Rachel Writes

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rachel

Hello, I am Rachel! I am currently a fourth year communication student from the Philippines. In creating this site, I anchored it on my hobby of reading books and writing stories and articles. My recent interests in creative advertising and graphic designing have also inspired me to nurture my newly learned art skills and existing passion for literature.

This site is my creative portfolio where I share my personal works and showcase my creations. You can find here the design layouts I have made, the stories and write-ups I have come up with, and books that I have read and reviewed on.

Why Story, Design and Social Media

Matter in Book Marketing

The introduction of the internet has changed every aspect of our human life and the way we navigate ourselves in both online and offline spaces. This is amplified by social media which has now become a tool used to make our communication easier, to build broader connections, and to make changes.

The book industry is one of the fields that have greatly benefited from the rapid evolution of social media. From bestselling authors to independent writers, and even those who are still starting out their writing journey, are taking advantage of online mediums and platforms to skyrocket their careers. They use it to establish their online reputation, form a community of followers, and market their works to reach a wider audience.

But, with over 130 million books that have been published since the Gutenberg Printing Press was invented in 1440, how do you make your work stand out from the rest of the authors?

MORE THAN JUST A STORY

There are different reasons as to why authors write. Some are compelled to impart significant experiences, while others naturally love to share stories with other people.

However, famed English novelist George Orwell, known for his works, Animal Farm and 1984, asserted in an article titled “Why I Write” from 1946 that writing had to have a purpose.

Semi Realistic Portrait of George Orwell

One would never undertake such [writing] if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.

— George Orwell, 1946

Orwell asserts that more than focusing on making a great story, a book must have an intent as to why it needs to be written. Even a fluffy romantic story has a reason why it was written the way it was by the author.

The thing is, imagination overlaps with inspiration either from an existing work or a personal encounter. Sometimes you may find that your story contains similarities or show the same concepts with other works albeit in a different approach.

Think of romance stories with tropes of enemies to lovers, the I-hate-everyone-but-you, the bad boy and naïve girl pairing, the rich boy and rag girl, or a retelling of the classic Romeo and Juliet tragedy.

Sure, the plot is immaculate, your writing style is unique, the characters are well-rounded, and the themes are socially relevant with the times. The challenge is convincing potential readers that your work is worth reading amongst millions of other books.

DESIGN MAKES AN IMPACT

Once you have your story ready to be read by other people, what comes next is letting people know that you have a story to share.

Be it a story posted on Wattpad, a website that allows users to read and create their own original stories, or a bestselling author who is working on a new book, one of the key drivers to capture reader interest is the cover art design of a book.

The book cover serves as both an introduction to the text and a visual representation of what it says. Simply, it is a translation of verbal into visual signifiers. Therefore, a cover must be impressive to convey a message or to arouse curiosity among readers even at first glance.

Books Png Clipart All - Transparent Background Books Clipart

Carry a book around in public, and its cover can betray you to

other people who will make assumptions about you.

— Peter Mendelsund & David J. Alworth, 2020

Visualize a book cover as an identification card for your story. It is a defining factor which indicates that that book is your work. So, it is important to design a book cover that well represents your story, while also being striking enough to get your work noticed.

Although some people may regard a book cover as only a ‘commodity package’, it is still a visual representation of any story that is summed up through design, be it a physical book or a Kindle copy.

THE SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE

So, is having a great story and an impressive cover art enough to make an author’s work known?

This may have been the case in the past when the world hasn’t been driven by the internet and social media yet. Unlike how books were sold in the past—by subscription, by the printer himself, by hawkers, and through shopkeepers—book marketing has now become more complex.

The world’s mass migration towards a digital existence has drastically changed this. The more creative opportunities, marketing freedom, and consumer flexibility brought about by digital transformation have made book publishing more widely available.

One digital touchpoint that has brought great waves to book marketing is social media. The more people talk about your work in the online world, be it positive or negative, the more popular it becomes.

Nowadays, publishers don’t even have to do the usual marketing tactics since readers have become influencers themselves. They make use of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube in sharing their book reviews and recommendations. Some have even created blogs and websites dedicated solely for these things.

However, apart from Goodreads, a social cataloging website that helps readers discover books and make reviews, TikTok has become a popular application for readers to make short video contents about their favorite reads, book reviews, and recommendations.

This new form of media has popularized the term #BookTok which has made its way onto bookstores, libraries, and the whole of the publishing industry. Even seasoned and budding authors themselves have hopped into this trend to strengthen their brands.

The organic social media push in TikTok that has become a dominant driver of fiction sales is one of the many reasons why writers must explore social media as a new avenue of marketing their books.

Book marketing is like opening doors for your readers to

find you, not a stick you hit them with

— Heather Hart

In this digital age, having a story with a purpose, a design that stirs interest, and solid social media presence have become new essentials in book marketing. Both readers and writers themselves have learned and have to learn to become marketers; a collaborative effort to further promote the culture of reading and writing in this generation driven by social media.

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the 2-in-1 manager

It is not easy to deal with people. Managing individuals with diverse personalities and dispositions is even more taxing. It requires skill, experience and a lot of communication.

Pauline Abaiz, 31, is someone who wears many hats and wears them well. She has been working at Lilu Advertising and Marketing Solutions Inc. for nine years already. Her job as both a Senior Account Manager and Administration Manager has made her a master of her own work.

As an Account Manager, she deals with clients and handles their accounts. She meets their needs, communicates with them, and delivers the services they require. As an Admin Manager, she organizes the Managing Director’s schedule, oversees the quick processing of payrolls, and makes sure office supplies are available. Apart from fulfilling these two roles, Pauline also has a knack for writing, video editing, and graphics design. Although she admits that her talents in these are relatively limited, she is determined to take on them minimally if it can help speed up any task.

Crop businessman giving contract to woman to sign

Despite having a small workforce, they are big on ideas and bold in making moves in the Cebu marketing scene. Pauline reports directly to Lilo “Lilu” Aliño, the Managing Director. There are four employees currently working at their company including Pauline. Under her supervision are two other employees. She shared that depending on the kind of service their clients need, they outsource people whom Pauline also manages, to render those services.

Pauline shared that they have a casual working environment. In fact, she has never had a conflict with her employees, or witnessed one in her years at the company. “It’s because we’re colleagues first before we are friends,” she explained. Pauline maintains a professional boundary between them. She also added that being in a creative industry fueled that because according to her, “when [working in] a strict environment, it becomes stifling [to work creatively].”

She also noted that one of the pros of working with a small group is that communicating with each other is more manageable. “We are able to share freely [with each other] compared to having a lot of people which makes it difficult to take in all of the ideas together,” she said.

Pauline also takes pride in her relationship with her boss. Since Lilu is also a teacher at a nearby college, the listening skills that she has cultivated being with her students has also extended to her employees. This urged Pauline to express herself more freely when communicating with her. However, it doesn’t abolish the hierarchy that still exists in their workplace. “Just because she is my mentor doesn’t mean she’s any less of a boss,” she said about Lilu.

As someone who takes on a managerial role in the marketing industry, Pauline asserted that communication is the be all and end all. It is the core of their business. “We are paid to communicate a message or a brand from our clients to the buyers or an audience,” she shared.

She also emphasized that delivery is vital to communication. “What you want to convey is just as important as how you convey it.” As a marketer, she embodies this value but also extended it in her role as a manager. “How you receive a message [the directives from the top level] is not always how you should convey it because you have to consider who you are talking to.”

As such, Pauline pointed out that conscious filtering is needed for people to understand a message better and effectively receive it. Since communication starts with oneself, it prompted Pauline to be deliberate when communicating. “How you deliver [a] message or what you want to say must be heavily filtered before it comes out of your mouth.”

To further help her communicate effectively as a manager, Pauline has also developed a particular measure: “I KISS—Keep It Short and Simple.” She does this when she is bombarded with information. For her, this is a must-do so that, “when the time comes that I need to communicate [that] information, they only get the information that they actually need.”

Pauline and her colleagues have also utilized social media platforms to help them in both their personal and professional endeavors. This has made their communication as a team more efficient. Initially, Pauline was apprehensive that work suddenly got into social media because she didn’t want her professional life invading her private space. However, she has learned to adapt and take advantage of it having realized that it has aided their company in reaching greater lengths.

Photo Of People Holding Each Other's hands

Yet, despite employing these methods, some barriers still impede effective communication. For Pauline, one of them is “when you have preconceived ideas or notions about a specific topic or issue.” To overcome such hurdle, she and her colleagues encourage to always ask questions. They are also not afraid to ask for a repeat of the instructions when needed.

Pauline still keeps in mind to nurture their relationship with their clients when doing these. “Our boss has always taught us to never burn bridges. There’s a lot of swallowing your pride that goes on when dealing with people,” she said. She emphasized to always look at the bigger picture when met in a situation that may put relationships at risk.

This mindset has also put a pressure on Pauline being a manager because she needs to balance meeting their clients’ needs while considering their employee’s workload. “I have to make sure that we have things delivered but at the same time, making sure that my subordinates are not overworked or [that they] get frazzled when doing these things.”

Crop manager with laptop and smartphone in street cafe

Meeting project deadlines is the predicament that they usually deal with. Since their work involves prioritizing and sequencing, working on different projects simultaneously can be taxing for them. As such, Pauline advised to constantly communicate with the project stakeholders, such as updating the clients of the progress of their requests or asking for an extension of the deadline of a project if needed.

Albeit having only a few employees, the company has accomplished many large projects over the years. From doing the branding of 23 Minore Park, to the IEC Convention Center Cebu (IC3), and even creating the marketing campaign of the Cebu Quincentennial Hotel—Pauline has always been at the core of having these projects actualized with her developed competence, gathered experience, and effective communication practices as a manager taking on two roles.

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