FINALLY! Your book looks good-dang, it even smells good-and you’ve launched your publication! You have your social circle informed, and every outlet in your sphere of influence is optimized for success. But…unless you’re Veronica Roth, a rock star, or a Hollywood household name, your sphere of influence doesn’t go very far. Guess what, mine doesn’t either.
So how do you break out of the realm of Facebook friends and Twitter followers to get your message to the rest of the world? Well, you pay someone to do it for you…and you work your own connections as well as you can. Because of the charitable nature of Healing Hereafter, I had contacts at a few organizations doing wonderful work with women and children in need that graciously did blog posts and podcasts for the book, and I am glad they will benefit from the increased sales! But beyond that, radiologists don’t mingle with the world of writing very often, so my publicist took it from there.
Honestly, it was a lot of fun! Everyone who interviewed me-from secular venues like NPR to Protestant podcasts like Author Talks to Catholic groups like Bread for the World-was extremely pleasant to work with. Often you get to sit in the recording booth with one of those really cool expensive microphones in front of you and feel like somebody famous for a few minutes. But the most enjoyable part was being able to share what you value most about your project with the outside world. You forget how much you love your message and how well you know it until answers to interviewers’ questions just joyfully roll off the tongue! That’s when it hit me: I was changed for the better by Healing Hereafter, and I am genuinely excited for others to benefit as I did. And if not them, at least those in need who gain from the book’s proceeds.
And after the primary publicity run is over, what then? Well, for me, I am looking forward to adapting the book to make it even more accessible. Soon Healing Hereafter will be split into ebooklets downloadable from this site for those who only want to explore a specific group of questions the book addresses, such as the fate of those without access to the gospel or how God’s sovereignty relates to our free will, etc. Then I’ll just put my low-key, long-term publicity pattern into place and let the readers decide the rest! May all of you with helpful and healing messages to spread enjoy the satisfaction of many others learning from you and becoming better people as a result!
