I ADMIT THAT I AM EXCITED
As many of you know, this past September I published a mystery novel, A Star and a Tear amzn.to/1aTDdgs . This is a self-publishing venture through Kindle and Create Space. When you self-publish, the marketing is totally up to you. I’ve spent the last year trying to learn how best to let people know that the novel has been published and encourage them to read it. Five people, a church historian, a Dean of Students, a past moderator of the Presbyterian Church, a published poet and a practicing pastor all agreed to read the manuscript and write a pre-publication review. Each had their own perspective and wrote very positive reviews.
As part of my education, I joined Twitter, Facebook, Linked in, Google plus, etc. I also have done a lot of study on how to use and how not to use these forms of social media. Leading up to this publication, I published on Kindle three volumes of Clergy Tales–Tails that included a series of short stories about clergy struggling with the issues of ministry. In addition to the short stories, I included in these volumes some suggested ideas and resources on how clergy can maintain their health. All of this and other efforts like guest blogging, email campaigns, speaking engagements, etc. included my telling people about my interests in the lives of clergy.
The novel is a mystery. As part of the mystery about a pastor’s effort to assist the police in tracking down a serial rapist with a religious fixation, I explored the theme of the relationship between sexuality and spirituality. I also included a study guide with questions at the end of each chapter to guide a group in exploring this theme for themselves.
AN INTERNATIONAL CONTEST
In early December, as part of the Goodreads program, I offered five signed printed copies as part of their GiveAway program. The idea is that anyone who wants to enter can sign up during the announced time frame. Then, at the end of that time, in this case January 6, Goodreads takes all the entries and draws five names from them as the winners.
Now here is where I’m excited. Seven hundred and sixty five people entered the contest. Not only that, but entries, and eventually winners came from Canada and Great Britain as well as the USA. When the five names were drawn, two were from Great Britain, two from Canada, and one from New Jersey. Even as I write this, I have prepared packages to be mailed to these people.
Whether it sells well depends on whether I can convince those who read it to spread the word, both to their friends and by writing a review on Amazon. I’ve still got a lot of work to do, but I have the pleasure of knowing that people from three different countries will share my mystery. They will also probe the mystery of how both sexuality and spirituality can be two of the most destructive and creative powers in our world.
Maybe you will read it too amzn.to/1aTDdgs. That would please me very much. I’d also like to hear what you thought about it and whether you even found some friends to discuss it with you.
It is a nice way to begin 2014.
