
episode.
Lisa Schmid (01:12):
We're getting so much love about that.
Beth McMullen (01:15):
It's very popular .
It's like doing really well.
Lisa Schmid (01:18):
It is really popular, but it makes sense
because she has been such a hugepart of the kidlit world for so
long and she has so many peoplewho follow her and love her
advice and it has really goodinformation.
That's clearly resonating withlisteners.
So, yeah, the author platformchallenge that's something I've
(01:40):
been watching for a while,wondering exactly what it was,
and now we're doing it and I'mgoing to be running it on the
social media page for us andthen also I'm going to be doing
it on my own personal platform.
So I have double duty.
Beth McMullen (01:56):
Me too, cause my platform can I even say the word
platform with a straight face?
I can only say plat.
I have a plat.
I'm missing the form Totally,yeah.
But this is good because I cantotally get my head around small
things that in some total addup to something greater.
(02:18):
But thinking about it all givesme a heart attack.
And this is kind of the sameway that I deal with writing.
I can't deal with thinkingabout the whole thing that I
have to do 380 pages or whatever.
That's overwhelming.
But just taking little, smallmicro tasks and doing those
makes it much more palatable.
(02:39):
So I'm excited about this wholething.
So what we want to do, just tokind of get you ready, this is
going to launch June 1st and weare partnering with Bitsy, as I
already said, to run this, soyou'll be able to see the
challenges on all of our socialsmine, lisa's, the Writers with
Wrinkles socials.
You can check ourwriterswithwrinklesnet blog too.
(03:02):
We'll have stuff on there aboutit, so you can get the
information lots of differentways.
But what I think you want to dobefore we jump into this June
1st you want to think about yourplatform, kind of get your head
around a few things before youjump into the task.
So you kind of know theuniverse that you're working in,
(03:22):
and the first one I thinkthat's important is to define
your brand, and I know thatsounds scary and maybe too big
for what you think you're goingto do.
But this is just thinking aboutyour writing style and the
themes that you explore, maybeeven your background and what
you bring to the table.
And deciding about these thingsupfront, or at least having an
(03:46):
idea or a few ideas that youwant to explore, will help you
communicate more consistentlyand effectively with your
audience.
So think about what your brandis.
You know, for instance, if youwrite graphic novels for kids
that involve talking animals,okay, so that's where you're
starting.
You're that person who doesthat.
So how do you lean into beingthe person who writes that
(04:08):
particular thing and what doesthat mean to your author
platform?
Do you think you're going tobuild a website if you don't
have one?
Do you think you want to writea blog?
If you don't do that, are yougoing to have a newsletter?
These are kind of yes or noquestions.
I think that we hear often fromeditors and agents that a
platform, an author platform, isnot required, but in our
(04:32):
experience, you are going towant to have something.
Do you think so, lisa?
Do you agree with that?
Lisa Schmid (04:38):
Oh my gosh.
You know we've had a couplepeople editors come on who said,
no, it's just, you know, oh,you don't.
And then I'm like now, really,couple people editors come on
who said, no, it's just, youknow, oh, you don't.
And then I'm like now, really,because I think, no matter what
your goals are whether you wantto be traditionally published,
that's your goal or you want tobe self-published, you need to
(04:59):
have a place where people canfind you and learn about you,
and where it you can.
Everyone can decide how muchthey want to take on, but I
think, at the bare minimum, youneed to have some type of
landing spot for people to findyou and learn about you, and so
(05:19):
I think it's absolutelynecessary.
One of the other things I'd liketo mention is one of my friends
sent me and I mentioned it inthe last episode was her agent
had done basically a State ofthe Union like kidlit address.
I'm talking about what's goingon in kidlit these days and it's
you know, it's probablydifferent in other genres, but
(05:43):
specifically in kidlit it talksabout how important having a
platform is and that publishersare really seeking people with a
platform that have a number offollowers.
Now we're not all going toachieve like a zillion followers
, but I really think it'scrucial to have something that
(06:04):
you can, you know, look to andsay I've got something, I'm
building it, I'm working on it.
And you know, again, that'sgoing to look different for
everybody and depending on howmuch you want to lean into it,
not everyone's going to want topost reels every day or post
videos of themselves.
I know, I certainly don't.
I need to get Botox in myforehead.
I have like big wrinkles on myforehead, but yeah, it's just.
(06:30):
You know, you don't have to doeverything, but I think pick
something that you'recomfortable with and and focus
on that or build on that.
Like everybody has somethingthat they can do, and now is a
good time to choose that thingthat you want to focus on, to
start building that, and thenyou can add on to it as you get
more comfortable with the wholeprocess.
Beth McMullen (06:51):
That's exactly right.
You hit on something superimportant and that is that you
don't have to do everything.
Is that you don't have to doeverything?
You can choose the social mediaplatform that aligns with your
target audience, your goals,your tolerance for social media
and you want to begin buildingyour presence there.
I think if you spread yourselftoo thin, you end up not being
(07:15):
very engaged in any channel andthat ends up diluting your
impact.
So I think that if you say youreally like Instagram, you're
very visual, you enjoy takingphotographs with your phone or
you like doing little stories orwhatever, so just do that.
You don't have to do everything.
I definitely feel like you needa website, even if it's super
(07:39):
basic, just like your author bioand the covers of your books,
or your author bio and yourlinks to Instagram or whatever
you choose you're going to do,and an email address so that
people can reach out to you.
So I think that is.
I kind of think of my website,which is really bad.
Don't look at mine as anexample.
(07:59):
It's really bad and needs anoverhaul, but I think of it like
a billboard, right?
So people see the billboard andthey might go open the website,
look at it and then click onFacebook or Instagram or my
newsletter or something elsethat brings them closer in.
But they do need someplace togo.
Have something, choose wisely.
(08:21):
How about that for?
Lisa Schmid (08:23):
a tip.
I agree with you 100% on havinga website, and I know that
seems daunting and some peoplemight be saying I don't have the
money to pay somebody to builda website.
There are free forms that youcan use to have a basic website
Like mine's on Wix.
If you've ever listened to thisshow before this podcast, you
know I am not tech savvy anylevel in any way and I built my
(08:48):
own little Wix website and it'svery basic.
You know it has kind of thelanding page and then my you
know my about info.
There's a place for blogs,there's my events.
It's just some basicinformation about me, and I
think I initially got the freeversion of it and then I
upgraded it for some reason.
(09:09):
I can't even remember why I did,but there are things out there.
There are services that you canuse.
So if there's costs, if you'reworried about or the fear factor
of doing something withtechnology, wix is like super
friendly, and I know thatthere's other resources out
there too that are superfriendly.
And then you know, I look atsome people's websites and you
(09:30):
can see they probably spentabout $5,000 on paying somebody
to have it created.
I'm never going to be thatperson.
But there are some people thatdo that and they're gorgeous.
But don't feel intimidated bythat.
Like, don't look at somebody'swebsite and go, I need to be
that person.
Well, maybe later on down theroad you can be if you want to
be.
But you know, just take offlittle bites at a time and you
(09:52):
can always do it later.
Beth McMullen (09:54):
You can always start with something super basic
and upgrade later on.
The point is to have somethingout there that's yours and has
all of your stuff on it, so whenpeople go looking for you, they
can find you, because theperson who's looking for you is
potential person who's going tobuy your book and you want to
make it easy for them to do that.
So, yeah, so think about the,the types of social media and
(10:17):
websites, et cetera, that youthink you can manage.
Think about how often you canreasonably promise yourself that
you're going to be doing newcontent.
That's an important thing someconsistency in what you're
producing to keep your audiencecoming back and maybe get new
followers.
So think about that.
Be honest with yourself.
(10:38):
Don't set goals you're notgoing to be able to meet,
because then you're just goingto get bummed out and quit the
whole thing.
And who wants to do that?
And the last thing that I wouldsay is use this 31 day challenge
to think about who youraudience is.
We don't do this enough.
I want to do a whole episode onunderstanding your audience,
(11:00):
because you can get down to areal micro level about who is
your ideal reader and when youhave an idea about who that
person is, you can try to figureout where they're going to be,
because you want to get in frontof them.
So this is a good time.
You're.
You're not.
If you're a new writer, you'renot going to have the answer to
this question right away, and ifyou're a seasoned author and
(11:21):
have a bunch of books on theshelf already, maybe it's time
to refine that understanding ofwho your audience is.
So that's another good thingyou can do to get ready for that
June 1, jump into it start date.
So, lisa, do you want to talkto people a little bit about
what kind of challenges aregoing to show up on this 31-day
(11:43):
challenge, so that they're notafraid.
It's not scary, we promise.
Lisa Schmid (11:46):
I was looking at it and thinking, oh, this is a lot
and it's not.
And I think the big thing is,when you go into it there's
something different, obviously,on every day and you're not
going to do every everychallenge Like it.
Just that's just statement offact.
Because one day it might becreate a website Well, you
already have a website, you know.
(12:08):
Or it might be create anewsletter Well, you maybe don't
want to do a newsletter, Idon't.
I'm not going to do anewsletter.
That's not something I'mwilling to embark on just
because I know I'll never keepit up.
So there are things that youmay say you know what.
I'm not doing this, but thenwork on something else that day
that you feel comfortable doing.
Get a new headshot.
It's funny Bitsy brought thisup the other day about having
(12:31):
that.
Her headshot was older and itreminds me of realtors.
I used to be in the real estatebusiness 20 years ago.
It was like a month ago, forsome reason I clicked on
something and there was picturesof my old clients.
I'm like, oh my gosh, theystill have the same shot from 20
years ago when I called on them.
It's like you have to updateyour headshot and that doesn't
(12:55):
mean going out and getting aprofessional photographer.
If you can't afford it.
Just have a friend with theiriPhone, take a picture and do
something that's fun.
Beth McMullen (13:03):
It is weird to show up to an event and think
that the author is, you know, 27and they're 58.
And you're like wait a minute,I have been misled, so that's a
good one and that's you know,not that hard you can get that
done.
Lisa Schmid (13:20):
It's funny because the headshot on my website is
only from like eight years agoand I swear I've aged 20 years
and that doesn't look like meanymore.
And so I have one now that Itook at my at my desk and I'm
like, oh, that's kind of cute.
I have my glasses on.
Beth McMullen (13:34):
I just keep changing my hair length, so I
it's confusing to people, Idon't know.
But yeah, again, that's areally good example of something
that is not going to be superintimidating for people.
You can totally do this andit's important to have that
headshot on your little website.
Lisa Schmid (13:52):
Some of the other things that she's got going on.
So for posting on social media,she has some fun things like
take a pic or a video of yourworkspace.
Okay, this is another pathetic.
You know, if I took one now itwould be really sad and tragic.
I think there's like an emptybottle of lotion that you know.
There's like stacks of post-itnotes everywhere that are like
(14:14):
have coffee rings on them, andthere's nothing really fun about
mine.
So I'm going to fix it up alittle bit.
So post to take a video of yourworkspace, which is actually
kind of fun, because whenever Isee them of other people's
workspaces, I always think, ohmy God, look at those great
workspaces, and that's where themagic happens.
Beth McMullen (14:34):
I really need to work online.
You and I are going to bringthe real to the workplace video,
because if you could see whereI'm sitting right now I don't
have an office.
I am a migratory author.
I just kind of float around tospaces.
I'm also the kind of person whocan't sit still for very long.
So to have an office, I wouldfeel imprisoned and it would be
(14:55):
bad.
So right now I'm literallysitting in my at my dining room
table.
Behind me is a huge stack ofoutdoor furniture cushions, my
daughter's puzzle table.
My son brought home all ofthese, these, these models for
this game that he plays fromLondon.
Those are all stacked up on thefireplace.
It's a hot mess.
I'm not photographing this, noway.
Lisa Schmid (15:16):
I'm going to do it and I might even just pan around
my little room and see this iswhere I work every day and
hopefully my friendly littlesquirrel will show up.
I have a squirrel that shows upevery day and sits on the fence
and stares at me while he'seating his acorn and I'm just
like every morning.
I'm like Hello sir, how are youtoday?
Like I, have conversations witha squirrel is not a good sign
(15:40):
where I'm headed.
Beth McMullen (15:41):
We are coming unglued, but that's a good that
again it.
The thing about this challengethat I really love is that it
gives you the idea and sometimesit's the idea that we struggle
with like what could I possiblyhave to share with a bunch of
people who don't really know me?
That reveals something aboutmyself that's not like
ridiculous, it's not gonna beembarrassing blah, blah, blah,
(16:03):
blah, blah.
It's hard.
So that's why this challenge isso great.
It just spoon feeds you thestuff and then you just do the
task.
So you take a little photo ofyour desk done.
Lisa Schmid (16:15):
Another thing ask a question, post a poll.
You see those every once in awhile and you know what's so
funny is I always answer thequestion.
I'm like, Ooh, a poll.
And then I like to see, like,what the percentage is and if
I'm like out of the norm.
Beth McMullen (16:29):
I'm obsessed with polls.
I'm totally obsessed with polls.
I put them into my subacknewsletter all the time, even if
they have nothing to do withanything, because I think
they're fun and no other reason.
I'm exactly like you I answerevery poll.
You put a poll in front of me.
I'm like oh yeah, I'll answerEveryone.
Lisa Schmid (16:44):
Go post a poll and I will come in and I will answer
it for you.
And then every once in a whileI'm going too fast and I click
on the wrong button and I'm likeno, no, no, I didn't mean to
say that.
And so then I'll go in and theydon't know who's posted that
answer.
But then I feel the need tolike correct myself and I'll go
in and put in, make a commentjust to counteract my wrong
answer.
(17:04):
I don't know why that's soimportant to me.
And the other thing she did isshe suggests is following 10
people in your same kind ofinterest group every day, and so
I've started doing that, and soI'm following my audience that
I seek to connect with, ofcourse, other writers and
authors and readers you know thekind of thing.
(17:25):
But I know that teachers andlibrarians are huge for me there
are for any kid-led author,because that's who's buying the
books, and so I am trying toconnect more and more with book
sharing groups and teachers andlibrarians.
Beth McMullen (17:42):
It's a really good opportunity to think about
again that audience question,who it is that you want to reach
, who it's important for you tobe engaging with.
Like Lisa said, middle gradeyou know they're gatekeepers.
You're not going to get to talkto the kids, nor should you be
trying to, but you want to talkto the people who are buying the
books, which are the teachers,the parents, the librarians.
(18:03):
That type of follower would begood for you.
So you go out and you find them.
It's much easier to follow abunch of people If you have an
idea in your head about who itis that you want to be engaging
with.
I'm switching back to writingadult fiction, so I'm looking
for readers who read a certainkind of book.
So that gives me a nicedirection to go in.
Lisa Schmid (18:22):
And, as one other note, we will have a hashtag
associated with this 31 daychallenge for social media.
So every time you do somethingthat is in association with this
awesome challenge, use thehashtag wwwplatformchallenge.
Beth McMullen (18:39):
So we really, really, really want you to join
us for this.
It is launching June 1st.
We are going to be talkingabout it again.
So if you feel like in yourhead you're thinking I want to
do this, but then you kind oflose track of it, just remember
we're going to.
We're going to hit it again inthe coming weeks before June 1st
.
I'm also going to put adocument on our writers with
(18:59):
wrinkles link tree.
You can find that from any ofour socials with the things to
think about before you get intothis, the things that we just
talked about.
So if you were thinking Ishould write these down, don't
bother.
There will be a document foryou to grab just to help you
think about getting ready tostart June 1st.
(19:20):
So, listeners, please rememberto visit writerswithwrinklesnet
and find out how to support theshow by subscribing, following
and recommending.
We've been picking up newsubscribers.
That's super fun, and thank youto everybody who is subscribing
and supporting the show.
And join us next week forepisode 20, where we'll be
talking to Lindy Ryan, who isgoing to teach us all about
(19:42):
anthologies, books to movies andhow to jump genres.
She has done so much stuff.
I am so excited for thisconversation.
So until then, lovely listeners, happy reading, writing and
listening.
Bye Lisa, bye Beth, bye guys.
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