The book’s premise — a woman insisting she’s “absolutely fine” — is itself a quiet portrait of loneliness, specifically the kind that wears a smile and turns up to brunch. That makes participation feel natural rather than opportunistic, which is the make-or-break test for this sort of tie-in.
A few things worth knowing before you plan anything:
The dates. Loneliness Awareness Week 2026 is 9–15 June 2026, hosted by Marmalade Trust. The theme is reducing stigma, with the creative theme “Meeting Loneliness Together.” (The page header lists 15–21 June, but the body copy and Marmalade Trust’s own framing are the authoritative dates.) Depending on your exact launch date, this likely falls either on launch or in the weeks just after — prime territory for organic visibility without it feeling like a sales push.
The sensitivity test. The line you want to stay on the right side of is the book is about this versus I’m using this to sell the book. Marmalade Trust is a working charity and the week matters to people who are genuinely lonely. So:
- Don’t lead with the cover or “buy now” energy. Save that for other days of the week.
- Don’t sentimentalise. Loneliness in real life is grinding and ordinary, not poetic.
- Credit Marmalade Trust by name, link to their resources, use their hashtag (#LonelinessAwarenessWeek), and follow/engage with their content during the week rather than broadcasting at them.
- Consider pledging something concrete — even £1 per copy sold that week, or a flat donation — and say so without making a meal of it.
Where Lisa Doyle has genuine purchase on the topic:
The sharpest angle isn’t “lonely woman finds connection.” It’s the more uncomfortable one — that you can be surrounded by people and still be lonely, and that maintaining the performance of being fine is itself a form of isolation. That’s a more honest contribution to the week than a feel-good pitch, and it’s what the book actually does.
Three concrete things you could do, in order of comfort:
- One carousel or Reel during the week, not a daily drumbeat. Something like “Ten things people say when they mean ‘I’m lonely'” — drawn from the book’s premise but written for the reader’s life, not the character’s. End with Marmalade Trust’s resources, not the book.
- A short author note — a single post, your face or just text — about why you wrote a character who insists she’s fine. Honest, not performative. This is the post where it’s appropriate to mention the book, lightly, because the connection is the point.
- A reading or extract — if there’s a passage where Lisa’s loneliness is most visible (probably not the funny bits), pick one and share it as an image or read it as a Reel. Frame it as “this is what the week is about, in fiction” rather than a sales clip.