Literary Citizenship and Building a Platform

I attended a nonfiction conference this weekend, HippoCamp 2015. There were several interesting sessions and panels. I had some good discussions with other writers and enjoyed listening to presenters share their ideas.

Some of the major topics that stick with me are about building a platform, building and being a part of a literary community, and the future of writing and publishing. I'll be honest: these ideas scare me a bit and depress me a little, too. Back in my younger days, my dreams of being a writer were hazy romantic notions of living off in a cabin in the woods and producing my grand masterpieces. I would send them off to a publisher who would be grateful to present my work to an equally grateful public. Of course, that is far from reality. Instead, I'm living in a city and struggling to find the time to write while balancing my responsibilities (such as work, paying bills, and planning to buy a house) with other interests (such as hanging out with my wife, friends, and family). So the idea of building a platform of Twitter followers or people who would line up to buy a book if I ever publish one seems impossible.

But it doesn't have to be as intimidating as it seems at first. One of the panel discussions hit the idea of literary citizenship hard, reminding us all that when using social media, the point isn't to keep saying "Read my book! Read my book!" Instead it can be a place to pass along thoughts and share ideas. It can be a place to promote other people's work. It can be a place to say, "Here's an interesting article I just found and would like to pass along." I know these are not revolutionary ideas, but as someone who feels anxious in social situations in general, this seems like a good way to dip my toes further into the literary world in a way that will be productive but still safe, if that makes sense.

 Over the years, I've been reluctant to use Twitter. I set up my account years ago but have gone months at a time without even looking at it. It has seemed overwhelming. It still is, but I also see that it's essential to connecting in our modern world. So here's where I'm going with this: my new goal is to try to use social media to make new connections, to promote writing I like, and through doing that to also "build my platform."

It's been less than forty-eight hours since HippoCamp ended. In that time, I began following several more people and literary magazines. I've tweeted a few times, including to promote someone else's upcoming book that I'm excited about. And I now have a few new followers to boot. If I can keep this up, then maybe by the time I have a book, I will have actually built a platform, not by yelling into the ether, "Look at me! I'm great! Read my stuff!" But by simply being part of ongoing conversations and a contributing member of the literary community.