It’s no secret that I’m rubbish at promoting my book, I don’t have dedicated social media accounts for my online presence as an author (beyond a half dead TikTok account) and the extent of my author platform is this blog where I’ve only posted twice so far for all of 2025. I think we can all be in agreement that me and self promotion don’t really go hand in hand much to the dismay of my wonderful publisher no doubt.
If you’re a writer (or any type of creative) I think you will be nodding along when I say that there’s this underlying pressure within creative spaces these days, a pressure to be online if you want your work to have any form of success. I don’t mean just being online occasionally, I mean the pressure to be online constantly.
Being a creative just isn’t enough anymore. In the world of writing if we want to find readers, we have to become content creators, social media experts, and personal brands. Writing privately feels like a thing of the past, that if you’re not filming a ‘write with me’ vlog for YouTube every time you sit down to write or take aesthetic photos for writing set up at an idyllic organic coffee shop then you’re doing it wrong.
To me, it feels like to build any sort of author platform your life needs to be public, you need to become a content creator. Yes you need to write the book, but also think about the environment you’re writing in, the photos you take of it, how to get more engagement and hype for your release date, how to make connections with other authors, book reviewers and anyone with a spare bit of cash to spend on your book… it’s exhausting!
It’s not that I’m against social media, or against authors who enjoy it. Some people genuinely thrive in that space, and that’s wonderful. There is also an element of necessity that comes with promoting your book, if people can’t find you then how will they know your book even exists? But I think it’s worth saying, clearly and without shame, that not every writer has to put their life online to be successful. There are other ways. Slower ways. Quieter ways. I didn’t become a writer to be visible all the time.
What I want — what I need — is space. To think. To write. To make art that isn’t optimised for engagement or hashtags, but for depth,for the joy of language itself. I believe that’s still valid. I believe that’s still enough.
I’ve tried many times to create YouTube and TikTok videos about my writing process, tried to make mini vlogs of my writing sessions or day in the life of an author, but in truth my life isn’t that exciting. I wake up at the same time for work everyday, I sit in an office for eight and a half hours, come home, feed my cat and then relax in whatever way I see fit that evening (sometimes that’s writing, sometimes it’s not). All in all, not great social media content and ultimately I want to write poems and books, not sell a lifestyle to people!
Authors are not content creators by default, You can write books. You can share them in your own time, in your own way. And that can still be a beautiful, meaningful career.
I’m a strong believer that becoming a viral success overnight isn’t really in the hands of the author, it’s down to luck, the right person picking up and reviewing or posting about the book at the right time. Yes, I can increase my visibility of my book and my writing by being on social media but I can’t force my book to go viral on booktok or Youtube. Many successful books were slow burners, built on word of mouth and community.
So if you’re like me, a writer who doesn’t want to post videos, chase algorithms, or package your life into content — you’re not alone. It doesn’t make you invisible. It doesn’t make you less ambitious. And it definitely doesn’t make you less of an author.
Your work is allowed to speak louder than your presence online.
Let’s normalise writing for the sake of writing. Let’s celebrate the quiet makers, the slow burners, the ones building something lasting behind the scenes. You don’t have to be an influencer to make an impact — you just have to keep showing up for the page.
That’s enough. That’s more than enough.
Lost in the Story 
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