The Christian Author and Self-Promotion, Part 1

As you can tell by the title, I plan to tackle a topic sure to raise the blood pressure and perhaps even cause some discussion. The topic of self-promotion is one I've wrestled with for some time, especially as I constantly read posts in writing forums about how we authors must brand, market, build our platforms, etc. It's all self-promotion, isn't it? Or is it?

Is promotion itself wrong? Of course not.

Naturally, as authors, we want customers to buy our books. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. In a sense, we are Christian businessmen and women. We work hard, produce a product, and hope others see its value enough to buy it. The same could be true of a Christian car salesman. We work hard. We support our families. In that sense, no, I don't believe selling a product is wrong, nor do I believe it's wrong to promote a product.

But is that the same thing as self-promotion? I see a subtle but important difference between promoting a product and promoting ourselves.

So what about promoting ourselves? I think a lot of this question points to the heart of our motives.

So what does the Bible say about this topic? As I see it, some of this issue boils down to whether we seek to please men or seek to please God, and the Bible is certainly not silent on that issue.

A foundational truth, as I see it, is that if we are writers who believe the Bible and have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then our writing cannot exist in a compartment that is separate from that. In fact, Scripture is clear that every part of our lives must be dedicated to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). God's glory. Not our glory. I think most believers and Christian authors would agree with me on that point.

So we have established two foundation truths: The writer's life is not beyond biblical scrutiny. And everything we do should be motivated to glorify God.

So now where do we go with this? Until next time . . .