🍂 October Dates for Your Diary (incl. two gifts for all readers)
What TMI members have to look forward to, plus two gifts for all readers
Here are this month’s dates for your diary for members of TOO MUCH INSTAGRAM plus 🎁TWO FREE GIFT SESSIONS🎁 for everyone to enjoy.
You can upgrade your subscription to become a paid member of TMI by clicking on the button below.
The Dates for Your Diary are updated at the start of every month. Check back in at the start of November to see what else has been added.
For Quick Links to everything in the TMI archive, visit this post
Every Monday we talk about our plans!
Where? In the WHAT ARE YOU POSTING? chat threads
Why? It’s an invitation to share what you are going to be posting to your Instagram account that week. I’ll share mine, then open the floor up to you.
💡to help you stay accountable to yourself. I now if I make public declarations of my intentions I’m much more likely to stick to the plan
💡to inspire one another. Pooling ideas will mean we create a bank of post ideas that you can add your own spin to, or that will spark some ideas of your own.
💡for UNIT COHESION - a good form of peer pressure, and a fancy way of describing that feeling of well, if they’re doing it, I don’t want to be the one to let the side down!
The Monday WAYP threads are also great place to get some quick advice from me about something you’re planning to create or post that week - have a video you want to create but are feeling nervous about getting in front of the camera? Come talk about it in the Chat. Have an idea for a piece of content but aren’t sure whether now is the right time? Come and ask in the Chat!
Tues 8th October, 4pm (BST)
GUEST SPEAKER, - exclusive to TMI members
Jen Louden wanted to be Harriet the Spy when she was eight, an enlightened master when she was twelve, and a brilliant comedy writer when she was twenty-two. She is now the author of eight books - including bestseller, The Woman’s Comfort Book - and the creator of It's Not Too Late here on Substack.
I see Jen as living her value of ‘it’s not too late’ as she embarks on a literary pivot into writing fiction and not only do I love the concept behind her latest project - think Gilmore Girls meets Harry Potter - but I know Jen is going to have lots of useful insights into how to promote your work and build a writing career.
Jen is warm, funny and the kind of cheerleader you want on your team, and I’m looking forward to introducing her to you all in October.
To join the call, make sure you are a TMI member by clicking on the button to upgrade your subscription. If you’re already a member (yay!) scroll down and you’ll find the link to register for this call. Once you’ve registered you’ll automatically receive the link to the call.
🎁 GIFT FOR ALL SUBSCRIBERS 🎁 Wednesday 9th October, 9.30-10.30am (BST)
GUEST SPEAKER, , FREE TO ALL SUBSCRIBERS, replay available
Stacey Heale is used to being highly visible to almost 32k people on Instagram - where she talks and posts frankly about death, grief, solo parenting, and late diagnosis ADHD, as well as geeking out about skincare and make-up - so you’d be forgiven for assuming that promoting her debut memoir, Now Is Not The Time For Flowers, earlier this year would have been a walk in the park.
Stacey created a detailed marketing plan and was gunning for best-seller lists, but while she enjoyed some incredible coverage (including an appearance on ITV’s Lorraine) the reality of sending her book out into the world bore little resemblance to what she had in mind.
In this Q&A session, I’ll be asking Stacey about her experiences of promoting her memoir - what she was happy with and what she would do differently - and there will be opportunity for you to ask questions about writing - or for that matter, talking on social media - about hard things.
This session is FREE to all subscribers. A recording will be available. Please click on the link below to register for the live call and you will be sent the Zoom link automatically.
Click on this link to register for the call
Thurs 10th October, 9.30-10.30am (BST)
Content Create-along, exclusive to TMI members
A chance to create Instagram content in company.
If creating your Instagram posts is something that gets pushed to the bottom of your to-do list, this is an opportunity to make some space in your week and get some posts ticked off your to-do list. We start by setting our intentions for the hour, and at the end come back together to review what we’ve achieved.
If you’d like to join the CC call, and you’re a member of TMI, scroll down past the paywall for the relevant link to register.
🎁 GIFT FOR ALL SUBSCRIBERS 🎁 Monday 14th October, 6.30-7.30pm (BST)
GUEST SPEAKER, , FREE TO ALL SUBSCRIBERS, replay available
Elaine Gregersen grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne, spending most of her childhood finding solace in films she shouldn’t have been watching. Today, she’s an associate professor of law, a film and TV podcaster (The Honeymoon Period and Maid For TV), and a writer.
Elaine writes about motherhood, disability and grief, with a pop culture twist. Her work was long-listed for the Bath Flash Fiction Prize and the Motherhood Uncensored competition. Her creative non-fiction piece ‘Mother’s Day’ was awarded the Honourable Mention in the Curae Literary Prize.
In her academic work, Elaine has spent the last decade specialising in creative lived experience research. Her PhD examined the ethical tensions involved in life writing – the possibilities and the perils. It is one of her favourite topics to discuss and during a recent conversation about an Instagram post (see below) I was struck by the parallels between the discourse around and ethics of life writing, and showing up online:
Boundaries, consent and privacy are fundamental pillars in my own approach to showing up on Instagram, and I know many writers and authors struggle with where the lines should be drawn for you, personally.
In this session we will dig into some of those parallels between life writing and showing up online, there will be opportunities for you to ask questions to either me or Elaine, and Elaine will be inviting you to reflect on some foundational questions that will make you feel more secure in the decisions you are making.
This session is FREE to all subscribers. A recording will be available. Please click on the link below to register for the live call and you will be sent the Zoom link automatically.
Click here to register for the call.
Weds 17th October, 2-3pm (BST)
Ask Me Anything, replay available, exclusive to TMI members
An opportunity to pick my brains for an hour! You can submit your question in advance if you can’t make it live, or come along and have a chat with me.
If you’d like to join the Ask Me Anything call, and you’re a member of TMI, scroll down past the paywall for the relevant link to register.
Tues 22nd October, 9.30-10.30am
Content Create-along, exclusive to TMI members
A(nother!) chance to create Instagram content in company.
If you’d like to join the CC call, and you’re a member of TMI, scroll down past the paywall for the relevant link to register.
Tues 5th November, 12pm (BST)
GUEST SPEAKER, , exclusive to TMI members
I’ve been following Sue for some months on Instagram as she launched and promoted her YA fantasy novel, The Rewilding of Molly McFlynn. She’s fully embraced a self-driven approach to her book promotion and I was delighted to hear she had secured almost 900 direct book sales (as of August) plus a further 700+ sales via Amazon and book shops.
When you think that, in the UK, the average book sells 4000 copies over it’s life time, that YA books are amongst the groups that sell the least, and that many books of all genre sell fewer than 200 copies, this sales record is seriously impressive so I’ve invited Sue to come and talk to us about how she has done it by using social media as a significant part of her promotional activity.
Sue lives in rural Northumberland with her husband, Tim where their love of wild places and nature can be realised. They have three grown-up children and two granddaughters who mean the world to them.
Born in Worthing, Sussex, Sue migrated steadily north and has worn various hats professionally, from teacher, museum guide, upcycler of waste wool knitwear as The Woolly Pedlar to published author. It was in 2019 that she decided to go to Newcastle University to do an MA in Creative Writing, where the idea for the Molly McFlynn books started.
To join the call, make sure you are a TMI member by clicking on the button to upgrade your subscription. If you’re already a member (yay!) scroll down and you’ll find the link to register for this call. Once you’ve registered you’ll automatically receive the link to the call.
⬇️ TMI members: this way for links to register for the live calls ⬇️
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