How Not To Promote Someone's Book

I get asked several times a week to review and promote things on my blog, especially books and enlargements of certain body parts. I almost always say no (a.k.a. delete the email without replying), mostly because our house already has 6000 books in it and because my body parts are large enough.

Still, every now and then I say yes:

…when I think a book is going to be funny:

…when a close family member or friend has written a book:

…when the premise intrigues me:

When I heard about Glennon Doyle Melton’s memoir, Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed, the story of how she found herself pregnant after a one-night stand (and having a serious addiction to shake), I hopped on board.

I got the book, read it, liked it, dog-eared pages, and communicated with her publicist.

All was going well, until it wasn’t.

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So here is How Not To Promote Someone’s Book.

1. Miss the day you said you’d write a post. The day Carry On, Warrior released (April 2) I didn’t post. I think I was busy doing something crucial, like breathing, but the jury is still out on that one.

2. When the publicist asks if there are any questions you want the author to answer for your readers, ignore the email because your inbox is a breeding ground for chaos, and looking at it sends you to Starbucks for yet another chai.

3. When the publicist sends you the generic list of questions the author answered, kick yourself again for not asking funny questions your readers (and likely the author) would have loved. Glennon clearly has a sense of humour (she laughs about her inadequacy in the kitchen by telling the story of when her friend found her trying to preheat the oven with a hair dryer).

4. Lose the book. In your house. Amongst your husband’s 6000 other books. The day you’re going to write and run the post. Oops.

5. Write a blog post in which you don’t actually talk about the book. (Check.) OK, here’s the pitch. If you like Anne Lamott or memoirs of overcoming a lot of stuff, developing spirituality, and still being able to laugh at your imperfect self, you should buy Carry On, Warrior. I wanted to dislike Glennon (she’s beautiful and is married to a nice guy who’s been in some big modelling campaigns), but I just found myself wishing she lived next door so we could share kitchen disaster stories and laugh. And she can write.

Seriously, go buy this book. If you’re not sure, check out Glennon’s popular blog community, Momastery.

What books have you finished (or lost) lately?

What would you add to “How Not To Promote Someone’s Book”?

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I’m teaching a webinar where I’m going to share everything I know about writing humor. Check it out… How To Write Funny (Er): 10 Techniques for Writers of Fiction and Nonfiction.

Stay tuned to this blog: I’m going to be putting together a DLM Street Team where you can win awesome swag and help me launch Don’t Lick the Minivan.