do novelists need platforms?
plus a special resource for my diamond medallion members
I used to teach memoir writing workshops at Catapult, a creative writing center in New York City that no longer exists. During one of these workshops, I invited a literary agent to visit my class.
One of my students asked a very common question: “Given the limited time and energy I have, what should I be focusing on: finishing my memoir or building my platform?”
The agent said, “Ideally, both.”
I took last week off from client work to work on my novel revision that’s due in six weeks and my editor emailed to ask if I could also fill out my author questionnaire. (Ideally, both!) It has 44 questions, I’ve spent several hours working on it, and I’m still not finished (I already had to ask for a deadline extension). In addition to the questionnaire, I’m building out a spreadsheet with all my contacts who could potentially help with marketing or publicizing the novel. I have 176 names so far.1
As Jane Friedman and others have written, novelists do not need a platform to sell their novel to a publisher. No editor is out there, saying, “By God, this is the best estranged sister roadtrip zombie novel I’ve read in ages but… is the author famous on TikTok?” I agree with Jane but I also want novelists to think about how readers will find out their novel is out there in the world, if they don’t have a platform.
“My publisher will take care of that!”
Gentlemen, ladies, one day your publisher is going to say, sign into this portal and answer these 44 questions and tell us everyone you know in media, academia, bookselling, libraries, and social media. Who do you know who could blurb your book? How many subscribers does your newsletter have? Show us clips from your TV and radio appearances.
They’re going to ask you for your Rolodex.
And because I’m cursed with behind ahead of my time, my prediction is that platform will become increasingly necessary for novelists who don’t just want to publish one book but who actually want to build sustainable careers publishing books. Romance novelists are way ahead of literary novelists in this area. They’re building fandoms.
You can ignore Cassandra’s prophecy, or tell her that she’s crazy, but what I’m trying to do with this newsletter is tell you what I actually think about platform and audience, and show you how I put these ideas into practice. I’m one of the few book publishing experts who is actually a working writer. I make money writing books.
I also know that mid-career authors read this newsletter; some are trying to make a comeback after their last book underperformed; others are trying to grow their audiences so their next launch makes bigger waves. I want to help them with that.
This is the sixth author questionnaire I’ve ever filled out. The last two I filled out were for Self Care (in December 2019) and What to Miss When (in June 2020).
As I did this exercise, what I found most interesting is how much has changed in just a few short years. Here’s what I observed:
One major books section editor who included Self Care in a roundup got laid off the week I was filling out the questionnaire
A majority of the Instagram influencers on my list have the same-sized followings they did in 2020 (their audiences haven’t grown!)
For the first time, I have a BookTok tab on my spreadsheet, with 100 creators I connected with when I did an outreach campaign for Self Care in 2022. Unlike the Instagram influencers, the BookTok creators have grown their followings exponentially. TikTok is just way better for discovery. (One person on my 2022 list had 1,297 followers. Today she has 30,000.)
For the first time, I have a Substack tab on my spreadsheet
Here’s what hasn’t changed:
The writers at the largest legacy media companies (the Times, the New Yorker, and The Atlantic) pretty much stay where they are, once they get to the top.
As time-consuming as it is to do this promotional legwork, building out this spreadsheet also helps me organize my contacts in a way that I can easily see who I should be engaging more with, in the nine months leading up to my launch.
Whether you are still drafting your novel, or you’re querying agents for a memoir, or you have a book coming out in 2025, if you’d like to try organizing your connections into a spreadsheet like mine, I’ll share the one I use with my clients at the bottom of this issue, after the paywall. I call it the Dream Rolodex.
Join Me on Tuesday
Tara Singh Carlson joined Putnam in 2014 from Viking, Penguin. Her focus is on women’s fiction that hits that sweet spot between commercial and literary, including historical fiction and contemporary women’s stories that are either wildly entertaining or filled with heart. She loves strong female characters that inspire.
She has edited New York Times bestsellers The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison, The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo, and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, as well as the Today Show Read With Jenna pick The Family. She was the first editor to have two books selected by the Reese Witherspoon Book Club. She has worked with celebrated and bestselling authors Nigar Alam, KJ Dell’Antonia, Lizzy Dent, Eve Chase, Kim Fay, Bryn Greenwood, L.S. Hilton, Uzma Jalaluddin, Hisashi Kashiwai, Lauren Kate, Maggie Knox, Naomi Krupitsky, Frances Liardet, Annabel Monaghan, Beth Morrey, Nuala O’Connor, Robin Oliveira, Delia Owens, Amita Parikh, Theresa Rebeck, Richard Roper, Jill Santopolo, Shanthi Sekaran, Natasha Solomons, Marissa Stapley, Paige Toon, and Sara Weinman, among others.
Congratulations
Congratulations to my client Betsy Lerner, whose debut novel Shred Sisters made the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2024 list! I’m obsessed! Shred Sisters would make a great gift for anyone in your life who’s ever loved a difficult sibling. (Free shipping today at Bookshop.org)
Betsy’s book publicist at Grove, Justina Batchelor, will be my Chat Room guest on December 10th at 1pm EST! Mark your calendar now.
Learn plot structure in 2025
You have an idea for a novel that could change your life. You know you can’t sell the book until you write it. So what’s stopping you? Is perfectionism preventing you from beginning? Do you feel as if you are stumbling around an unfamiliar house in the dark, feeling every wall, searching for the light switch? Are you curious about plot structure but afraid it will transform you from a genius into a hack? Have you tried to write this book three times already and something still isn’t working?
In February, I’m teaching a four-week plot structure class, using models from TV (Fleabag), film (Anatomy of a Fall), and fiction (Victim by Andrew Boryga and Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe). By the end of the class, you will:
Be able to describe your novel in a succinct and compelling way
Intimately understand your main characters and what’s driving them
Complete an outline of the major turning points in your story arc
Better understand scene structure
Sierra, who took the class this fall, says “Leigh’s depth of knowledge and willingness to help made a huge difference—she’s not only brilliant but also genuinely invested in helping you work through any struggles with understanding plot, which can feel overwhelming. Her approachable style and clear explanations made even complex topics accessible. I highly recommend this class to anyone looking to deepen their storytelling skills!”