Welcome BACK to a brand new season of Sparkle on Substack the podcast. I am delighted to have another 12 BEAUTIFUL conversations on voice, community and Substack sparkle for you!

This one is with my online pal Nicola Washington who is a BRILLIANT member of Sparkle on Substack - brand new Substack bestseller and IG expert for authors looking to connect rather than broadcast and shout.

I hope you enjoy it and do feel free to leave a comment or even better a 5star review on Apple or Spotify.

Bio

Hi, I’m Nicola.I live in South London with my husband, two children and dog, although Stoke-on-Trent, where I grew up will always be ‘home’.

I became a Social Media Manager in 2017 after a twelve-year-long career as a secondary-school English teacher. I retrained, set up shop, and started to work with small business clients, helping them get noticed online.

After 7 years of working with small businesses, in 2023, I took the decision to start supporting writers, authors and other word-lovers with your use of Instagram to find more readers. By doing so, I get to combine my professional expertise and experience, with my first loves of books and writing.

I’ve been an avid reader since I was a child and I’ve been working on my own fiction projects since 2020. I’m currently querying agents and ‘enjoying’ the roller-coaster of that experience.

I know that for many writers, Instagram can sometimes feel ‘Too Much’. I’m making it my mission to tackle the overwhelm and anxiety many of you feel so you can make the most of the opportunities Instagram offers, without it feeling horrible or burning out.

Nicola Online

IG - https://www.instagram.com/toomuch_social

Website - https://www.toomuchsocial.com/

Substack

AI Overview - Thanks Claude

A podcast interview from “Sparkle on Substack” hosted by Claire Venus, featuring Nicola Washington, an Instagram educator and strategist who specializes in helping writers and authors build their presence on social media. The conversation explores how authors can navigate Instagram authentically, connect with readers, and market their books in ways that feel genuine rather than overwhelming.

The discussion covers the challenges writers face with social media, particularly around authenticity and introversion, and offers practical strategies for building meaningful connections rather than chasing follower counts.

Key Quotes

On the challenges of Instagram:

“It is so noisy and so overwhelming now. And then on top of that, a lot of writers and authors are quite introverted people. So they’re sort of thinking, how can I do this?”

On authenticity:

“The work I do helps people overcome a lot of those obstacles and barriers in a way that feels authentic to them. That’s the fundamental that underpins basically everything I do is that it has to feel like you.”

On the 🍄 mushrooms vs. 🪁 kites metaphor:

“The way publishers treat social media is as if it’s about flying kites... getting your kite up as high in the sky so as many people see it as possible... The way I think of it... is to think of it much more like a mushroom, mushrooms... networks of fungi that go underground and then they pop up in other unexpected places.”

On building true fans:

“You use your Instagram account to gather around you a core group of people who are deeply invested in the work that you do. They like you. They bought into you and your story. They’re going to buy any book that you write just because they like you.”

On traditional publishing realities:

“Lots of authors report feeling abandoned by their publishers at the point at which their books are released... taking ownership and self-driving your marketing via social media, because it is one of the most accessible forms of marketing, is something that most authors can do.”

On control in publishing:

“When you want an author as a traditionally published author, one of the various parts... the smallest parts of the process that you actually can control is your marketing.”

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