Stepping Out of the Boat: My First Oxford Indie Book Fair

carolineboxall
Nov 17, 2025
2 min read

On November 23rd I'll be 'stepping out of the boat' and heading into the real world.

Marketing and Social Media are terms that make me feel uncomfortable. I'm not interested in seeing what other people have for dinner, where exactly they sat on the beach, or which exercise helped them with their knee rehab (well I might be if I needed knee rehab). So why would anyone be interested in me?

The problem is this: If I don't talk about my books, nobody else is likely to either. And then all the hours of writing will be for nothing... except the small satisfaction of completing a book. Actually, that's a big satisfaction - huge and thrilling and I highly recommend it.

I love going into schools and talking to the children. Their faces all looking up at me all eager and inquisitive. Their questions. How much they want to tell me about their own writing. Absolute highlight.

But this Sunday I'm heading for The Oxford Indie Book Fair!

Yes, I've taken a table, and with the help of two of my daughters (they're fun and energetic and definitely more exciting than me), I'm going to be standing there telling people why they might like to read my books.

Gulp.

Please come and say hello! I'm hoping to meet some wonderful people, especially:

Teachers who will love the idea of using my Crazy Creatives books for their book clubs.
Home Education parents who will enthuse about my brand new Mindfulness Creative Writing Courses.
Young Readers who want to enter my international writing competition or do the fun 'character test' to see which of my characters they are most like.

I promise I'm more comfortable talking about writing than talking about myself!