I often hear fiction authors struggling with ways to market their novels. Non-fiction authors seem to have an easier time with marketing, due to their expertise on their subject.
But fiction authors actually have quite a bit of nonfiction in their novels. Remember all that research you’ve done?
As Christian writers, our characters and story lines have a built-in message of faith. Writing articles on your own faith struggles and how they relate to your character’s journey is one way to use non-fiction.
Think about your character’s occupation. Is your heroine a landscaper? Write some posts on the best plants in your region. Or tie it in with the setting of your novel. A post on the best plants in the region of your book is even better. You could also spin it and list which plants are best transplanted in any region.
My heroine is a cook on a cattle drive. The pioneers only used cast iron, so I wrote a post on how to care and use cast iron.
Did you find cool facts when you were researching that didn’t make it in to your novel? Then consider writing some articles on these.
These make great blog posts, but try taking it a step further. I pitched the idea to my local newspaper about a monthly column, Pioneering Today, which highlights the best of the pioneer lifestyle and how it relates to us today. The editor gave me permission to re-publish the articles on my blog after the current issue has run. I can offer links or pictures, so readers of the newspaper have a reason to visit my website for more information.
Consider magazines or ezines to submit these articles to as well.
What are some of your favorite non-writing blogs and magazines? How could you tie in an aspect of your writing or book to these? What ways have you used non-fiction to market your fiction?
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