So I have a book deal. This is a truly wonderful thing. But now what?

Now I have to become an author. Not in terms of writing a series of words that someone wants to print (and other someones hopefully want to read), but in making connections both within the publishing industry and with potential readers. Half of the publishing world will tell you that having an online presence makes no difference; the other half will tell you that you will get as much out of publishing as you put in. *Shrug* Perhaps if you are publishing with one of the big five houses, and if they have chosen your book as one of the ones they exert particular marketing effort on, then you can rest easy that your tiny Twitter platform is the least effective part of that marketing process.

… But most of us are not in that fortunate situation. And frankly that is not necessarily a bad thing – there are advantages to indie publishing. Perhaps I’ll write a blog about that some day.

So what have I been doing this last month? Learned friends have shared their wisdom on what helps you reach the right readers (ooh alliteration), and although there’s a whole discussion around whether they work, I’m going to focus on the what here rather than the why. First thing to mention is that this is proving to be an ENORMOUS learning curve, and more time consuming than one might wish. But I am hopeful that this learning/establishing period will soon stabilise and require less time and less flailing around in the dark.

…tortoise interlude, because that’s about my speed…

…back to it. What have I been doing/learning/panicking about?

• Author events. These are a thing I need to get used to. They’ll build up as I get closer to, and after, book publication. But the first one might be in the spring and I need to think about two key issues:

How personal I am willing to be in public. And,

Whether to buy a ring light so I am not plunged into gloom.

• Early Reviews. This frankly is terrifying. Not just the prospect of people I admire (and don’t really know) reading my book, but also APPROACHING PEOPLE TO ASK A FAVOUR. Terrifying. There are two stages to this – one is asking for cover quotes, which has to happen super early, and I did last week. Aren’t I brave. The second is in the build-up to publication for which my approach so far is to draw up a list of people I at least vaguely know & who write/read in roughly overlapping genres … and that’s it. For now. There will probably be begging…

Did you know it’s really important that your first few Amazon reviews are by readers who read in your genre normally, so that the Amazon algorithm shelves you in the right place & recommends you to the right readership? I did not know this.

• Instagram. (I’m here) I had resisted joining this, despite being a photographer, because I felt I really did not need another online procrastination tool. However, it is a great way to find book reviews and book reviewers, and perhaps more importantly, to learn what makes good visuals for a book. Which cover reveals, prettily arranged book photos, shelfie photos etc catch the eye and which ones do you skim past. I am mostly using it at the moment to share some of my gazillions of nature photographs, but I am also following and learning and (hopefully) storing away lots of information on how bookish IG works. Once I have a cover, I can really start to do more authory things on this. And that cover is coming soon…

• Twitter. (I’m here) I have been on Twitter for a while now. Initially to stalk agents and publishers, and to follow authors I admire. At the time I had barely published a thing so my own twittering mainly involved science, folklore and sharing writerly friend’s successes. Over time I have become more engaged with another key subject that I am particularly passionate about: Diversity in publishing. As a spoonie, mixed race, ex-working class writer, this is personal; but it’s also just plain common sense. Now though, I have a book to promote too & the question of how much of that to do. A very helpful friend told me to get good at hashtags, and to find quotes, moodboards etc from your book to share. I’m working on both those things… But my feed is mainly nature, science, boosting writerly friends and boosting diversity opportunities. And actually I think that’s ok.

There is more (isn’t there always). There are Booktubers to get to know, YouTube videos to record, book shops to write to, launches to plan, conventions to book myself into and volunteer sessions for … but for now, website, social media and reviewers are about all I can handle. And now I can tick write a new blog post off my list. Make a list of possible blog subjects is next…

… This statue eloquently expresses how I feel …