THE DOCTOR IS IN

My friend Elyse and I recently completed a proposal for a self-help book on staying sane during pregnancy and the postpartum period. It is now being considered by a wonderful agent whom we would be delighted to work with. She is intrigued by the topic and likes the writing, but voiced some concerns about our perceived lack of platform in the field of maternal medicine.

Elyse, a psychiatrist who has published a number of journal articles and textbook chapters on this subject, has never dealt with popular or commercial publishing before, and the idea of a "platform" was new to her. She initially thought the objection was to a structural issue, and was amazed to hear about the requirement that we already be famous for something before publishing a book about it. "Shouldn't it work the other way?" she asked. "You write a good book, it helps people, and you become known for that?"

Her question seemed naive at first, but of course she is right. That is exactly how it should work. It isn't a question of our expertise. Elyse has already written widely on this topic; she also conducts informational seminars for pregnant and postpartum women. I work with a midwives' group, providing hypnosis and guided imagery experiences to their patients to enhance the birth experience, help lower blood pressure, ease the flow of milk, and so on. And we are both moms. "You mean they'd rather have a book on the subject by Dr. Phil than by us?" she asked, incredulous.

Sadly, yes.

 Susan O'Doherty, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with a New York City-based practice. A fiction writer herself, she specializes in issues affecting writers and other creative artists. She is the author of Getting Unstuck without Coming Unglued: A Woman's Guide to Unblocking Creativity (Seal, 2007). Her Career Coach column appears every Monday on Inside Higher Ed's Mama, Ph.D. blog, and she is a regular guest panelist on Litopia After Dark. She can be reached at Dr.Sue at mindspring dot com.

Comments

[Susan Messer]

Sounds exciting, Dr. Sue. But aren't all those people in Elyse's seminars, and all those people in your midwives' groups, the platform? Certainly, they're the foundation for a platform, as they all have clients and belong to professional groups and so on . . .

[Katharine Weber]

The book itself can become the credential more often than not for a proposal of this nature, and I don't see this platform issue as a real obstacle at all for your book finding a home. This is just ordinary thinking out loud by a good agent. They have to be able to make the best possible pitch, and a built-in readership is always reasuring to a publisher. (And for that matter, you, the author of this column and the author of a book on creativity for women, do have a platform.) If the subject of the book is compelling, and the writing really delivers, the whole platform issue becomes secondary. Did writing a number of smart, readable science articles here and there over the years provide a platform for Rebecca Skloot? Yes and no. Her book delivered. I urge you both to consider Heidi Murkoff your inspiration.

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