Carol Bloom Stevens of Rye Brook, New York writes:
“My husband, Mark Stevens, wrote a book called God is a Salesman: Learn from the Master, which will be published by Hachette at the end of this year.
“We are looking for a Christian faith-based PR firm to get the word out to the churches across the country to buy and read this book. Grace Hill Media does this for movies like Mel Gibson’s ‘Passion of the Christ.’ We are seeking specialists in the book publishing industry.
“We’re also looking for creative ideas from other Hounds on how our own PR firm, MSCO, can promote this to consumer and business media.”
Hi,
First, I have to say that you aren’t using all of the capabilities for promotion on Amazon. All there is is a two line blurb. Honestly, after reading it, I’m still not sure what the book will teach me.
Also, I did find your website through the MSCO link you provided, but I wouldn’t expect to have to look there. I’d recommend putting a link right to your site in any promo piece you send. Many people won’t hunt like I did.
Also, even though I found the site, my thoughts from above apply there too. The text doesn’t say much. It would really help to have examples or testimonies from people who have used the ideas, excerpts and the like. Don’t be afraid to give up some content, done right it draws people in to want more.
Once that is situated, I’d recommend a page on Shoutlife which is a Christian version of MySpace, as well as offering articles or excerpts to the many Christian newsletters and blogs that are out there.
Hope that helps.
Blessings,
Cheryl
Many hosts of conservative talk shows are religious
and while they are inundated with books, it can ‘t hurt to promote to them. Here’s an example: Dan Patrick of KSEV here in Houston is a main host and
owner of the station. In addition, he is a state Senator and has written a Christian book and plugged
Mel Gibson’s movie quite a bit. In a market this big
with his following an on air interviewwith another author about how the book came to be could be a big hit.
Targeting these hosts gives you a new category to pursue.
I bet googling “faith based initiatives” will give
a bunch of resources for you also.
As a publicist for Christian books, I work with the faith-based media daily and would encourage you to pitch them, in addition to churches. There are many excellent Christian radio programs, both nationally and locally, who use authors as guests and who might be interested in your topic. Also consider Christian magazines, Web sites, and blogs.
Carol:
Here are some ideas to keep you busy for months:
–Pitch influential bloggers who write about religion, and those who write about sales. Start your search by going to Technorati.com and doing a search for “sales blogs” or “religion blogs.”
When you find one, offer to send the blogger the book.
–Don’t forget ezine publishers. They’re hungry for content, and Mark can probably very easily excerpt a list of “how to” tips that are perfect for an ezine.
–Make sure Mark writes articles that tie into the topic of the book and posts them at big article directory websites like EzineArticles.com.
–Pitch radio talk show hosts at small stations that deal with self-improvement topics. I wrote about Alex Carroll’s new database of radio contacts in the New Age/self improvement/inspirational/mind-body-spirit at https://publicityhound.com/blog/index.php/new-age-self-improvement-mind-body-soul-radio-show-database/