Scary Platform Building

My schedule has taken a leap lately. I’m not sure why it happened. Or how. But God seems to be doing something and I’m just hanging on for the ride. As writers, we hear a lot of this: You have to build your platform. Publishers are not interested in your stories unless you can sell books. “The Platform” helps this to happen.

I do have a social media platform, as some of you know (with Twitter being the largest), and I do have some media exposure, but it was a long time ago. Not timely enough. When I decided that I need to write again, it also meant that I needed to start platform-building yet again. Sigh.

Writing a book is no longer writing a book-it is marketing a book (and yourself), as well.

A few months ago, I had the privilege of speaking to 70 Physician Assistant students at Pacific University about domestic violence and how to look for it in their patients. I not only had several students want to talk afterward, but I also received a very sweet thank you card from one of the students who appreciated the sharing. A month later, through my work at ARMS, I was able to share my story at Stomp Out Abuse 2019. I was terrified, and my voice shook the whole time. I vowed to never do it again. LOL. But, you guessed it, two weeks ago I was sharing my story as well as a talk on how to help clients set boundaries when a restraining order is not possible to Family Skillbuilders. These amazing people help DHS caseworkers with home visits when children are separated from their families. I was upbeat after that class and but still said, “Okay, that’s enough of that.” I left as soon as I could scoot out of there although I heard other speakers visited for an hour (oops).

Do I know the secret? No. Although I have a background in Marketing/PR, I did not seek any of these engagements. In fact, to be honest, my initial reaction to most all of them was resistance. Several times, I resisted more than once. I am resistant by nature-just ask my parents.

But I do know what steps I have made. God spoke to me a long time about sharing more of my story and I fought and argued about this for a long time. My story made me emotional-I hate to cry in front of others, it was scary to think about again, I didn’t want to “relive it” and I was very concerned about it affecting my children and family in a negative way by sharing the truth.

When I finally accepted a few months ago that God was calling me to share more of my story, I assumed it was a book. Bummer, because I really would rather write novels. My dad said at the time, “maybe it’s not writing it” and at the time I brushed it off. Of course, it would probably be writing it-I do love to write after all. So I sat down and wrote some of it out.

This writing didn’t become a book, and I’m not seeking for it to become one. However, it has become a very needed script guiding me as I speak to others about my experience.

Is God calling YOU to talk about something scary? You can do it, if so. He will give you strength, and many may reap the rewards. There is a reason that God is asking and if you are too scared or hesitant-you can bet that Satan is working HARD to reduce your message’s effectiveness. When you speak it, you will not only experience victory over him but will reap the rewards for obeying God.

Here is a glimpse of my speaking schedule for the next few months:

• October 30th– Filming some of my story for a video for the Washington County Family Justice Center. This will be played at a fundraiser that I will attend and also speak at, as well as used throughout the next year.
• November 1st– Interviewing with a news station, also about my story and the benefits of the Family Justice Center.
• November 12th– Interview with KBOO radio for “Calculated Conversation” in Portland, OR.
• December 12th– Teaming up with Family Justice Center to do DV training at Community Action
• February 22nd– Speaking at the Oregon Christian Writers Conference on Social Media and Building a Platform.