Have a browse of the time stamps to jump forwards to anything that grabs your interest, or simply listen or watch to the whole thing.

Wherever possible I’ve included additional resources to support my answers - let me know in the comments if there’s anything you’d like me to clarify or expan…

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Last week I started at the beginning with how writers can get support with getting words on the page, when we heard from the excellent , , and .

If you haven’t already done so, you can listen to that episode here:

Next week you will hear from editors who are experts in getting your book ready for readers whether you decide to self-publish or go the traditional route to publication so before we get to that I thought it would be worth talking about the different routes to publication that are available.

My three brilliant guests that you’re going to hear from today are:

- is a self-published author of 8 romance novels, as well as being a scriptwriter for spicy audio platform, Quinn. More recently she has secured a literary agent for herself and we’ll be talking about what that might mean for her career as an author.

- is a seven-times published author, and a non-fiction book coach, who has recently launched Areta Press, a hybrid publishing company exclusively for women writers. I’m going to be asking Steph about her own routes to publication as well as about the founding of a hybrid publishing company and why that might be the right choice for some authors.

And my final guest is entrepreneur, speaker, author, and artist . I’ve spoken to Lauren on the podcast before about confidence because she is the founder of UPFRONT, a movement helping women build confidence and lead with courage but today I’m going to be asking her about her experiences of both self and traditionally publishing books, as she has done both.

If you’d like future episodes of the podcast to land in your inbox, subscribe to Too Much by Nicola Washington, and you’ll be notified every time I release a new episode

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🔗 Links to my guests

Holly June Smith

website: hollyjunesmith.co.uk/

Instagram: instagram.com/hollyjunesmith/

Books: hollyjunesmith.co.uk/books

Steph Caswell

Instagram: instagram.com/stephcaswellauthor/

Podcast: stephcaswell.com/podcast/

website: stephcaswell.com/

Areta Press: stephcaswell.com/aretapress/

Lauren Currie

website: laurencurrie.co/

Instagram: instagram.com/_laurencurrie_/

Books: laurencurrie.co/books

As you’re reading this, I’m going to assume that your poison of choice/ necessity is Instagram. You may have casually dabbled but are wondering how you turn an audience of family and friends into a readership. Or perhaps you’re neck deep and drowning because no matter what you do, nothing works. Or maybe you’ve only just started an Instagram account and are feeling a little overwhelmed.

The two things you all have in common are you have a goal - get more readers - and you know it’s not enough to post randomly: you know you need a strategy.

Welcome to Instagram Essentials for Authors: the series where I reveal what an Instagram Book Marketer (me) thinks about when I’m designing Instagram strategies for authors, and planning the content they should post.

So far in this series I’ve explained what an Instagram book marketing funnel is and why you should care, and I’ve mapped out what your ‘top of funnel’ content should look like.

This time, I explain what kinds of posts you need for the middle of your funnel so that you nurture your followers and turn them into your readers ✌🏼

Why do you need the middle of the funnel?

If you’ve read the first two parts of this series, you’ll already know that the job of your top of funnel posts is to reach new people and attract them to follow your account.

In an ideal world, those people would take one look at your account, spot your book for sale and instantly buy it, but the truth is this is very unlikely to happen.

Most people will see a post on social media and not feel compelled to come off the platform immediately to go and buy that thing. This is true for all products and services, not just books. With all the noise coming at people from every which way in modern life, the average number of interactions required before a person goes from ‘interested’ to ‘action’ is higher than ever before.

This means you need posts that will not only keep their attention until they are ready to buy, they will also deepen the connection they feel with you so that next time they’re buying a book, yours is their top choice.

You need posts that are going to make them feel excited to read your book.

You need posts that they will WATCH (for videos), or SWIPE THROUGH (for carousels), and COMMENT on, and SAVE. These are the metrics that will tell you whether you are nurturing your audience effectively.

It’s also worth mentioning that when you focus on content that engages your existing audience, it’s a win-win because every interaction sends signals to the algorithms to send your post out to more people, BUT always remember that the job of your middle of funnel content is not to reach lots of new people. Instead it needs to resonate with the people who have already gathered in your audience and keep them there - you have their attention, but how are you going to keep it?

What kinds of content will create resonance and help you keep your audience’s attention?

You need posts that are relatable, personal stories - little vignettes that illustrate your world view, connect emotionally with your potential readers, or showcase your story-telling skills.

These show you understand your audience without giving them a lecture. They don’t have to be confessional, but they do need to be personal so think, what are the stories you can tell that explain why you’re so passionate about the story you’re writing, or the characters you’re creating, or the subject your book is about, or that show your audience that you understand something about them which means your books might also be what they’re looking for?

The absolute master of this form of content is author, Gillian McAllister, whose personal and professional, no-holds-barred, brand of Instagram story-telling regularly engages thousands of people. This is a personal example:

And while this post 👇🏼 about her career as an author is less vulnerable, it still uses her personal perspective to connect with her audience:

If you’d like to work out what kinds of stories you might tell in your Instagram content, members (paid subscribers) of Too Much Instagram have access to two resources to support this content type:

You also need posts that build your authority, credibility, and trust

These are posts that are explicitly useful to your audience. Maybe you have an area of expertise that is relevant to your audience that you can share simple tips, insights or advice about.

This post from academic, and author, , is a great example of offering insight to a lay-person audience who is values-aligned, but who does not have the same insider perspective as the expert:

Or maybe you show them you share similar experiences of reading, with either book recommendations you think they’ll like, or because you post about a reading experience that will resonate with them.

Indie author, Claire Linney, is an author who does this brilliantly with posts like this one. And her regular round ups of books in niches related to her own, like this one.

Format won’t save you

One of the questions I’m asked most is ‘what kind of post should this be - a Reel, a carousel, or something else?’ but, while the format of your post isn’t completely irrelevant, it matters a lot less than the message.

If you like talking to camera, do that. If you prefer a carousel with text over the top, do that. But whatever you choose to create, make sure you’ve thought about the relevance of the post to your audience first.

Remember: reach won’t make people choose to read your book, resonance will.

Got thoughts or questions? Take it to the comments 👇🏼

Leave a comment

Next up is what kinds of posts you need in the bottom of your funnel to convert your engaged audience into readers of your book. To receive that straight to your inbox soon, make sure you’ve subscribed and I’ll see you there ❤️

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Today we are starting at the beginning - where else? - and I’m going to introduce you, in a moment, to , a non-fiction book coach and founder of writing community, The Fold; , author of two memoirs, Unschooled and Twelve Moons, who also works as a mentor for memoirists; and author and creative writing teacher, .

Because - basically - writing a book is hard and lonely sometimes we need someone in our corner to turn to when we’re trying to get the words on the page but we get stuck and don’t know what to do, or feel like we can’t keep going.

So if you’ve ever been in that situation - I mean, who hasn’t - and you’ve wondered whether seeking support might help, hopefully today’s episode will help as I am going to be asking Penny, Caro and Huma about their work, what it can help with, and how they help writers get the words on the page.

If you’d like future episodes of the podcast to land in your inbox, subscribe to Too Much by Nicola Washington, and you’ll be notified every time I release a new episode

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🔗 Links to my guests

Penny Wincer

website: https://www.pennywincerwrites.com/

The Fold: https://www.pennywincerwrites.com/the-fold

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pennywincer/

Podcast, Not Too Busy To Write: https://podfollow.com/not-too-busy-to-write

Books: https://www.pennywincerwrites.com/books

Caro Giles

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carogileswrites/

Books: Unschooled, Twelve Moons

Substack, Open In The Middle:

Open In The Middle

Words about a life on the edge

By Caro Giles

Huma Qureshi

website: https://www.humaqureshi.co.uk/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/humaqureshiwriter/

Books

Substack:

Reading Alice & Others

My notes and thoughts on short stories which have moved me deeply; a short story reading club of sorts. Come on in!

By Huma Qureshi

Instead of focusing purely on the mechanics and mindset of Instagram book marketing, I’m casting my net a little further, partly to satisfy my own curiosity - but hopefully to satisfy some of yours too!

To give you a little context, the inspiration for this latest podcast series is that I have lots of questions about the journey to publication because I’m a publishing industry outsider - I cut my social media teeth in the blogging and ecommerce worlds and there are times when professionally and personally, the inner workings of this industry leave me feeling a little stumped.

A few months ago, I was looking for a podcast that would answer some of my questions and although I could find some answers dotted around the internet here and there, I couldn’t find a podcast that, in one place, would take me through all the steps a book has to go through before it ends up in a reader’s hands. So I decided to make one!

Welcome to Serving Books: from inspiration to publication.

For the last few weeks I’ve been busily recording episodes with some brilliantly knowledgeable and insightful guests from all kinds of niches across the publishing industry. I’ve spoken to book coaches, writing mentors, people who have pursued different routes to publication, agents, editors, book marketing and pr experts, all the way through to book shop owners, book world influencers and some brilliant people who have excellent ideas about how you continue finding new readers once your books are out in the world.

Starting next week, on Weds 8th July, I’ll be releasing one episode every week until the beginning of September which you can listen to wherever you get your podcasts.

I’m excited to share all these episodes with you soon but in the meantime please share this announcement with all of your writerly friends.

To receive the episodes directly into your podcast feed subscribe wherever you listen, or sign up to Too Much by Nicola Washington on Substack and the episodes will land straight in your inbox.

I look forward to welcoming you back soon!

Subscribe now

To become a member of TOO MUCH INSTAGRAM, upgrade your subscription now. To browse what’s available in the membership archive, go here.

Subscribe now

🎁 Free for all readers in July

• a ✨new✨ podcast series - Serving Books: from inspiration to publication - will be winging it’s way to your inboxes this summer 🎧

• part three of the Instagram Essentials series will also be published 💃🏻 Read part one here, and part two here.

Subscribe now

✨ For members of Too Much Instagram (paid subs)

💬 Check in with your posting plans or ask for personalised advice 🧠

When? Every Monday.

Where? In the WHAT ARE YOU POSTING? chat

Why? Share your posting plans in a warm, encouraging setting for accountability, advice and inspiration. Come along to feel motivated, supported and less alone with your Instagram!

If you’d benefit from this weekly access to accountability, community inspiration, and advice, become a member by upgrading your subscription.

Subscribe now

📹 Live sessions

🪄Content Create-alongs: protect the time to create Instagram content in company at these co-working sessions

Dates for July are:

Tues 7th July, 12-1pm BST

Tues 21st July, 12-1pm BST

Members: scroll down for the link to register and receive the links for the calls.

If you’d like this kind of accountability and support, you can become a member of TMI by upgrading your subscription.

Subscribe now

🚨please note, it may be necessary for me to pause all live session during August this year due to my family’s house move. Once I’ve confirmed our moving date (and access to the internet!) I will confirm the schedule. Other resources will continue as usual. Thanks for your understanding 🙏🏻

👩🏻‍🏫 Ask Me Anything, Thurs 16th July, 2-3pm BST

exclusive to TMI members, replay available

Pick my brains for an hour. Submit your question in advance and watch the replay, or come along and have a chat with me.

This call is for TMI members only - become a member today by upgrading your subscription and you can get personalised advice that will keep you motivated and focused on your book marketing goals.

Subscribe now

Members register below - once you’ve registered you’ll automatically receive the link to the live call.

🚨please note, it may be necessary for me to pause all live session during August this year due to my family’s house move. Once I’ve confirmed our moving date (and access to the internet!) I will confirm the schedule. Other resources will continue as usual. Thanks for your understanding 🙏🏻

Members, register for July’s live sessions 👇🏼 ❤️

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These post libraries are a monthly feature for paid subscribers because I know how often you open the app with every intention of posting, but end up ‘scrolling for inspiration’. Before you know it you’ve been sucked down a rabbit hole and end up closing the app after an hour even though you still haven’t posted anything!

BUT you’re not supposed to feel like all of these ideas are relevant to you so please don’t feel pressured to use all of them. Instead, exercise your discernment and use the trends that are aligned with your preferences and your target audience.

The first two ideas are free for all readers - for access to 18 more proven and trending post ideas that will take the pressure off your Instagram planning this month, upgrade your subscription to become a member of Too Much Instagram 👇🏼

Subscribe now

Your Instagram post ideas this way 👇🏼

Let’s dive in.

Supportive, disappointed, sarcastic, flirty trend

If you’re ready to put your acting skills to the test, this trend is for you! All you need to do is film yourself describing your book in four different ways e.g supportive, disappointed, sarcastic, flirty, OR normal, nonchalant, flirty, shy like the example.

Example

💸 Bad news for my wallet

This trend is great because all you need is a picture or a short video of you walking towards your book shelf or a book shop. Over the top of the picture, write, Bad news for my wallet because _____. This could be something related to your reading habits to connect with readers, or make it specific to a passion you share with your audience.

Example

Combine with this audio.

Read more

• Recording solo episodes means I can info-dump without interruption or fear of missing the social cues that signal ‘oh my god please stop talking’ 🙈 😉 (tbf, I’m not sure I should be admitting that)

• Recording interview episodes means I get to ask really interesting people, doing interesting things, lots of questions without it being weird. SO MUCH FUN ☺️.

• Learning to edit the episodes was catnip for my novelty-seeking brain. There are lots of podcast editing platforms available but Alitu* (not an ad or affiliate link) lived up to its promise to be pretty foolproof. *It’s not cheap (around £30/month) but I only subscribe when I’m making a series.

  

• It creates momentum. One of the things I find hardest about working for myself is the sense I’m always treading water. There are no 🥳 BIG WINS 🥳 to celebrate, or promotions to work towards, but learning a new skill, and creating something that otherwise wouldn’t exist, scratches this itch for me.

• I meet the needs of my clients and audience. The first series of the podcast was created to coincide with the summer holidays (and the second mini-series was released during the autumn half-term) when I knew lots of my clients and audience would be spinning allllll the plates. Podcasts can be listened to while you do other things, so they’re the perfect format for meeting the needs of my audience at this extra-busy time of year. LOVE.

• Listening to podcasts lets potential clients and members of TOO MUCH INSTAGRAM hear my voice and feel my vibe. This is so important for trust-building and figuring out if I’m the person you want to work with.

• I challenged myself and found safety. I have a much-maligned (in the UK) accent and there have been times that I’ve worried about how I’m received. I took the advice I often give to my clients and made myself sit in the discomfort of being more audible until my nervous system realised the threat I perceived wasn’t real. A handful of people have even told me they like my voice and accent 🤷🏻‍♀️ As always, on the other side of cringe is freedom!

• It was a reminder about how perfectionism still shows up for me. I’m a perfectionist-in-recovery and while I’ve mostly stopped re-doing things until they’re perfect I still sometimes let the idea that something might not be perfect, stop me from doing the thing at all. Making the podcast imperfectly was an exercise in remembering that attempting to ‘optimise’ or do things perfectly the first (or second, or third etc.) time you do them, is how to get in your own way and stop yourself doing anything. FWIW, I see this a lot with writers and your use of Instagram for your book marketing and audience building sooo, you know, same… and also, don’t do that… 😬

What you don’t need to start your own podcast (according to this sample of one 🙋🏻‍♀️):

👂🏼A properly sound-proofed room. I recorded my first few episodes in my kitchen until very excellent podcast producer advised me to sit in a ‘softer’ room but neither location has made the podcast unlistenable (not a word, sorry).

🎙 A fancy microphone. I use my Mac’s inbuilt microphone. I’m sure the sound quality could be better but I’m here to experiment so I’m not going to let it stop me!

🖼 Professional art work. I would LOVE to one day hire a designer or illustrator to make some gorgeous artwork, but for now Canva is my friend.

🎶 A jingle. Alitu includes a small library of jingles you can use. They’re not going to set the world alight but they work 🤷🏻‍♀️ (are you starting to notice a theme?)

🎧A recording studio. I recorded on my laptop in my office at home using Zoom. It means I can’t make the fancy video edits you see on top-end podcasts but that is seriously expensive and time-consuming. It wouldn’t work for me, whereas this approach does.

What you do need to start your own podcast (in my opinion 😬):

1. Time. Which is the most annoying answer in the world, I realise. But you need time to organise and prepare, time to record, time to edit (even if you’re doing the minimum) and you need time to promote it (if you want actually want people to listen). Each podcast episode I’ve recorded so far has taken 2-6 hours to organise, create and promote from start to finish.

2. Something to talk about. This is easier if you interview other people as they will do most of the talking, but you still need a direction you want to take the conversation in. If you’re recording solo episodes, you need a list of topics you can either prepare or riff on. But remember, episodes don’t need to be long! In my experience, people love things that are short to listen to and digest quickly - 10-15 minutes can be perfect for the walk back from the school run, or while you’re making lunch!

3. Guests. The best place to start is to think about who you already know (online connections count) who has interesting things to say, that you’re confident your audience will also be interested in. Then email them, or drop them a DM to see if they’d be interested. In my experience most people are excited about an opportunity to talk about something they care about so don’t be shy!

4. An idea about who you want to listen. Who is your audience? What do they want to hear more about? What value can you offer them? Use this information to inform the topics you cover in your podcast.

5. A way to reach your audience. I used a combination of Substack and Instagram to promote my podcast to a combined audience of around 3.5k people (at the time). I promoted every episode numerous times in different formats of posts on Instagram, in multiple newsletters on Substack, and on Notes. Guests in the second series also shared the episodes with their networks which helped those episodes reach more people too. Remember that moving people from one place to another is HARD - you have to give them more than one chance to realise they want to listen!

If you’ve found this piece useful or interesting, I’d appreciate it if you’d share it with your networks.

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And if you have any questions about my experience of setting up a podcast with no experience and no clue, the comments are open ❤️

Leave a comment

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… episodes of the Too Much Social podcast👇🏼

Season 1 — Hashtag, It’s Summer

🎧 Listen here

E1: Hashtag, It’s Summer — there’s not enough time for Instagram!
Time-management advice for writers trying to maintain a social media presence during busy periods.

E2: Hashtag, It’s Summer — what if every time I post I feel like I might die of cringe?
A discussion about cringe culture, self-promotion anxiety, and showing up authentically online.

E3: Hashtag, It’s Summer — how do I grow my Instagram account?
A practical deep dive into sustainable Instagram growth strategies for writers and authors.

E4: Hashtag, It’s Summer — no one engages with my Instagram posts — what can I do?
Tips for increasing engagement and building meaningful interaction with readers online.

E5: Hashtag, It’s Summer — will Instagram work if I only have a small audience?
Why smaller audiences can still be powerful and how community matters more than follower counts.

E6: Hashtag, It’s Summer — but what if I don’t want to do my own book marketing?
An exploration of “radical acceptance” and how to reduce resentment around social media promotion.

Season 2 — SCREAM-SHOT mini-series

🎧 Listen here

Trailer - BOO! What scares you most about book marketing?
A Halloween-themed trailer introducing the SCREAM-SHOT mini-series and its focus on common marketing fears.

E1: SCREAM-SHOT — Slay the Time Vampire before it drains the joy out of your book marketing
Productivity strategies for writers trying to balance marketing, creativity, parenting, and everyday life.

E2: SCREAM-SHOT — Going from ghosted to hosted on podcasts
Advice on pitching yourself to podcasts, being a strong guest, and handling interview nerves.

E3: SCREAM-SHOT — Taming the twin ogres of visibility and vulnerability
A conversation about overcoming the fear of being seen online and promoting your work with confidence and transparency.

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👀 In case you missed it…

Free for all readers are the first two posts in a new Instagram Essentials series. Part 1 explains what a book marketing funnel is and why you should care; part 2 then dives into the first section of the funnel - the top - in more detail, explaining the role it plays, and providing examples of posts that will do this job for you.

Parts 3 and 4 are coming in July and will explain the rest of the funnel - the middle, and the bottom - so make sure you’re subscribed for the rest of the pieces to land straight in your inbox.

Subscribe now

📍Pinned posts

Useful content from across the internet 🧠

• a video-first account on Instagram that I am loving, whose content is shot and edited super-simply, and leans on story-telling rather than trends, is librarian Jen Miller’s account. Check it out > meetmeinthemediacenter

• Kate McKean has been promoting her book for the last year and has written about the 90 or so things she did in a year to promote it

• one of the best ways to improve the chances of your book marketing working is to start early. explains why

💬 Need-To-Know Instagram Updates

• I like this one as it feels like good news for those of us whose brain shrivels or grows in direct proportion to the size of the screen we’re working on: Instagram’s video editing tool, Edits, is getting a desktop version (it’s also getting an AI assistant which just makes me feel tired so I’m ignoring it)

• The AI conversation is going no where 😭 and now Instagram is testing “AI creator” labels for creators that regularly post Gen AI content. You can opt in or Meta will automatically add whenever they “detect AI tools were used in the creation process.” It’s a limited test but Instagram says it will be expanding the feature in the coming weeks. There are already reports of worrying inaccuracies in the identification of AI-created content so watch this space…

END NOTES

Reading: Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth. I’m considering switching to multiple povs for my work-in-progress so I’ve been reading around some examples. This was fun and darkly funny at times, while not shying away from some gritty themes - a good pick for a summer read, I think.

Listening: I’ve just finished London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe which was good enough to keep me listening, but I didn’t love it 🤷🏻‍♀️

Watching: recommended by my writer’s group, I binge-watched the first season of The Pitt this month (the last few episodes made me seriously queasy), then I’ve been watching the second season as each episode is released. It’s not as dramatic as the first series but I’ve been enjoying the continued development of the main characters.

Some fantastic people I’m working with:

Find out about my 121 services on my website, or book a free 30 minute Discovery Call. I’m now taking bookings for September so get in touch soon to see how I might support your book launch and audience building.

Substack bestseller, Rosie, booked a one-off Unravel Call because she wanted to breathe fresh life into her Instagram account ahead of her book publication in Spring 2027. We met at the end of May, and this month she sent me this email ☺️ (find her on Instagram here):

Celtic mythologist, anthropologist & creative artist, Jen Murphy, is in the final stages of creating her new book. We have been working together in my 4 month Momentum programme, on bringing more of Jen’s story to her Instagram account, alongside her beautiful art and resources, so that her audience understand the deep purpose behind Jen’s creation. Find her on Instagram here.

Helen Thorn

Comedian and second-time author, Helen Thorn (one half of comedy duo, Scummy Mummies) booked an Unravel Call as she wants to use her Instagram content to keep the momentum going for her latest book, How To Face Big Change, And Come Back Stronger. She has an existing following of over 66k so the focus of our call was how she could use her content to turn more of them from followers into being her readers. Find Helen on Instagram here.

If you’ve found this newsletter useful or interesting you can help me reach more people by liking, commenting, or sharing it with your networks - thank you 😊❤️

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Have a browse of the time stamps to jump forwards to anything that grabs your interest, or simply listen or watch to the whole thing.

Wherever possible I’ve included additional resources to support my answers - let me know in the comments if there’s anything you’d like me to clarify or expan…

Read more

I regularly hear from authors who’re posting several times a week - sometimes a day - spending hours creating Reels and designing Canva graphics. They’re doing allll the things and they can’t understand why they’re seeing no juice for their squeeze.

Frustration simmers and they say things like, ‘the algorithms don’t like me’ or ‘Instagram doesn’t work’ but what it usually boils down to is that they’ve mistaken having a full content calendar for having an Instagram book marketing strategy.

The brutal truth is that most people are not waiting for your book. They’re not excited to read it, and they don’t really care about it (sorry).

Even if they see one of your Instagram posts this means they’re probably not ready to go out and spend their money buying your book, or spend their time reading it. They may be in the middle of their current read, or waiting to get paid, or not in the book-buying headspace as they’re scrolling through their feed, or they may simply not understand why your book is the one they should read next when there are so many books out there to choose from!

So, your job as an author on Instagram is to get people ready to read your book and this means you need to do more than fill your feed.

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How do you get people ready to read your book?

Well, first of all, start by reading or listening to this piece that explains book marketing funnels:

And, once you’ve done that, you’ll be ready to read today’s piece where I’m going to breakdown what kinds of posts will bring people into the TOP of your funnel and build awareness of your book.

Reaching strangers

It’s easy to think that building awareness of your book means sharing posts that look like ads and broadcast to the internet that your book is out there for their enjoyment. You’re excited so you assume other people will be too!

But unfortunately, the internet doesn’t work like this, and the brutal truth is those posts will be ignored by most strangers. On Instagram in 2026, any post that looks like an ad is going to get minimal attention, and this is bad because to find new readers you need to reach strangers, and to reach strangers you need to post something that will GRAB attention, STOP the scroll, and make the viewer of that post ACT.

If it’s a video, you need to first keep these strangers watching - initially past the 3 seconds mark, and then, for maximum non-follower reach, past the 20 second mark (that’s why yapping - for the record, I actually hate this word - videos are working so well at the moment for some creators).

OR, if your post is a carousel or static post, you need to first make these strangers linger over it (carousel swipes are great for this).

AND THEN - whether your post is a video, a carousel or a static post - in order to send maximum signals to the algorithms to show it to more non-followers, it needs to be something that creates the desire for these strangers to Send it to their Stories or directly to their friends via dms (reposts help but aren’t as strong a signal to the algorithm as Sends).

These actions help the post go further as they are signals to the algorithms that the post is of value.

BUT. That’s still not where this stage ends.

Because you also want them to hit follow, otherwise they’re gone and they’ll probably never see you again.

It’s typical that only a fraction of the strangers who see your post will bother to visit your account and, then a further fraction of those will become your followers, but to increase the chances of this happening, you need one more ingredient: RELEVANCE.

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You don’t want any old views - you need views that are relevant.

Imagine you post a video about how bad USA’s football chants are (for example 👀) that makes people laugh so they watch it all the way through, send it to their friends and think, I like this person, let me go visit their account. But then, when they get to your page, all of your posts are about romance novels. They’re probably going to bounce.

Viral views might be exciting - or unsettling, depending on your nervous system - but without relevance they’re actually totally pointless.

TLDR: effective posts for the top of your book marketing funnel, will appeal to strangers who are going to want to read your book once they know about it.

Five post formats that work in the top of your funnel

1. Memes about a specific cultural moment or conversation you know your reader will be into.

   For example, this meme about AI that I created that has now been seen by over 338k people and brought me nearly 1000 super-relevant new followers. It worked because this is a Hot Topic in the writing world at the moment.

2. Posts that make people think ‘that’s me!’. People will interact with, and share these posts because they want to make a statement about who they are. These might be educational posts that people feel make them look good in some way (!), or they could be simple memes that they feel especially seen by like this from romantasy bookstagrammer, Emily Higgins (who is a master of this kind of content tbf):

3. Posts that make people think ‘you need to see this’ so they send it to their friends or share it to their stories. These tend to be posts that speak to a specific passion, a shared habit that feels niche, or inside jokes in particular communities. For example, this post created by one of my paid subscribers, Holly Race, had a viral moment because it tapped into a clever intersection between passion for the six wives of Henry Eighth and (again) the Hot Topic of Ai.

   I obsess over Instagram so you don’t have to 😉

   In the TOO MUCH INSTAGRAM membership I:

   ✨ hold your hand as you step into a scary new era of publicly claiming your identity as a writer
   ✨ curate post ideas to suit your needs so you stop wasting your time ‘scrolling for inspiration’ and have a clear plan instead
   ✨ offer simple advice and clarity about what you should be doing next

   ✨ motivate you to engage more in your book marketing than you otherwise would do!

   Benefits of becoming a member include:

   ✅ weekly check-in chats for accountability and advice

   ✅ monthly lists of trending and proven post ideas for you to add to your planning

   ✅ monthly Ask Me Anything calls for personalised advice

   ✅ fortnightly co-working sessions to get your content made in company

   ✅ quarterly challenges such as RECALIBRATE and the most recent 🧪TRIAL REELS LAB🧪

   Have a browse of the archive to see what you’ll benefit from. Upgrade your subscription to become a member!

   Subscribe now

4. Simple educational posts offering one SPECIFIC tip or SPECIFIC solution to a SPECIFIC problem your SPECIFIC audience has. In case you didn’t notice, SPECIFICITY is the key. For example, yoga teacher, reached hundreds of thousands of people with a simple neck stretch for tired people.

5. Beautiful, impressive, awesome moments that will maintain your audience’s attention. These are hard to manufacture but another one of the authors who’s a member of my paid tier here on Substack created this post following a chance meeting in a cafe. Over several weeks it attracted 12k new followers to her account. Read an analysis of her experience here.

Real talk

Annoyingly, creating posts you think will do these jobs 👆🏻 doesn’t guarantee instant success. It can happen, but for most people refining the messaging and post formats that work consistently to attract strangers is a process that takes time and experimentation.

There is one thing that makes success a gazillion times more likely though: before you make a single top of funnel post, spend some time defining who you are trying to reach.

Who is your ideal reader? What do they care about? What are they interested in? What are their in-jokes? What makes them rage? What experiences or challenges have they faced in their life?

Once you know who they are, spend some time journalling or brain-storming some post ideas that fit into the five post formats above before getting stuck in, because NOTHING replaces having a go to see what happens.

Next up is what kinds of posts you need in the middle of your funnel to nurture followers from strangers to readers. To receive that straight to your inbox in a couple of weeks time make sure you’ve subscribed and I’ll see you there ❤️

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Got thoughts or questions? Take it to the comments 👇🏼

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When you think about it, it’s actually pretty outrageous that the publishing industry expects that you should know. After all, there are people whose literal job it is to market books, who have developed skills and knowledge and tried and tested strategies over many years.

Meanwhile you’ve been working your arse off - possibly for years, possibly for the second, or third, or fourth etc. time - to create something beautiful or propulsive or original or entertaining, only for the manuscript to be taken with one hand, while the other hand passes you a whole new job.

Go find readers, they say. Go forth and market your book! Stop complaining - you have the whole of the internet to play with! Do you know how hard this was when we had to fight over column inches? Now everyone can have their own columns!

Of course there are good reasons for why authors are expected to do so much of the grunt work these days, and I’m definitely not suggesting that marketing professionals in this creaking, arcane industry are sitting around and twiddling their thumbs.

BUT, I also think that if authors are going to participate in the marketing of your own books, you also deserve to know more about what marketing is, and how it works.

That’s why I’ve started an Instagram Essentials series on my Instagram account, and why I’m bringing it here - in more detail - to Substack!

So, let’s dive in!

How Instagram turns strangers into readers

The brutal truth is that those pretty Canva graphics that take you hours to create won’t reach your readers or sell your books. And that’s because you’ve misunderstood how Instagram book marketing actually works (not being mean, just being truthful - remember you’re not marketers, you’re authors).

Book marketing on Instagram is about soooo much more than telling people to buy your book. You have to show them why they should, and this takes time.

The typical journey a potential reader takes can be summed up by this graphic:

Of course, you could leave their progress on this journey to chance - some readers will find their way to your book regardless, BUT, an author who wants to participate in your own book marketing can also drive much more interest and momentum if you understand the simple concept of an Instagram marketing funnel.

What is a (simple) Instagram book marketing ‘funnel’?

An Instagram marketing funnel can be divided into three main sections (imagine each section getting narrower and containing fewer and fewer people):

1. awareness

2. nurture

3. conversion

Your job as an author who wants to participate in your own book marketing is to bring people into the top of your funnel, keep them in it and move them down it, until they reach the bottom and take the action you want them to take: they buy your book.

What happens in each stage of the funnel

The top of the funnel is where you need to be using your posts to reach people, attracting them, and bringing them in. On Instagram your posts need to get them to hit follow on your account so they can move into the next part of your funnel.

The middle part of the funnel is where you nurture these people, bringing them even closer still so they become more and more ready to buy your book. People will hang around in this part of the funnel for different amounts of time: some will move to conversion faster than others, sometimes it’s just a matter of timing, sometimes it’s more about trust, but while they’re in this stage of your funnel you have to keep them engaged. Not by telling them about your book, but by showing them why they should care.

Finally, the bottom part of the funnel is where you explicitly promote your book in order to nudge people over the line to becoming your readers. This is where your posts might look like ads and most of the time these promotion and conversion posts should be no more than 25% of your posts.

At this point, one of the biggest weaknesses of Instagram book marketing reveals itself: this final stage is really hard to track. The actual purchase doesn’t take place on Instagram, and you can’t add live links to your posts (unless you pay for the privilege), but that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.

People might see your post and think ‘I’ve been meaning to buy that’ hop off Instagram and go straight to their Waterstones app, or the next time they walk into a bookshop they might see your book on a shelf and because they’ve been meaning to buy it they do.

All the posts you think are doing nothing might actually be what leads to your readers making the decision to buy your book - you just can’t see it!

What comes next?

Once you understand what each stage of the book marketing funnel is for, you can start to think about what stage of your funnel you want to prioritise:

• do you need to focus on awareness and attraction posts first in order to gather potential readers around you?

• or do you already have a few hundred people gathered who now need to understand why they should care about your book before they’re ready to buy it?

• or do you have a group of highly engaged potential readers who’re simply busy and distracted. They just need a(nother) nudge to remind them to do the thing they’ve been meaning to do and actually buy your book?

And once you’ve decided which stage of the funnel you need to prioritise, you can then start to design posts that are targeted at doing that specific job for you, rather than posting and hoping.

Next time, I’m going to start breaking each stage of the funnel down into what post types work best, beginning with what kinds of posts you need to attract the right people into the top of your book marketing funnel on Instagram. To receive that straight to your inbox, make sure you’ve subscribed and I’ll see you there ❤️

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Got thoughts or questions? Take it to the comments 👇🏼

Leave a comment

To become a member of TOO MUCH INSTAGRAM, upgrade your subscription now. To browse what’s available in the membership archive, go here.

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👀 In case you missed it…

Every month I scour Instagram for trending and proven post formats that you can use for your platform building and book marketing. Each idea comes with explanations of how to use it, as well as links to examples to support you.

Below are the ideas for June - the first two are free for all readers 👇🏼:

🎁 Free for all readers in June

• a series of posts demystifying Instagram book marketing essentials, adding more detail to the videos I’ve been posting on Instagram, like this one:

• PLUS the monthly round up of resources and Instagram updates curated especially for writers and authors. ICYMI, here is May’s edition:

Subscribe now

✨ For members of Too Much Instagram (paid subs)

💬 Check in with your posting plans or ask for personalised advice 🧠

When? Every Monday.

Where? In the WHAT ARE YOU POSTING? chat

Why? Share your posting plans in a warm, encouraging setting for accountability, advice and inspiration. Come along to feel motivated, supported and less alone with your Instagram!

If you’d benefit from this weekly access to accountability, community inspiration, and advice, become a member by upgrading your subscription.

Subscribe now

📹 Live sessions

🪄Content Create-alongs: protect the time to create Instagram content in company at these co-working sessions

Dates for June are:

Tues 2nd June, 12-1pm BST

Tues 16th June, 12-1pm BST

Members: scroll down for the link to register and receive the links for the calls.

If you’d like this kind of accountability and support, you can become a member of TMI by upgrading your subscription.

Subscribe now

👩🏻‍🏫 Ask Me Anything, Thurs 25th June, 2-3pm BST

exclusive to TMI members, replay available

Pick my brains for an hour. Submit your question in advance and watch the replay, or come along and have a chat with me.

This call is for TMI members only - become a member today by upgrading your subscription and you can get personalised advice that will keep you motivated and focused on your book marketing goals.

Subscribe now

Members register below - once you’ve registered you’ll automatically receive the link to the live call.

Members, register for June’s live sessions below 👇🏼 ❤️

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👀 From the archives

Watch or listen to this👇🏼 if you want to use Instagram to find readers for your books, but you don’t want to use it like… that

And read this 👇🏼 if the algorithms are doing you dirty atm

📍Pinned posts

Useful content from across the internet 🧠

• fun to read and helpful - ’s round up of 5 different ways to promote your book is a great place to start if you’re feeling stuck

• Jane Friedman shares some (terrifying stats), and illuminating insights, into books sales tracking and reporting

• what book marketer wants authors to know before their books comes out

💬 Need-To-Know Instagram Updates

Whisper it, but things have been pretty quiet on the update front this month 🤫 👀 🙏🏻

• Instants is a new way to share quick, unedited moments with friends that disappear after they’re seen. Tap the stack of photos in your DM inbox to try it out and watch this video from Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri for more

• Instagram have announced they’re expanding a policy they already have for Reels to cover photos and carousels too. Basically, if you mostly share content from others that you didn’t make or meaningfully edit, your account won’t be recommended to people who don’t follow you. Instagram says, ‘original creators deserve to be rewarded for their work, not compete with accounts that simply re-upload it.’ The new guidelines are available here.

END NOTES

Reading: My Only Boy by Rosa Rankin-Gee. I appointed myself an unofficial cheerleader for RRG’s second book, Dreamland, and am still recommending it to this day, so preordering My Only Boy was a total no-brainer even though I’m not supposed to buy hardbacks. To date, I’m halfway through reading it and a sharper, more prescient look at The State Of Things you could not wish for, while the despair is juxtaposed against the hope of a love story so it’s all quite brilliantly disorientating.

Some fantastic people I’m working with this month:

Find out about my 121 services on my website, or book a free 30 minute Discovery Call. I currently have 1 slot available in June, with 3 slots opening up in July, so get in touch soon to see how I might support your book launch and audience building.

Sarah Jane Butler

If rivers, campaigning, and finding your way back to yourself are themes that light you up, then I’ve just started working with author Sarah Jane Butler. We’re well ahead of publication so we have lots of time to experiment with her content strategy over the coming months but, even though her book isn’t coming out until next year, you can follow her on Instagram now!

Heather Snowden

I’m moving into my third month of working with Heather on using Instagram to build an audience for her Substack, Skinted, and for the non-fiction book she is writing. Heather is a journalist, passionate about fashion, who is examines industry-wide issues of over-production, over-consumption, inequality and the impact of clothing poverty through the lens of an industry-insider no longer prepared to gloss over the truth. Read it 👇🏼 and follow her on Instagram here.

Skinted by Heather Snowden

Notes On Working For A Royal Couturier

As a young, cis, straight, white chick, pretending to be a 60-something, mixed-race, gay man isn’t your typical segue into fashion writing, nor is it one that I advise for obvious reasons, but I had to start somewhere…

Read more

4 months ago · 8 likes · 1 comment · Heather Snowden

Kate Slotover: The Book Club Review Podcast

If you’ve ever wished you had time for a book club, but life’s demands always get in the way, I highly recommend The Book Club Review Podcast.

Kate and Laura choose the books they review themselves and don't accept features or pitches because, although their reviews are always respectful and good humoured, the real magic of the conversations lies in the big opinions and honest, heated discussion.

We’re moving into our third month of working together and Kate emailed me last week to say the ideas we generated in our second session had ‘sparked off’ lots more! Follow the pod on Instagram here.

Sinù is a Venice-based food writer who also writes about slow living and motherhood. Her Instagram is already beautiful, inspiring, and full of delicious food and I’m moving into the third month of working with Sinù to bring more of her story to her audience.

Read her Substack here.

If you’ve found this newsletter useful or interesting you can help me reach more people by liking, commenting, or sharing it with your networks - thank you 😊❤️

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These post libraries are a monthly feature for paid subscribers because I know how often you open the app with every intention of posting, but end up ‘scrolling for inspiration’. Before you know it you’ve been sucked down a rabbit hole and end up closing the app after an hour even though you still haven’t posted anything!

BUT you’re not supposed to feel like all of these ideas are relevant to you so please don’t feel pressured to use all of them. Instead, exercise your discernment and use the trends that are aligned with your preferences and your target audience.

The first two ideas are free for all readers - for access to 19 more proven and trending post ideas that will take the pressure off your Instagram planning this month, upgrade your subscription to become a member of Too Much Instagram 👇🏼

Subscribe now

Your Instagram post ideas this way 👇🏼

🎂 Millennials vs. Gen-Z

I love when there’s a static image trend as they’re so easy to create! Brands are using this trend to compare how different Millennials and Gen Z talk about the same thing and I’ve also seen authors doing a great job of this too.

You could also try comparing how publishers describe your book vs how your readers describe it, as readers often use the kind of language other readers will respond to, rather than industry-speak which can be a bit… dry.

Example from Too Much Instagram member,

Another example

And another!

📲 Google it

This is a super-simple trending post format for introducing yourself 👇🏻

1. Put your Instagram handle into Google search - choose the AI option from the top of the search results to get the bits you can screenshot
2. Screenshot what it says about you
3. Put the screenshots over some pictures
4. Add an audio you like

Done ☑️

Tip: if what Google says is wrong - that’s the post!

Example

Read more

If you haven’t yet used Trial Reels, you can find all parts of the experiment here:

All Trial Reels Lab resources

Read more

Have a browse of the time stamps to jump forwards to anything that grabs your interest, or simply listen or watch to the whole thing.

Wherever possible I’ve included additional resources to support my answers - let me know in the comments if there’s anything you’d like me to clarify or expand…

Read more

If you’ve not already done so, please catch up with the first three parts of the experiment as without them you won’t be able to use this resource effectively.

Part one is here:

Part two is here:

And part three is here:

Read more

If you fail to perform adequately some of this audience will sit patiently as you fumble your lines, but many will openly rebel, at first quietly chatting amongst themselves, but steadily gathering volume and numbers until, at best, you end up talking to yourself.

That is, I’m experienced in the the kind of public speaking that’s actually secondary school teaching and, while I always come to the defence of teenagers when they’re unfairly maligned, it’s true they’re a seriously tough crowd to please.

After running the gauntlet of South London’s teens for 12 years, stepping on stage to an auditorium packed with lovely gentle writers at the Bournemouth Writing Festival last week should have been a doddle, right?

Except, it’s more than ten years since I stood in front of a classroom or assembly hall full of teenagers, the screen at my back was three times my height, and the bright lights in my eyes meant I couldn’t see my audience’s faces unless I positioned myself at the far side of the stage, which then made it look like I was trying to escape. And besides all of that, when is standing on stage to be scrutinised and judged by anyone ever a doddle?

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Fifteen minutes in and my mouth was dry. I kept fumbling my lines, was struggling to juggle my notes in one hand and the microphone in the other. I’d printed out my notes on my reluctant printer the day before because there were clever ways of saying things, neat turns of phrases, that I didn’t want to forget. But each time I changed the slide in my presentation I worried I’d missed out some crucial detail, moved on too fast, which meant that the later parts of my talk wouldn’t make sense.

My notes were supposed to keep me on track - god knows I love a tangent and they often present themselves in the middle of sentences and carry me off down tracks I don’t want to go down. The self-aware part of my brain screams, WHERE ARE YOU GOING? as my tongue and teeth skip-scamper away like rats following the Pied Piper deep inside the mountain. I didn’t want to end up inside the mountain so I printed off my notes.

But they were awkward. Every time I needed to turn the page I had to put down the microphone. To check I was in the right place I had to pause in my patter. And every second of silence slowed and stretched like sun-warmed gum under a classroom table.

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All I could hear was the shake in my voice, and how breathless I sounded and, once I found my lost place, how I kept repeating things because I’d said them out of order. The notes weren’t keeping me on track at all, they were tripping me up.

So I put them down. I placed them next to my laptop on the lectern and left them there.

And then it happened. Despite the lights and the giant screen and the fear I might forget what I was saying, I found my rhythm.

Just like used to happen in the classroom all those years ago, all the things I know, have studied and considered and practised and applied and analysed and articulated over and over again, spooled from my brain in complete sentences that - shock! - made perfect sense.

And, even better, once I freed myself from expressing things in the exactly right turns of phrase I’d written in my notes, once I freed my hands from turning the pages so I could point and wave them around, something else emerged too. My passion for my subject. And my natural voice.

At the end of my talk the organiser of the festival came to tell me he’d been stopped in the corridor afterwards and told - by two separate people - it was the best talk they’d ever been to at the festival. Another writer told me this herself. I grinned, equal parts delighted and relieved.

And when I got home - that special kind of tired that comes from having an over-stimulating day in the best possible way - I told my husband what had happened. He - a black man and an immigrant in an industry not famed for its progressive attitudes - reminded me he sometimes goes to work with the initials BY drawn on his hand.

‘Back Yourself,’ he said - ‘maybe it’s time you Backed Yourself’.

Enjoyed this? Read this next👇🏼

Becoming an Author ✍ By Hayley Dunlop

An introverted author's guide to public speaking

Read more

3 months ago · 8 likes · 3 comments · Hayley Dunlop

Click here for a printable version.

To become a member of TOO MUCH INSTAGRAM, upgrade your subscription now. To browse what’s available in the membership archive, go here.

Subscribe now

✨NEW✨ for April-May

🧪 THE TRIAL REELS LAB 🧪 : an experiment in Trial Reels

Last Spring we experimented with tactics for growing your Insta account in the GROWTH SPRINT. This year I’m adding to that toolkit with a guided experiment into an Instagram feature that has caused a lot of buzz since it was released: TRIAL REELS.

Experiments in the 🧪TRIAL REELS LAB🧪 will take place over five weeks and will be a safe space for you to explore something new on Instagram with my support, and in community with other writers ❤️

📆 THE SCHEDULE:

• Available now - an Introduction to Trial Reels

• Available now - Video for Trial Reels - what works?

• Available now - Hooks for Trial Reels - what works?

• Thurs 7th May I’ll guide you through the timing and scheduling of Trial Reels

• and then we’ll reconvene two weeks later on Thurs 21st May to share the outcomes of your experiments! See below the paywall to register for the outcome call.

You can join in Live or dip in and out at your own pace.

To join 🧪The Trial Reels Lab🧪, upgrade your subscription 👇🏼

Subscribe now

👀 In case you missed it…

Don’t forget that members of TMI have access to a monthly library of trending and proven post ideas to support your Instagram planning. Here are your ideas for May 👇🏼:

🎁 Gift resources, essays and interviews for all readers coming in May

• Notes gone, arms free: what happened when I ditched my script on a festival stage, a piece about public speaking and self-trust

• Smoothing your awkwardness away feels safer, but it’s actually holding you back, a piece about the importance of authenticity in your book marketing

• PLUS the monthly round up of resources and Instagram updates curated especially for writers and authors. ICYMI, here is April’s edition:

For paid subs in the TMI membership…

💬 Every Monday* you can check in with your posting plans or access my brain for some personalised advice 🧠

Where? In the WHAT ARE YOU POSTING? check in, here on Substack.

Why? It’s an invitation to share your posting plans in a warm, encouraging setting for accountability, advice and inspiration. Come along to feel motivated, supported and less alone with your Instagram!

If you’d benefit from this weekly access to accountability, community inspiration, and advice, become a member by upgrading your subscription.

Subscribe now

📹 Live sessions

🪄Content Create-alongs

The CCAL dates for May are:

Tues 5th May, 12-1pm BST

Tues 19th May, 12-1pm BST

Members: scroll down for the link to register and receive the links for the calls.

If you’re wondering what Content Create-alongs are...

For many writers, Instagram posts fall to the bottom of the to-do list. CCAL sessions offer dedicated time to tackle them and get some posts ticked off your to-do list. We start with a quick check-in to set intentions (or you can simply dive straight in), then regroup at the end to review what we’ve achieved.

If you’d like this kind of accountability and support, you can become a member of TMI by upgrading your subscription.

Subscribe now

👩🏻‍🏫 Ask Me Anything, Thurs 14th May, 2-3pm BST

exclusive to TMI members, replay available

An opportunity to pick my brains for an hour. You can submit your question in advance and watch the replay, or come along and have a chat with me.

This call is for TMI members only - become a member today by upgrading your subscription and you can get personalised advice that will keep you motivated and focused on your book marketing goals.

Subscribe now

Members register below - once you’ve registered you’ll automatically receive the link to the live call.

Members, register for May’s live sessions below 👇🏼 ❤️

Read more