“We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall.” — Proverbs 16:33 NLT
Getting published, you could say, is an act of Providence. We hone our craft, write our book, and then “throw the dice.” What happens after that is largely out of the author’s control. Christians typically entrust this process to God. They believe He will guide their manuscript through the maze of agents and editors, into the perfect hands. After publication, we often look back on these twists and turns and appreciate the hand of Fate steering us toward an appointed end.
Unlike publishing, marketing feels a lot less Providential.
I’m in that phase of my writing career. You know, I casted my bread upon the waters (Eccl. 11:1), and God has seen fit to return it to me. But now I must market the book. And market myself. Along the way, I am learning it’s a lot easier to spiritualize the publishing process than it is the marketing process. It is a lot easier to trust God to find a home for my book, than to trust Him to get my book into homes.
Maybe it’s because marketing is so pragmatic, so logical, so mechanized. Just Google “marketing your novel” and you’re greeted with a gaggle of do’s and don’ts. Successful marketing, so they say, involves some combination (if not all) of the following: maintaining a blog and/or website (SEO optimized), a Facebook presence, active Twitter account, promotional video, author endorsements, author interviews, guest blogging, newsletter, bookmarks, book signings, business cards, giveaways, and the list goes on. So instead of sitting back and trusting God to maneuver my story into the proper hands (as I did when I was seeking publication), now I must “play god” and return the favor.
In this way, marketing seems to contradict Providence.
It’s left me pretty conflicted. I mean, does God sell my book, or do I? I trusted Him to place my story, so should I now trust demographics, network tools, ad campaigns, and market savvy? Now that I’m published, does Platform suddenly trump Providence?
OK. I’m over-thinking things again.
When I was preaching, I used to believe that sermon planning was like building an altar. You put the sticks in place and assembled the sacrifice… and then you stepped back and waited for fire. Sometimes it came, and sometimes it didn’t. But either way, you did your part. In a way, marketing is a lot like building an altar: Your role is to build it, His role is to light the flame.
I’m calling it Providential Marketing. And just like those dice, I must throw them in order to have a shot at snake eyes.
There is part of me that doesn’t want to worry too much about marketing. And there are some voices out there saying you should do only a minimal amount of it yourself, that your best marketing is getting the next exciting story out. (Dean Wesley Smith) The more stories out there, the more you’ll sell, the more people will see you, and the more you’ll sell of each title.
Of course, that will only “work” in the vineyard model of viewing a book’s life, not the model most traditional publishers use, where your book has an expiration date on it. In a vineyard, they invest a lot of money and won’t see a profit on it until years down the road, when the grapes that grew one season have time to ferment and get bottled and finally sold to a customer, two to four years after the grapes were first picked.
With POD, that can happen now because it means a book can stay in print indefinitely, earning for years instead of months. And it allows for the building of titles available to be much larger. Which means, in bookstore terms, more shelf space devoted to your name.
Promotion and marketing has to be done, but how much and how profitable the time is spent doing that instead of writing the next novel can be an issue. Maybe we should look at our writing as a key, if not primary, part of marketing. Because the thing that will sell our books the best is if people really love them. For word of mouth is by far the best marketing out there. It’s what creates best sellers.
Great advice, Rick. I remember how relieved I was when, after discussing marketing strategies, my agent basically said, “Just concentrate on writing a great book.” After all is said and done, great writing is the best marketing. Thanks so much for the comment!
Def. overthinking things. I’m not religious, but I won’t get into that debate, but what happens if you sit back and do nothing and hope someone reads the novel sitting on your harddrive? No one reads it, except your family or whoever uses the computer.
You have to be proactive!
Mike, let me ask you a few quick questions:
Who wrote the novel, you or God? Did God write the novel for you?
Who sent out the novel to publishers, you or God? Did God send the novel out to publishers?
If you had to do the work of writing the novel, then why should you not expect to have to “do the work” of marketing and then trust God from there just as you had to trust God when you “did the work” of writing the novel and then “did the work” of sending your finished book out to publishers?
That may sound ignorant of me since I am still working on finishing a novel and seemingly not at the stage of marketing it, but it’s not my experience I’m drawing on but others along with simple Biblical practicality. The Bible says we have to do our work and to trust God to bless the work of our hands, so if now marketing is a part of that, then so be it. It’s not doubting God but trusting him even more to bless the works of your hands and to bring in a harvest from it. Then put aside your tithe and live off the rest.
I hope that helps you out, Mike.
David, I appreciate your thoughts. I agree that marketing is part of the “work” God requires of us, at least in today’s publishing world. I’m just kind of lamenting how the journey of novel writing, which can at times feel so “spiritually” inspired, turns the corner when it comes to marketing. Unlike writing my book and seeking publication, promotion seems far more sterile, technical, and statistically driven. I just wish I could summon the same inspiration marketing my book, as I did when I was shopping it.
Mike,
I would say that is where endurance with the race comes in. We all run this race, and someone reminded me recently of the verse where Paul talks about running the race to win. The thing about racing sometimes is how most runners can start out just fine, but it’s the winners that push themselves forward and accelerate and keep it up until they make it to the finish line and win. Some runners give up along the way and stop. They never make it to the finish line, and they never win. I bet if you talked with a runner that had to stretch to make it to the end for the win, you’d find out that by the time they got to that point it wasn’t about feeling good as they started out, but just simply making the goal they had worked and put all that training toward. They just pumped those legs in that mechanical way that gets them to where they need to go. In the middle of the race there’s no time for being inspired because that came before the race. In the race, it’s just a matter of doing what one needs to do to win based on the training given. At that point it’s all about the technical process of getting it done. Afterwards, once the win has occurred, then glory and praise and recognition can occur and inspiration for other things can take place too, but to finish the race, it’s all about just doing that mechanical, technical process that everything that came before led up to. I wish you the best, Mike. May you have much success with the sales of your book and may those that get it be affected by God for the better as they read it. 😀
Helpful to keep in mind here is that yes, God is sovereign, yet He works His sovereign will through the meaningful choices of His people and everyone else. That is true for writing, marketing and everything else. Furthermore, the doctrine of vocation has helped me see that all work — save of course jobs that clearly violate God’s revealed will — can be used to glorify God. That’s true for “ministry” positions to politics, evangelism to engineering, and from writing to marketing.
EZINE ADVERTISING WORKS! Find the perfect ezines in
minutes. Save time. Make money. Easy to use. Free ads too!
Sorry, shuky. I removed the link to your ezine advertising bizz. If you want to make a comment about the actual post, you’re more than welcome.
“Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, SPAAAAMM …”
“I DON’T LIKE SPAM!!!”
Someone had to do it 😛
Hi Mike,
I always enjoy your posts. I have often had opportunities to engage in sales, and most often I have not enjoyed the process. I do not like selling, and I do not like being sold either. I believe you are going to meet with more success than you have ever imagined. I have only read your blogs… but I know someone of substance and creativity when I run into them! God Bless and remember some of us are already sold! Let’s hear it for the SOFT sell!
Thanks for your kind words, Brian.
There’s also this biblical principle–let others praise you, not your own mouth.
That’s in Proverbs 27 but the principle is found in several places in scripture.
There is nothing wrong with offering your book to people. You wrote it to give people enjoyment and you shouldn’t feel bad suggesting that people may want to read it. But it’s best if others toot your horn for you, rather than you having to toot it yourself.
I wonder if the best kind of marketing would be for authors to just befriend people–comment on other people’s facebook status updates, visit their blogs–just spend an hour a day doing that, maybe. And don’t mention your book. And then let others who have read and loved your books–children, parents, friends, whoever–gush about how much they enjoy your work.
And we writers, published or not, should always take time to mention books we love whenever it is appropriate. For instance, I mention Jonathan Rogers’ work every chance I get, because I think he’s a great writer–one of my all time favorite authors ever–and I’ve love to see him reach a wider audience. I reviewed Merrie Destefano’s book on my children’s lit blog because she’s so talented and I thought I might be able to do a little to help her reach an audience she wouldn’t normally reach. I don’t know if these things do any good. But I figure they can’t hurt.
And here’s a link to one way children’s author Laurel Snyder is promoting herself without seeming to promote her books. I think it’s a great idea. I wonder if something like it could be done for adult book clubs.
Mike, You raise a good point, and one that frustrates nearly every published author. Only a small fraction of us are comfortable with marketing anyway. And (as Jack Cavanaugh says) if we’re marketing we’re not writing, and if we’re writing we’re not marketing.
Should we even worry about marketing? I like the old saying: “God helps the sailor, but he still must row.”
Thanks for sharing.
Mike, this is a topic that often gets me pulling my hair out. I keep thinking there has to be more I can do. But in the end I can only do what I can do. (That’s a nugget of wisdom right up there with “it is what it is”). I have so many other responsibilities I simply can’t be spending oodles of time or money on marketing. That’s just reality.
Social networking is important as well as keeping up to date with a blog or website but even at that, when I’m hot and heavy in the writing process, the updating and tweeting and posting goes on hold. My best marketing is a story well-told, one the reader finds engaging and interesting.