Reaching Readers: Hashtag Your Heart Out

Hi all! This week's topic at the SFF Seven is Marketing: What's one thing you do (or know you should do) to expand your reach/reader awareness?

I feel like I could list so many things, but after some thought, I settled on one: Hashtags. 

As a visual person, Instagram quickly became my social media of choice for reaching readers. Also though, as a romantic fantasy author, that's where many of my readers and potential readers spend their social media time. Bookstagram is still a very active community.

One of the biggest things I've done to find potential readers on Instagram is incorporate hashtags. With regular posting, I've met book lovers who only found my account because they follow a hashtag I happened to use. Often, they tell me that they saw one of my posts, checked out my account, and went on to read my work. 

Another part of Instagram where hashtags can be used is in stories. I see so many authors using stories without connecting to a different audience other than their followers. Once I began incorporating a bookish hashtag in each story, my views went from roughly 24-40 per story to 150-250.

I also learned to do my best to maintain an active story stream with at least five hashtagged stories at any given time. This keeps authors and their work in their readers' minds. Given how many things authors compete with when it comes to vying for reader attention, stories are equivalent to free advertising. They also seem to reach different Instagrammers since some viewers are more likely to scroll through stories than the main feed. It's like a having a second demographic in which to market.

No matter which platform you prefer, I highly recommend learning where your community is, studying how to get your book and name in front of them, and then testing the method. With Insta, hashtags are the way to go because they're such an easy adjustment to make. It might take a bit of research to learn which ones are the most active and grant the most visibility, but it can be done. And trust me! You never know what tag might lead someone to your work, so don't be scared to hashtag everything you share!

So that's my tip! Now come find me on Insta and let's chat about books!

~ Charissa

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Smash All the Things

I don't know that I've ever consciously set out to smash patriarchy in my fiction. I'd rather smash everything I can reach - the definition of family. The definition of worthy and even of human. For that reason, most of  my focus has instead been on what I wish the world could be. Now don't get me wrong. I am no fan of the patriarchy and if I thought I could do it lasting, meaningful damage, I'd sign right up. But I'd rather write about a world where gender or lack thereof matters not in the least. Your limits are your own - not imposed by external forces. 

If there's any patriarchy smashing going on it's in the fact that so many women and nonbinary people of all colors are writing. We may be mocked and our stories made fun of, but we're encroaching on what used to be the purview of white guys and white guys only. Think it's old news? How long ago was it that science fiction was rocked by a bunch of cranky dudes complaining that we'd 'ruined' the genre (I think they said *their* genre) by bringing our perspectives and stories to it? When the women and nonbinary people of all colors started winning awards, the cranky dudes' tiny minds exploded. THAT'S real patriarchy smashing, right there. And I am utterly delighted by it.

Hulk Smash! (the patriarchy)

     

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This week at the SFF Seven we're discussing what we do in our stories to smash the patriarchy. 

My favorite way to crack up patriarchal thinking? Model other kinds of worlds and societies!

See, the insidious thing about living in a patriarchal society is that we absorb that kind of thinking as part of "normal." We are programmed from the time we are small children to assume that given rules imposed by our society are fundamental truths. Stuff like that females aren't as physically strong as males and therefore cannot be fighters. Or that females are in sexual peril from males and that this is part of the natural course of life, that females must be protected and observe safety rules to avoid that sexual peril. Or that females are responsible for pregnancy and its consequences.

One of the great aspects of writing alternate world fantasy is that the worldbuilding is an excellent tool for changing up these programmed "truths." We can create worlds and societies that DON'T believe these things, which then changes all kinds of layers of the lives of females. Personally, I love to write a world where gender doesn't dictate ability to be a warrior, or a wizard. Or where rape isn't a given. Or where birth control is magically handled and available to everyone.

Of course, it's also useful to impose power imbalances, too - and then use those to highlight how injustice works. By seeing familiar power imbalances in new light, we may notice more about our own world. Instead of simply accepting that programming, we can work to change it. 

Writing Stories That Smash the Patriarchy

 

What do I do in my writing to smash the patriarchy? 

~muuwahahaha~

Sometimes, I create a world that is constructed under a classic patriarchal system, then insert a protagonist raised outside that structure to mock its absurdities and upend its stability. 

Sometimes, I create a world where the classic patriarchal roles are gender-flipped. Contrary to the asinine Madonna-complex belief that if women were in charge, there would be no war; my gender-flipped worlds still suffer from bloody conflicts, ruthless power brokers, and shameless opportunists.  

Sometimes, I create a world that exists after the fall of the capitalist patriarchy where "traditionalist" movements expose the insecurities that are the backbone of our IRL patriarchy. Behaviors that sprout from those insecurities then shape the villains. Meanwhile, the hero(s) nip that shit in the bud. 

Sometimes, I create a world that mirrors our IRL patriarchy, then I build the external conflict around a particular aspect of the patriarchy that the hero struggles to either adapt to, circumvent, or dismantle. Very much like our real lives. 

In all instances, no matter how subtle or overt the presence of patriarchy is in my work, my priority is to tell an engaging story. If the reader happens to take away a piece of personal enlightenment or empowerment, then I'm delighted.  

The pen is mightier than the sword because it plants a seed in the mind then nourishes the garden. 

Um...Nothing?

 This week's subject is "What do you do in your writing to smash the patriarchy?" Nothing. Not a bloody thing. I write stories. In some of those tales, I have female leads. Sometimes they are very strong and empowered. Take, for example, the recurring character SWECH, from my Seven forges series. hands down she is the most efficient killer I have ever written about, capable of slaughtering dozens of people without breaking a sweat, and surely she has the highest body count of any of the characters in the novels, which is, you may rest assured, saying something. 

Do I think she steps well away from patriarchal norms? Absolutely. That is a consequence of her character, not any conscious desire to change anything. My goal is to entertain. I mean, arguably, the patriarchy helps me as I am a guy, but you know what? I don't deal with a lot of that in my business dealings. Most of my editors are female. 

listen I was raised by my mother after my father abandoned the family. My mom did an incredible job of raising six kids on her own and providing for us in a time when, frankly, America as a whole sneered at the idea of women being capable of providing for a family. I am firmly in the equality camp and have no doubt in my mind that the patriarchal notion is hot air, but at the end of the day, I'm here to (Hopefully) write tales that entertain. I'll leave the political agendas to the writers of non-fiction.

Any anti-patriarchal writings are a happy coincidence. 

Keep smiling,

Jim

Alexia's Writing Space

Much like my TBR, my week quickly got out of hand. Thank goodness for Saturdays!  

This week we’re sharing our writing workspaces and current TBR (to be read) lists. The one is easy, the other is nigh impossible. 

I have TBR stacks all over my home. Sometimes I have to hunt for a specific book, but what’s actually in stacks (or on my kindle) is nothing to my ever growing list I keep on Goodreads. But, as a mood reader, I like to keep plenty of options handy. 

As for my writing workspace, this desk is where the majority of my magic happens. When I’m in drafting or editing mode, this sunburst inlay desk is my go-to spot. When I sit here my brain knows what I expect of it. Granted, there are mental days where I’m empty. And that’s okay, but when the words are cooperating, it happens here. 

I have different spots that are better for plotting and researching. My favorite/most productive place is when I am waiting for a vehicle’s oil change or safety recall. There’s something about a room full of people minding their own business while eagerly waiting for their name to be called that works for me! Or maybe it’s the endless coffee and the knowledge that the moment I sit the clock starts ticking down. 

That’s what my workspace looks like. How about yours? Do you have multiple places you like to write? Do you plot and edit in different locations too? 

Office Space, Too Much Help, and TBRs

 

While I have a dedicated space with a standing desk and a walking treadmill, this is shared space. Turns out that during a pandemic, the entire house is shared space. As a result, I move around. A lot. Where I wrote yesterday likely won't work today. This is one of my favorite spots. The other favorite spot is on the lanai in the back. Nothing like getting to be outside while writing. Unless it's a bijillionty degrees and/or a thousand percent humidity. Nobody likes that, least of all my computer equipment. The walking desk arrangement has the benefit of air conditioning. Since I wasn't going to spend the going rate for an electric desk like Jeffe has, I made my desk from a couple of pine boards from Home Depot. I cut them to spec, took a router to the edges and corners, then sanded them down. They're painted with an unholy combination of Dixie Belle paint and Unicorn Spit. I used pink iridescent accent wax to stencil a jellyfish on the main desk, then sealed everything with Dixie Belle Alligator Hide. In this office, I like to keep my craft books close to hand for easy reference and to remind myself that most days I might actually know what I'm doing. Mostly.

 The main problem with the walking treadmill and the homemade desk is that I often have far too much assistance with my writing. (This was taken at the *other* homemade desk that's in the bedroom - it's green and rose gold and black Unicorn Spit. It is not my favorite place to write because its tucked into a corner and has me staring at a wall. It's good for focus, though, I guess. Unless I have 'help.')

Cats like to 'help' with reading, too, so it's possible I haven't managed to keep track of my TBR recently - I really lost track of it while Cuillean was dying and looking back, I realize how protracted a reading break that was. BUT. Did you know Sherry Thomas wrote more Lady Sherlock stories? I didn't. I do now. They're sitting awaiting me on my Kindle. But first, I had to HAD TO read every last Murderbot story I could get my hands on. So I don't guess I can call that TBR anymore. They're now past tense, more's the pity. Most recently, I was able to add Bright Familiar (Jeffe's second book in her Bonds of Magic series) to the TBR. Looking forward to that one very much. In fact, I think I know what's rising to the top of the pile for this weekend. Excellent.

 

Jeffe's Writing Space

This week at the SFF Seven, we're sharing our writing workspaces and current TBR list.

Why both of these somewhat disparate things? I have no idea. My TBR isn't physical (mostly). I keep my inventory of unread books on a - you guessed it! - spreadsheet. There are currently 323 books on it. 

I know. 

I've been working my way through it, really I am, but even my determined efforts end up being like fighting the hydra. For example, I've had Juliet Marillier's Daughter of the Forest on my To-Be-Read "pile" since April 19, 2017. (Thank you, Amazon for that purchase date.) I finally started reading it on February 12, 2022. LOVED IT. So, what did I do? Yes, bought the entire six-book Sevenwaters series. I'm now 60% through book six, Flame of Sevenwaters. 

 As for my writing space, I have a dedicated office that is ALL MINE. You can see it above. We got an unexpectedly heavy snow last night, so it's a darkish morning and you can see the snow out the window. I love my big window as I can watch the birds and other visiting wildlife (and they are merry), and I can see all the way down the Galisteo Basin to the Ortiz Mountains and Sandia Peak. My desk is hydraulic, so I can adjust it for sitting, standing, or walking, with my treadmill below. 

I used to have my framed book covers on the walls, but I realized I didn't like looking at stuff that represented past efforts. So, I took them all down and hung art that's inspiring to me. The poster over the window is one I made that says, "What would you write if you weren't afraid?"

And there you have it!