Writer, write…

Writer, write: I see it all the time, catchy slogans on social media, to remind writers they should be writing, not scrolling. Probably written by a writer trying to get a reaction, a like, a click, or a follow… to try to beckon everyone in to see the words already written, in articles, blogs and books.

Writer, promote on social media: It’s not enough to write a book, more words are needed, to tell potential readers about the words already written. But you must promote without promoting, because people are there to be sociable, not to be promoted to.

Writer, build a website: I’ve build my website, I keep tweaking it and adding bits to it. It’s quite absorbing, figuring out the different ways of adding content, not just the books and blurbs, but extra insight into the story behind the books, adding value, and a reason to take the next step and buy a book.

Writer, write a blog: Reach out and share the journey, but how much to share? Do people want to know that sometimes it feels like writing into an abyss? And at what point is a blog just attracting other writers for tips, with no interest in the work of fiction that is patiently waiting to be snapped up.

Writer, do a book signing: This one has always been my best way of selling my books. From the very first book signings which were quite daunting, through to adding props as ice breakers.

·       The first and easiest props were bookmarks; simple homemade bookmarks, made on my computer with my name, book image and website printed on.

·       Next came the sheep – yes you read that right. Big publishers have merchandise, and I had my sheep; hand knitted characters from my book ‘But I’m Not Sleepy’ but these, though successful, were very time consuming, knitting batches of sheep to take to each book signing, a freebie with a book purchase. It did lead to a lot of interest and some interesting conversations with actual sheep farmers. In the end I decided enough was enough and printed out a knitting pattern for people to knit their own sheep, which wasn’t as popular as the finished sheep.

·       I knitted toy cats to go with ‘Basil and the Flappy Thing’, my table was becoming overrun with knitted animals. The knitted sheepdog and giraffe were too time consuming to give away, and as for the knitted horse, that remains a single knit.

·       Christmas gift bags at a small extra charge didn’t go quite as well as expected, but there’s always next year…

What I’ve learnt is that the biggest asset at a book signing is simply to engage with people, I know every aspect to producing my books because I’ve written, illustrated, formatted and published them. The only thing I haven’t done is the printing and binding, but that is done locally so I have seen the final stages of production when I went to collect them.

Of course engaging in conversation is as much about listening as talking; people love to talk about books! Books they’ve read, books they want to read, and books they’ve written or want to write.

Writer, write: what about the next book? Well the next book has been out for a tentative foray into the submissions circus, trying to find an agent and is now at a crossroads, to send out to more agents, or to get drawing; the illustrations are at a very early stage and all this takes time. Writer get drawing…