The second thing a book publisher will ask you as a prospective author is what your platform is. (The first thing the publisher will ask is what your book is about.) If you want somebody to publish your book—by far the best way to build your practice—you will need to convince the publisher that you have a solid platform from which to start promoting your book.

 

Your platform simply is the collection of resources you can draw on to spread the word about your book. As a Big4 alum you begin with some valuable resources. This newsletter and the Big4 alum group on LinkedIn should be a piece of your platform. Similarly, your college alumni magazine and association provide an easy avenue for exposure.

 

Your current firm should be an integral part of your platform. Are they behind your effort? Will your clients and the rest of the firm’s clients spread the word about your upcoming book? Will your colleagues and co-workers? Whether your firm has, say, 50, 500, or 15,000 professionals, that’s potential word-of-mouth you want to get behind your effort. Similarly, if the firm has a PR department, you will want to work with it on a plan to leverage its connections to build interest in your forthcoming book.

 

Beyond your firm, look at trade associations and conferences in the field of your book’s topic. Line up speaking engagements at the conferences, sit on panels, get involved in industry committees. Put up and maintain a blog and/or website on your topic and follow the usual best practices to drive traffic to it. Do whatever it takes to raise your professional visibility in the industry.

 

Write articles for business, trade, and professional magazines. Cultivate reporters who write on your topic and invite them to use you regularly as a reliable source. Make yourself known to them as an informed, insightful industry source who is readily available with a quotable comment (as opposed to meaningless hype spouted by official spokespeople). And when reporters or editors call, return their calls first.

 

Train yourself to become comfortable in front of TV, radio, and, now, YouTube. Even for business, trade, and professional book publishers, an attractive electronic media presence is a valuable attribute in a prospective author. Your firm’s PR department may be able to steer you to media training programs.

 

Once you’ve assembled your platform, you are then ready to tackle the book proposal you will need to submit to publishers. We’ll take that up in the next column.