#137 Tanecia Mitchell used speaking engagements and books signings to sell books plus has over 25 reviews

Tunisia Mitchell is another one of our Christian Book Academy members. And so, Tunisia, why don't you introduce yourself and just share for a minute or two. Share about your book and about yourself.

Sure. Thank you so much for the opportunity to participate today. And hello everyone. I am Tunisia Mitchell. I am really thrilled to be here and for a living. I am a scientist by day and I'm very passionate about writing. So I do a lot of grant writing. And writing comes very easy to me in some ways. I guess it's a gift.

Yeah.

I'm also a published author and have published one book called Renew the Inner U. And the purpose of the book is to help people deal with negative thoughts and emotions so that they can have positive responses that align with God's heart. And I've been a member of CBA for a year and I published my book, I think, in December of last year. And I was able to really executed and published the book because I was a member of cba. For those of you who are considering to join the Academy, it is worth it and I don't ever see myself not being part of it because I have more books to write, of course. But most importantly, there's so many great people here that offer their advice and their experiences. And it's just a great community to learn from so many different people instead of trying to reinvent the wheel or Google or.

Maybe even ask a friend that you know who's already published for advice and they're like, yeah, just, you know, it's easy, you know, just you'll figure it out. You're like, that's not what you're going to get here. So you'll have direct answers as well as support. And most importantly, people that are also believers, so they have the same mindset and desire and heart to please God. So that's a quick overview of me and my experience with CBA so far.

Yeah. And I'm so excited to have you share a little bit more about your experience so far. This is your first book and, you know, a lot of times we test track and tweak. Right. It's all an experiment, but you've had, you know, some success so far. And so I'm going to go ahead and let you just share a little bit. And Tanisia is going to share. No more comfort zones, practical tips to get people to read your book. So I'm going to let you go ahead and share for a few minutes.

Thank you so much. So what I really want to start with is just something I believe God wanted me to remind us about is when we have these books or journals or whatever we're working towards to publish, he says that that's just a gift. So it's a pleasure and an honor for God to choose us. And I think it's important to kind of keep this in the mind, in our. In the front of our mindset as we're going through the process of publishing books and writing. And even if you're doing, you know, multiple books and you're used to the process, it's still important to remember that he's chosen you to be the vessel that he uses to give this particular book or item, essentially a gift to the world. And so when you think about that, that helps you keep the perspective of that it's not about us, but it's about him so that he can be glorified. And it helps you, at least in my mind, it helps me try to push past those moments of fear that Esther was just referring to as an author. So.

We have a message that we want to get out, and it's sometimes very easy to type it out and sit behind a computer and just say, yeah, this is great. And maybe it's a struggle. I don't know, maybe you have it where you use these devices where you're not really ready to write, but you can just speak to the software and it types it out for you. Whatever the process may be, what I'm trying to communicate is that it's very easy. I'm going to speak from my perspective, and maybe you can relate or not, but I'm going to just say how I feel. It's very easy for me to be in my little bubble. And what I've learned through this process is that the bubble is not, although it's safe for us, it's not what God requires. It's because he wants to unveil us. Right as Dak was talking about us being royalty, that has to be displayed, but it can't be displayed if we keep everything hidden in the bubble. And so what I have found through this process is I had to push through comfort, push through my comfort zone. And so the way that I was able to do this is because I had to have those business meetings with God, and he had to remind me, you know, who I am in Him. And as a result, he also reminded me about just knowing that I've been prepared for this moment. So a lot of times there's this uncertainty of, okay, well, I published a book, or I have this idea. I have a title. I don't know how to edit it, or I don't know how to market it. And that can be kind of some steps of delay. But you have to just remember that you're not doing it by yourself. And also the Holy Spirit is right there with you to really execute this particular task that he's asked you to do, because he knows that you can do it and he's chosen you to do it. So that's the first thing I wanted to do, is just kind of make remind us that our mind shift. Our mind has to be settled in that place, knowing that we're not doing it by ourselves. Regardless how many books we have published, there's still new chapters and new aspects that we're going to have to embark on that we never experienced before. So I really just think before we can even talk about practical steps or tips, we want to just make sure that our mind is aligned with what God is saying. And so that's what I really think that he wanted me to share first. And then another thing that he wanted me to share was just the word marketing. And so when I hear marketing, I'm like, oh, gosh, selling. I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it. And he just told me, like, just what does marketing mean? And so I'm going to read the definition of marketing. And marketing means the provision of goods or services to meet customer or consumer needs. Marketing is the provision of goods or services to meet customer or consumer needs. So when we're marketing our books, we have to remember that we're meeting a need. We're meeting a need. We're also providing a gift. And some people might want the gift. You know, if you think about when the holiday season is coming and we're thinking about a gift we want to give for someone or to someone, they might like it or they might not. But the point is, we're giving a gift, and we can't be concerned about whether or not they like the gift or not. We just have to give the gift. And so I kind of equate that to the book. And.

Our books are gifts. And so let's talk a little bit about these practical tips to market. We want to first ask God to strategize and how to push past any insecurities that we might have. Because this is a process that will expose some of the insecurities we might experience or we might feel like we're not adequate. So God will communicate to us and encourage us to know that we're able to carry out what he's asking us to do. So I'm able to. I've been able to get the strategy I needed by having those business meetings. And I have a personal journal that I talk to God and I write out those prayers and I ask him, what do you want me to do this week? How should I do this? And you know, and he'll give me something and I'll be honest and say, yeah, I don't really want to do that. Maybe that's just my experience, I don't know. But lastly, I don't know. So, yeah, I have those business meetings and then I try to execute and be creative and I ask God for creative strategies. And I really rely on social media and word of mouth to get my book out. So I use all kinds of ideas and I try not to directly say, hey, buy this book because it will change your life. Now is that the truth? Yes. But I can't say it that way. That's selling, right? So I just ask God for strategies and he gives me creative ideas to make posts, maybe use even songs that are not even Christian or, you know, gospel songs. I use all kinds of lyrics because words can carry the message that I'm trying to get across to make sure I reach the audience that I'm trying to reach. And so I don't limit myself or try to put myself in a box. And so I find that when I do that it reaches people and it doesn't come across as selling. Another practical tip that I would recommend is to also be patient with yourself in this process because God can provide grace, but sometimes we're not so gracious to ourselves. And so I would recommend that you intentionally, maybe once a week when you're having those business meetings, make a confession that I will be patient with myself during this week. I will give myself grace as I continue to sell or market my business book, as I continue to give and share my book as a gift to the world. And then I think the last thing I was just going to say is once you have those books published, you can also rely on reviews, word of mouth of people to really get others to know about your book. And so one thing that I use is reels and direct. I asked directly can you write a review or rating or give me a rating on my book if you found that it is helpful? I don't tell people what to write or what writing to give. And so far I found that to be very effective. I feel like I'm going a Little bit over time.

Oh, you're fine. Yeah. So how many reviews do you have now?

I have 25 now. Yeah, so I had 24. That was five out of five stars. And I'm going to be a little bit more transparent too. But I just got a review that was one out of five. And I'm gonna be honest with you, I was like, you know what? I don't like that. I really don't like that. But then none of us do. I had to remind myself, who did you do this for? You have an audience of one Tanisia. And I told myself that over and over again. An audience of one. If God is pleased, then I can't worry about what anyone else thinks. And it kind of goes back to that gift. You know, that analogy that the Lord gave me was that, you know, you're giving a gift, if they want it, they'll accept it. If they don't, then it's okay. But you've done what I've asked you to do. So that keeps me, that keeps me happy, that keeps me settled and ready to move forward because I still have to complete the assignment that was given to me.

Yeah. And you know, any of us that have been authors for a while, we know we could probably remember our first one star review. You know, it's like, it hurts. And yet every author, every successful author has, you know, five star reviews. They also have some one or two star reviews. And yet I just love the fact that you have just simply asked like, I mean, you've had a very like, grassroots marketing effort. You've had a couple speaking engagements, you've, you know, done some book signings and really, you know, taken advantage of your local community. But, you know, just have, have simply asked at times for people to post a review. And now you're, it's, it's continuing to grow. And so that is an important part of marketing because that social proof does help sell books. And so how would people get ahold of you or how would they get your book if they're interested in finding out more?

Sure. I have a copy of my book here. So this is my book called Renew the Inner U and I actually made the COVID myself. So it's really cute to me. Yeah, my book's on Amazon.com but I have a website is tanisha mitchell.com. it's my first and last name. T A N E C I A M I T C H E L L dot com.

Awesome.

I would say if you're considering to join Academy, it's worth the investment. If you want to make sure that you have a community of support, this is a place where you. I would also say that you won't have to waste time googling and trying to figure out.

And that it's just a great place, a great community, and you're going to be guaranteed to get your book published if you follow the modules, ask questions, be vulnerable, share your book covers, whatever you want to share, and get feedback on. This is a great place to do it. It's a safe place. That's the best way I would describe it. Yeah, it's a safe place.