Welcome to week four of the Christian Author Bootcamp! This is a ten week book promotion blitz created to help you whip your publicity plan into shape. This week we’re talking about using special discounts as an incentive to get people to purchase your book and about conducting a book giveaway.
Ambassador International often provides custom coupon codes to authors who want to provide a special discount through marketing materials or to people who attend a special event. The coupon codes are valid only in the Ambassador International online bookstore. Check with your publisher about getting a coupon code that you can distribute.
If you decide to host a giveaway of your book make sure you promote it through Twitter, Facebook and more. Enter your giveaway on giveaway listings hosted by other blogs. Here is a long list of blogs that promote various weekly giveaways. You must enter your information into each site, but it can be a great way to get the word out about your giveaway.
Take a tour of the new and improved Ambassador International booth at the International Christian Retail Show! The show kicked off this morning and runs through Wednesday. Stop by booth 2010 and visit us if you are attending the show! If you’re not attending, be sure to enter our HUGE FREE giveaway! Our new division, Ink Swift, is giving away a free publishing package worth $995 and you can enter online at InkSwift.com.The winner will be selected at random here in St. Louis on Wednesday.
Have you always wanted to publish a book? Now you have no excuses! In honor of their recent launch, Ink Swift is giving away a free publishing package to one lucky person. Just fill out the form at InkSwift.com for your chance to win this prize valued at $995. The Ink Essential publishing package includes:
Custom Cover Design
Professional Formatting
Online Retail Distribution
eBook Format and Distribution
ISBN Assignment
25 Complimentary Copies
50% Discount on Reorders
Much More!
A winner will be chosen at random on our about June 30 at the International Christian Retail Show, so get your entry in right away! For a copy of the official rules email tlowry [at] inkswift [dot] com.
We’re excited to announce the winner of Paulette George’s book Good Morning Beautiful and the signed copy of Steve Holy’s album Blue Moon featuring the hit song Good Morning Beautiful. Using Random.org to select a winner, number eight was chosen:
Leanne Ashenfelter
Mar 16, 2010 at 2:59 pm
I became a fan on Facebook. I am an avid reader and would love to read about this incredible story and journey. Thank you so much for the entry!
Congrats to Leanne! And for everyone else who would like to purchase a copy of Paulette’s book, please use coupon code GMB20 in the Ambassador bookstore to take 20% off your purchase. This code is good until April 15.
We introduced you to author Paulette George with her post, How to Find a Literary Agent. Now we’re giving you a chance to win a signed copy of her new book, Good Morning Beautiful and a signed copy of Steve Holy’s album Blue Moon, which contains the hit song Good Morning Beautiful.
In Good Morning, Beautiful, published by Ambassador International, Paulette shares her family’s journey through the violent storms of epilepsy and autism. Hanging on to hope as their daughter Christina’s life was being ripped away by more than one hundred villainous seizures a day, the story chronicles their miraculous discovery of a diet with roots in Scripture that helped her and her husband hang on to hope. Theirs is a story of enduring love, unstoppable courage, and overcoming faith in the God of miracles. The book also explains the remarkable role the hit country song Good Morning Beautiful played in her daughter’s recovery. Hearing the family’s story, recording artist Steve Holy has become a close family friend to the George’s and an advocate to Christina.
There are three chances to win this fabulous prize pack. Just make sure you leave a comment every time you do one of these things:
1. Follow author Paulette George on Twitter and send out a tweet about this giveaway. Feel free to use this tweet: Enter to win the book Good Morning Beautiful by @Paulette_George & a signed copy of @SteveHoly album Blue Moon! http://tinyurl.com/yh5dm3m.
Today’s guest post comes from author Paulette George. Her new book “Good Morning Beautiful” hits store shelves this month. Although Paulette dreamed of becoming a published author, she wasn’t sure how to make it happen. In this guest post she explains how faith and courage helped her make the connections she needed to have in order to accomplish her goal.
It was a warm June morning as I drove in Chicago traffic. Fog thickened as I headed for the writer’s conference I had waited a year to attend. Fear and insecurity began to engulf me, as travel became more difficult and I had 60 miles yet to cover. Finally I panicked and turned the car around, heading toward home. At the Starbucks drive-thru I bartered with God.
Surely You would not want me to risk my life to attend this conference? It’s just too dangerous to drive.
No. I heard in my head. Go back.
Not taking the thought seriously, I continued.
What are you doing? Go back. The nudging persisted.
Pulling over in the parking lot, I phoned my husband, fully expecting him to tell me I was doing the right thing. He didn’t. Instead, he urged me to listen to the tug of the Holy Spirit and follow the lead. Via my earpiece, Larry stayed with me as the highway brought me safely to the conference, one minute before the opening session began. There were no appointments left to meet with an agent or editor. Though disappointed, I knew I was where I was supposed to be.
That evening Jennifer, a fellow writer whom I had just met, strolled with me toward the dining hall. As we passed a man who I thought was an agent, I surprised myself when I asked if we could join his table. I was equally surprised when he agreed. As we ate, Jennifer and another writer shared their stories and pitched their writing. Terrified of rejection, I was silent until Jennifer glared at me, urging me to share. When I didn’t, she spoke for me.
“Well, Paulette has story to tell.”
I gulped, and nothing came out until a concealed kick from Jennifer’s foot prompted me to speak.
My mind flashed back to the class where I had learned about pitching a story. Having memorized the key points, I slowly began my spiel. When I finished, there was silence, which I was sure lasted more than an hour. In reality it was only a minute. As Les finished his last bite of food, he set his fork down on the table.
“What’s your take-away message for the reader?” he queried.
I knew the story so well that my answer was instant.
He nodded and asked, “Who is your target audience?”
Again, I knew the answer.
Les smiled, and pulled out his business card, jotting instructions on the back for me to submit my book proposal to him. Not long after, I received a contract. Today, as I sit in my office and write this article, I am days away from holding my first published book.
My advice to you on how to land an agent is this: have a one-minute elevator pitch ready, and know your take-away message for the reader and your target audience. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt to pray.
Thanks again to Paulette for sharing her story and advice on finding a literary agent. Be sure to enter for a chance to win Paulette’s new book along with an autographed copy of the hit album “Blue Moon” by Steve Holy, featuring the song that Paulette’s book is named for, “Good Morning Beautiful.” Details to come here on Christian Publishing Tips shortly.
LifePoint Church in Greenville, South Carolina is launching a donation drive to help Christian charities currently serving in Haiti. Relatives of one of LifePoint’s members operate the Jean Cadet Restavek Foundation, a group that serves some of the estimated 300,000 Haitian children enslaved in child labor. The organization’s founder, a former Haitian slave, is currently in Haiti along with several other staffers working to bring relief to the poor people he serves in the wake of the recent earthquake. This donation drive will also support the First Haitian Evangelical Wesleyan Church in Mauldin which needs supplies to send to Haiti. To aid these organizations’ efforts, LifePoint Church is asking the Greenville community to donate the following:
Baby Food
Baby Formula
Non-perishable Food Items
Blankets
All donations may be dropped off at Christian publishing house Ambassador International, located at 427 Wade Hampton Blvd, on the corner of Chick Springs Road, across from CVS. Items will be collected from January 25 until February 5. Donations may be dropped off Monday through Friday between 9am-5pm or on Saturday from 10am-2pm.
Make sure you check out Ambassador International’s sale. They’ve drastically lowered the price on five popular titles. Here are the details:
AND if you’re a fan of Christian Publishing on Facebook you’ll have access to a coupon code that will take EVEN MORE off your total during this awesome sale! So whether you need a gift for mom, dad, grandparents or kids, this sale will help you knock out some Christmas shopping without spending much money!
Congratulations to Kaye! She’s the winner of Your Right Job Right Now, a new hardback by Brian Golter. Kaye has her own blog called SandwichINK.com where she writes to provide information and encouragement to Baby Boomers who are providing senior citizen care to their parents while also helping with their grandkids. Kaye left a comment saying she was praying for several out of work friends:
I am currently praying for 4 people who are either out of work, or in a job they aren’t happy with and are thinking of changing. Over the last year, I have been praying for 10+ friends for the same! DEFINITELY a tough market and great timing for this book. Thanks for the chance to win it. It will be well used by being much passed around.
Using Random.org, she was chosen as the winner! We hope this book encourages Kaye and her friends looking for their right job right now! If you’d like to purchase your own copy the publisher, Ambassador International has offered an incredible deal to Christian Publishing Tips’ readers. Use coupon code RJRN40 at checkout to receive a whopping 40% off your copy at Ambassador-International.com!
Thanks for reading and thanks to all who entered our latest giveaway. If you’d like to read more about the author, Brian Golter, visit his website, YourRightJobRightNow.com. And Kaye, let us know how you like the book!
When Brian Golter wrote his book Your Right Job Right Now, he had no idea how needed and timely it would be. His book, released this month by Ambassador International, is a survival guide for the new job market. It’s not only a great read for those on the job hunt, but also for those feeling like they’re not reaching the full potential God has in mind for them with their current job. Today Brian joins us to explain why he wrote the book, and how his mission changed as the economy changed.
**Keep reading for your chance to WIN Brian’s new book!**
When I wrote this book in 2008, I was writing to those rare individuals who wish to see their careers as an opportunity to transform themselves. To overcome their deep-rooted fears and inadequacies, and become the man or woman they had always dreamed of being. It was a book about turning fear into courage, mistrust into trust and inadequacy into confidence.
But as the saying goes, “that was then and this is now”. Since the time I completed this manuscript, we have entered into one of the most difficult job markets in modern history. This book is no longer for rare individuals. It has become a survival guide for the new job market. Understanding how to bring your absolute best to the job market is no longer a luxury. It has become a necessity.
The old rules simply no longer apply. If you’re looking for a job, it’s no longer enough to get on the computer, send out your resume and expect to get a job. The days of just “showing up” to the interview and getting an attractive offer are over.
Quite simply, if you are experiencing a lack of motivation, enthusiasm or confidence, you are not going to find the job you want. No, faking won’t help you either. In this market, employers have their choice of hundreds of candidates. Of course, they will eliminate people on the traditional criteria: by experience, skills and salary. But what most job seekers don’t realize is just how large a role expectations, confidence, risk-taking and attitude play in getting the job they want. They play a larger role than education and experience. This has always been true. Today’s serious candidates have to pay attention to those deep places in themselves: those places that determine how other people experience them. The days of covering up the real you and still getting what you want are slowly but surely coming to an end.
For those of you willing to do the work of overcoming your fears and inadequacies, there is a silver lining. And what a wonderful silver lining it is! It’s truly a new day in which you can reach for what you know is true and rewarding. A day in which you can no longer get away with, or be rewarded for, the very things you don’t like about yourself. A day when you can become the man or woman God designed you to be.
For those of you who refuse to take up this challenge, it could just be the death sentence of your career. It’s time to get real and dig deep. To use the adversity you are experiencing to become so honest with yourself, so humble, that you will get the right job, right now.
***
Win a copy of Brian’s new book, Your Right Job Right Now. Simply leave a comment below for one entry. Tweet about our giveaway to be entered a second time, and blog about to be entered a whopping FIVE MORE TIMES! Sorry guys, but this giveaway is only open to US entries. A winner will be selected on June 12. Tell your friends!
RT @newerakara: Looking forward 2 signing my new book, "Are You Keeping a Secret?" at booth 2121 (Winepress) Tues 9am at #ICRS! See u there! http://twitter.com/christianpubtip2010/06/29
RT @AngeStar: First full-I mean FULL-day of #icrshow & great 1! Meetings books etc.Must go to popcorn cart &see Like Dandelion Dust trailer. http://twitter.com/christianpubtip2010/06/29
AND if you’re a
Thanks for the chance to win it. It will be well used by being much passed around.
