Getting Back To What You Love

Newsletters.
Email lists.
Book marketing.
Author platforms.
Target audience.
Book reviews.
Websites.
Social media.
Social media advertising.
Blogging.

BRAIN FRY

The above is a video I made over a decade ago. As an author, I have been navigating the maze of book marketing and promotion for over thirteen years now. So much has changed in that time, and so often I feel as if I am groping around in the dark. Just when I think I’ve mastered something, the technology changes.

In marketing and publicity workshops they will tell you that you will likely spend more time working on book promotion than on your actual writing, and I have certainly found this to be true. This is the next level. Apparently, if I want to be a ‘successful’ author, this is what I need to do.

Over the Christmas break I started working on a new manuscript, a travel memoir about my experience travelling across Canada in 2024 and then settling in Ireland for a year. After I started, I couldn’t stop. The ideas were flowing, the energy was pumping.

In 2026, I am getting on top of my non-writing admin. I am finally starting the newsletter that has been on my to-do list for years. I’m making attempts to put myself out there on social media more.

I’m reshaping my author platform around my three life loves, Travel, Writing and Circus. I felt an enthusiasm that I did not feel for the book promotion process.

I felt more excited about my writing overall, which has flowed on to the book promotion process.

It is so easy to get overwhelmed by marketing and publicity, and as an author those skills aren’t necessarily in line with your greatest strengths. But apparently it is necessary if you want to get your books out there. It may cause you to drift away from the act of writing, but personally I believe it is just as important to keep up a regular writing practice amongst all the business. To have a piece that does not have a deadline, maybe not even a purpose, just something that allows you to express your love for the written word, and have fun. To stay in touch with the reason why you are doing all the other stuff in the first place.