Live Sent: You Are a Letter

by Jason C. Dukes

Live Sent: You Are a Letter by Jason C. Dukes entered our Great Expectations program virtually before it was even released: over 2,000 copies had been presold. What follows is an interview with Jason about his views on the importance of author platform building and how he achieved publishing success:

Q: You’ve sold more copies in a short period of time than most of our authors. We talk a lot about building author platforms here at Wheatmark and how to prime the pump for book sales before the book comes out. Not only did your book, Live Sent, fly out the door in sales, but it was also an expedited project that Wheatmark had to finish within a very limited time frame.

Can you tell us what you did to build your author base while you were writing, what you did during the publishing process, and what you did to tell people about the book once it was available for sale?

A: You guys do such a great job emphasizing the importance of an author platform. I certainly took you seriously. Here are a few suggestions I would give for building one:

Connect with and love people over the long haul

Kindness is underestimated. Steadfast friendships matter. We get so busy chasing dreams that we chase away people. We can’t do that. I am thankful for the way my mom and dad loved and cared for so many people over the last 49 years. I certainly swim in their ocean of faithfulness to put the interests of others above their own. Their long-term relationships were people I had connected with simply in doing life with them for so many years, and those people had an interest in the book.

Same thing with the people my wife and I have tried to care for and encourage in the last 11 years. So many of the people considered to be in our “network” as friends and professional colleagues and neighbors were interested in the book. It was an author platform built over the long haul. Not just in marketing a product.

Are you writing something people want to read?

While I have wanted to write and write and write since I was a middle schooler, I didn’t wake up one day and think, “I should write a book.” The guys who mentor me and a few peers whom I walk with had been encouraging me to write for the last 2.5 years. Elbowing me in the back to write, even. So, I finally did. They kept encouraging me that the message of this first book was something people would want to read. I believed them. And I am thankful and hope it does encourage people in a BIG WAY.

Make a list and then contact them

As I built my author platform to market the book, it included family, friends, neighbors, and so on. Remember—most of them were from long-term relationships, but some were new through online social networking. Regardless, I made a very long list and started communicating with them about the release of the book. Some of them preordered bulk amounts (close to 2,000 books through bulk orders in all), and others preordered the books online when that was available. I simply contacted them and shared with them my excitement about the book and my hope that it would be an encouragement to them. I asked them to read it, review it, and share one with a friend. I guess they did.

Get other people who are passionate about the book to make a list, too.

I asked five other people to share about the book with their “list” and they did. It helps to have friends!

How did I tell people?

  * Email
  * Twitter-at least once a day for about three weeks
  * Facebook
  * My blog
  * Other people’s blogs
  * Other people’s Twitter acounts
  * Events where I was teaching
  * Through friends and family word of mouth

(BTW-my blog and Facebook and Twitter are linked so that if I communicate on one it communicates on all. That’s helpful.)

Q: What are some things you’ve learned in the process that you might do differently (or that other authors might learn from) in the future?

A: I can honestly say that my experience with Wheatmark has been outstanding. Your coaching and some counsel I have received from other authors has helped me focus in a healthy way in these first few months of promoting the book. It is still so early, I think I still need another month or two to see some shortfalls, so ask me then. As of right now, I am too focused on trying to catch the ball to see how it’s been dropped. Just building on what seems to be working.