I just bought Tom Cox's Everything Will Swallow You solely because of Tom's posts on Bluesky. You can find him at . I do not know Tom personally, but I am a fan of his Bluesky posts... especially his interdimensional portal photos (brilliant description enhances already ridiculously scenic outdoor photos 🩷).

Screenshot of author Tom Cox's Bluesky profile. The banner shows seven of his book covers lined up side by side. His circular profile picture features a stylized face. The profile shows a verified badge, the handle @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social, and indicates that he follows me. The bio reads: "Books, landscape, records, trees, cats, folklore, psychedelia, moths, old buildings, interdimensional portals, occasional sheep (ok, I admit it: often significantly more than occasional)." The profile displays 20.4K followers, 1.1K following, and 18.6K posts.

Tom has been mentioning Everything Will Swallow You for quite a while, now. He's been offering snippets, insider behind-the-scenes info, announcements when it's coming out in different formats, special offers and personalized swag, encouraged people to contact him directly.

Screenshot of a Bluesky post by Tom Cox promoting his latest novel. The post says that readers in the UK can order a signed and personalized hardback directly from him and receive a free handmade linocut bookmark by his mother. Below are two images: the cover of Everything Will Swallow You, showing a cliff above a shoreline in blue and tan, and a group of six handmade linocut bookmarks featuring animals and other designs in black, white, and orange.

I'm in awe and admiration of how accessible has made himself to his readers. I also confess that I would not be able to do this myself, at least not without help.

Tom also knows how to summarize his book in a single Bluesky post:

What I especially admired about Tom's book promotion:

Tom made it personal, opinionated, and almost always included an image that wasn't just a bare-bones cover image.

Tom's non-book posts were entertaining and/or interesting enough that I didn't mind his frequent mentioning of his books. I also love that he uses ALT text for all his images, and also appreciates artists.

What pushed me over the edge into making a purchase: Tom's post yesterday in which he read a poem from his book, with his cat on his lap:

Tom Cox's avatar
1d

Me reading a poem from Everything Will Swallow You just now, with added Jim (who is a big fan of the oral storytelling tradition and can be relied upon to turn up from wherever he’s been hanging out any time I read aloud).

Video thumbnail

Alone, this post would not have been enough to make me buy the book. Nor would any individual other post. But I've been really enjoying Tom's posts on Bluesky, and decided to check out his Pinned Post, where I discovered that the UK bookstore did FREE international delivery (I live in Canada).

Screenshot of a pinned Bluesky post by Tom Cox announcing the publication day of his novel Everything Will Swallow You. The post mentions signed copies through Blackwell's, an excerpt on his website, and themes including the sea, walking, knitting, old records, community, crows, dogs, silliness, and folklore. Below is a photo of the book standing upright in grass on a coastal cliff, with the sea and cliffs in the background under a blue sky.

I checked out the link, found that the cost of the paperback version not only includes free delivery to Canada, but is also signed by the author.

Looking forward to when my copy arrives!

Title: Everything Will Swallow You

Author: Tom Cox

Publisher: Swift Press

Cover artist: Joe McLaren

I follow Tom Cox on Bluesky at .