**PROJECT:** The Cartographer of Lost Things by Elena Voss  
**AUDIENCE:** Literary fiction readers, map enthusiasts, indie bookstore loyalists, millennial/Xennial nostalgics  
**CAMPAIGN PHASE:** Pre-launch to Launch Week

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## INSTAGRAM (10 posts)

**POST 1**  
**POST TYPE:** Hook  
**VISUAL NOTE:** Book cover emerging from heavy shadows into shafts of golden hour light, dust motes visible  
**CAPTION:**  
Some inheritances come with locks. Others come with coordinates.

Elena Voss didn't ask for her grandfather's map shop. She certainly didn't ask for the leather-bound journal hidden beneath the floorboards, filled with hand-drawn routes to places that shouldn't exist.

*The Cartographer of Lost Things* arrives March 15th.  
#LiteraryFiction #DebutNovel #MapAesthetic #Bookstagram #TBR

**CTA:** Tap the link in bio to read Chapter One instantly—no email required.

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**POST 2**  
**POST TYPE:** Quote  
**VISUAL NOTE:** Typography overlay on vintage, tea-stained map paper with faded compass rose  
**CAPTION:**  
"Every map is a ghost story drawn in lines. We think we're looking at geography, but we're really looking at longing." —from Chapter 3, *The Cartographer of Lost Things*

The marks we make on paper say more than the terrain itself. What are you searching for?

#BookQuotes #LiteraryQuotes #MappingMemory #ElenaVoss

**CTA:** Comment 🗺️ below if you've ever kept a ticket stub or postcard just for the coordinates.

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**POST 3**  
**POST TYPE:** Behind-the-Scenes  
**VISUAL NOTE:** Candid shot of Elena at a cluttered desk, coffee rings visible, dozens of maps pinned to wall behind her, shot from over shoulder  
**CAPTION:**  
Draft 7. 3 AM. The moment Elena realized the ending had to change.

Writing a novel about maps means admitting that the route you planned isn't always the one you take. This photo captures the exact night Elena scrapped 40,000 words because the story demanded something braver.

Real writing isn't aesthetic. It's this.

**CTA:** Share this to your Stories if you've ever had to start over to get it right.

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**POST 4**  
**POST TYPE:** Story (Carousel)  
**VISUAL NOTE:** 5-slide carousel: mysterious real-world locations (abandoned train station, coastal lighthouse, overgrown library) with excerpts overlaid as if written on the image  
**CAPTION:**  
Swipe: The five real locations that built the fictional town of Meridian.

Every place in this book started as somewhere Elena visited. Slide 3? That's the Oregon coast lighthouse where she found her grandfather's letter. Slide 5? The Paris bookstore where the ending finally revealed itself.

Which slide looks like somewhere you've been?

**CTA:** Swipe to the last slide to see if you recognize the hidden landmark.

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**POST 5**  
**POST TYPE:** Review Amplification  
**VISUAL NOTE:** Screenshot of early Goodreads review, blurred username, layered over soft-focus image of the book in a window seat  
**CAPTION:**  
"I haven't cried over a book since *The Night Circus*. This did something to my insides I can't explain." —Early Reader Review

When the first reviews started coming in, we weren't prepared for how personally people would take this story. There's something about maps that unlocks memory. Apparently, Elena unlocked quite a few.

**CTA:** Save this post for your weekend TBR pile.

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**POST 6**  
**POST TYPE:** CTA  
**VISUAL NOTE:** Hands holding the book against a messy bookshelf background, subtle "Now Available" foiled stamp in corner  
**CAPTION:**  
Your nightstand called. It's demanding something with more substance than your phone.

*The Cartographer of Lost Things* is officially in the world. Indie bookstores have it first. chains follow next week. But the first edition hardcovers with the embossed compass on the cover? Those are only shipping from indies and our direct store.

**CTA:** Click the link below—first 100 orders receive a signed map insert drawn by Elena herself.

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**POST 7**  
**POST TYPE:** Hook  
**VISUAL NOTE:** Extreme close-up of antique brass compass on weathered parchment, shallow depth of field  
**CAPTION:**  
Question for the midnight scrollers:

What's the one place you can never return to? Not because it's gone. Because *you're* not the person who was there anymore.

This book is about those coordinates. The places that map who we used to be.

**CTA:** Drop your answer below—we're compiling the most haunting responses for a project with Elena.

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**POST 8**  
**POST TYPE:** Story  
**VISUAL NOTE:** Split-screen: childhood photo of Elena with her grandfather in his shop vs. present-day Elena at same location  
**CAPTION:**  
1998: A seven-year-old girl learning to fold maps in her grandfather's shop.

2024: That same girl, signing copies of the novel she wrote about him.

Elena spent her summers organizing drawers of topographical maps that smelled like cedar and pipe tobacco. Twenty years later, she realized those summers were research for a story she hadn't lived yet.

**CTA:** Tag the person who shaped your creative DNA in ways they don't even know.

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**POST 9**  
**POST TYPE:** Behind-the-Scenes  
**VISUAL NOTE:** Flat lay of cover design process—color swatches, rejected cover concepts, designer's hand holding Pantone chips against manuscript pages  
**CAPTION:**  
The cover took fourteen drafts. Fourteen.

Here's why the blue had to be that specific shade of midnight—the same color as the ink her grandfather used for his private maps. Anything lighter felt like a lie.

Book design is psychological warfare. This blue won.

**CTA:** Vote in our Stories: Team Midnight Blue or Team Parchment Gold?

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**POST 10**  
**POST TYPE:** CTA  
**VISUAL NOTE:** Event poster aesthetic with bookstore interior visible, warm lighting, chairs arranged for reading  
**CAPTION:**  
Brooklyn, March 20th. Wine, vintage maps, and the story behind the story.

Elena will be in conversation with *The Paris Review* editor Sarah Chen, discussing why maps are the original storytelling technology. We'll have the actual maps from the novel on display. Yes, you can take photos. No, you can't steal them.

**CTA:** RSVP via link in bio—space limited to 40 readers, 12 spots remain.

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## TIKTOK / REELS (5 concepts)

**CONCEPT 1**  
**HOOK (first 3 seconds):** [Close-up on frantic face] "POV: You just inherited a map shop and the maps are starting to change when you're not looking"  
**VIDEO CONCEPT:** Quick-cut montage: hands unlocking dusty shop, pulling out leather map case, unrolling map with glitch transitions showing lines moving, text overlay "HELP" with trending distorted audio  
**CTA:** "Follow for part 2 or grab the book via link in bio to see what happens next"

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**CONCEPT 2**  
**HOOK (first 3 seconds):** [Trending audio bass drop] "Tell me you love books without telling me you love books"  
**VIDEO CONCEPT:** ASMR-style unboxing: kraft paper crinkling, knife slicing tape, revealing embossed cover, fanning pages, exclusive map insert falling out, coffee being poured in same frame  
**CTA:** "Link in bio if this aesthetic just added 5 years to your life"

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**CONCEPT 3**  
**HOOK (first 3 seconds):** [Text on screen] "This book made me miss my subway stop three times"  
**VIDEO CONCEPT:** Elena reading dramatic passage aloud, hard cut to subway roaring past window, cut back to Elena crying/laughing at text, screenshot of review saying "I missed my stop," final shot of book with coffee stain  
**CTA:** "Comment TBR and I'll DM you the secret pre-order link"

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**CONCEPT 4**  
**HOOK (first 3 seconds):** [GRWM format] "Get ready with me to visit the independent bookstore that made this book exist"  
**VIDEO CONCEPT:** Outfit selection, packing tote bag with "Indie Bookstore" pin, commute montage with city sounds, entering bookstore, finding book on "Staff Picks" shelf, genuine surprised gasp, buying copy with cash  
**CTA:** "Tag your local indie below so I can visit them next"

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**CONCEPT 5**  
**HOOK (first 3 seconds):** [Fast cuts with countdown timer overlay] "3 reasons this debut is different from every other novel this year"  
**VIDEO CONCEPT:** Rapid-fire format: (1) Author comes from cartography family not MFA, (2) Maps in book actually lead to real coordinates, (3) Ending changes based on which edition you buy (show different covers), author wink  
**CTA:** "Save this for when you need an excuse to buy another book this month"

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## LINKEDIN (5 posts)

**POST 1**  
**HEADLINE:** We stopped trying to go viral and sold 10,000 pre-orders anyway.  
**BODY:**  
Everyone told us we needed a BookTok strategy. An influencer seeding plan. A "viral moment."

Instead, we spent six months building relationships with 200 independent booksellers. We sent them handwritten letters with actual maps, not press releases. We hosted dinners, not launch parties.

The result? Pre-order numbers that exceeded our three-year projections, sold primarily through indie channels that actually return customer data.

Chasing the algorithm teaches you to shout. Building community teaches you to listen. One of those scales. The other doesn't.

**CTA:** What's your take—chase trends or build tribe? Let's discuss in the comments.

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**POST 2**  
**HEADLINE:** Elena Voss had 200 Instagram followers when we signed her. Here's how we launched her debut novel.  
**BODY:**  
The publishing industry obsesses over platform size. We obsessed over platform *integrity*.

Elena's 200 followers? They were librarians, cartographers, and urban planning grad students. Micro-communities with high trust and specific interests.

We didn't try to make her a lifestyle influencer. We positioned her as the authority on spatial narrative and geographic memory. We pitched her to cartography podcasts, not book clubs. We placed essays in *Atlas Obscura*, not just *LitHub*.

Her book debuted at #3 on the Indie Bestseller list. Platform isn't about numbers. It's about concentration.

**CTA:** Download our "Micro-Platform Strategy" one-pager via the link in the first comment.

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**POST 3**  
**HEADLINE:** Independent bookstores aren't dying. They're becoming algorithm-proof marketing channels.  
**BODY:**  
When Amazon changes its algorithm, publishers panic. When an indie bookstore recommends a book, readers buy it for life.

We allocated 60% of our marketing budget to indie co-op programs—not because it's charitable, but because it's strategic. Indies provide curation authority that no AI recommendation engine can replicate.

A bookseller's handwritten shelf-talker converts at 4x the rate of a targeted Instagram ad. The ROI on relationships just takes longer to measure.

**CTA:** Share this if you have a local indie that fundamentally changed your reading life.

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**POST 4**  
**HEADLINE:** The psychology behind why readers judge books by their covers (and why that's actually rational).  
**BODY:**  
Cognitive science tells us that aesthetic consistency predicts content quality. It's called the "processing fluency heuristic"—if the cover design demonstrates attention to detail, we infer the text received the same care.

For *The Cartographer of Lost Things*, we tested 14 cover concepts. The winner wasn't the trendiest design. It was the one that signaled "this book is constructed with precision" through color theory and typography hierarchy.

Your cover isn't just marketing. It's a promise about the reading experience.

**CTA:** What visual elements make you pick up a book by an unknown author? Curious about your decision-making process.

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**POST 5**  
**HEADLINE:** 3 publishing trends that terrified us, and why we deliberately ignored them.  
**BODY:**  
**Trend 1:** "You must release content every day to stay relevant."  
We posted twice weekly. Quality over quantity increased engagement 300%.

**Trend 2:** "Debut authors should price ebooks at $0.99 to build readership."  
We priced at $12.99. Positioning as premium literary fiction attracted serious readers, not bargain hunters.

**Trend 3:** "You need a TikTok presence to sell books now."  
Our audience is 35-55, LinkedIn-active, and newsletter-dependent. We invested in Substack features, not dances.

Sometimes the best strategy is knowing which "rules" apply to your specific book, not the market average.

**CTA:** Connect with me to discuss your own anti-trend marketing strategies—always interested in contrarian approaches that work.

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## TWITTER/X THREAD (1 thread, 9 tweets)

**Tweet 1**  
Your GPS can take you anywhere. But it can't tell you where you've *been*.  

8 thoughts on why we still need physical maps—and the fiction that explores them 🧵

**Tweet 2**  
Elena Voss wrote THE CARTOGRAPHER OF LOST THINGS after finding her grandfather's hand-drawn maps in a shoebox last winter.  

Some had coffee stains. Some had love letters pressed between the folds. All had coordinates to places that no longer exist.

**Tweet 3**  
There's a difference between location and place.  

Your phone knows your location. Maps know places. They remember the diner that burned down in '89. They mark the trail that eroded after the flood. They preserve what digital navigation erases.

**Tweet 4**  
The protagonist inherits a map shop and discovers her grandfather wasn't charting geography.  

He was mapping grief. He was mapping joy. He was creating a topography of human memory because he knew dementia was coming for his.

**Tweet 5**  
We think digital navigation made us better travelers.  

But when was the last time you got truly lost? When was the last time you discovered something because your algorithm didn't suggest it first?

Getting lost is a skill we're forgetting.

**Tweet 6**  
Fiction about specific, gritty, real place is having a moment.  

Because we're all tired of scrolling past locations and never actually *seeing* them. Because place is character, and we miss characters with roots deeper than their trauma plots.

**Tweet 7**  
Elena wrote this between shifts at a library reference desk.  

She couldn't afford a writing retreat. She wrote it in 20-minute increments for three years while helping patrons find obituaries and tax forms. Sometimes masterpieces are built in the margins.

**Tweet 8**  
If you miss the smell of old paper, the crease of a carefully folded map, the feeling of standing somewhere with no cell service and realizing you're exactly where you're supposed to be...

This book already belongs to you.

**Tweet 9**  
*The Cartographer of Lost Things* is out now.  

Preorder: [link]  
Or better yet—visit your local indie, ask for it by name, and make the bookseller tell you their own story about getting lost somewhere that mattered.

Small acts of cartography. /end