Sep 20, 2018 4 min read Books

On Marketing a Book

It’s been a tricky time for me. My book How to Grow came out on August 7. (See how I just promoted my book?) It’s my first time marketing a book, and like many authors I’ve struggled with the process.

A recent tweet by Justin Taylor captures my dilemma.

The quote-tweet response of gratitude to a compliment is just as bad as retweeting a compliment. pic.twitter.com/rURYk1rbP8

— Justin Taylor (@between2worlds) September 18, 2018

Tweet by Justin Taylor

When is marketing okay? And when do we cross over into self-promotion? I don’t have all the answers, but I do have a few thoughts, for what it’s worth.

Rejoicing With Those Who Rejoice

I’ve enjoyed watching a few of my friends, as well as authors I don’t know but respect, publish books recently too. They’ve done all the things that could be considered self-promotion: retweeting compliments, posting reviews, asking for shares, and so on. I received a direct message the other day from a friend who hasn’t messaged me in years asking for me to tweet about his book.

And here’s the thing: I’m not offended. If an author writes a book, I expect that author to let people know about it, and I love when they do. Jared Wilson captured this yesterday in his response to the tweet I mentioned above:

I also tend to follow only people I am generally *for* or am interested in hearing from. So when they share a version of “Somebody liked my book,” I try to think in terms of celebrating with them. “Hooray!” Instead of “Humbug.” 😉

— Jared C. Wilson (@jaredcwilson) September 18, 2018

Good words. If you accomplish something, I want to hear about it. I won’t be the least bit offended if you do. Authors: please promote your books. If I follow you, I want to hear about your work and rejoice with you as you rejoice. I can’t say I’m offended when you market your book or podcast at all.

That being said, I see two dangers.

Avoiding Two Dangers

I can see a couple of dangers when it comes to marketing. One is ignorance; the other is pride.

First Danger: Ignorance

Sometimes we just don’t know what’s acceptable and what’s not. Nobody’s written a set of rules about how to self-promote, and we’re often left wondering what’s acceptable and what’s not. Is it okay to retweet praise? How much is too much? When people offend me, I want to assume that it’s probably because they don’t know any better. It’s sometimes hard to figure out what to do and how to do it.

Until someone publishes a set of rules, here are the ones I try to follow. Aim to add value more times than you try to sell your work. Be generous in sharing your work with others. Restrict self-promotion to a small percentage of your posts and tweets (no more than 30%). Retweet compliments sparingly. Ask for feedback from others.

I don’t know if these are good rules or not, but until someone comes up with something better I think they’re helpful in avoiding unintentional over-promotion.

Second Danger: Pride

My real problem, though, is pride. Part of me wants to be a big deal, and for all the wrong reasons. Nobody’s immune. We need self-awareness, honest feedback from others, a desire to repent, and an increasing desire for God to receive the glory rather than ourselves.

The crowd in Lystra said of Paul, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” (Acts 14:11). That would have made an impressive blurb for Paul’s ministry. Paul wanted nothing to do with it, though.

Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. (Acts 14:15)

It’s never right to accept glory that rightly belongs to God. We’re of “like nature.” We’re no better than anyone else. Our purpose is to direct attention to God and his works, not to ourselves.

From Marketing to Service

In the end, we’re servants, and even our marketing must serve others, not ourselves. I appreciated a recent post by Robert Quinn, an author who hates marketing:

When we discover who we really are, we encounter an evolving, contributing self we can love. When we do that, ego goals give way to contribution goals. We love our audience. We want them to have what we found.

We can do this without a book. We can have a deeply thoughtful strategy and simply use the internet to serve others. If we do, we will be heard. If we are heard, resources will naturally flow back to us. The key is the unnatural jump from ego to contribution.

That sounds a little airy, but I like his point. Our work shouldn’t be about us; if it is, we’re dead wrong. Our work is about loving and serving others. When we do this, self-promotion gives way to service. And that’s what it’s all about.

These are my thoughts on promotion, but I’d love to hear yours.

Darryl Dash

I'm a grateful husband, father, oupa, and pastor of Grace Fellowship Church Don Mills. I love learning, writing, and encouraging. I'm on a lifelong quest to become a humble, gracious old man.

Toronto, Canada