Island life gets under your skin. Brian was right, this really is the Hotel California, except I don’t feel trapped; I feel free. I feel like somehow I fit in among all these oddballs. Have I found my tribe, here on this stunning island? Big city life was chaotic and fun but I don’t miss it like I thought I would. Not any more. I’ve grown to love Esperé and the rhythms of the tropics, and like just maybe I’ve been accepted by people who are also a bit lost, a bit unmoored looking for family to call their own.
Now I’ve had the space to reflect, I see that monetising my Bookstagram was a misstep for me. It took away the joy I felt reading and posting about books, with the pressure to perform and reach those dizzying numbers. I miss the community, so maybe, one day, I’ll join Bookstagram again, but just for fun, not for financial gain. I love hyping up books; there’s no question my heart still lies firmly there. I want to hear all about what everyone else is reading and add those books to my out-of-control TBR pile.
Miraculously the Wi-Fi is strong this evening. I take the plunge and open my back up account on Instagram. There aren’t too many notifications, since this account is so small. I read them and the messages, mostly offers of support from bookworm friends.
I message them back and thank them, mention that I’m doing well but missing them, my bookish pals.
Temptation creeps up. I type in Tia’s Instagram handle. Her clearly-AI profile picture gets my attention. It’s the same photo that Lily sent to me and makes me question what sort of person Tia really is. To make a mockery of my claims about AI and the industry is strange, especially for a writer, when this is a serious issue that has the ability to affect their income, no two ways about it. Sure, it might just be just her way of dealing with the accusations I levelled at her, but it seems petty and not the type of behaviour you’d expect from a bestselling author who supposedly cares about the industry.
Maybe I am the problem and need to step back and stop involving myself in matters that don’t concern me. I scroll down the posts on her page which are all pink graphics; nothing that shows a real setting. Not super unusual but still. There are a lot of cowboy memes, lines fromBang, Bang!and review quotes. I open the comments section on the top post and find that Tia doesn’t interact with followers, even when they’re asking pertinent questions about ordering her book or where they can find it in their country. Again, not super unusual for some authors, especially those with large followings. To me it sort of defeats the purpose of using social media, if you’re not actually going to be social on it.
As I refresh the page a new post appears.
As promised, here is the big announcement! Slip on your cowboy boots, we’ve got men to… ride!
Urgh.
Hold on to your Stetsons, because releasing this Thursday isBang, Bang 2!
Seriously?!Bang, Bang 2!
Tia has shared a photo of the cover which is the same as the original except this one features the numeral 2 made from a rope lasso. It must be another joke. Maybe it’s a holding cover until the real thing is ready… Although, if it’s releasing this Thursday, the final would have been done ages ago.
I go to call Lily when my phone rings. It’s Lily, reading my mind all the way from North London.
‘Lily! Did you see the cover?’
‘Yes! Is it satire?’
‘It must be, right? It’s like she’s parodying herself!’ I say. ‘It can’t be real. Let me check Amazon and see if it’s up. Actually you check, I don’t dare ask that of my internet connection.’
‘OK.’ A few moments later she grunts. ‘Well, I did not expect that. It’s real, the eBook is up on all digital retailers.Bang, Bang 2!– publishing on Thursday. Why wouldn’t they change the colour of the cover to differentiate the two at the very least? This is really weird.’
‘It is.’ Usually the second book in the series would have a cover that matched the style but be different enough that readers instantly pick up it’s new. ‘How long has it been sinceBang, Bang!released?’
‘Ah, wait a sec.’ She counts back under her breath. ‘About eight weeks.’
‘That’s fast.’
‘Well, it is but as you know a lot of authors use a rapid release strategy.’
‘Yeah, I do.’ A rapid release strategy doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve written them that fast, it means they only publish when they’re ready and then release them all in a certain time frame so readers have access to the next instalment without a lengthy wait between books.
‘And Tia’s with a digital publisher; they can move faster, right?’
‘Yes, the paperbacks might be released at a later date, and they’d release the eBook and the audio now while all those readers have her first book firmly in mind. Or maybe they had it planned this way all along.’
‘Maybe, but the cover being exactly the same with the exception of the numeral two added? That’s just lazy. You dealt with the marketing people at her publisher when they asked to feature on your page, what were they like?’
I think back. I didn’t pay much attention to whoever was sending the emails at the time. I’d been more excited to get an advance copy of the book everyone was raving about. Now I’m wondering if I should have.
‘What’s the name of the publisher?’ Lily asks.
‘Red Ink Books.’
‘Red Ink?’
‘Yes.’
