Writers need publicity*
Some writers are naturally good at it – a surprising amount of writers appear to have a PR or marketing background. Others, like yours truly, not only find the whole business tedious and baffling they’ve been brought up never to blow their own trumpets, as the saying goes. It isn’t easy for a lady novelist of a certain age to market her products with anything approaching authenticity.
Marketing involves getting to grips with technology
Whether it’s figuring out social media or creating an author website and blogging on it, or setting up a newsletter and finding people to subscribe to it; all of which, clever me, I have done. I have even, for my sins
Designed my own book covers
Received wisdom says authors should not design their own book covers unless of course they have a good knowledge of graphic design. I’ve repeated this mantra over and over myself and despite what I’m about to say it still holds true.
In my case it was made clear my covers – which I really liked incidentally – were not selling my novels. However lacking the wherewithal to have all of them redesigned by a professional, and with the help of Canva and the encouragement of the wonderful Katie Sadler I set about redesigning them myself. Here they are:
I also have a new book out soon
On 12 January 2024 to be precise. It’s called The Humbling of Meredith Martin and it’s book five in my Modern Women Breaking the Mould series.
Meredith has appeared in two previous books – The Makings of Violet Frogg and Mrs Morphett’s Macaroons – alongside her colleague, friend and rival Gaye Worth. (Aka Merry and Gaye.) This book features Meredith centre stage and tells how an actress with aspirations struggles to become the leading lady she believes she was put on earth to become. It’s set in Edwardian London and like my other books it’s a light-hearted read with a touch of romance and is available to pre-order HERE.
And I have joined Substack
Substack is what you might call an online newsletter platform which anyone can join for free and post away to their heart’s content about anything and everything in the hope that someone will actually read what they have to say. I’m still learning the Substack ropes but my eventual idea is to post chapters or part-chapters of my new book – tentative title Theatrical Women – on Substack at regular intervals.
If you’d like to subscribe (for free) click HERE.
Not bad for someone in their eighth decade, eh?
*With the possible exception of J K Rowling, Shakespeare and Charles Dickens
Well I’m in awe of your success in the ‘struggling with technology’ field as well as the novel writing and cover design fields. I am so capable of losing the entirety of what I have written by upsetting WORD in some mysterious way that my only defence against such a disaster is to email the latest version to myself and hope that it arrives and that I can subsequently find it. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your novels regardless of the cover style and wish you every success with the latest one which looks very splendid and I’m sure will live up to that promise.
Thank you Olive. Actually your method of emailing yourself with the day’s writing is a really good idea. We (I) can get complacent about stuff and not bother to back it up. And computers can fail us at any moment, as we all know.