I’ve been having the same conversation a lot lately. It goes something like this: A nice professional has gone to the trouble of crafting a book proposal, honing a query letter, even landing a call with an agent or two, only to be told one thing. “Your book will never sell because you lack a platform.”

Copious tears are involved. Tissues are broken out. Mascara must be re-applied. (And that’s just me.)

Now, this situation sucks for a couple of reasons. First: who likes rejection? Second, you invest all that time, energy, and, no doubt, money into writing a decent proposal and, instead of being rewarded with a payout, you get bupkiss.

I ask you, is that fair?

The thing is….

Most industry outsiders don’t understand what a platform is, why it’s necessary. They don’t know what it’s composed of, how big it’s supposed to be, or if you can somehow slip through the back door without one.

So I thought I’d take a moment–OK, 6 minutes, but who’s counting–to explain.