My #1 piece of marketing advice?  Network.  And, by network, I don’t mean friend 10,000 people on Facebook and spend all day on Twitter and LinkedIn, but really work hard to get to know people in a real way.

Now that I read back what I just wrote, I realize that it sounds kind of shallow to talk about getting to know people in a real way as a tool to market your book.  But that’s not what I mean.  I mean that by working as a partner with other authors, speakers and bloggers, you can build relationships that are mutually beneficial and market your book in the process.

For me, I had to start small.  When I got my book contract, I wasn’t some big-shot reality TV star, multi-contracted author or well-known blogger who had automatic name recognition.  I’m just a stay-at-home mom from Texas.  And as of a year ago, I had no blog, no Facebook page, no Twitter account and no following whatsoever.  So I had to start from ground zero—which is a daunting place to start when you have a book hitting the shelves within a few months.

But as I started to feel my way around the interwebs—reading other author’s blogs and making friends on Twitter—I was surprised to find this amazing network of authors, writers, speakers and bloggers who work together to support eachother’s work, encourage each other, offer advice and even market for each other.  And as I got to know the people in this network—through reading their blogs and following up via email and Twitter—I realized that this relational network was a lot bigger and more powerful than the number of radio interviews I could book or press releases I could send out.  These people were passionate about writing.  And reading.  And about helping other authors out.  And since I shared similar passions, I knew that these relationships were key to my book’s success.

So, how do you network in a way that builds mutually beneficial relationships? Here are a few of my tips:

1.    Set aside 30 minutes every day (I know your busy, and I KNOW it sounds like a lot of time, but it’s important) to read other people’s blogs and write comments on the posts.  I look at this as my way of getting to know the passions, likes, dislikes and personalities of my online friends.

2.    Buy books—and lots of them.  Some people have a Starbucks habit, but I have a Kindle habit.  I spend way too much on books—especially books written by my online friends.  I buy them because I love reading—but also because I want to support the people who support me—by recommending their work to my friends and writing Amazon or Good Reads reviews.

3.    Don’t make it all about you.  It’s tempting to say things like “If you review my book, I’ll review yours” but that’s not always the mutually beneficial thing to do.  Do nice things for other people regardless of what they can or will do for you.  It’s not all quid pro quo in marketing.

4.    Meet your online friends in real life.  I went to lunch with Nancy Williams a few weeks ago and we schemed all sorts of fun ways to market both of our books.  I’m heading to the MOPS conference with Joanne Kraft and Kathi Lipp in a few weeks.  All of these opportunities to get to know other authors, speakers and bloggers in a real way are opportunities to develop mutually beneficial relationships.

5.    Don’t only pitch your book when you’re speaking or at an event.  Whenever you go somewhere where you have the opportunity to sell your book, bring along a few books by a few of your friends and sell them as well.

6.    Reach out.  Be a friend.  Help people out.  And, when the time comes, they’ll be more than willing to help you out, too.  It’s kindergarten logic in action—but it works.

Question for you: Have you found that the online network of speakers, authors and bloggers has helped you in marketing your book?  How?

I admit it: I’m obsessed with Amazon rankings.

Up until a few months ago when Richard Mabry wrote about Amazon rankings on Rachelle Gardner’s blog, I didn’t have a clue that there was even such a thing as an Amazon ranking. But there is. And, ever since my book launched, I’ve been checking mine one, two, seven times a day.

Here’s how Amazon rankings work: basically, every hour, the powers that be on the Amazon site calculate how your book is selling compared to the millions of other books for sale. So, someone decides to buy a case of 100 of your book and suddenly your ranking soars. How high? Not sure… that’s never happened to me. Likewise, if there’s a drought and no one buys your book for a few hours, suddenly your ranking flatlines and your back down there in the hundreds of thousands or millions.

Last week, after my book launched, I was thrilled when my book soared hundreds of thousands of spaces in a matter of minutes. Woo hoo! Then, two hours later, it was languishing in the 200,000 range. Boo! That evening? Back in the 400,000′s. Eeek. The next morning? Back up in the 30,000′s. After a few days of following obsessively, I came to realize something: Amazon rankings– as much as I love checking them– are really no indication of how your book is being received or sold. They’re simply an indication of how your book is being sold on Amazon at that minute. And really, that doesn’t matter at all? Even my toddler can be charming and sophisticated for a minute. What really matters is the long run–how a book will sell and be received over hours and days and weeks and months.

That said, I’m trying not to check my ranking. Okay, at least not more than once or twice a day. Because the reality is that means I’m obsessing over a single sale or two– and not over the big picture.

Question: What about you? Do you check Amazon rankings? How do you feel about them?

Yesterday was a big day in my life as an author: My author copies arrived.

I knew they were en route so I actually drug my pregnant body off the couch and made the long, arduous, uphill-both-ways-in-the-snow (read: 1/8 mile) trek to the end of my driveway three times throughout the day. And after each trek, I found my mailbox empty.

I finally left for a birthday party at 3:30 with no books in sight, only to get a call from my mom (she lives next-door) a few minutes later that the Fed-Ex truck had pulled up minutes after I left. Two big boxes were waiting for me. Let’s just say I was antsy to leave the party.

Anyway, when I finally got home and tore open the boxes, I just stood there for a few minutes, not even sure what to do. There it was: My book, 100% complete, 100% edited, 100% done and 100% real. It was an amazing feeling.

Anyway, I’ll be posting pictures of me with my first copy later (I have to take a shower and at least comb my hair first) and I asked Jody Hedlund‘s permission to steal her idea and post a slideshow on my blog of all of my friend’s first sightings of my book. So, if you see my book in a bookstore or it arrives at your house (I got word this week that Amazon is shipping already!), please email me a picture at erin@christianmamasguide.com and I’ll put it up.

Question: If you’re an author, what did you do with your author copies? If you’re not, what would you do?

I got an email from Jody Hedlund the other day. She was responding to a comment I had made on her blog about blogging themes and asked me (very nicely) why I wasn’t blogging about pregnancy and parenting and life as a Christian mama…since that’s what my books and life are all about right now.

I read her email and wondered the exact same thing. And then I wondered why I hadn’t thought of it first. I mean, my books are about Christian parenting. My life is as a Christian parent right now. So why am I spending some much time blogging about other things?

So, I called my agent Rachelle to discuss the change with her and she also agreed that it’s a great idea.

And with that, it’s final. Starting next week, I’m officially a Christian mama blogger. Complete with the cute kid pictures and fingers sticky from doing crafts.

Thanks to Jody and Rachelle. You two are amazing.

See you Tuesday!

Happy New Year!

I’ve taken a loooong break from blogging…but I’m back in full force, ready to blog, blog and blog some more in 2011. I’ve also made a goal to read and check all of my favorite blogs more often… I’ve been feeling distant from y’all and I really want to start reading and connecting more often. So get ready to see my name in your comments box!

As I get back into blogging and work and life, my main focus right now is my book release. It releases next month so it’s really getting down to the wire. I’m really excited but I’m also nervous… I really want to do a good job with author marketing but I confess I don’t really know where to even start. Which is where you guys come in. I’ve been scouring your blogs and author pages trying to figure out exactly what I need to do as a new author to build a marketing platform. Here are a few things I’ve learned:

1. Author Jody Hedlund wrote this great post on marketing without making eyes roll. I love what she has to say about marketing through relationships.

2. My agent Rachelle Gardner wrote this post on the basics of marketing, which has given me some great ideas to get started.

3. I’ve been working on planning a book release party, and I confess, I totally copied Jody Hedlund on this one. She wrote this post on a successful release party and I’m trying to follow her advice to a T. That said, those of you who live in Austin, be on the lookout for an invitation! It’s coming!

Now, I need your help: How did you/would you market your first book? What books/blogs helped you the most?