I Made Some Surprising Discoveries while Marketing a Book From My Sailboat
Guest writer Jennifer Silva Redmond discovered BookTok when looking for new ways to market her book, and that gave a pretty eclectic reader even more ways to discover new books
Hi readers,
Reading allows readers to go places they’ve never been and see things they might never see. If the author is really good at their craft, reading allows the reader to feel like a character in the story—like they’ve actually lived the experience. We read for different reasons—sometimes to learn, other times to escape, and if you are like me, to live vicariously through an author’s words.
Have you ever thought, “I’d like to sail off into the sunset and leave all my cares behind?” Today’s guest writer
did just that when she married artist Russel Redmond, and they took off on his 26-ft sailboat to Baja California’s Sea of Cortez, then sailed on to Central America, through the Panama Canal, and eventually made their way back to the West Coast and now make their home aboard their sailboat, the Watchfire. Redmond has written a book about her first year at sea, and to celebrate the book, she moved her blog from her website to Substack, where she has been writingsince mid-2023. Her newsletter is full of books and book reviews, and her travel updates from the West Coast, and it’s a joy to read whenever I see it in my inbox. Welcome to SoNovelicious, Jennifer!
Thank you for having me on SoNovelicious—I can’t wait to give readers a peek into my reading life. The first thing to know about me is that I live on a small sailboat, so my choice of having a purely digital library is not based on anything but the lack of space on board for book shelves. I still love physical books and still buy plenty for friends and loved ones every year. My husband Russel and I have lived aboard our 35-foot sailboat Watchfire for many years, and before that, we had an even smaller sailboat-home, starting back in 1989. In addition to the space issue, the Kindle app on my phone uses much less energy than a reading lamp would, and since all our power comes from our two solar panels, that’s important; with both of us working online, the bulk of the electricity generated by those solar panels is required to power our two laptops and phones for many hours a day.
Luckily, I don’t have to do a lot of marketing for my day job as a book editor. After 25 years of working with authors to polish their manuscripts into award-winning and successful books and teaching at the Southern California Writers Conference and San Diego Writers, Ink, I am almost always booked a few months in advance. But last summer, with my memoir about our first year of sailing coming out in the fall, I had to figure out how to efficiently “power up” my marketing game without putting much more demand on our little boat’s electricity grid. I was already on Facebook and Instagram, so posting info about my soon-to-be-published book was second nature. Still, since I was talking to an audience of people who already knew me, that didn’t move the needle much as far as gaining new followers.
Like many writers of a certain age—I’m 62—the idea of adding another platform to my already busy social media world filled me with dread. But I kept hearing about how TikTok, specifically BookTok, was helping authors spread the word about their new books, so I took a deep breath and jumped in. Imagine my surprise when the first content creator I followed, AmbertheReader (amberthereader406), was an enthusiastic and encouraging book lover and an insightful reviewer. She is quite a bit younger than I, but not a teenager, so that helped me feel more comfortable; plus, I liked the books she was reading. Then I followed some “book bestie” friends of hers and, of course, followed the handful of people I knew who were already on the platform.
After a week of watching, I made my first video, using TikTok’s built-in tools to turn a few old photos into a short “meet the creator” video clip. Then, I shot a couple of short video clips with voice and images (not of me!). The response was almost instant, with a half dozen new followers coming with each video posted, making it a bit easier to rationalize spending the time shooting and posting videos. The book reviews I saw were not all well shot, but many of them were, and I started following people I liked, such as BoswellonBooks and Nikki (Nikkistreet00). All three of these content creators ended up reading and reviewing my memoir.
So, yes, I made some good new book friends and got my book reviewed by some TikTokers, all of which was great. But the outcome I didn’t anticipate was hearing about new books that I would never have come across in my normal, everyday, more “literary” circles.
I haven’t read many of the big “romantasy” epics like Fourth Wing yet, but based on TikTok reviews, I have gotten a few excellent rom-coms, like People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry, some steamy romances, like Georgie All Along by Kate Clayborn, some YA books like The Lost Girl: A Neverland Story by Allison Spooner, and even a regency romance called Notorious by Minerva Spencer, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. And I even heard about some literary fiction that I hadn’t heard of, like the heralded tome A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara.
I was already a pretty eclectic reader without any hard and fast rules of what I would and would not read, and reading only ebooks for the last few years has made me an even wider reader. Most readers have already seen and may have even signed up for one of the many newsletters with free and low-price books that get delivered right to our inboxes, like BookBub, FreeBooksy, and The Fussy Librarian. I love seeing a quick cover and description of a couple of new books every morning with my tea.
Everyone I know barely tolerates Goodreads and constantly complains about it, and if you are searching for a great alternative, I’ve found one. My favorite new book review site, Shepherd, is going to give Goodreads a run for its audience. Shepherd is a curated site full of books from every genre, all presented in author-compiled lists on hundreds of diverse themes. For example, my first list for them was The Best Nonfiction Baja Books That Can Transport You There, and the latest one was My Three Favorite Books of 2023. Exploring this well-designed, user-friendly book site is fun, but I warn you, it can quickly become very addictive!
Last but certainly not least, I get a few weekly or monthly Substack newsletters chock-full of many links to well-recommended new books. One of my favorites is
, an “online book club” from the talented writer. My circle of author-friends keeps expanding, and they all want to tell me about some new book they love, which makes it easy to try new authors.The bottom line is that there are a myriad of new ways to learn about new books and authors. Whether you jump aboard the fast-moving BookTok train, explore the lively and colorful world of Bookstagram, or start exploring a curated book review site like Shepherd, you will find lists, videos, and posts that will help you get excited about some excellent new and old titles.
Jennifer Silva Redmond is a freelance editor living on the sea wherever her sailboat Watchfire takes her up and down the west coast of the US. She shares the sailboat with her husband, Russel. After years of sailing in tropical climes, like Mexico and Southern California, the Redmonds will finally cross the "other International border" and head for Canada this summer. They plan to sail north along the "Sunshine Coast" of British Columbia, including visits to Vancouver and Victoria. Though Jennifer's paternal grandfather Al Shea was born in Sheatown, Ontario, she has never set foot in Canada, and she is looking forward to it, as Russel would say, "with anticipatory glee!"
Her essays, articles, and fiction have been published in numerous anthologies, magazines, and sites such as Brevity. She was on the staff of the Southern California Writers’ Conference and San Diego Writers, Ink, and was the prose editor for A Year in Ink, vol. 3. She was also a co-founder of the critically acclaimed Sea of Cortez Review. She is the author of Honeymoon at Sea: How I Found Myself Living on a Small Boat.
She can be found at the following places: Website | Newsletter | Instagram | Facebook | Tiktok | Twitter. She is very active on all her socials, with lots of bookish posts and other fun peeks into her life, so go check it out!
Thank you so much for being here, Jennifer! Learning more about your unconventional life on a sailboat was so fun. I’ve really enjoyed catching up on Jennifer’s past newsletters, especially those from the summer and fall when they were in the Seattle/Puget Sound area. I visited there once and found it magical, and I take every opportunity to learn more about the area every chance I get. After working on this guest post with her, I’m looking forward to reading her book, Honeymoon at Sea. It’s hard to imagine living on a small sailboat, and I can’t wait to read about what it was like.
Readers, head to the comments to share your thoughts. Feel free to ask Jennifer any questions about her book or travels and share something about your own reading life so she can get to know you a little better, too.
It sounds like living on a sailboat is fun. As with everything, I’m sure there are downsides, but it must be a traveler’s dream come true. Until next week, happy reading!
Some of the links in this newsletter may be affiliate links. That means that if you click through and purchase anything, I may earn a small commission. This costs you nothing and helps me feed my voracious reading habit, and for that, I thank you.
Thanks for the shout out , Jen! I didn't know anything about your TikTok so now I know who ask if I'm ever ready to give it a go. And I'm thrilled to learn about an alternative to Goodreads
I just interviewed Jennifer Silva Redmond on my podcast, AUTHORS & BOOK PROMOTION , 21st Century Style. She delivered sooo many tips about promoting books out here. Heads up, authors. Listen and learn!