My Memoir, Making Memories and Marketing
or how I didn’t learn BookTok
It’s been a busy week.
Thursday/Friday 10-11th April
Leonie came to make a documentary about me, my book and my garden.
FLASHBACK: Summer 2022
It was the first year I opened my garden for charity for the National Garden Scheme. It’s not a big garden, but there was a lot to do: fence-painting, decking cleaning and treating, rocks and stones scrubbing and shifting, compost digging and moving. And on the day itself — teas, cakes, tombola, money to take on the gate, elderly visitors to assist. I confided in my daughter that I wasn’t sure I could manage it all alone — and couldn’t afford to pay for help. She suggested Workaway, a brilliant platform where travellers connect with hosts worldwide in exchange for board, lodging, and a bit of cultural sharing. I signed up — and was spoilt for choice.
Enter Leonie: a young German woman who had just dropped out of veterinary school, eager to travel and find a new direction. She was creative and hardworking, and super excited to discover I’d taught film, so our cultural sharing included watching and discussing obscure indie films. Together we whipped the garden into shape and ran a fantastic Open Day. She fell in love with London and all things British – her enthusiasm even overrode my cynicism enough to drag me (grudgingly) to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Parade, arriving at The Mall at 6:00am in order to get a spot where we would be able to actually see something. The Royals flashed past at the rate of knots, but the glittering Household Cavalry and marching bands were genuinely spectacular. I was just beginning to enjoy myself when the Gold State Coach appeared – not holding the Queen but playing archival footage in the windows to make it seem as though she was inside. I found it creepy but Leonie, and the tens of thousands lining the streets, didn’t seem to mind. She Instagrammed as though her life depended on it.
Leonie was 21 and her comfort zone was Instagram and TikTok — both of which I had previously deemed the devil and avoided for fear of getting sucked in. But she took such gorgeous pictures and videos of the garden that I found myself wishing I had someone to show them to. And so, the devil won: Leonie set me up with an Instagram and TikTok account to showcase the garden.
We named the accounts Jenny’s Folly, as the garden had become increasingly fanciful, and I’d poured more and more time, energy, and money into it. Leonie showed me other garden accounts — and I was stunned. There were thousands. Turns out I wasn’t the only person obsessing over plants and paths and ponds. And people loved what we posted (well, what Leonie posted).
That’s when I had my Big Idea: surely some of the people interested in my garden would also be interested in my book. I was making the (probably non-PC) assumption that many women over 50 were lurking on gardening Instagram — and they were exactly the kind of readers I hoped to reach. So, my genius plan was born: build a loyal following, finish the book, sell it to the green-fingered masses and watch it fly off the virtual shelves.
I was absolutely certain the book would be finished by the end of the year. As soon as the garden was put to bed for winter, I would hunker down and Write (with a capital W).
The experienced amongst you will, by this time, be issuing hollow, world weary laughs. You’d be right.
Reality Bites
Instagram is a hard task master so, once Leonie had left, I very quickly wearied of posting endless photos into the void. Thousands of followers were obviously out there but, strangely, had not been waiting with baited breath for my arrival.
In any case, life had intruded as it has a habit of doing and my hunkering down to write for the Winter had turned into attending to various family commitments. So even if my genius marketing idea had legs, it didn’t have anything to market.
Fast Forward to…
…nearly three years later, I had finally completed what I hoped was the final draft of my book and Leonie had found her vocation – filmmaking – and enrolled on a course near her home in Germany that included a semester in her beloved UK (sadly, since Brexit, the only way she could get back here for more than three months. Grrrrr.).
She came to stay before heading north for her course. After bursting into the garden to see how her handiwork was doing – Bug Hotel signage, shed decoration et al – she eagerly quizzed me on how my book marketing campaign was going. I confessed: the book was finished but the Instagram account had died and Tik Tok never even got started.
I could feel her disappointment in me.
BookTok or Bust?
Two weeks later she rang in a flurry of excitement – the big assignment she had to do for her course was to make a short documentary and ‘please, please, please could it be about you, your garden and your book.” Before I could protest she played the deciding card “I’ll figure out how you can use BookTok to market your book and teach you on camera.” How could I resist?
However, it was going to be hard to find time to fit filming a documentary, even a very short one, into my schedule. Easter holidays were approaching and I was collecting my two northern grandchildren from their home in Hebden Bridge and taking them to stay with family in Cornwall for the week.
Thursday/Friday 10-11th April (Again)
Leonie arrived and embarked on a two day #BookTok bootcamp. Which was labyrinthine and utterly daunting. I had to identify appropriate influencers, craft a profile, offer behind the scene glimpses into my writing process, create dramatic monologues with voice filters, tempt with titbits, tease with trending sounds....OMG. I felt panicky, confused and overwhelmed but I didn’t want to disappoint Leonie after all her research and she was so keen, snapping photos, filming as she encouraged me through every baffling task and interviewing me as we went. We wrapped, and I set off for the Yorkshire pick-up with the promise that I would start creating my #BookTok world in between grandmotherly duties.
Sat 12th – Sat 19th April
Cornwall was full-on. The two babysittees are 8 and 5 respectively and both their Great Aunt Kitty (a retired teacher and master planner) and I believe in a strict no-homesickness or parent-missing schedule of outings and activities. Fortunately, we both love outings and activities.
We baked. We paddled. We walked cliff paths. We swam in the geothermal pool at Penzance Lido. We experienced (the only word for it) a play at the spectacular Minack Theatre. We painted sticky wet clay at Wheal Martyn Mining Museum...and every night, of course, we watched family movies, had baths, read stories and sat with them until they went to sleep.
The eagle eyed amongst you will spot where this is going. There was no time in which I could focus on creating my #BookTok empire. I did try - between putting the kids to bed and falling asleep myself. I told myself that there was no point in writing a book if I wasn’t prepared to do the work necessary to get it read; that surely, if I was serious, I should be able to find the time and energy? But the truth was: I DIDN’T WANT TO.
I wanted to enjoy the kids, not feel guilty about not engaging with influencers or trends. I wanted to start a new book, not build a marketing strategy. And then, the Universe stepped in.
My niece, Kitty’s daughter, is my writing coach – and has been a writer all her life, literally from the time she could string two words together. She has published poetry, flash fiction and written three novels, supporting herself with a flexible tutoring job that gave her time to write, to live, to love.
A few weeks ago she sent off query letters and samples for her third novel and was preparing to start work on her fourth, when four full manuscript requests came in. The next day her dream agent signed her. Now she had a ton of notes but she still managed to find time to come over to build lego with the youngest grandchild, discuss Tracy Beaker with the eldest, and talk to me about my latest writing conundrums.
At no time did the words Tik or Tok or influencer cross our minds or lips.
I got home last night and called Leonie and admitted defeat. I explained that I love writing and I want my writing to be read, but I also love my life. If finding an audience means sacrificing hours of both, then maybe I would have to resign myself to not being read.
I apologized for ruining her documentary.
But Leonie is Teflon. Or maybe just young. She bounced back with “BookTok was just the carrot. What I really wanted to capture was the creative connection between your garden and your writing.”
So we carried on. She filmed, snapped, interviewed - and gave me space to reflect on how much joy I find in gardening, writing and just living.
And that, as it turns out, is enough.
I've never heard of BookTok! But I too find the whole marketing on social media task to be overwhelming and discouraging. I have to do it for my job and after a few months I feel myself running out of steam. I also realized that 'influencers' DO actually work hard because it is constant! Your writing is good Jenny. I very much enjoyed this story and the many other stories you've performed, written or told me and the ones we create when we travel too! The audience is there and I hope many people find your book, or your book finds them! Keep writing and keep gardening!!