Maybe I didn’t light a stick of dynamite under my platform, but it sort of feels like that. After putting a great deal of effort into my I’m-a-funny-popular-historian-
I found myself wanting to talk about history in different ways–how it impacts us today and how our personal history can imprison us or set us free. I understand that we all have a niche market, but it was feeling mighty cramped in here in my niche–not that quirky history stories cannot be as wide as the world, Pamela Toler.
But I wanted to look at the deeper personal issues that spring from history, both the world’s and our own. So I contacted a media consultant who forced me to articulate my “through line.”
By expanding my platform, I am now able to create posts and blogs like this. Where I get to talk about the impact of history at both the large level and the level of our own thoughts and attitudes.
Do You Need to Expand Your Platform?
Everything we do online needs to stay on the highway of our through line. It’s not so much that you may need to widen your platform as to deepen it. Are your characters in a fight against evil? You can use that. Are they strong women? Explore all that that means. Are they overcoming childhood baggage, as mine are? Work it, baby. As Dan Blank says, (I know, I quote him all the time.) what experience are you the gateway into for your readers? How are you helping them to see the world and, when they identify with your characters, how are you helping them define themselves?
I’m in the very early stages of this process, so you can watch me struggle to figure it out and learn from my mistakes.
Definitely identify your niche, but make sure it’s big enough that you can stretch your wings.