The Self-promotion Sweats
My book was released almost a year ago this May. I’ve sold quite a few books and am pleased with how my message has gone out into the world, helping many people to finally seek counseling and aid for their OCD. As I approach the anniversary of this monumental accomplishment, I am reflecting on how successful I feel overall with my entire book endeavor. How has God worked through the very imperfect story I’ve written? How can I measure the success of it? Can I be doing more to get it into the world? When I celebrate and share am I making it about myself?
I’ve signed up to participate in some upcoming springtime Pop-up sales at a local antique store to sell my book and other books written by local authors. I’ve sold my books at one of these outdoor venues before but didn’t sell nearly as many books as I’d hoped I would. Given I lack an aesthetic eye, my table was not the prettiest and it didn’t really attract customers to check out what I had going on. When people did come over to see what I was selling, I found I was uncomfortable promoting myself and felt awkward trying to convince strangers to pay actual real money for my insignificant book. It felt like too big of an ask and it felt borderline sinful.
Throughout my journey of writing this book, God has placed authors and mentors in my life who’ve encouraged me through these questions and insecurities. I was once lamenting to Vaneetha Risner who wrote Walking Through Fire (a fantastic read), that I felt like I was promoting myself and not God, even though my main goal is to point people to Him. She replied that if I don’t care enough about my message to talk about it proudly and bravely, then no one else in the world will be able to know that they should care about it either. People aren’t going to learn about my book by osmosis. They aren’t going to be searching on Amazon for Q-tips or wrapping paper only to magically land on my book that they would automatically purchase. I’ve got to push past my feelings of inadequacy and share why what I have to say is important for people to hear. I also need to pray while trusting that the Holy Spirit is working to keep my intentions in check.
What Christ has done for us is worth joyfully shouting about and it’s a message worth promoting with pride and gratitude. What I have to say about OCD and Christ is valuable because of what He has done through those trials. As I step out into the world in the new role of entrepreneur, I need to remember that it’s not at all about me but is instead about Him and the ways He works in all things, even in OCD. Please pray that God would continue to remind me that my endeavors are not about anything I’ve said or done but are solely a gift from Him.
So, this spring, if you see me sitting stiffly at a table surrounded by books and other vintage book-related items, come over and ask me to tell you about my book. Ask me what I wrote about and why. Make me tell you about how God can work in and through OCD… then buy a couple of books.
