📲 The Grid: April round up
six post formats to try, need-to-know Instagram updates, and some essential/ enjoyable reading
Hello! How is everyone? I can’t quite believe it’s May next week but the milder weather and lighter evenings are making me feel like a whole new person - almost as though we’re part of nature or something 🌱 🤷🏻♀️
👀 In case you missed it…
I’ve updated the directory post from March so it now contains links to the most recent resources and essays I’ve published, including the Reel-y Simple Reels series for members. You can browse the whole post here:
My most popular piece of this month was this peek behind the scenes of the money side of my membership:
TLDR: the membership is probably my fave thing I’ve ever created but it isn’t making me any money 😩
If you find what I do useful and want to help me keep it going without upgrading your subscription, you can now help fuel it - and me - by making a one-off contribution👇🏼
📍Pinned posts
- ‘took a weird meeting with those grow your followers guys’ and the end result is both amusing and enlightening. Turns out it might be too good to be true, you know ;-)
- created this incredibly generous round up of how she promoted her book and how well it worked. I’m a huge fan of people who leave the ladder down so all the love to Julie and don’t forget to like/ comment/ share her post to help it reach more people ❤️
Vanessa Riley, a historical fiction writer based in the US, shared how, while using Canva to create slides to promote her book, a pop up flag appeared on her screen: ‘This appears to be a political topic, which is not supported while we release this technology in a responsible manner.’ She’s in touch with Canva and will be reporting back. Follow along on her Instagram account and don’t forget to interact with her content.
Finally,
shared the five things he’d like debut authors to know and said things I can’t say because it sounds like I’m just trying to drum up business. You can trust Tom though ;-)
💬 Need-To-Know Instagram Updates
Instagram have announced a brand new feature called Blends. They’re taking the trend for sending Reels directly to dms one step further by showing your friends the kinds of Reels you interact with (and vice versa). The idea is you can then Blend - see what they did there? - your Reels feeds and more seamlessly start conversations around the content you watch. I’m watching with interest to see what this might mean for authors - imagine you’re a reader always interacting with Reels about books you love but never get round to sharing. Blends could mean your friends will see what you’ve been watching without you telling them which could either be great for discoverability, or really embarrassing, depending on how you spend your time online 😬
Instagram have turned off the ability to share a note on posts or Reels. If you didn’t know this was possible or why you’d want to do it, that’s why they’ve turned it off - neither did anyone else ;-)
finally, Meta have released their own video editing tool, Edits. It might be simpler to stick with the native Instagram Reels editing suite but I’m having a play at the moment to see if it’s worth your time and will report back soon!
PSSST…
If you cringe or cry inside every time Reels are mentioned, I’m running a series called Reel-y Simple Reels over the next few weeks in the TOO MUCH INSTAGRAM membership. This is the introduction post to that series. Upgrade your subscription to become a member and receive all of the resources in the series.
🔦 Client Spotlight
Congratulations are in order for two of my 1-2-1 clients whose books were announced in April 🎉
announced an exciting and unusual project with Audible Originals. Anatomy of Us is inspired by Leah’s first hand experience of frontline NHS maternity services and ‘unfolds amid the chaos of New Year’s Eve in an Edinburgh hospital emergency room where two perfectly imperfect people fall in love - but are too afraid to show each other who they really are.’ AND it’s only narrated by bloody Jessie Buckley!!! Huge congratulations to Leah 🎉 You can preorder here and it will be available from 8th May.
AND, announced her debut historical fiction novel, The Pilot’s Wife, which is released on 29th May 🎉 It combines three generations of women, a devastating war time secret, and their search for the key to unlock the secrets of their shared past. I’ve preordered my copy, and you can get yours here 🎉
TMI members have also had a bumper month:
’s memoir paperback, the incredible The Ghost Lake has just been released; author of Nest: a memoir of home on the move, Turner has been featured on ’s podcast, Ink In Your Veins, talking about telling her story in her TEDX talk; and ’s novel, Ilona Gets a Phone, has enjoyed its US launch 🚀 💃🏻
💡Six post formats for you to try in May
In 10 words or less character intros
Day ___ of ___ until ___ series
___ books I’m convinced people are lying about liking (DO NOT TAG THE AUTHOR)
If you click through on any of these posts, please engage (like, comment, save, send) with the post to send a signal to the algorithm that this post is valuable, and as a way to say thanks to the creator who made them ❤️
If you’ve found this edition of The Grid useful or interesting you can help me reach more people by liking, commenting, or sharing it with your networks - thank you 😊❤️
My goodness this article is an absolute goldmine!! I really don’t know what I just watched with the days reel, but I’m equally hooked with watching the rook become a sphere 😂 this is a treasure trove. Thank you as ever for all your work it is so helpful!