Acting out: Christian novelist finds her audience through drama - self publishing - Brief Article

Black Issues Book Review, Sept-Oct, 2003 by Victoria Christopher Murray

Bookstore shelves are fully stocked with African American titles, both mainstream and self-published, so getting sales takes a lot more than the tried-and-true method--autographings, postings on Web sites, distributing flyers and mailing promotional materials to book clubs

Yolanda Callegari Brooks, author of First Love (Bow Press), has developed a unique technique: a skit. She and a cast of actors perform a short five-to-10 minute sketch in which spectators watch the message of First Love come alive. "I'm a Christian fiction author," Brooks says, "so I do a lot of marketing to churches, which is an open market for authors. I speak first, an then we do the skit. Audiences love it. This is not something they've seen and it has really helped sales. Now I'm even being considered as a featured speaker at major church conferences."

Brooks has been able to increase visibility and increase sales with minimum impact on her pocketbook. More than just writing, creativity has always been the key to successful self-publishing. Brooks's originality an imagination is a new act in the self-publishing game.

Victoria Christopher Murray, author of Joy and Temptation, is a partner in the Christian fiction anthology Blessed Assurance.