I have all the answers you seek, young Padawan. (Advanced apologies for those of you who don’t like Star Wars.)
Platform:
Speak to as many people as you can (The clone wars come to mind. . . . Millions is preferable.)
Your website has to have the firepower of the Death Star.
As wise as Yoda your blog posts must be, but also as pretty as Princess Leia (and all the storm troopers must secretly read it. Your blog hits should hover around one million.)
Your books should wield as much power and elegance as a light saber, and they should have enough strength to thwart the forces of evil. (This is hard to put a number on, though.)
Create your own hologram, which says, “Help me Obiwan Oprah. You’re my only hope . . . for book sales.”
Your fan site on Facebook should include every species: ewoks, wookies, jedis, icky darth spikey people, naboo, Jar Jar Binks, and every creature represented by the bar scene in the original movie. Let’s just hope Harrison Ford is your fan too. That will help.
Platform is greatly improved when you dress the part. Although for me, it would be hard to be Daisy from my next novel, because she’s a missing girl.
And lest you think I’ve lost my midi-chlorians, you can salve all your platform woes as you watch this brilliant piece of cinematography:
Mary Skywalker, Platform Jedi of the First Order
Mary E. DeMuth helps people to turn their trials into triumphs. She mentors new authors through the publishing process and has written two tutorials on book proposals (one for fiction and another for nonfiction). An expert in Pioneer Parenting, Mary enables Christian parents to navigate our changing culture when their families were not good faith examples to follow. Her parenting books include Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture (Harvest House, 2007), Building the Christian Family You Never Had (WaterBrook, 2006), and Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God (Harvest House, 2005). Mary also inspires people to face their trials through her real-to-life novels, including Watching the Tree Limbs (nominated for a Christy Award) and Wishing on Dandelions (NavPress, 2006). A pioneer parent herself, Mary and her husband, Patrick, reside in Texas with their three children. They recently returned from breaking new spiritual ground in Southern France, where they planted a church.
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