Like many of you, I'm riding the glorious, stinging jellyfish-laced waves of contracts and deadlines and release dates and signings and speaking engagements and proposals and author events and marketing and...oh, my!
As I'm heading into marketing high gear for a novel releasing in less than two months--When the Morning Glory Blooms from Abingdon Press Fiction--I'm working hard to stay conscious of the difference between what's possible and what's smart, what's feasible and what's wise, what's self-serving and what's God-honoring in marketing.
Because I'm in marketing mode. And I can't pull off marketing that honors the Lord I serve if I don't understand how easy it is to be tempted into upside-down, inside-out choices.
The restored theater in Chicago's Old Town district became a sanctuary that evening as I relearned some important life lessons.
How do they apply to marketing? If you've never read The Screwtape Letters, the connection may not seem clear. But I'm spending some time this week, despite another deadline, to ponder a few things that leaped from the stage... and the page.
Things aren't always as they seem. We can talk ourselves into believing we're being noble in what we're doing for others--donating books to a worthy cause, for instance. But it's not heaven that rejoices if pride rises up to taint the gift, or if our primary thought is how many sales we might make because of our generosity. Screwtape would applaud any noble act he could turn into an opportunity to redirect the focus from the Giver God to a book-giver calculating how many sales point she might gain from being so generous.
We can't let our guard down for a second. We're always on duty. The face we offer the grocery store clerk or the car mechanic should be the same one we show readers at an author event. Screwtape fist-pumped when his "patient" the Christian behaved differently in the workplace or at church than he did at home. Screwtape knew he had a foothold in the man's life. My public persona and my private persona should look identical. And both should be mirror images of Christ.
Marketing that meets only our need to get the word out about our product--however clever or innovative--doesn't line up with God's ideals. Screwtape counted on his "patient's" bent toward selfishness. It played into the senior demon's hands. Marketing that has at its core a desire to meet reader needs, to provide hope, to point people to the true Author fits far better with God's intentions for us.
Even the strongest among us are prone to do the right things for the wrong reasons. If Screwtape could mar or twist his patient's motives, he considered it a victory. Motives count more than scoring an important television interview or nudging out someone else for a prime magazine ad spot.
The Bible is still our go-to source for guidelines for all of life, including marketing. Screwtape was convinced that if he could keep his patient from opening that Book, he could win him forever.
Applying wisdom from the book of Proverbs helps set the tone and the stage for our marketing efforts:
"Understand skill," Proverbs 8:5 Common English Bible. Don't stop learning.
Honesty is the best policy. Proverbs 8:7--Wisdom speaking: "My mouth utters the truth; my lips despise wickedness."
Integrity in speech, in how we talk about our books, matters. Proverbs 8:8--"All the words of my mouth are righteous; nothing in them is twiste or crooked."
Wisdom says, "I hate pride and arrogance," Proverbs 8:13. Only God can hone our confidence in Him and our efforts to create excellent stories and keep us from crossing an invisible line into pride or arrogance.
Screwtape took sadistic delight when his patient acted first and prayed later. That's another point I'm striving to take to heart. What if every good marketing plan starts on its knees?
Is this the beginning of a conversation on the subject? It would be great to hear your take.
Cynthia Ruchti tells stories of Hope-that-glows-in-the-dark through novels, nonfiction, retreats, women's events, and writers' conferences. She is the Professional Relations Liaison for American Christian Fiction Writers (www.acfw.com) and is looking forward to the release of her fifth and sixth books in 2013. Her novel When the Morning Glory Blooms releases on April 1. www.cynthiaruchti.com
Wow, this is an awesome post. The Screwtape letter examples are so applicable when it comes to marketing. I have written my first novel and I don't have a marketing plan yet. This post reminds is so appropriated. I would love to know more about good idea versus God idea.
Posted by: Retha Groenewald | February 04, 2013 at 05:33 AM
Thank you, Retha. I'm embarking on a new kind of word search, watching for clues in the Bible that I can use as foundation points for marketing, laying them alongside what the business world proposes makes for good marketing. From a biblical perspective, if it isn't kind, it isn't good marketing. So creating a flood of Twitter or Facebook posts without consideration of the people who have to delete all the duplicates or who tire of seeing the same thing repeated isn't biblically sound marketing. But offering something meaningful to the reader in each post certainly fits with God ideas. Anyone have another example?
Posted by: Cynthia Ruchti | February 04, 2013 at 09:18 AM
Beautiful post, Cynthia! Pride is such an insidious sin, and utterly poisonous. While I know most marketing/publicity is vital - and good stewardship for the books gave us - we MUST be careful. Biblical publicity would benefit the reader and not build arrogance in the writer.
What this actually looks like...? I'm constantly looking for ideas.
Posted by: Sarah Sundin | February 04, 2013 at 11:53 AM
I love your insights, Cynthia. May the Lord bless the fruit of your hands! May I share another C.S.Lewis inspiration? He responded to readers. True, he had help from his brother Warnie. But Lewis took the time to write many letters with his arthritic hand and respond to individual readers in a personal way. Two books that demonstrate this are "Letters to an American Lady" and "C.S. Lewis Letters to Children". Those two small books are a treasure trove of insights on how to be brief yet personal. Yes, writers are now in a position where we must participate in the process of getting the word out to as many people as possible. We have lots of tools and advice on how to do that. And we know it can be crazy making and traps abound along the way. How do we keep our heart unencumbered and our motives refined? I think we learn to do what Jesus did. Get the word out to the masses when the opportunity is in front of us. Walk away when we need to and go pray and rest (with no apology). Respond in God's love to the individuals the Father brings our way. Ask God to bless others.Give liberally of all that God has given us. Oh, yes. And don't worry. How's that for an unconventional marketing plan?
Posted by: Robin Jones Gunn | February 04, 2013 at 02:43 PM
Thank you for weighing in on this, Sarah and Robin. You've added so much to the discussion. Jesus was as unconventional as they come. His Word is clear that He wants excellence from us at all times, but love is a command. :) Do I see my readers as consumers of my work, or as men and women with pulses and sometimes broken hearts? How do my marketing efforts reflect on that truth? Thanks for sharing your insights.
Posted by: Cynthia Ruchti | February 04, 2013 at 02:59 PM
Thank you for this, Cynthia! Your article just exudes wisdom and grace. I am going to print it out and post it in my writing nook! It's so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of marketing, so hard to remember we write in the shadow of the cross, before the Throne, and not in the ways of the world.
Posted by: Linda J. White | February 04, 2013 at 03:19 PM
What a timely posting for me! I too am trying to market a current release, and I'm over-whelmed: what is enough, what is not enough and what is too much?? thanks so much for your pearls of wisdon.
Posted by: Mary Ellis | February 04, 2013 at 03:22 PM
Linda and Mary, I know you probably wrestle as I do with a God-honoring perspective and balance. In the Gospels, Jesus commended the business people who were savvy about using the talents/resources they'd been given. Those who sat on or buried what they had disappointed the Lord. And those who stepped on others to get ahead or who took unfair advantage missed the point entirely. God has given us unprecedented opportunities through technology. May He give us grace to use them well.
Posted by: Cynthia Ruchti | February 04, 2013 at 03:44 PM
The letters of C.S. Lewis, referenced by Robin Jones Gunn above, are collected and on display at Wheaton College, in the Marion Wade Collection. Awesome to page through, and to absorb the atmosphere of Lewis and all the Inklings.
Thank you Cynthia for this really valuable information.
Posted by: Bill Giovannetti | February 04, 2013 at 07:44 PM
I've been on that campus many times, Bill. Heading there again this summer. I will make it a point to page through. May his passion for staying true to God's Word rub off on all of us.
Posted by: Cynthia Ruchti | February 04, 2013 at 08:07 PM
Such a truth-filled post, Cynthia. You gave me a lot to think about -- and to apply.
Posted by: Beth | February 04, 2013 at 11:33 PM
Cynthia, I just finished teaching a unit on The Screwtape Letters to my middle school students and am about two months away from my nonfiction release (Discovering the City of Sodom.) So your post literally "hit me where I am" and convicted me. Thank you so much.
Posted by: Latayne C Scott | February 05, 2013 at 08:40 AM
A lot for ME to think about, too, Beth. And Latayne, I would have loved to have sat in on that class.
Posted by: Cynthia Ruchti | February 05, 2013 at 09:31 AM
Excellent Blog!! That was awesome. Your thought processing is wonderful. The way you tell the thing is brilliant, appreciate the truly awesome information about the marketing
Posted by: B | February 06, 2013 at 03:26 AM