I’m so thankful for my friend Randy Ingermanson. He’s a dear man, brilliant, and extremely giving. He helps novelists over at Advanced Fiction Writing. He’s the Snowflake Guy (a genius method to getting your novel started & finished). And his monthly advanced fiction ezine is a must have if you are serious about your novelist dreams.

He wrote a recent post on a writers loop I belong to that made me laugh out loud, then thank him later for the truth of the post. As a book mentor myself, I run into this attitude quite a bit, where folks assume Jesus bears all the responsibility for marketing. So, enjoy my friend Randy and heed what he says. He’s responding to the question, what is the worst piece of writer advice you’ve heard?

Randy writes:

I’m hesitant to say this because I know I’ll immediately hear from people who say that I have no faith, that I am sacrilegious, or that
I am Not A Real Christian. But somebody needs to say this. So here goes:

The worst advice I have heard is “Jesus will do all your marketing for you.”

Let’s be clear that Jesus is on my management team and I consult him often when making big decisions. But in my experience, Jesus has never typed a press release, called a radio station to set up an interview, posted a blog entry, fixed the CSS on a web site, or written copy for a sales page.

I have frequently heard well-meaning people say that no marketing is necessary for my book because Jesus would, quite literally, run my marketing campaign. I have never heard any of these people say that Jesus would fix my flat tire, feed my cat, or change my kid’s diaper.

Sometimes I want to scream, “Why do you believe that the only thing Jesus is good at is marketing? Isn’t that . . . sacrilegious?”

I am also Xtremely curious why Jesus did such an effective job marketing THE DA VINCI CODE.

In my view, Jesus should be on any Christian writer’s management team. He’s a source of good counsel. But he won’t type your book, send out proposals, or do your marketing.

You will.

That’s why he put you on the planet. Go to it.

—
Randy Ingermanson
Publisher, Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine
http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com/blog