2023

I haven’t written anything here for a while, mostly because I haven’t had anything to share on the writing front. As of right now, I have three novel manuscripts, a screenplay, a novella, and a young readers’ book trilogy all sitting on my hard drive, and another project making steady progress. But I can’t get anybody to read them.

Why?

Well, the main reason is that my last novel ‘One’ didn’t sell very well. The market for literary fiction in Australia has changed, and really, there’s not a heap of demand for lit fic books. People don’t read like they used to – on the train home, before bed. Most people are now far more likely to scroll through TikTok than to read a book, so it’s a real challenge to get any significant traction or interest in novels, especially literary works.

That then narrows your opportunities as an author, and if you misstep, you’re in trouble. Publishers logically look to invest in writers that will make them money, and to make them money, you need to build an audience of people that will reliably buy your books. My first novel, ‘Rohypnol’, sold really well for a debut, but then I waited ten years to release my next book, which meant that any momentum I might have carried over had basically evaporated. No one remembered who I was, ‘One’ is very different, and reading habits have changed. So it sold a lot fewer copies, which is not a trend that publishers want to see.

The hard part then is that you’re basically back to square one, or maybe even worse – because if you can’t shift units, why would any other publisher believe in your next project? I’ve spoken to agents and publishers that I’ve met throughout the years, and all of them have said essentially the same thing – middle-aged, male authors should be looking at crime fiction, as virtually nothing else is selling anymore.

Which I don’t do. I’ve thought about trying it out, but it’s not really me, and I’d rather continue working on my projects, but with no audience, it’s hard to stay motivated.

But I do think things will shift. Sure, attention spans are in decline, and you’re trying to compete with the entire internet, which people have in their pocket at all times. But I think you can see the impacts that the degradation of literature is having on pop culture more broadly.

Movies, for example, are either blockbuster, superhero action flicks, or crappy, half-baked Netflix projects. That, in itself, is a result of there being fewer book-to-film translations – and it does feel like, at some stage, great writing will be celebrated again, as younger readers re-discover the classics, and literature is once again viewed as an art form, as opposed to a political statement.

Then again, some would suggest that new, AI generators, like ChatGPT, could eventually be used to replace the manual creation of novels.

That’s not gonna happen.

AI tools are derivatives, replicants of things that have come before, and they lack the human touch, the creative element – the freshness in language that makes writing vibrant and vital. They might be able to come up with a few impressive lines, but again, literature is art, and an expression of place and time – it’s re-creating a feeling in the body of a reader.

Machines can’t do that, because they don’t understand environmental cues and emotional responses, they can’t pick up on the things that fill the blank spaces between the words. I don’t foresee any future where an AI system will be able to write a compelling literary novel.

A thriller maybe.

But essentially, right now, it’s not an ideal time to be an author. Some are still finding opportunities, and there are pockets of hope among the reading public. But much like opera or ballet, literary fiction feels increasingly niche, as specialist bookshops shut down, discovery becomes even more difficult, and people simply aren’t as open to the investment of time and mental energy required for more challenging, thoughtful fiction.

But it’ll change. It’s equally a matter of authors coming up fresh approaches, and new ways to meet younger readers where they are. I remember how alive ‘Trainspotting’ felt when I first read it in the mid-nineties, how active ‘Fight Club’ was when I first flicked through those pages. There’ll be a similar shift, it’s just a matter of aligning with modern experiences, and communicating your ideas in fresh, exciting prose.

I haven’t been able to crack the code yet, but I’ll keep working.

New novel – ‘Control’

I’ve got a new novel, but I’ve had to go a different route in getting it published this time around.

There are a couple of reasons for this. First off, my last book didn’t sell very well, which is a death knell for lit fic authors, especially in a small market like Australia. There are probably various reasons for this, but a big one is that people just don’t read the same stuff that they used to, and there’s not a huge variety of books that actually sell. Historical fiction still does well, crime and thrillers – supermarket fiction still hits big sales targets. But you’ll note that the literary fiction section in the bookshop is getting smaller and smaller, as the kids’ section and the recipe book area continues to grow.

People used to read books on the train or bus, or before turning in for the night. But now, they scroll through TikTok and Instagram instead, and it seems like lit fic, which asks for a bigger mental commitment from the reader, is just not connecting with as many people as it once was.

Which makes it much harder to maintain a writing career. I’ve literally been told by an agent that, as a middle-aged white author, I should be writing crime or thrillers, because that’s what sells, while the AusLit sector is now much more focused on diversity and publishing a breadth of voices from different backgrounds. Which makes sense – and again, publishers are guided by what sells, so market forces dictate such either way. But that either means that I need to write crime fiction, which I’m not knowledgeable on, and not engaged with. Or just stop writing completely and see if maybe market trends shift one day in future.

Or go another route.

This time around, I’ve tried out self-publishing, because for one, I can, and two, this is a shorter novel, probably more a novella in length, so it seems like a good project to experiment with.

Also, there are no sales pressures, no expectations of return. Because it’s published through Amazon, it only costs Amazon money when someone orders the book, so if I sell a total of zero copies, no one will care (note: the commission I earn on sales of the paperback version is about 30 cents).

Which could be the way that lit fic is headed. And I kind of like it. I like the idea of smaller circles of readers publishing and sharing underground type books, without the fanfare and marketing of the regular process, no book store signings and festivals.

Don’t get me wrong, those can be enjoyable, and if a major publisher wanted to sign me for my next book, I’d definitely do it, I’m not denigrating the process. But I think that there could be a really interesting backchannel rising for literary fiction works, which could end up seeing some of the best projects actually making it out into the mainstream.

I mean, that’s kind of what’s happened with Michael Winkler’s ‘Grimmish’, a self-published book that was recently nominated for the Miles Franklin award. Winkler handed the book around to writer friends, and it quietly became a hit, largely through word of mouth.

That’s a really interesting filter through which we could see more great novels make their way. Or not – and for the ones that don’t hit, it’s just a cool little project from an author that you might know, which costs nothing, and sits on a digital bookshelf for posterity.

It seems like that’s how things could be headed, and it’s interesting for me to try it out and feel my way through the process.

So I’ve published a new book, which you can purchase here. It’s 345 pages and it costs $17.60, from which, again, I’m not really making anything back.

Because it’s not about money at this stage. Making money out of fiction is almost impossible, and for me, I just like pushing things forward, and working on writing projects. This one was sitting on my hard drive, ready to go. And now, it’s out there for others to read.

So, if you’re interested, you can purchase ‘Control’ here.

Here’s a brief blurb on what it’s about:

“A woman who teaches sign language and lives in the inner-city. A newly elected local councillor, who stands proud before his wife and kids. A successful young businessman who has it all, or so it seems. A teenager, raised by a single mother, already toughened to the world.

All four in different stages and situations, but each with a handle on their world.

Each about to lose control.”

You can order a print copy, and Amazon will print it and get it out within a week. I’m still working on the digital version.

Maybe it reaches an audience, maybe not, but it’s another experiment in my writing journey.

writing and motivation

Why do you write?

This is a question that I’ve been going over in my mind in recent months as I assess where my fiction projects are at.

For context, while my first novel, which was released in 2007, sold reasonably well for a lit fic debut, and won several awards, my second, released 11 years later, did not fare as strongly, which may well be the death knell for my literary career – because if you can’t show publishers that you can generate ongoing sales, ideally to an established audience, then they have less reason to reinvest in your next project.

That’s basically where I’m at. The market has changed a lot since my debut, and the reasons why people buy and read books has also shifted, with a significant portion of book marketing now focused on the author’s story, alongside the work itself. This, of course, has always been an element, but in the age of social media, author identity is a bigger consideration, and if you’re not doing all that you can to establish an audience, based on who you are as well as what you write, you’re once again diminishing your marketing value, and thus, your prospects of being published.

But I remain confident in my work. My writing is of a publishable standard, and I’ve completed several new manuscripts. I just can’t get anyone to read them. Like at all.

Which then begs the question – why write? Why do you set out on a literary project, and what are you aiming to get from your efforts?

If it’s fame and money, then lit fic is not for you, and money has never been a major element of why I write (luckily).

Ideally, you want readers, you want to connect with an audience, and a general lack of interest in reading has definitely become more pronounced, among people that I know at least.

It used to be that people would read on the train home, or they’d squeeze in a couple of chapters, propped up on a pillow in bed, before switching out the light. Now, we have phones to soak up all those gaps in attention, which makes it harder to get anyone to commit to reading long-form fiction.

People still read, with crime fiction and thrillers, as well as books from established authors still selling reasonably well. But it feels like it’s a harder pitch to get people to commit to 250+ pages than it’s ever been, which increases the barriers to success.

So if you can’t make money, and readers aren’t overly excited to check out your new stuff, is it worth writing at all?

I don’t know, and I’ve been grappling with the concept, as I continue to work on different fiction projects and ideas over time.

It seems that we now simultaneously have more pathways into publishing than ever before, with the internet and self-publishing so prominent and readily available, while we also have fewer actual readers to reach.

Then again, you don’t need a huge audience to make it worthwhile (dependent on your aims), and maybe then, self-publishing is the way to go, just to keep things going, just to keep it moving, while ideally also helping you to build an audience and establish your own market.

Maybe that’s the path I should take – but even then, it doesn’t feel like that’s really what I want, that’s not the reason that I want to write.

So what is it? What makes you want to come up with a story and map it out and write it down and put all the pieces together and have it all complete?

For me, completion is, at least in part, the goal. I have a concept that I want to explore, I develop the characters, and I’m interested to learn more about their lives and experiences, while also refining my writing and creating a dynamic, moving story. I love doing that, I love writing and re-writing, then leaving it for a few months before checking back in, to read your own words with fresh eyes. That still excites me – and maybe that’s enough, maybe I don’t need outside recognition or acknowledgment as much as I just need that creative outlet, for my own sanity as much as anything else.

But it still feels like a bit of a let down. I spend all that time crafting something complete, something that comes together, that builds page-by-page. And no one will ever read it.

Is that enough? I’m still coming to terms with that, and considering my stance, but right now, despite my latest work, in my view, being far more advanced than my past efforts, it’s just sitting on my hard drive, gathering digital dust.

So is it worth starting something new, when no one’s interested in what you have?
For me, as a learning and development exercise, there is still value in the next project. And market trends shift, things come back around. Maybe another opportunity is coming.

Till then, I’ll keep working, and see where the next story takes me.

On alternative pathways to literary success

Could the expansion of creator tools online, and in particular via social media platforms, offer new publishing potential for a broader range of fiction authors?

I’ve had this question in mind for some time, in considering the ways in which literature is now accessed, and what might be the best way to connect with modern audiences in alignment with how they’re looking to read.

Because the truth is, readers have changed. People used to read books on trains and buses, and get through a few chapters in bed before turning in each night. But the arrival of smartphones has changed this, with everybody now glued to their devices for hours on end, which then reduces the time that they’re willing to spend with books, while concurrently increasing the value proposition that authors then need to communicate to get people to commit to engaging with longer form content.

You need to hook readers in, and the easiest way to do this is to take a topical angle, tying into a prominent discussion or trend. Then, through implicit virtue, you’re bound to get at least some readers to buy and mention your book. But without a topical hook, general fiction now struggles to gain attention, and sales traction as a result.

That’s why literary trends have changed so significantly, with thrillers and historical fiction dominating general reading trends, while literary fiction falls away. Lit fic takes more time and attention, while the faster pace of thrillers aligns better with shortening attention spans.

So what do authors do? If you don’t write within defined genre constraints, and don’t have a specific political angle for your story, how can you gain optimal attention for your work?

The truth may lie in re-imagining how you communicate, with newer, digital styles of publishing potentially providing a better fit with modern readers and their content engagement habits.

That’s why Salman Rushdie’s recent announcement that he’s publishing a new novella on Substack is interesting, with a traditional fiction superstar now looking to an alternative online publishing format to maximize his reach.

Rushdie’s planning to release his latest novella in instalments, via Substack’s newsletter platform. That could see Rushdie publishing a chapter a week, for example, which is not an entirely new concept in itself, but it is interesting given the profile that Rushdie already has, and the fact that even the big names in the field are now considering alternate pathways to audience reach.

As explained by Rushdie:

“I think that new technology always makes possible new art forms, and I think literature has not found its new form in this digital age… Whatever the new thing is that’s going to arise out of this new world, I don’t think we’ve seen it yet.

In some ways, that process is actually taking literature back to its early roots, with classic authors like Dickens and others originally publishing most of their works in serialised form, as a means to attract new readers. Now, it would be scaling things back to hold attention in the same way, with the hopes that these smaller samples of the broader work can attract new audiences – though even then, there is a question around holding reader attention, and whether such process can viably translate into a sustainable form of income through subscriber-based tools.

But I think that Rushdie’s right – literature hasn’t found its right form for modern consumers just yet.

Much of the online literary discussion these days is far less about the writing itself, and far more about the political considerations around such, leading to various debates, but too often the focus shifts away from the content itself, and onto the author and/or the topic, leaving the craft of writing, and actually creating the world of the work, as a side note. Which shouldn’t be the case, but as noted, getting people to actually engage with the work itself is more and more challenging, and in order to facilitate ongoing discussion around literature and writing, we need to find the best ways to connect with readers that will align with their behaviours, essentially making such as engaging as scrolling through non-stop social media feeds.

Nobody knows what that solution will be, but more authors are experimenting with shorter form, digitally accessible formats to maximize audience reach, while establishing community connection around your work can also facilitate more value and engagement.

These are elements that authors in times past have not had to contemplate in the same way, and it can be difficult to change your thinking around how things should work, and the importance of the relationships between publishers and authors in this respect.

But clearly, things are changing, and the authors that can change with those trends, rather than battling against them, are the only ones who stand a chance of winning out.

Otherwise, more and more debut fiction writers will simply fall away, and literary discussion will increasingly shift away from the work, and more towards tangential elements.

Because that’s what’s retaining attention, and while that’s not conducive to literary culture, habitual shifts are what they are. You either listen to that, or write for yourself, and hope that, one day, someone might, maybe, read your stuff.

narrowing interest

For all the talk about growing opportunities for creators online, it feels like modern creative outlets, like online video, are far more temporary in nature, while support for traditional arts is becoming even more finite, which limits the scope for getting things like literary works published.

We’ve seen this happen with the film industry – in the mid-nineties, there was a flood of arthouse films, which seemed to thrive alongside more mainstream faire. But as technology advanced, seeing improvements in digital downloads, home cinema systems, improved content access, etc. As this happened, audiences stopped heading to arthouse films at the same rate, and studios eventually stopped funding them as a result, which has since seen the focus shift almost entirely to blockbuster movies instead, with smaller films getting a thin lifeline from Netflix and other outlets, where success, and even broad scale awareness, is largely a crapshoot.

Now we’re in the midst of a similar shift in the literary world. With people now able to access a constant form of entertainment, and distraction, in their pocket at any time, getting people to actually commit to reading a book at all is a far bigger task than it has been previously.

People don’t need a book to read on the train home from work, or to take with them on a road trip, they don’t get through a few chapters before turning off the night light. Instead, they scroll, for hours on end, through an endless and constantly updating stream of snackable, short-form content, which quenches their desire for entertainment, education and escape, without them having to lock in for hundreds of pages.

As a result of this, the big publishing houses are getting more limited in what they publish, and while there are still some interesting titles being released, their potential for success is much lower, and the threshold for a literary career, as such, is far more limited. If you want to make it, you have to sell books, and if you don’t, you won’t be getting that next contract. Your literary career can go from celebration of publication to an abrupt and unceremonious end, very quickly, and just getting that basic awareness, getting people to even pick up our book in the first place, or just know that it exists, is a challenge.

So publishers are getting more limited. If it feels like a lot of the same thing is being published, again and again, that’s because it is, while it’s far easier for the publishing houses to get media coverage, and therefore boost awareness, for stories that touch on topical issues and themes. That’s always been the case to some degree, but now, it seems like a much bigger factor, with media interest, and social media promotion, often hinging on these additional elements.

In the end, this makes the pathway to publishing far more difficult. That’s not to say it can’t be done, there are still various examples of well-written books getting published, despite not having a topical hook or angle. But sales of literary fiction, in particular, are not strong in the AUS market, and peeling people away from their phones long enough to care about your work is a rising challenge.

So what do you do? Should you look to add more topical angles to your projects? Should you lean into what’s trending, or focus on a more specific style or genre in order to boost commercial appeal?

What’s more important – the quality of the writing itself, or the marketability of such?

I don’t know. I don’t think anybody has the answers. But it’s getting harder, and connecting with audiences, despite more avenues than ever for such, is no easy feat.

modern media approaches

A fellow author friend of mine, Jack Heath, recently posted an explanation on Twitter as to why he needed to take a break from social media in order to better focus on other things.

As Jack explained, one of his biggest concerns is that in maintaining an active social media presence, which he feels compelled to do with respect to book promotion and establishing connection with fans, is that it’s having an impact on the way he experiences the world.

“I used to go through life looking for stories to tell. Now I’ve found myself looking around for things to post about. I worry that if I keep going down this path, my books will cease to be imaginative or original. I can’t even enjoy reading anymore, because whenever I hit a good paragraph, I feel the urge to take a picture of it. I almost always resist that urge, but it’s too late – the thought alone has taken me out of the story.”

Jack raises an interesting question – do authors need to have an active social media presence? Or even should they?

Like most writers, I’ve had conflicts with this myself. My day job is writing about digital marketing, so I need to use social media in order to understand how everything works. But I don’t post much myself, and I don’t see a huge amount of value in doing it, personally. But many authors do indeed gain significant value from being active online – I’ve written previously about how authors can maximize the benefits of social media, and build their platform to help them sell more books.

But it’s hard, it’s a big commitment if you want to use it as a brand-building vehicle. it’s not just posting whenever you feel, it takes a dedicated effort in establishing your place and what you want to be known for. That then enables an audience to find you, and you can then use that to help promote your books, and some authors clearly have a knack for it. But others…

Writing is a solitary exercise – you need time away from everybody else in order to gather your thoughts and let your stories form, before then needing even more time alone to actually write them. Given this, it’s not surprising that many authors are actually quite introverted and aren’t looking to be the centre of attention. Which is counter to the aims of promotion – and definitely, with access to millions of people, social platforms provide you with a means for promoting yourself and your work. But as Jack notes, it can also take a toll.

So should you bother?

This really comes down to the individual. Again, many authors gain a lot by being active online, yet equally as many high-profile writers don’t even have a Twitter profile. Tara June-Winch has won virtually every major literary award in Australia in 2020, and she doesn’t have a Twitter presence. In fact, of the five authors nominated in the fiction category in the 2020 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, only one of them has an active Twitter account.

In some ways, this seems like an option only available to more established authors, as they have less need to build that initial brand awareness. But it does also suggest that it’s not 100% necessary, being active online is not a definitive requirement.

Yet, there is also a growing focus on author identity in book promotion, with often as much discussion around who the author is as the work itself. This is counter to literary discussion, in my view, as the work should always be the focus, but either way, it’s a trend that exists, which points to it being beneficial to let your audience in, and to share more of yourself with the world.

In many ways, though, it seems like more writers would prefer to take the Cormac McCarthy approach.

Notoriously media-shy (or resistant, depending on how you look at it), if you want to get in touch with Cormac McCarthy, for an interview or any other purpose, you reportedly have to leave a letter in a mail box which is checked periodically by his ex-wife. If she thinks it’s relevant, she’ll pass it on, and then he might, if he deems it of interest, get in touch. But probably not.

There’s no other form of contact, which leaves him to concentrate on his writing.

As one of McCarthy’s ex-wives noted to The New York Times in 1992

“Someone would call up and offer him $2,000 to come speak at a university about his books. And he would tell them that everything he had to say was there on the page.”

That feels like a better approach, though there is much value in writers groups, online discussions, contributing to the wider community. But it can also get to be too much.

In the modern world, establishing the right balance is increasingly difficult.

creativity in crisis

Should you be actively creating at this time?

In many ways, it seems like the perfect opportunity – people have more time on their hands due to the lockdowns, there are fewer social events to attend, etc. Yet, most people I know are not feeling overly creative, and have struggled to stay focused on fiction work and art.

Why is that?

Because creativity is inspired by our lived experiences, in what we do and see each day. Fiction writers don’t come up with an idea for a story instantaneously, it takes time – it’s various pieces and elements that rattle around inside your head until they coalesce, and the seed of a story is formed.

Right now, it’s hard to be creative because our inputs are reduced, because there are not as many things happening to us personally, which makes it more difficult to gather the various remnants and ponder their meanings and reflections.

Of course, there is a lot happening, in terms of global events. On a broader scale, its one of the busiest periods in history, but those larger scale incidents lack the immediacy required in many cases, to actual feel the emotion of small moments, to understand the scope of the details.

In essence, what I’m saying is that you shouldn’t feel bad if you’re struggling to create right now. If the words aren’t flowing, if the story is not coming together. Because without our usual connection to the broader world, it’s harder to find those small pieces that you’ll need to complete the puzzle of your story.

Writers are observationalists, we pay attention to the details and absorb moments, which we then use to build an understanding of the world, and the worlds that we subsequently create. Without fewer chances to observe, our creativity, understandably, is impacted.

So go easy on yourself, there’s a lot going on, for everyone, and if you’re not feeling it right now, it’ll come back. There’s no need to pressure yourself even further if the creativity feels a little distant.

Novella: Argonaut

Yeah, I haven’t written anything here for a while.

Because, you know, there’s a pandemic happening, and things are strange and uncertain. And for the most part, things feel kind of paused, frozen in a stasis of some kind, as we all wait for what comes next.

Within that, it hasn’t felt like the ideal time to write, even though we have more time for such, given we can’t do much else.

It all feels a little like watching static on a TV screen. Things are happening, but nothing really is. Nothing really seems to change.

But I am still working different things, and recently, I took a shot at entering the Griffith Novella Competition for 2020.

I didn’t win, which is fine – the calibre of entries is no doubt high, and my story wasn’t essentially written for the distinct theme of theme of the competition. But I had a shot at it with a story in which I tried to capture a part of what it felt like growing up in regional Victoria in the early nineties.

That story, titled ‘Argonaut’, is just going to sit on my hard drive gathering virtual dust, so I figured I’d post it here.

If you’re looking for something to read, or you’re, for some reason, interested in what it felt like growing up in Kinglake (before the 2009 bushfires), feel free to take a look – and if you have any thoughts/comments, let me know.

Argonaut

screenwriting upgrades

Here’s a writing exercise that I absolutely don’t recommend, but could be helpful if, you know, you have time on your hands.

Over the last month or so, I’ve been working on converting one of my unpublished manuscripts into a screenplay, both as a means of providing an alternate path to some form of publication (given shrinking opportunities in publishing, with the impacts of COVID-19 set to narrow such even further), and as an exercise to see whether I could do it, and what might come from actually sitting down and writing something in an alternate format.

I’m not entirely new to screenwriting – my first novel, Rohypnol, was optioned for a film version, and I worked on the screenplay with the production team from Seed Productions. But still, I’m no expert, and given the format-specific considerations of screenwriting, it’s a very different challenge, one which makes you look at your work in a new way, focusing on visuals and dialogue, without the capacity to explore each character’s emotional responses in-depth.

That different angle has helped me improve much of the dialogue in the novel manuscript. Once you’re writing down what you want people to say, you think about the exchanges in a different mindset, and it made me re-examine each of the spoken terms and responses in the story, and has made them feel much more natural and realistic.

But additionally, it helped me come up with an entirely new ending to my novel, which better summarizes the key themes and concepts, and feels much more satisfying as a whole.

I’ve never been great at endings. It’s very difficult to come up with something that feels complete, that feels like it’s pulled all the threads of the story back in and solidified the world into a new, different reality, incorporating the lessons learned. It generally takes me a while to think and re-think how the ending will look – and when I put the original ending of this story down in screenplay form, it didn’t feel satisfying. If I were watching the film version, I think it would have felt incomplete, like it was a bit too abrupt.

So I changed it in the screenplay, and I’m now working on changing it in the novel as well. Which, of course, then also means re-examining every part of the manuscript, ensuring that every story element, every chapter, every scene, all moves towards that final goal. For the most part, I know that it does, but it’s another month of work to check through, section-by-section, in order to ensure that everything’s in its right place.

So, as a writing exercise, it’s been very beneficial. But it’s also a significant exercise to undertake. As a lesson, it may well be worth considering how your particularly dialogue-heavy sections would work in screenplay mode, and how you would feel if you handed them to professional actors as something you wanted them to read out.

Would it make sense? Would it flow well, and feel real – and would it convey the emotion you’re looking to express, if they had no other cues, no other indicators other than the words on the page?

Of course, everyone visualizes their story differently, but for me, it definitely made me see at least some elements in a different light.

Hopefully, that leads to better outcomes for both versions of the story.

 

Tips for Book Promotion Amid COVID-19 Lockdowns

It’s very difficult to contemplate the full extent of the impacts of the current shutdowns around the world due to COVID-19, and they only look set to get worse, at least in the foreseeable future.

The amount of people affected by the virus, both directly and indirectly, will be in the billions, and while our main focus needs to be on slowing the spread, and saving as many people as possible from the outbreak, the resultant actions will also mean job losses, income reductions and rising hardship across the board. And among the sectors hardest hit will be artists, with the shutdowns making it increasingly difficult to gain exposure, to build an audience, and to generate income from their work.

That, of course, incorporates authors, and those seeking to promote their books to audiences.

I’ve written before about the already challenging environment for authors in Australia, with fewer literary events, fewer bookshops and fewer opportunities for exposure. More than compound these problems, COVID-19 has virtually eliminated these avenues entirely – which means that authors need to turn to online promotional methods to get the word out, and build buzz through digital means.

Now, that’s not impossible. I’ve also written a detailed guide for how authors can, for example, utilize social media platforms for promotion, which is one element that all artists need to consider. The problem is that it can take time to build social media traction – and while you can (and should) use ads on Facebook and Instagram to expand your reach and awareness, that’s not always so simple, with the complexities of ad targeting providing their own challenges.

But digital tools can work, and can offer great reach potential, if you know how to use them. To help, here are some quick tips for how authors can maximize their online presence and expand their audience reach.

Social Media Ads

Social media advertising is complex, and targeting the right people, on the right platforms, can take years of research and understanding in order to get it right. But it can, absolutely, work – and you should, absolutely, be considering it in the current environment.

So how can you reach the right people for your book?

A key option you should consider is Facebook’s Lookalike Audiences, and expanding your presence by reaching the exact right people who’ll be interested in what you do.

lookalike

Facebook’s Lookalike Audiences cross-match your existing audience data with other people on Facebook who share similar traits. Through this, you can get your ads in front of people who may not be aware of you or your books, but who will likely be interested, based on their related habits.

And they can be very accurate – Facebook has a database od some 2.5 billion people, and for each of them it has a profile, which includes a list of everything they’ve engaged with, every Page they’ve followed, every Like they’ve ever given. With that insight, Facebook can provide very accurate audience matches – it’s not simply matching, say, someone who like British crime shows with books by Agatha Christie, it goes far deeper, and connects hundreds of correlating trends in order to hone in on those who are very likely to be interested in the same things.

So how can you use this?

Probably the best way to do this is to first create a Custom Audience in your Facebook ads options. You can find this in the ‘Audience’ section of your Ad Setup. Under ‘Create New Audience’, click on ‘Create New’, then ‘Custom Audience’. When you do that, you’ll be given a set of options – select ‘Facebook Page’ as your source for your Custom Audience info.

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As you can see here, one of the options here is to create an audience of ‘Everyone who engaged with your Page’ with a time frame. This is significant, because for most people, a lot of their Facebook Page likes are from friends and family, and you don’t really want to target them. Targeting those people who’ve actually engaged with your posts is a better option – and if you’ve only just started talking about your new book, you can narrow down the time frame, further refining your audience.

From here, you can create an audience of people who’ve engaged with your Page, and you can then target these people, who’ve shown interest in your writing in the past, with Facebook ads about your new book.

But we want to expand beyond this – the next step, from here, is to go through the Lookalike Audience process. Lookalike Audiences are available via the same steps as a Custom Audience, but when you get to the set-up stage, you need to enter an existing, created audience to use as the basis. And you now have one, in the Custom Audience you just made of people who’ve engaged with your posts.

In the data source, select the name of the Custom Audience you just created, and use that as your basis for lookalike matching.

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Now, Facebook will provide you with an audience of people who match the profiles of those who’ve already engaged with your content, and will likely be interested in what you do.

From here, you need to experiment and see what results you get, then double down on the results and hone in further. You can then look into more complex ad targeting options (Facebook Pixel, segmentation, etc.), but for starters, this will help to expand your audience on Facebook, and reach people who are increasingly likely to be interested in your books.

Instagram Stories

Think you’re too out of the loop to utilize Instagram Stories? Think again.

Stories are where Facebook sees social media interaction headed – in fact, Facebook has repeatedly noted that Stories are on track to overtake the main News Feed as the key engagement surface in its apps.

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This chart was created in 2017 – Facebook hasn’t provided an updated listing, but you can see that Stories usage will likely overtake the News Feed, if it hasn’t already. And that’s definitely worth noting.

Stories are most popular on Instagram, where they get prime placement at the top of the app.

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More than half of all Instagram users engage with Stories every day – and in Australia, that equates to more than 4.7 million Instagram Stories users, every day.

With that type of placement, and that type of reach, you need to consider how you can use Stories in your promotional efforts.

You can re-share Stories that mention your book, which is a good way to amplify word of mouth, while you can also create quick snapshots and updates which are non-intrusive, and easy for your audience to take in.

Of course, the only people who’ll see your Stories are those who already follow your Instagram profile, but you can promote your Instagram presence on other platforms in order to grow your audience, and direct people towards your Stories as a means to keep them updated.

Another good way to build your Stories audience is by doing Instagram Live streams. Instagram Live video streams are available in the same place as Stories, so by getting your audience to tune in, you’re also promoting your Instagram presence, and promoting your Stories at the same time.

If you haven’t considered Stories, you should – they have great reach, they’re simple, and there’s a heap of creative options to consider to make your Stories look great.

Virtual Book Launches

Another opportunity to think about is virtual book launches, and engaging your community via digital tools like live-streaming.

Author Lauren Chater recently launched her new book via Facebook Live, and while many have dismissed streaming, and indeed Facebook generally, as a less effective promotional vehicle for books, right now, with everyone stuck at home, it’s actually far more effective than you might expect.

chzates Lauren’s stream had, on average, 100 concurrent viewers throughout, which is a solid audience for a book launch. And while Lauren won’t get the benefit of in-person engagement, and a multiple bookshop tour, Lauren’s digital launch showed that you can still effectively connect with an audience, without being physically present.

At the time of writing, Lauren’s launch video is up to 4.2k total views – which is an added benefit, you not only get that immediate audience who tune in when the video is live, but also repeat views over time. The video also has 339 comments, people who Lauren can respond to, and further build her audience. Not all of those viewers, of course, will end up buying the book – but if even a quarter of them do, that’s a solid start, and could help to kick-off a big word-of-mouth push.

These are just some of entry-level options you can consider for book promotion via online means. And while they won’t give you the immediate exposure to a reading audience that a literary festival appearance would, they each provide ways in which you can expand your audience, and give your books a push – even if you can’t leave your house to do it.