Nothing is set in stone

When talking about a writer's platform, there is one thing that I say over and over.

Nothing is set in stone.

A writer's platform changes with the times. It changes and grows as a writer changes and grows. As the technology changes, so too do our online activities.

And the past few months have seen so many changes within my own platform that I wanted to take the time and highlight how we have to be prepared to just go with the flow.

It started with a book

In 2017, I published a book on how to build an online platform safely. It contained specifics about how to sign up for certain accounts and the security settings associated with those accounts. However, as anyone can attest to, within the realm of social media and the internet, the technology changes so fast that we often struggle to keep up.

That 2017 book quickly became an internet dinosaur. It needed updating. But I was avoiding it.

In May 2023, I got an email from IngramSpark stating that distribution for digital products would no longer be available for my region via their service. This meant that the ebook format of my 2017 book was being pulled from publication by IngramSpark. I had two options: do a mad-dash rush to get the ebook out via Draft2Digital, or get my A into G and rewrite the book, finally updating it. I chose the latter.

But in my planning for that rewrite, I also needed to revisit my online activities and accounts—and I discovered redundant accounts and security holes that needed to be plugged.

I closed multiple Twitter accounts, deleted unused Facebook pages, closed email list accounts that were never used, and a whole range of other things. My followers never knew, because they never knew about the accounts in the first place.

And of course, while in the process of dealing with my own platform tidy-up process, I discovered accounts that I thought had two-factor authentication on them but didn't, and somewhere along the way, I got locked out of three critical Gmail accounts. DOH! (That particular crisis has already been dealt with, but those lessons found their way into the new book.)

The arguments around ChatGPT and AI within publishing blew up, leading to strikes and multiple lawsuits. (And another chapter was added to rewrite of my book.)

Twitter changed its name and several of their policies. Threads came online and gained massive popularity. (And that change was incorporated into the rewrite.)

MailerLite decided that they were disabling the free accounts on their classic interface. And despite the forced move to the new system, they are still one of the best email list providers around.

Medium changed its criteria for monetization. And I got an email from Udemy (the system I had been using for my on-demand courses) that I must add at least 5 minutes of new video material to my courses, or they're taking them down.

All the while, I'm looking at my own platform mess and wondering why I bother.

Then I reminded myself of all the opportunities that I've been given and how I actually like certain activities.

So, yeah, nothing is set in stone. Our platforms change all the time… and sometimes those changes are driven by external events, but how we respond is still our choice. It's our platform, after all. We're the ones that need to manage it.

Shifts within my own platform

My followers and subscribers are unlikely to notice any of the changes happening, except when I put those changes in their face.

My lists moved to the new MailerLite system, and all subscribers were asked to reconfirm their subscriptions. I lost in the order of 40% of my list in that move, but I'm okay with that. Because it means that the other 60% actually wants to hear what I have to say.

But with many sites now insisting on the pay-to-play model, I am forced to examine which activities are worth paying for. I need to focus my efforts—and my finances—on the tasks that I enjoy doing and will eventually lead to some sort of reward…and not all rewards are financial.

I recently announced on Medium that I would no longer be posting content there. But my followers are unlikely to notice that, because Medium was filled with reposts of content from my other blogs. New content will continue to be posted regularly to my personal blog and the Black Wolf Editor's blog. That won't change.

I'm rationalizing my social media accounts too, moving away from the separate accounts for personal and Black Wolf. The only site that will be affected by this will be Twitter/X… whatever it's called. The account for Black Wolf will disappear come the new year. And if the writing community leaves the site in the wake of all the changes on the site, then my personal account will disappear too.

While I'm not averse to paying money for certain activities, I won't pay for something that doesn't bring me joy or any reward. It's just not worth it. But again, my followers likely won't notice this change, because I wasn't active on Twitter/X, anyway.

But the one change that my followers and subscribers will like—and they will notice—will be the webinars and on-demand courses scheduled for launch during 2024. I wasn't overly happy with Udemy, deciding that it was the wrong site for my courses. When I got the email demanding that I add content to a course that didn't need more content, under the threat of Udemy unpublishing the course, the decision to move was made.

Simple. Demand that I do work that isn't necessary and I'll leave.

Now to work out where I'm moving to.

But again, this is just another example of how a platform is continually evolving. Nothing is cast in stone.

The lessons to take away from this

Don't be afraid to give a new social media or a new site a go, incorporating it into your platform. Because if it doesn't work for you, you can change it. If something better comes along, you can move to that better option. If the site changes its settings and policies to something that you don't like, you can change your platform design and use something else.

Nothing is cast in stone.

The launch of a new book

Those who subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on social media will already know that come February 2024, my new book will be out. At the time of writing this post, there was still a significant amount of work to do in preparation of the launch, but there are also a lot of lessons that are being learnt. No doubt, many of those lessons will make it onto my blog in the new year.