After coaching over 400 authors, I've observed a tendency among some writers to believe that marketing their books is a strange, foreign behavior that must be forced into their life. The notion of promoting your work feels phony or unnecessary. Included in this mentality is the false assumption that marketing is a manipulative scheme developed by corporate America. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. The concept of marketing is actually a foundational part of transferring ideas from one person to another. I'll even argue that God takes credit for the invention of marketing.
For example, consider biblical passages that say, "Taste and see that the Lord is good" or "Jesus said, 'Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.'" Notice how God never expected anyone to blindly accept His message. Rather, He encourages people to taste His goodness first and then make a decision. Tasting is the same idea as an author offering sample chapters and free resources to skeptical readers. In addition, God knew that people would struggle to believe Him without dwelling in a physical form. So, you could say that God sent Jesus on a high-profile "book tour" to act as His representative. Heck, God even became an author by compiling everything about Himself into a book (as you would guess, He's also the biggest bestseller in history.)
So, if you're an author who struggles with promoting your work, realize that God faced the same situation. And, He didn't choose to sit in Heaven and hope people would someday read His words. He marketed His message in many ways, and proactively spent time face-to-face with people. Therefore, if the concept of marketing is good enough for God, why not consider giving it a try? Let the world taste and see that your book is good.
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