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Hype. I would really like to talk about it.
It's a word that is used on the regular in the book world. Over-hyped. Under-hyped. Wombling Hype.
But recently, a couple of lovely people have said they loved my book despite being "worried about hype".
But here's the thing:
It's a word that is used on the regular in the book world. Over-hyped. Under-hyped. Wombling Hype.
But recently, a couple of lovely people have said they loved my book despite being "worried about hype".
But here's the thing:
Achieving hype as a small press or unknown author is incredibly difficult.
Hype refers to intense PR or promotion. Now, that's kinda hard if you're a smaller publisher. Sure, there's PR and the PR people are actually the most hardworking people you'll meet. Truly incredible.
Hype refers to intense PR or promotion. Now, that's kinda hard if you're a smaller publisher. Sure, there's PR and the PR people are actually the most hardworking people you'll meet. Truly incredible.
But PR is only enough to get a book into the glance of readers. I knew when approaching a smaller press that supermarket shelves were not a possibility. I chose KO because they had built an incredible community of readers who fight the good fight for inclusive books every day.
So that incredible community welcomed Spark with open arms. Some enjoyed the book. Some probably thought it wasn't for them. And some, I am so thrilled to say, really loved it. And told other people. Who told other people. Who told booksellers. And teacher friends. And readers.
Bloggers wrote the most incredible reviews for the book. And, I must alert those who are not aware, they did so without any payment. While blog tours are promotional events, many reviews from bloggers came purely because they wanted to share their thoughts on the book.
My own Neurodivergent community supported the book as they know the struggle of Own Voices representation and how important it is that disabled people tell their own stories. They supported the book. And told their friends.
But I would love people to remember that Spark came out in lockdown. Bookshops were closed and booksellers were not allowed to tweet about work related things. No tweets, displays or in-store recommendations for Spark when it came out. The shops were all shut up.
Therefore, the book chatter around it was entirely organic. Just people talking about a book they had enjoyed. They picked the book, not because they had seen it in a shop window or on a supermarket shelf. It wasn't on any "most anticipated books" lists. It was just a newcomer.
I had 100 followers when my book was announced in December. Nobody knew who I was. And my book came out in lockdown. With the 3 months leading up to it a time when booksellers were not allowed to promote books.
Bloggers, readers and the ND community made this hype.
Bloggers, readers and the ND community made this hype.
They made this hype. It was in no way manufactured. Everyone who worked on the book worked even harder for it during a pandemic. They made the hype. They gave it a chance to live when I thought Covid had broken it.
So when people say they've read Spark, it's kind of a miracle.
So when people say they've read Spark, it's kind of a miracle.
The book world moves so quickly so yes, it's kind of a miracle. Thank you so much to everyone who has allowed the book to see the sun. To reach readers, to reach teachers and people who have never seen themselves in a book before. By someone like them.
You don't have to believe the hype. But it's real. And I'm so grateful.
