Welcome Karen Baney! I always call Karen the book marketing guru because she seems to have both hands on the pulse of everything currently happening in best practices of e-book marketing. If you have a Kindle and this subject matter is important to you, her e-book, 10
Keys to eBook Marketing Success, is free TODAY and TOMORROW only! That's February 5 and 6, so download it and check out her sage advice.
Karen's thought-provoking article below may just spark a flame in your candle today:
Do Something!
Sometimes I’m amazed at the apathy of authors when it comes
to marketing—especially Christian authors.
Hold on! Before you
click away, give me a second to explain.
Like many Christian authors, I firmly believe that each and
every book that I’ve written and published are the words God has called me to
write. I take this responsibility very
seriously. I know without a single doubt
that He has entrusted me (flawed and frightened me) with a big task. My fiction works are somewhat in the “edgy”
Christian category. My nonfiction stems
from a desire to help other authors—most especially my Christian peers—learn
the ropes of marketing.
Part of writing in the modern world means taking on the
chore of marketing your own work. We all
know this, yet we fight against it.
Before I get back to my opening statement, let’s take a look
at Matthew 25:14 – 30 (NIV). Jesus is
speaking here and the context is about the end times, but there are some other
really good lessons to be learned.
(Emphasis is mine.)
14 “Again, it will be like a
man going on a journey,who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to
them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and
to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on
his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work
and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold
gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid
his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the
master of those servants returned and settled accounts with
them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other
five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have
gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well
done, good and faithful servant! You
have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.Come
and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with two bags of
gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold;
see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well
done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I
will put you in charge of many things.Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24 “Then the man who had
received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard
man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not
scattered seed.25 So I was afraid
and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to
you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You
wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and
gather where I have not scattered seed?27 Well then, you should have put
my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have
received it back with interest.
28 “‘So take the bag of gold
from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has
will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have,
even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that
worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.’
Authors, you have been entrusted with a very special
gift. The message in your book or novel
is one that needs to get out.
The lesson we can learn from the first two servants is that
they immediately went out and put their money (or talents in some translations)
to work. They didn’t sit on the
sidelines and complain. They didn’t hide
behind fear. They didn’t hide behind a
proclamation that they didn’t really see their work as a business, but it is
more of a ministry.
Instead, the first two servants each went out and used their
talents and doubled their money. What’s
the hidden part of their success? Did they
automatically know how to double their money?
Did they have a few things to learn along the way? I believe they had a lot of learning to
do. Anyone who has ever started a
business knows how much work it is and how little they know and how they constantly
have to learn new things. That, in my
opinion, is what the first two servants did.
The third servant buried his gold in the ground out of fear.
Fear is such a crippling emotion. It stops us from doing many things. We can hide behind or let it take control and
warp our view until we become completely ineffective.
Authors: stop letting
fear win! Be bold like the first two
servants. Learn how to market your work
so you can best leverage the talents God has given you. It will be hard work. It will take time. It will take financial resources.
The Lord, your God, has entrusted this task to you. Go out and do something with it.
On February 5th&
6th, you can pick up a copy of Karen’s latest book, 10
Keys to eBook Marketing Success,
for free on Amazon.
Best-selling self-published
author, Karen Baney, enjoys sharing information to help authors learn about the
Business of Writing. She holds a Masters of Business Administration from
Arizona State University and has worked in various business related career
fields for the past 20 years. She writes Christian Historical Fiction and
Contemporary Romance novels. To learn more about her novels visit her
website: karenbaney.com. Authors can find tips and information on
self-publishing and marketing at: www.myauthorservices.com.
Karen and her husband, Jim,
also run several online businesses. They make their home in Gilbert, AZ,
with their two dogs.
