Use Online Promotion for your Book Release

Today SORMAG's Lashaunda Hoffman is here to participate in our 1question author interview series.

Hi Dee,

Hope all is well with you.

What is the best way to promote a book release?

As the Princess of Online promotion, I’m going to suggest online. I’ve found you can reach all types of readers this way. Many of these ways are low cost.

Blogs - If you have friends with blogs ask them to introduce you and your book. They could even do an interview with you.

Forums - Most writers belong to one or two forums. You can be a guest on these forums, discuss a topic and of course plug your book.

Chats - People are still chatting, so schedule a few and discuss your book or chat about a subject you know well.

Websites - You can promote you book, by featuring an excerpt on your or asking your friends to feature one on theirs.

Online Radio - There are many radio shows looking for authors to interview, introduce yourself and schedule an interview.

Articles - is a great way to share your knowledge and you can promote your book in your byline.

Online you can promote on online bookstores, book clubs and never leave your home.

LaShaunda Hoffman
Editor - SORMAG

Break Agendas to Become a More Authentic Writer

Vivacious author and speaker, Vonda Skelton stops by Christian Fiction Blog to participate in our 1 Question Author Interview series and to invite us to participate in her Gorgeous Spring Goody Bag Sweepstakes. This month's question:

What truth has God taught you that also affected your writing career?

He's teaching me that I need to trust Him more. I recently had so many things going on that I couldn't prepare for three events as thoroughly as I usually do. I found myself feeling vulnerable, weak, and needy. Not that I don't ask for His help every time I speak, but this was different. I was crying out to God, begging Him to fill me with His words, His message. And you know what? Those three events were the most powerful, most amazing events I've ever had! Instead of working from a well-defined plan, I spoke the words God placed in my heart and mind. As always, I had been praying God would use the week's events to change hearts...and He did. He changed mine. I learned to relinquish my agenda and plans to His; to trust Him in a way I hadn't truly trusted Him before. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That week, God's power was made perfect through my weakness. I never want to work in my strength again.

Thanks Vonda. Stay tuned(Subscribe). The next post will explore the book and discuss Vonda's sweepstakes giveaway.

The Best Couples are a Hot Mess

My Soul to Keep author, Melanie Wells stopped by Christian Fiction Blog to participate in our 1Question Author Interview Series-The Valentine Edition. 2 Questions/Couple. Cute. The questions:

Who are your favorite fictional couple?

I hate to be a cliche' but I'd have to say Rhett Butler and Scarlet O'Hara. They're a charming, cantankerous relational disaster. You just want to smack 'em both.


And what have you learned about them that helps you build the romance arc of your own stories?

Like Rhett and Scarlett (at this point, any southerner knows to add "bless their hearts" -which is required if you're insulting someone) my characters are extremely flawed. My books tend to be populated with broken - or at least bent - people. But they're so likeable, you're rooting for them anyway. Dylan Foster (bless her heart) just can't quite seem to get it right, which keeps the tension running all the way through the story. You WANT it to work out between her and David-who-owns-a-funeral-home-in-Hillsboro, but you're also sitting there thinking, Dylan, you need to go to time out, and David, for crying out loud, get a SPINE and stand up to this woman. They're a mess. That's what makes the story work. Happiness is sort of boring, if you think about it.

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SuperWomen Can't Be Bestsellers

Essence bestselling author, Tia McCollors, who's third novel, The Truth About Love releases in February and her debut novel, A Heart of Devotion has had at least 5 printings and sold more than 40, 000 copies stops by on a Mommy break to answer our question:

What did you do for your spiritual life in '07 that also improved your writing?

Last year was a great learning experience for me. I was so used to being superwoman and trying to be all things to all people. As God revealed to me how to balance my family with my writing career, things shifted to an easy flow. I didn't feel the rush and the pressure to write all of the time, but instead to enjoy those days when me and my son played outside, pushed trucks around in living room, or read his favorite books over and over!

Slowing down your life helps a writer craft a masterpiece that readers will enjoy for ages, and that your family will be proud of for generations.

Sounds good, Tia. Congrats on the new baby.

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Become Intimate with your Readers

Nicole Seitz, artist and author of the The Spirit of Sweetgrass and Trouble the Water[releases in March 08] stops by Christian Fiction today to participate in our 1Question Author Interview Series.

The question: What did you do for your spiritual life in '07 that also improved your writing?

I allowed myself to fully connect with others in 2007. This writing business is often a solitary undertaking. Hours and hours behind a screen, talking to no one, seeing no one. My debut novel, The Spirit of Sweetgrass, came out in 2007, and I found myself promoting the book at signings, conferences, festivals. With each talk, I became more open. With each new reader, I realized the impact my writing had. With each new author I met, I connected on an intimate level. Oftentimes perfect strangers touched me in a profound spiritual way by the words they said about the words God wrote through me. In essence, in 2007 I opened myself up to allow others to come into my heart, something I've guarded for much of my life. This new openness of spirit has made me a more empathetic writer, one who truly cares about her readers, about her fellow man, about her characters. I can only be a better writer by feeding my heart in such a way.

Don't want to miss your favorite author's response, subscribe to CFB. If you are an author and would love to participate in this series, please contact me.

Prepare for God to Change Your Writing Plan

Continuing with the 1Question Author Interview series. The question is:
What did you do for your spiritual life in '07 that improved your writing? Author of Steeple Hill Cafe's latest romantic comedy, Happily Even After, Marilynn Griffin responds.

I think the biggest thing I did last year was to accept that God's plans for my writing might be different from mine. Now if I can just wrestle that to the ground in 2008, I might be onto something! LOL

Make Room for Your Writing Ministry

Christian heist author and old Romantic Times Reviewer alumn, Jill Elizabeth Nelson stops by to give New Year's Writing Resolutions to us during our 1 Question Author Interview Winter Series. The Reluctant Smuggler, her third installment of To Catch a Thief trilogy hits newstansd this month.

The question: What did you do for your spiritual ife in '07 that improved your writing?


Hi, Dee:

Thanks for the opportunity to answer your blog question.

In the past year, I took inventory of my commitments in order to make room for my writing ministry in a packed schedule. As much as I have loved ministering to the children in my church, I found out it was to their advantage, as well as my own, to pass the baton to someone else. Now I have much-needed to time stay connected with the Lord by fellowshipping with Him in the Word and prayer, and I can faithfully fulfill the writing assignments that keep coming my way. The children's ministry at my church has a new, on-fire head to lead them to the next level in God. It's always win-win to do what you're supposed to do, rather than what you think you ought to do.

Joyful New Year!

Jill --
Live the Adventure!
http://www.jillelizabethnelson.com --

We CAN Promote Our Books! - marketing blog for writers - http://canblog.typepad.com/canbookmarketing/ --

Reluctant Burglar, Available Now!
Reluctant Runaway, Available Now! - watch a video trailer at http://www.jillelizabethnelson.com/tcatbooks.shtml --
Reluctant Smuggler, January 2008
Multnomah Publishers

Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season...fulfill your ministry. II Timothy 4: 2a and 5b.