A new novelist and a dying book trend

Dear Scribblers,

Almost time for the Manchester launch event for anthology ‘Woman, Mapped’ on Fri 31st July - you’ll hear from a variety of poets, journalists and essay writers on what it means to be a woman today and meet the Rebecca Swift Foundation ( who champion female creativity) and editor Jennifer Wong!

Tickets

‘A haunting softness... The kind of book that lingers.’ @chapters.and.stardust

And Zahirra Dayal and her evocative Zimbabwe-set debut novel is on tour next month! A story of two vastly different sisters, Zaynah and Amira, launching at Serenity Booksellers Stockport on Thursday 27th of August in conversation with myself - TICKETS or join us at the new bigger store for The Curious Cat Bookshop in Frodsham, Cheshire on the 28th TICKETS or lastly almost sold out at Waterstones Islington later in Sep in conversation with journalist Zoe Flood! TICKETS

We’ve officially got our cohort for our development programme - this being the first year that we will develop the author brand and submission strategy for a small group of dedicated career authors, alongside our 2027 list, to support their journey to agent or publisher and publication - and we kick off in August :)

We’ve also launched our entry-level remote Book Sales Internship (priority to applicants from our Publishing Academy) Application Deadline: Sunday 19th July 2026, midnight (23:59 BST)

Fly on the Wall Press has acquired worldwide rights to the politically charged and tender debut, ‘A Photograph is not a Story’, by author Marta Michalowska.

‘A Photograph is not a Story’ follows Sophie, a London-based film archivist and war photographer, as she seeks meaning in the death of her Polish long-distance truck driver father, Zygmunt. When photograph archives fall short of the answers she seeks and avoiding the past is no longer an option, she embarks on a road trip to Lviv in Ukraine / formerly Lwów in Poland, in a ghostly parallel to the journey made by her grandmother, Antonia during World War 2. This is a story of migration and of borders that reshape much more than political geography. What lies beyond the photographic frame?

Marta Michalowska said: ‘I am delighted to be working with Fly on the Wall Press on publishing my debut novel, ‘A Photograph is not a Story’, which is set within the contested borderlands between Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. Across a series of journeys, the novel explores what it means to be set in motion by the choices of those at the tables of power and the inability to find stillness, and to put down roots.’

Isabelle Kenyon, Managing Director of Fly on the Wall Press, said: ‘We are delighted to be working with Marta, whose debut novel speaks to the migration issues of today and mirrors them in those of the past. As readers, we gain much more than a connection with Sophie (and an understanding of the relationship between Sophie and her father, and their respective mental health struggles), but also context into past and present tensions within central and eastern Europe – and we also gain a sense of empathy, which comes with this understanding. This is a novel which encourages the reader to delve deep into their own relationships with their respective parents, understand their history, and what it may mean for their sense of identity.’

‘A Photograph Is Not A Story’ will be released on the 16^th of September 2027.

Marta Michalowska an artist, writer, curator and producer based in London and the Ardèche. Her practice is in dialogue with places, especially those with complex and contested past or present. Her writing has been previously published in Strings, Migrant Journal and Litro, as well as in collections ‘Interior Realms’, ‘Concrete and Ink: Storytelling and the Future of Architecture’, and ‘A Love Affair’. She is currently writing her second novel under the working title ‘Drowning’. She is also working on a book-length essay ‘Edgewater’, weaving together diaries, travel writing, nature writing, art criticism, memoir, archival materials and photography to create a layered portrait of the Bug River, flowing between Poland, Belarus and Ukraine – the last major unregulated river in Europe and a questionable line of division between the West and the East – once an unintended nature reserve, now a militarised fault line. Alongside her creative practice, she runs The Wapping Project, a London-based yet nomadic arts organisation producing new works across film, installation, photography, performance and literature.

A warm welcome to Marta!!

Blog tours are having an interesting shift. A few years ago, either author or publisher would organise a series of book blogger reviews and create a tour poster with consecutive dates (a week or a month) with the blogger handles to visit each day. This would either be created ‘in house’ or outsourced to a blog tour host like the lovely Anne Cater or Kelly Lacey! (Both of whom we have used in the past and would highly recommend if you are interested in a book launch blog tour.)

(A 2022 tour example)

Blog tours used to be the essential campaign for online community reviews, starting on the day of publication, but I am not seeing so many take place anymore. Why is that?

We are seeing the landscape changing to reel format reviews, often in round ups, often in formats such as ‘if you’ve read this, you’ll enjoy this…’ and I’m seeing the death of the online blog review format (which used to offer much more ‘meat’ in terms of discussion.)

Perhaps because of the number of books being published right now, and therefore the volume of books that influencers are being sent, blog tours now include many more features, author interviews or giveaways - more advertorial style content - influencers seemingly just can’t read by deadlines. (I’m finding this with endorsements for backs of books for my authors this year too.)

Influencers are more often being PAID for reviews as well - I’m seeing some questionable ‘best book I’ve read all year’ posts/reels around commercial romances and crime books, for example, whereby I think ‘but that influencer liked xyz - which was a lot more thoughtful than this concept…’ Identifiably big five books, who have the budgets to work alongside a book blogger to create a review that is more advert than honest.

Because of this ‘pay to play’ culture, blog tour operators would have to charge a lot more to include big bloggers in their tours (because they were being charged on their side also) so blog tours tend to be smaller, more community based reviewers (and I’d say both big vs small influencer reviews are useful, and have their place.)

So blog tours haven’t gone away, but I sense a shift in their format, whereby parties prioritise short-form video, aesthetic photography, and audio clips over long-form written text to drive immediate engagement.

So do you need one?

Not necessarily - authors are increasingly bypassing traditional tour blogs in favour of long-form Substack Q&As and curated reading lists to build deeper, direct trust with readers.

As our culture becomes more fragmented, and book reviews shift into something more cinematic, I’ll be interested to see how book blog tours ‘work’. Let me know in the comments if you’ve ever had a blog tour as an author, or followed along as a reader?

All the best until next week,

Isabelle x