Image Credits:-
Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images. Many thanks to Penny Blackburn for the image of me taking part in a previous Open Prose Mic Night at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Screenshots were taken by me, Allison Symes. AI images avoided.
Marketing and writing are strange bedfellows for most writers. Most writers (including me) much prefer to be writing than carrying out any marketing, yet we need to accept the latter is part of our overall writing life. How else will people know about our writing?
I now know my Seeing The Other Side is coming out on 16th July 2026 so over the next few months I’ll be engaged with marketing. I am hoping to have a blog tour for my third collection plus I will be launching the book at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick in August. I also hope to arrange other in person signings and to have events on Zoom.
Balancing Marketing and Writing Time
Balancing the time spent in marketing with still getting your writing done is not an easy thing to do. I think it gets easier with practice, as you will have found out before what works for you marketing wise and what doesn’t so you can cut to the chase immediately here.
But marketing takes time and to get the best from it, you need to spend further time working out what you would like to do, are able to do (this includes the financial aspect), and to prepare for whatever you do here.
One good thing is you can learn from other authors and the events they have held. What was it about those events you liked? What was it about them which you know wouldn’t work for you? All of that will help you hone down on what can work for you.
People will inevitably ask you what your book is about so it is good to have one or two lines prepared for that (plus some longer pieces – see more below on this).
Marketing You Can Enjoy – Honest!
I like sharing stories so if I can read some of mine at an event I’ll include such events as part of my marketing. It also works well for Zoom launches.
I also enjoy creating things to go with my books when they’re out – pens etc.
Social media can take up so much time but a lot of what I’d want to share here can be prepared in advance and I can then work out/schedule when these things appear. It makes it less onerous.
I’ve enjoyed in person events so much more since making friends at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, the Association of Christian Writers and Bridge House Publishing events.
For my book signings, I see them as a chance to engage with readers and focus on that, rather than trying to make sales. I’ve found it is far more likely I will make sales if I take that view and this is often where sharing stories comes in useful for that engagement. It also demonstrates what flash fiction is and I’ve found people like being read to. I know I love hearing the stories from other authors at the Open Prose Mic Night Swanwick runs.
I also enjoy creating some of my own graphics using the design program, Book Brush. I find it easy to use. It comes with ready to use templates for various social media platforms. I find it more intuitive to use than Canva, to be honest. But it does mean I can spend time on Book Brush creating some of my own advertising which saves time overall and money. And you can be creative with these things, which is fun. I’ve long taken the view since I need to do at least some marketing, I will make every effort to enjoy what I do here!
I think that approach means it is more likely you can keep going for the longer term and, in writing, you do need to take the longer term view because you cannot know how things will go. I’ve made sales long after my books initially came out. Also you can never know when people will discover your books for the first time so if they see something of yours, an interesting post on social media, say, then it makes it more likely they’ll check your website (and your work) out.
Marketing then may be intense around a book launch but it is also an ongoing thing. I find it helps to make it as creative as I can – that’s enjoyable at least.
Writing About The Book You Have Written
This can seem to be a strange thing to do. You’ve written the book, it’s out there, you want to get on with “next”, but readers do need to know what your book is about, and from that whether it will entice them to read it. But you can draft a lot of this material in advance. Good things to focus on would include:-
1. Your inspiration for the book and what drove you to write it.
2. Your theme for the book, if there is one. In my case, with a collection, there is an underlying theme of perspective which covers many of the stories in there.
3. For a collection, what you enjoyed most about putting it together. For a novel, what you enjoyed most about creating the characters and their plot.
Just writing something about those three points will give you something useful to tell people when they ask you what your book is about.
It pays to have something written to about 50 words, 100 words, 500 words. For short sharp social media posts, the first two of these will be especially useful and, for interviews, the longer version will be. Also bear in mind having this kind of thing to hand will also be useful preparation for in person events and online ones. You already know how to describe your book because you’ve prepared the material so it, and you, are good to go.
It may well help prepare you for audience questions too and yes you can work out some of the likely things they might ask and work out what you would say in advance too. Doing this I know has helped with my confidence here. I know I can say something useful!
Conclusion
I like marketing which is part of the writer’s life. It’s why I will always share writing advice I’ve found useful on my Facebook posts, via my blog and so on. It gives something back to potential readers (many of whom I know are also writers) and that makes it easier for them to engage with you and your writing. Nobody likes the constant “buy buy buy my book” routine and I’ve come across that. It deters folk!
But having a writer share something of their writing life, share tips etc, and then they say I have a book out on XXXX date and it’s about YYYYY, that is more palatable to everyone and fair enough. You expect a writer to share this. What you don’t want is to be nagged!
This is why I try to make the marketing I do fun and engaging for those on the other side of it. It shouldn’t just be about promoting me/my books. There should be something fun in it for the readers. They’re more likely to check my books out then.
Related Posts:-
Publication Thoughts – Seeing The Other Side by Allison Symes
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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