Three ways to help an author

Have you said something kind to yourself today?

Often, we’re terrific at putting ourselves down, but being kind to ourselves can bring us to tears. A counsellor once told me “Look in the mirror and say: I love you.” 

It was one of the hardest things I’ve done for myself. 

In the prologue of Wildflower (scroll down for a reading and a link to a sample), the unnamed character is told to remember three little words: You deserve better.

Later, I scrawled the words on a sticky note and slid the yellow square into my purse. A fake-it-till-I-make-it daily reminder.

Wildflower, p1

Whatever the three words you need to hear are, I hope they give you strength today. 

So, Wildflower is out tomorrow! Less than 21 hours as I type (yes, I am counting).

Wildflower means a lot to me – it’s a story that I hope will empower, encourage, inspire and connect readers with empathy. Writing Wildflower is my way of trying to encourage conversation about family violence and to give voice to women and children, while helping others learn and understand it more. Yes, it’s very different to my debut novel Wherever You Go. But like Wherever You Go, there is light with the dark, laughter with the tears, and a lot to think about. 

This week I’ll be launching Wildflower at two events – an International Women’s Day Breakfast in Perth and the official launch at Koorliny Arts Centre.

I love book launches – they’re a great way to celebrate a new book with readings, Q&As, book signings and some food and wine. But they’re only the starting point – for some, a formal launch kicks off a book tour, for others, it’s the beginning of a longer marketing campaign.

For many authors, the ongoing pandemic has impacted book tours significantly, with many choosing to go online. Some of my planned events have now been pushed back a few months, with libraries and booksellers having to restrict capacity at venues. So, armed with a limited budget, my marketing hat is on! I’m not a fan of tooting my horn and I prefer to stay on the sidelines, but I’ve learnt to do what I need to … which involves a lot of trial and error (and is probably a blog post on its own). I’ve even tried TikTok!

Wildflower is published by the small but mighty Pilyara Press. However, it’s simply not financially feasible for the members of this collective to use traditional distributors. That’s why you won’t find Wildflower in Big W or Kmart or many brick-and-mortar bookshops (but, you can ask your bookshop to order it in).

So, while we do the best we can to market our books, your help is worth more than you know.

And not just for me … for all authors. Trust me, we all thank you.

So how can you help apart from buying our books (which we love, of course)? Here are three ways:

• Spread the word – a photo, a social media post, a conversation with a book-loving friend … word power is amazing and probably the number one way you can help.
• Recommend it to your library – libraries listen to their readers! You can recommend both print and eBooks. In Australia, authors do receive Public Lending Rights for print books in libraries, so this is a massive help.
• Review our books – if you’re on Goodreads or Amazon, why not leave a review? It doesn’t have to be long, but the more reviews authors have, the better.

Can I ask a BIG favour? Can you recommend Wildflower to your local library? Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has already let me know they’ve done this.

You can read a sample of Wildflower here.

If you feel led to read Wildflower, you can buy it here:
or
Signed copies (AU postage only)
Booktopia
Book Depository