Notelets on Nurture #11
Connecting with your readers + marketing in a meaningful way
One of my favourite things to do is curate Notelets on Nurture, an occasional Sunday series, and today’s guest writer helps us consider how we can enrich our relationship with our readers.
I often talk about publishing when I’m “in the energy” of my writing. But, just last week, I found myself sharing a post I wasn’t quite ready to cast out into the wild.
I had mixed feelings about it; too much I wanted to say (scream, shout) in one place. And while the words were well received with likes and shares, even an invitation to collaborate, none of those things mattered because, within me, was the knowing that the piece hadn’t unfurled as intended. Had I paid more attention to the hesitation I felt upon posting, I could have saved myself the pain of pulling the words back into drafts.
The nature of the post (or what ought to have been two posts) isn’t relevant today. And my reasons for wanting to share those thoughts at another time and in a different form are nuanced. But my choice to remove it speaks to the theme of connecting with our readers and ourselves.
The urge to contribute something of value can lead us to feel pressure to show up and feel out of alignment. Internal whispers of *should* coax us into action before we’re ready. And though there’s some merit in this approach, my nervous system is happiest when I write and share thoughtfully. We could attribute it to being a recovering perfectionist, but I see it as embracing intentionality. If I’m not feeling my writing or sensing the depth I was aiming for, how can I expect a reader to engage with or respond to it?
In the following days, I read a collaborative piece by
and about letting go of the *shoulds*, and it spoke to the part of me that knows it’s okay to change your mind, to take your time, to go your own way.“…you could literally spend your entire days following everyone else’s ‘shoulds’ and still not make an impact on the world in the way that you want to.
The good news is that the word should - to me at least - signifies that whatever follows is entirely optional.”
—
Connection over promotion
On the theme of forging deeper relationships, I recently stumbled upon a reel from
where she explored how thinking of marketing as self-promotion can be counter-productive.Katie helps authors communicate with readers and helps readers discover books. Her passion lies in supporting writers with their marketing and messaging and creating a sustainable online presence. With vast experience in book marketing, Katie recently helped me refine this aspect of my own (work in progress) book proposal, and you can learn more about her approach through her publication, Sparks, and her marketing website.
Are you curious to share more with meaning? Then I hope you enjoy this contribution because the essence of Katie’s message is relevant for anyone wishing to speak to their audience.
Stop thinking of marketing as self-promotion
with Katie Sadler
One thing I often get, as someone who helps authors with their marketing, is that they hate marketing because they don’t like self-promotion.
A lot of the authors I work with are naturally introverted (as I am). They’ve grown up with messages from family or friends or society in general not to show off, not to brag, and to stay humble. Don’t get too big for your boots! Promoting themselves feels like it goes against the very fibre of their being.
First of all, I want to say: that there is nothing wrong with self-promotion. You are allowed to promote yourself and your work on the internet, and it really doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about it.
AND I think it’s helpful to stop thinking about marketing as self-promotion and start thinking about it as connecting with and helping people who will love your book. This makes it easier to show up and is more effective, too.
When it comes to your writing, can you shift your perspective away from yourself and move it to your reader instead? Take it as fact that the book you have written is worth reading, then think about:
Who will really love the book? Direct your marketing to them and only them.
How will people feel when they read your book? Pull that out in the quotes or reader reviews you share.
What other things do they love that you enjoy, too? Connect with them on those topics.
How do you hope the book will help people? What do you hope they will resonate with? Talk about those things openly.
What are the twists or hooks that are going to capture readers’ imaginations? Pull people in with them.
What are the themes in your book that people will find interesting, relatable or discussion-worthy? Talk about them!
How can you take people along the publication journey with you? People enjoy seeing behind-the-scenes stories - let them in!
Who are the people writing in this space that are a step ahead of, or just behind you? Connect with them and find ways to work together to reach your shared readers.
Instead of focusing on self-promotion, and making it all about you, you, you in your head, focus on the reader and where you can find shared interests with them.
Think about how much someone needs your book, and your content, in their life. If your reader is the hero of their own life, where does your book fit into their hero’s journey? What kind of impact could it have on them? How could your book help them?
These questions are often used in relation to non-fiction books, but fiction also helps people. Escapism. Entertainment. Education.
For example, I struggle to read historical non-fiction, but give me history wrapped up in a story, and I will eat it up and learn by happy accident.
Reading a novel about a friendship distinctly different to any of my own can still give me insights into the relationships in my life. Art helps people in myriad ways, and your book - even if it’s the smuttiest alien romance - is art.
I love how Katie shifts us from focusing on marketing challenges to marketing opportunities. While I’m not an author (yet), it’s helpful to think about how I can draw more people in through my life writing and the writing I do for my branding practice.
Which of Katie’s prompts do you have covered? And which could you devote more time and space to?
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 | A guest post by
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Thank you so much for having me, Sarah! I'm glad this idea connected with you, and hope it helps some of your readers to reframe their marketing
I think the best kind of marketing and writing and storytelling of any kind is a dance between what you want to share and what your audience want to receive. I've been told many times to make my work more appealing to a corporate audience. But coming into this space on Substack and feeling so alive with narrative and possibility, I have decided they (corporations) are not my audience. Real people are!