Where creativity meets
strategic content
Ciao, I’m Sara,
the curator behind Ancona Creative.
A social media strategist with a background in art curating, a soft spot for love stories, and a passion for marketing.
I'm a hopeless romantic who craves a good love story I can escape into, and also the kind of reader who needs two weeks to finish a book, because the last chapter means it's the end of the story.
You might wonder why a curator is doing marketing. Here's why:
the job of an art curator is to take what an artist has to say and translate it for people who don't yet have access to it. Not to overpower it, not to change it, just to build a bridge between the person who made something and the people who need it. That's exactly how I work on social media: helping authors create a bridge between their book and their readers.
I start by immersing myself in an author's world so that everything I create feels like a natural extension of their voice and their books, not an outsider's interpretation of them.
From inconsistent to unmistakable
As a self-published romance author with a marketing background, she understood strategy and knew what good content looked like. But when the writing took over, and with a romance author, it always does, the mental space for social media simply wasn't there. Content was ad hoc. She had the ideas but not the time to schedule or create them consistently.
What she needed wasn't just someone to make graphics. She needed someone who would read the books first, understand her branding, and create content that stayed true to her voice. Her biggest hesitation going in was letting go, giving someone else access to her dashboards and trusting that what reached her audience would still feel aligned with her.
The approach
Everything started with the books, not a content calendar or a brand brief. Every piece of content was built from the inside of her creative world out: strategy, visuals, captions, and scheduling, all shaped by a deep understanding of her characters, her voice, and her readers.
The results
Comparing her first quarter working together to the same quarter one year later:
On Instagram:
Followers grew by 80%
Reach grew by 134%
Interactions grew by 52%
On Facebook:
Followers grew by 132%
Views grew by 720%
Interactions grew by 170%
Link clicks grew by 758%
Growth wasn't a single spike. It held, month over month, through writing sprints, deadlines, and quieter seasons.
Her beautiful words
“Sara made such a positive impact on my business. From creative content to engaging captions and smart strategy, she handles it all with ease. Her insight, reliability, and ability to truly understand my brand have been game changing. Highly recommend!”
From her latest book dedication:
"To Sara. Thank you for wrangling my socials, my ideas, and my chaos with so much patience and skill."
The takeaway
Over a year of working together, and counting. Consistent content through writing sprints, deadlines, and everything in between.
Less overwhelm, more time, and a social media presence that genuinely reflects her books, without her ever having to lose sight of it.
BEFORE AND AFTER -
Instagram Feed Appearance
Before
After
Instagram Reels Examples
Please click each phone icon to see the videos
A few more examples, by type, so you can see the range:
Talking Reel for Cover Reveal — [View here]
Author Anniversary Video — [View here]
Audiobook Teaser — [View here]
Audiobook Teaser (Simple) — [View here]
Mood-board Reel — [View here]
Instagram Post Examples
A launch day carousel built to do three things at once: pull readers in with the blurb, hook them with the tropes they're already searching for, and make the book easy to find in whatever format they read.
Every slide has a job. By the last one, buying the book feels like the obvious next step.
Part of a series of teasers built to pull readers back into a world before the next book even arrives, a postcard from the town, an email from the B&B, small details that make the story feel real again.
This is what keeps readers attached between releases. Not just aware a book is coming, but excited for it.
A collaborative giveaway with another author, designed to introduce each of our readers to worlds they'd love just as much.
This is the kind of content that grows an audience without ever feeling transactional: the right partnership, at the right moment, so new readers arrive already curious about the books.
Trope Reveal Carousel:
Based on her genre (small-town romance), this carousel reimagines classic tropes as collectible postcard stamps, each one illustrated with a detail pulled directly from the book (setting, object, or character cue) so readers can spot the story before they've read the story.
Examples of promotional content and world-building content
Facebook Banner Examples
Facebook Group Banner for Author’s ARC & ALC Team
Facebook Banner for Author’s Business Account
Before working together, Sarah’s business social media accounts had gone quiet for years, with gaps of three to five years between posts and no clear strategy behind what was shared. Over twelve months, that shifted into consistent, intentional content, not just for her own business, but extended to support her clients' accounts too.
Sarah’s kind words:
"Sara has been an integral part of my business over the last 12 months, planning and creating strategic content not only for me but also my clients. She is extremely thorough in all her research and execution, applying strategic thinking that increases the chances of getting real traction on social media. If you need someone who knows your business and industry inside out and delivers results, she's your girl!"
The following is a fictional author created for portfolio and demonstration purposes only. All characters, book titles, and quotes referenced are fictional and were created solely to showcase content strategy and design work.
Any resemblance to real authors, books, or individuals is purely coincidental.
ANCONA CREATIVE
Examples
Brand Overview:
A quick look at Mara's visual identity, from colour palette to typography, built to match the tone of her genre.
Applying the Brand
Three post concepts showing how tone, visuals, and caption strategy work together across the funnel.
Ancona Creative - Lead Magnet Concept
A reusable content template for romance authors that I designed based on my framework to explain how to spark curiosity into the readers. This is part of my new lead magnet, the Content Quick Start Challenge. It reflects my focus on creating scalable content systems that simplify posting while reinforcing brand identity.
A strategic carousel created to launch my new offer, combining education, positioning, and conversion-driven messaging. This example highlights how I apply the same principles to my own brand, building trust, nurturing interest, and guiding the audience toward action.
EXTRA WORK OUTSIDE OF SOCIAL MEDIA EXAMPLES
Creative brand extensions designed to deepen audience connection beyond the feed.
A custom-designed birthday card created as a touchpoint between author and readers, incorporating key visual elements from the client’s book series.
This piece demonstrates my ability to extend a brand beyond digital content into meaningful, on-brand audience experiences.
These are part of a collection of postcards designed as immersive extensions of a book series, each featuring unique typography to reflect individual character voices, along with custom front designs and postage details.
This showcases my attention to detail and ability to build layered, narrative-driven visual experiences that deepen audience connection.
A themed “boarding pass” designed as part of an influencer campaign, inviting readers back into the fictional world of the series.
This highlights my approach to engagement marketing; creating interactive, memorable assets that enhance campaigns and strengthen audience engagement.
I have also worked with:
Brian Cachia - Film & TV Music Composition & Music Production
He came to me unsure how social media even worked for him, wary of anything that felt like self-promotion, and unsure where to start. Working together on strategy for a film launch (Beast) gave him a clear content plan and, more importantly, the confidence to run with it himself: knowing what a reel is for versus a carousel, and feeling comfortable posting either.
Brian’s kind words:
"Thank you so much for your professional help and guidance and for being so on it with everything. I learnt a lot and enjoyed seeing the work being appreciated."
Looking for full social media management?
I'm currently renovating my full packages (strategy, content, and management). If a fuller offer sounds like a better fit for you, I'd love to share more, and as a thank-you for reaching out early, the first three months are available at a discounted rate.
Not sure what you need?
A free discovery call is the easiest way to figure out what makes sense for your books and your goals