Creative Marketing Part I: Becoming Known in the World

Platform. Branding. Promotion. It’s about becoming known.

Writers hope our books bring value or at least a joyful respite to our readers. But despite buckets of sweat, gallons of coffee and trash bags of shredded revisions that went into completing our books, writing them remains the easy part of this business.

The hard part of being a writer is getting our books into the hands of readers so they can be helped or brought joy. It’s that platform, branding and promotion thing where Christian writers often stumble.

The key is in the value we bring. If what we have written has the possibility of helping even one person, then we have the responsibility to do what we can to help that one person find our book.

Jesus didn’t sit at home with a few friends and discuss religion. He traveled the cities and countryside, speaking both to the few and to the multitudes. Jesus did the work of promotion, so to speak, in order to spread the Good News. Because people needed to hear it.

Many of us Christians write as a ministry to educate, entertain or inspire others. Part of writing in obedience involves letting people know about what we have written—because people who need our books can’t be helped by them if they don’t know our books exist.

Spending time deciding what you’d like to accomplish this year to become known is the first step. Then make sure to evaluate and reassess your goals quarterly.

Maybe you have no trouble bravely sharing your projects with the world. Or maybe you need a gentle nudge. Or a big shove. Each month this year, we’ll look at ideas for becoming known. Maybe one or all of them will be a fit for you.

We come to the writing business to serve others. Part of serving includes becoming known so we can reach the people who need to be served. In other words, part of a writing involves stepping out into the world. Following the example of Jesus.


Carol Peterson is a Christian woman who can’t stop writing about God, His great big, beautiful world and our place in it. Carol writes for women and children and blogs at: http://carolpetersonauthor.com

She writes to educate, entertain and inspire–children, their teachers and parents, other writers, and readers of all genres.