Social Media Marketing Services
Are you torn between writing and marketing? Prefer to sit in your favourite writing spot, creating stories, but know you have to get out and sell those stories? You are not alone!
Social media can be both a blessing and a curse when it comes to your personal and professional life. But whether you love or hate it, social media is an important part of your strategy for communicating with readers and growing a community of people who will buy your books and become your champions.
It’s also a great place to seek inspiration, become involved in writing exercises and workshops, and to create lasting friendships in a community of other writers. Finally, it’s a wonderful place to give something back. Social media is, after all, what you make of it.
Content Creation & Community
When you are immersed in your writing, it can be difficult to pull yourself away to create and post useful and interesting content, without seeming like you are just yelling at everyone to buy your book! But some strategic time spent on your social media content, can improve your connections with other writers, agents and publishers, and very importantly, with readers.
On the flipside, it can be easy to become overly engaged in social media, checking multiple times a day to see who has liked or commented or followed you; becoming stressed by what other people are achieving, feeling like you are a failure and experiencing serious cases of FOMO. The important thing is to strike a balance that works for YOU.
Seeking Literary Grants
Most writers know that making a full-time living from just your books is very unlikely in Australia. Some people have a job that is completely separate from their writing. Others offer freelance writing and other related services. There are lots of creative ways to find the income to support your passion - writing. Depending on what you write and who you write for, this can include speaking and school visits, literary events and workshops. It can also include seeking grants. There are a range of grants that any writer can apply for. Most are highly competitive, so it's important to know where to find them and how to write a winning application. Planning is key. Grant writing is a multi-faceted process that can seem daunting, but is also very much worth it when you know how to approach the process.
The Author Fairy Consultancy Enquiry
Social Media Marketing & Grant Writing Consultancy for Australian Authors with Dr Helen Edwards, Psych PhD.
I'm excited to launch my new side gig in 2025- The Author Fairy! A bookish social media, marketing, and grant writing consultancy for Australian authors.
I've won dozens of grants in my working life, from $1.3 million for my diabetes charity, when I ran that, to four grants and a fellowship since becoming a full-time children's author. Both of my first two books were supported by grants and my current work in progress is also supported by both a grant and a fellowship with the State Library of SA and Writers' SA. I also worked for a time with a grant writing agency and was able to win grants for my clients.
I've been on social media since it started in Australia and have over 90,000 social media followers.
Over the years, I have worked with small businesses to large universities teaching them how to leverage the opportunity to create community and forge connections on social media, cut through the noise, use the power of engagement and reduce the time spent on pointless scrolling.
Consulting services via Zoom and phone Australia wide. Packages for me to create graphics for your books and a guide for a promotional schedule are also available.
*Please note I will not be writing grants or running social media accounts. The idea is to give you the knowledge and skills to continue to do these things yourself rather than an ongoing cost burden.
Available to all Australian authors, emerging, established and aspiring, all genres and age groups, indie and traditionally published.
Please complete the form below and I will be in touch to arrange a consultation.
Testimonials
Helen is an experienced blogger and social media expert, and a pleasure to work with. Helen's strong communication skills, down-to-earth approach, creativity and perseverance have been paramount in her successful approach to engaging audiences across multiple mediums. Helen's experience ranges from founding an online counselling service for people with diabetes to her sustainable living and decorating business. Helen's successful approach to social media and blogging has seen her business grow and she continuously demonstrates a strong passion for health, wellbeing and sustainability.
Nicole Bassett, PROJECT MANAGER
"Helen Edwards has a solid working knowledge at the coal face of small to medium businesses for social media challenges and opportunities. Hers is a unique voice that has worn many hats, and could be of help to your business. Social worker, educator, PhD and small business operator, she might be the right ingredients for your next consultant.
"Helen Edwards is one of those women who seems to juggle more balls in the air then the rest of us could even consider, yet she humbly acknowledges that life isn’t all Insta-perfect all the time, thank goodness, there’s enough of that going around! Her passion for all things ethical, sustainable and handmade is unsurpassed and she works extremely hard to help us average folk make better choices, have access to often hard-to-find resources and brings joy and inspiration into our daily lives through her social media channels and emails. A seasoned thrifter and upcycler, Helen’s styling blends vintage pieces with one-off handmade and is fun-filled, yet considered and balanced; encouraging the viewer to feel that they can achieve something similar in their own home without having to resort to living on lentils for the next 6 months. Helen is incredibly generous in her knowledge and impeccably professional to work with; I cannot recommend this lady highly enough!" Sarah, @seasoulstudio
"Helen Edwards is an expert on social media strategy. She has been a consultant to Decision Support Analytics Pty Ltd to develop the social media strategy to promote an innovative course at one of Australia's leading research Universities. Helen's own sites attest to her ability in generating excellent results through social media. She founded and managed Australia's most influential online diabetes counselling service for which she was a finalist in the Australian of the Year Awards. She has her own online business with over 120,000 followers, 72,000 on Facebook alone. I would recommend Helen for any social media development projects. Her advice is evidence-based and practical."
Dr Isabelle Skinner, Managing Director, Decision Support Analytics Pty Ltd.
"We had the wonderful pleasure of working with Helen. Her fine eye for detail was a wonderful advantage for us. She gave great ideas for our campaign and our expectations were more than exceeded. We would not hesitate to work with her in the future. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for agreeing to work with Pigeon and Weasel.
Ariane and Prue x" Pigeon and Weasel
"Helen is an extremely knowledgeable and experienced blogger and social media manager who engages her audience in a professional, yet authentic and relatable manner. Helen has a special skill and passion for building a genuine connection with people".
Kelly Wagner, KIDS YOGA
"Dr Helen Edwards ran a professional development session for the ASA on Representation & Inclusion: writing characters who have chronic illness, mental illness, and/or who are neurodivergent. Helen was highly professional to deal with and conducted a session which was expertly researched and presented. The engagement and subsequent feedback from the participants was excellent. We look forward to running future sessions with Helen."
Jodie Spiteri-James
Professional Development and Events Manager
Australian Society of Authors
