Sunday, 11 October 2015
The Trouble with Words by Suzie Tullett
Release Date: 1st October 2015
Publisher: Safkhet Soul
Publisher: Safkhet Soul
Genres: Contemporary Fiction / Romance
On the blog today we have Suzie Tullett talking about the importance of social media in book promotion. I love Suzie's work and was the editor of her book Little White Lies and Butterflies which was shortlisted for the Guardian newspapers Not the Booker Prize in 2013. Lets hear about Suzie's latest book The Trouble With Words, before her fab guest post. There's even an extract from the book at the end of her guest post. Here's wishing Suzie all the very best with her new book.
Blurb:
Promises – easy to make, hard to
keep.
Having long made a promise to her
husband, young widow Annabel has no intentions of breaking it. What she does
plan to do, though, is have a baby. Not the easiest of tasks for a woman with a
deceased other half, and having explored all her options, her only choice is to
take the unconventional route. Setting out to find her own donor, Annabel meets
Dan. Single, fun-loving and definitely not looking for commitment, this unruly
blonde, blue-eyed man seems perfect for the job.
Dan wants nothing more than to find
his dream woman. But with a mother intent on sabotaging his every relationship,
he can't help but think he's destined to remain single. Of course, he knows his
mother doesn't really want him all for herself, why else would she keep
insisting he meet Maeve? Why else would she insist Dan promise to find himself
a wife before she meets her maker?
Forced to negotiate matters of love,
life and death, Annabel and Dan seem the answer to each other's prayers. But
will they really be able to keep the promises they made? And is having a baby
really the solution?
GUEST POST
How important is social media in
book promotion?
Writing can be a lonely
profession. Depending on where we are in the writing process, we authors can
spend days in isolation planning and penning our novels. I’m sure I’m not alone
when I say social media can sometimes ease that solitude; for me, Facebook and
Twitter et al often provide a link to the real world when I’m in the throws of writing
a fictional one.
It isn’t just about keeping up
with friends and family though. Long gone are the days where we write our books
and leave everything else, including marketing and promotion, to the experts.
Publishers often talk about the need for authors to have a platform, a means of
visibility. In fact some commentators even suggest publishing contracts are
sometimes offered or, indeed, denied, on the strength of these. So when it
comes to author platforms, whilst the various social media sites make up only a
part of the picture, they still play a vital role. For example, their hangouts,
pages, groups and/or hashtags enable us to engage directly with our audience;
some members of whom might never have actually heard of us had we not signed up
to these things.
Of course, it isn’t simply about
shameless self-promotion. No-one wants to hear an author continually shout buy my book, buy my book and nothing
else. After all, the clue is in the title – social
media. Sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, to name a few, are about
connecting with people. They’re a long term commitment and as much about
building relationships as they are about building a readership. I’ve met some
lovely people through social media, some of whom have gone on to read my books and
some who haven’t. And many whom I’m happy to now call friends whether they’ve
bought my novels or not.
It is through these
relationships though that we’re able spread the word about our new releases,
and/or up and coming events. Not only are we able to keep our friends,
followers and readers up-to-date, they, in turn, might take the opportunity to
share our news with their friends and so on and so on. Word of mouth is very
important when it comes to promoting any product and, as book recommendations are
no different, who’s to say that the buzz created around us and our novels
didn’t begin with a tweet, a photo, or a status?
Then there are the joint
promotion initiatives that social media can introduce us to. We authors often collaborate, bringing writers
we admire, and whose books we enjoy, to the attention of our own readerships. Because that’s the thing about
social media, it isn’t all one way. Social media gives us the chance to support
others and share their news in return. And as I’m an avid reader as well as a
writer, it’s enabled me, just like you, to find some great reads out there.
Reads I know I would otherwise have missed.
Excerpt from The Trouble With Words
Opening out the deckchair, she
plonked herself down in it. “So how’s your week been?” she asked. She paused,
not that she really expected a reply, but it was nice to know he was listening
if nothing else. “Mine’s not been too bad,” she continued. “The shop’s still
doing okay. Oh, and your mum called round the other day.” Remembering the visit
all too well, Annabel tried not to scowl. “She said to say hello.”
She reached down and dipped her hand
into her bag again, this time pulling out a flask of coffee. “Caffeine, just
what I need after the hassle of getting here,” she said. “As usual the traffic
was horrendous.”
Pouring herself a drink, she knew her
ramblings were an attempt at stalling the inevitable; that she was worried
about Tom’s reaction once she’d told him what she was up to. While her plans
for the future might be a positive move on her part, she certainly wasn’t daft
enough to think everyone would understand. If anything most people wouldn’t,
especially if his mother’s reaction had been anything to go by.
She thought it strange how everyone
and their dog insisted she move on, yet the second she did they created such a
song and dance over it. Although if Tom did choose to join in with the
dissenters, then just like them he’d only have to get used to the idea;
particularly when this was entirely his fault to begin with. Annabel didn’t
want to play the blame game, but just like she’d said to his mother, she
wouldn’t be in this position if he hadn’t upped and died in the first place. In
her mind’s eye, she could see Tom sitting opposite, his hands clasped as he
patiently waited for her to tell him what was really on her mind. The man
always could read her like a book.
“Okay, okay,” she said. “Just give me
a second.”
She took a couple of sips of coffee,
determined to reveal all. But, in spite of practicing her speech all week, now
that it came to it, those well-chosen words seemed to fail her. Resting her cup
on her knee and refusing to let her conviction wane, she realised she was just
going to have to come out and say it.
After three, she told herself. One,
two, three…
She squeezed her eyes shut, in
anticipation of the lightning bolt no doubt about to strike her down.
“I’m going to have a baby,” she said.
Contact:
Hanna Oliwa
Publicist
Safkhet Publishing
Book Links:
Buy Links:
Author Bio:
Suzie Tullett is an author of contemporary
humorous fiction and romantic comedy. As well as The Trouble with Words, her
novels include Going Underground and Little White Lies and Butterflies, which
was short-listed for The Guardian's 2013 Not the Booker Prize. She has a
Masters Degree in Television & Radio Scriptwriting and worked as a
scriptwriter before becoming a full-time novelist. And when she's not tapping
away on the computer creating her own literary masterpiece, she usually has her
head in someone else's.
Website: http://suzietullett.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/suzietullett
Thanks for taking part, JB, I'm glad you enjoyed the post. Today is the last day of the blog tour so it seems a very apt subject to finish on x
Lovely post Suzie
Thank you, Julie. Were it not for social media I might not have 'met' you and read your Greek mystery books x