Push to Use Social Media + Upcoming Appearance at Brandywine Festival of the Arts

Lately, you may have noticed a large uptick in my use of social media. Previously, I would post whenever I had something I thought I wanted to share, which was infrequent. But lately, following some advice, you may have noticed that I am now posting thrice weekly with a regular schedule of posting something on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Even this blog, which was infrequent, is now being scheduled every Wednesday.

This has been happening now for a few weeks. The intention behind posting more is to keep my brand on the front of existing customers’ minds. If people are thinking about my brand, they are more likely to revisit it or share it with others.

I was initially reluctant to post so much for two reasons. Firstly, it takes time to do this stuff and I’ve considered it usually a waste of time unless I have something to say. Secondly, I did not see how posting on my own fan pages was going to attract new customers. But that’s when I learned, it’s not about attracting new customers. Rather, it’s about engaging existing ones. That shift in mentality was enough to allow me to give this “post more often” thing a shot.

So where am I posting?

If you’re a Facebook fan, find me here: https://www.facebook.com/thecolorofwaterandsky/

If you’re an Instagram fan, find me here: https://www.instagram.com/thewritingrunner/

If you’re a Twitter/X fan, find me here: https://twitter.com/TCOWAS

Lately, a number of posts have been about AI-generated character art. I have been using Leonardo.AI to craft artwork of characters from the Cassan Astor series. Doing this has actually made me enjoy posting on social media. This has been a fun project, actually! I’ve posted other things too, but the AI art has been the most fun.

Below, you can see some of the artwork I created using AI:

Cassan Astor: Son of Sir Timothy Astor, Knight of Covington, the titular teenage Cassan Astor sets out on a grand journey to find his mother. Across multiple books, Cassan’s journey takes him across a desert, bustling cities, a harrowing sea, mysterious islands, and more! Along the way, he meets strange new allies and enemies alike.

Empress Isis: Ruler of the most powerful empire in the land, Empress Isis comes to power unexpectedly. Contending with forces who seek to take her throne, she is aided by the handsome servant, Hasani, and her trusted friend, Raina.

Hasani Habboub: Hasani is no simple kitchen servant in the royal palace. Secret lover and muse to Empress Isis, Hasani struggles to support his lover while contending with his secret affair that has the potential to rock the entire empire.

Sir Timothy: Years ago, to escape his traumatic past, Sir Timothy took a long voyage across the sea to distant lands, where he put his life of combat behind him. Father and protector to the titular Cassan Astor, Sir Timothy will do anything for his adopted son. After years, he must pick up his sword again as he promises to help his son on his quest.

Lady Raina: Ever loyal to Empress Isis, Raina is the empress’s most trusted servant, but tensions mount as Isis suspects her of treasonous behavior.

Grik the Giantess: A giantess from distant lands, Grik agrees to help Cassan Astor on his quest. The strongest around, nothing can stop her. Along the way, she bonds with Cassan as his newfound mother-figure.

General Aharon: The villain! Distrustful of Empress Isis and hellbent on finding and capturing Cassan Astor, General Aharon stops at nothing to see someone new seated in the throne of Konin.

Madam Kirsi: Conniving and scheming her way through the Empress’s court, Kirsi is a master spy. Pulling strings and steering the course of power in her direction, she is the greatest asset to a powerful spy ring set to destabilize the world.

As you can see below, I’ve also found a way to put these pictures right on the Amazon product page, so when people visit the page on Amazon.com, they can see this character art. Right now, this is only showing on the .com version of the site. These pictures will not show on .uk, .de, .in and so forth. Maybe in the future, I can get these images on other versions of the site too.

And there you have my AI-generated art! As you can see, it gives vivid pictures to these characters. As I’ve been careful to point out on my social media posts, I am hesitant to release “pictures” of characters because I know it has the potential to warp someone’s own view of a character. To that I say, don’t take these images as canon. These characters can look however you imagine them.

When not posting pictures of AI-generated character art, I’ve also been showing screenshots of favorable reviews, videos, and more.

One category of posting that I have not focused on as much, which I need to get better on, is posts intended to generate email capture. I will do some research and work on that.

In totally other news, I am excitedly preparing for my upcoming booth at the Brandywine Festival of the Arts! My 10×10 booth will be there. I’ll be there. I have lots of inventory prepared and hope to make lots of sales.

This will only be my second time going to an arts fair. I would like to do more of these, but COVID got in the way for a period of time. Now that COVID is out of the way, hopefully I can do more. This will be easily the biggest event I’ve worked (out of only two), but I think it will be a good test to see how I can handle other events like this in the future.

I have a tent. I have a poster. I have business cards. I have bookmarks. And like I said, lots of inventory.

I’ve calculated it out. If I sell about 60% of my stock, I should be able to make back the costs. Anything after that will be extra $$. Even if that doesn’t happen and, let’s say I break even or go a little under that, the long-term effect will be valuable regardless. People will know my brand. People who bought book 1s will want to buy book 2s (hopefully). Therefore, I expect this to be valuable no matter what.

If you would like to see me at the arts festival, it is running on September 9th and 10th. I would love to see you there! I so rarely get to hear feedback from readers/fans. For the sake of my ego, please visit my booth and tell me what you like about my books! I’d love to see you there!