There’s a persistent feeling among Christian authors that marketing is somehow dirty. We write stories we hope will touch others, bring them comfort, challenge them. We may even feel that we were called to write with a Christian worldview or to bring others to Christ.
But marketing our writing? That’s where the enthusiasm over our calling fizzles out.
Personally, I write inspirational fiction because I can reach far more people in print than I can in my day to day life. Sure, I come in contact with dozens of people every day, and I may even share my faith with some of them, should the opportunity arise. As a writer, though, I can reach hundreds, thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people. I can touch far more lives through the written word than I ever could in my day to day life.
So why wouldn’t I want to get my message to the greatest number of readers possible? If I have something of value to share, one that could potentially impact lives, isn’t it wrong to restrict that message to shoppers who might happen across a display in a Christian bookstore or see it on a list on Amazon?
As Christian writers, it is our duty to market our work. Not for own glory or our own pocketbook (though let’s face it, we’d all like to jump up and down over a good royalty statement), but because we’re doing God’s work. If that is true, we shouldn’t shy away from spreading that message to the furthest reaches.
Jesus said, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 28:19). He didn’t say, “Go and make disciples of only readers who shop at Christianbooks.com.” Those of us who don’t explicitly write salvation messages aren’t off the hook either. Portraying characters with a Christian faith, or even just a moral viewpoint in today’s “anything goes” culture, can have an impact of which we may never be fully aware.
Over the next several months, I will be conducting a marketing boot camp to make sense of all those buzzwords and help you think about marketing your work in a consistent and professional manner. At the end of each week’s post, I will give you an action item to complete or a question to answer before next week’s post. By the end of the series, you should have a solid framework for creating your own marketing plan.
This week’s action item: Why do you write inspirational fiction? What message has God called you to deliver?
Next week: Defining yourself as an author
Excellent article, Carla! Can’t wait to find out what you have in store for us each week.
Thanks Jill! I appreciate ACFW Colorado having me.
I like to consider the parables of Jesus as inspirational fiction – stories taken from real life. How many has the Master touched through those stories! Thanks for sharing your expertise. I look forward to reading.
That’s an excellent way to think about it, Davalynn. After all, isn’t that what we’re trying to do with our fiction?
You’ve been reading my mind! I wrote a piece on the WFTJ site that covered the same topic. I was responding to an actual article that someone posted on the online Christianity today about how building a platform wasn’t ideal for a Christian–that fame was bad for a person’s character. Oh boy, I had to write the post because I could not disagree more. We should not hide our light. God gave us our light for a reason. Thanks for writing this Carla. We really need to stop this false humility and start stepping out in faith. Okay. Thus ends my soapbox rant. 😀